Having taken part in two of Mary’s events now, I was excited to see the Coffeeneuring challenge roll back around. I set off at the first chance I could:
RIDE #1
Location: Compass Coffee, 1535 7th St. N.W., DC
Date: Oct. 4
Drink: Hot chocolate
Distance Ridden: 2.57 miles
Bike Friendliness: I admit that because I took bikeshare over, I neglected to pay attention to whether or not there was anyplace to lock a bike up. The Cabi station is just up the street, though, and the library definitely has bike stands.
Thoughts: I’d followed the stories on Compass at the Post prior to their launch, so I was excited to make this my first stop on the first day. Since I don’t drink coffee, I debated among the non-java options and settled on a cup of cocoa. It was disappointingly weak, but the chocolate chip cookie I had to accompany it was delicious, and I enjoyed hanging out at the window-side bar seating with my knitting. Since they’d only recently opened, I’d probably give them another shot with a cup of cocoa, but I’d also go back for a cup of tea.
RIDE #2
Location: Ava Marie Chocolates, Peterborough, NH
Date: Oct. 15 (vacation rule)
Drink: Hot chocolate
Distance Ridden: 6.3 miles
Bike Friendliness: No racks. We locked our bikes together when we went inside.
Thoughts: So I accidentally missed the turn for the bike-friendly way up the river when Rudi and I left downtown Peterborough, where we left the car, and put us on heavily trafficked state road. Thankfully, it had a broad shoulder and we were able to traverse it safely until we could turn around and head back down river along the bike trail beneath golden trees in the peak of their autumn color. The farmers market we’d visited last year had moved, so we tracked it to its new location, but while there were coffee beans for sale, there weren’t any warm drinks. I ate a half pint of raspberries, we bought some more portable odds and ends, and Rudi procured a quart of coffee beans for his portion of the Coffeeneuring stop.
We then pedaled over the hill to Ava’s where we’d stopped last year. The cocoa was tasty, as you’d expect from a chocolatier, but to call my cup hot chocolate would be generous, since somehow the girl at the counter had failed to warm the drinks more than above tepid. But once there’s whipped cream and fancy chocolate decorations on top, there’s not much that you can do without starting over, and it’s not like it was bad — just not warm.
RIDE #3
Location: Amy’s Bakery Arts Café, 113 Main St., Brattleboro, VT
Date: Oct. 17 (vacation rule)
Drink: Hot spiced apple cider
Distance Ridden: 7 miles
Bike Friendliness: No bike racks (or maybe there was one, but it was occupied?), but we both locked to parking meters without incident.
Thoughts: I cannot tell you why I was in such a grumpy mood on a gloriously sunny fall day after spending a night in a hotel in Vermont (the heavy rain and a leaky tent on the previous day had made us pack up a day earlier than expected), but I was. We parked in a commuter lot and pedaled across the Connecticut River to New Hampshire, but the trail along the hill seemed (unsurprisingly — it was a hill!) to travel up-up-up and I did not feel equipped for it.
So, we turned around, rode back to Brattleboro, and stopped at Amy’s for lunch. Their hot cider is excellent — piping hot and well spiced. I added a bowl of soup and then returned to the line for some bread and cheese when I was still hungry. In a much better mood after the midday meal, I led the way up one side of the West River and then back down and up its other side. We needed to move the car, so we had to turn around after only a bit more riding, so we couldn’t go as far as either of us would have liked, but it was a positive end to a less-than-stellar start.
RIDE #4
Location: Hot Chocolate Sparrow, Orleans, MA
Date: Oct. 18
Drink: Tea on the way out, cocoa on the way back
Distance Ridden: 18.14
Bike Friendliness: Across the street from the rail trail. Next to a parking lot. Two sets of racks. Tons of cyclists.
Thoughts: You can only count a stop once and only one stop a day, so Rudi and I stopped here twice for good measure!
While hunting around for a place to eat dinner the night before, we came upon this coffeehouse, right along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and I immediately made plans to stop there the next day. Rudi started out first and headed west along the trail, with the plan he’d meet up with me later. I stayed at the campground for a while, reading, before deciding if I was ever going to get to the beach, I’d better get moving.
Hot Chocolate Sparrow is only a few miles away, but by the time I got there, I was exhausted already and sent Rudi a pitiful text message over my tea and pumpkin bread saying how discouraged I was so early in the ride. Unbeknownst to me, he was already back at the campsite by then, so he quickly joined me, and after he downed a drink, we motored on to the shore.
It was a nice ride, nearly all of it along the rail trail. We saw seals at the beach, skipped rocks, and breathed in the salt air for an hour or so before turning back toward Brewster. Although it meant we finished our ride in the dark (we did have lights), we stopped at the coffeehouse on the way back to use the bathroom and to build up a bit of strength. This time I opted for cocoa and blueberry pie. Yum! We added a bit of charge to our phones and then pedaled carefully along the trail in the dark.
RIDE #5
Location: The Coffee Bar, 1201 S St., N.W., DC
Date: Oct. 25
Drink: A cup of tea.
Distance Ridden: 2.27 miles
Bike Friendliness: Bike racks outside.
Thoughts:
This was my funniest stop of Coffeeneuring. The Coffee Bar is a popular stop for D.C. cyclists and when I came back out to the patio with my cup of tea and biscotti, the only open table was next to someone I knew knew Rudi, Brook and his friend. I’d met them once before (also at The Coffee Bar), but suspected they might not remember me. I’m not much for pushing myself onto people (although the fact I struck up a conversation with the woman on the other side of me about the book she was reading might belie that), so I opted to say nothing, but it was impossible not to overhear some of their conversation, particularly as it took the form of (mostly benign) gossip about lots of other cyclists. “Wouldn’t it be funny if they started talking about Rudi,” I thought to myself. Not five minutes later, they did! (I wasn’t sure if they thought maybe they recognized me and they were testing me, but they conversed about a lot of other people, too.) Mary’s husband, Ed, made a surprise appearance later, too. (I wouldn’t have been able to identify him if Brook hadn’t shared with his friend.)
RIDE #6
Location: Capital Teas, 8th St., S.E., DC
Date: Oct. 26
Drink: Assam tea
Distance Ridden: 10.2 miles
Bike Friendliness: Lots of racks along Barracks Row (and a Cabi station a block away)
Thoughts: We made the cardinal mistake this Sunday afternoon of planning a Coffeeneuring adventure without checking the closing time of our destination, which was District Doughnut. When we arrived on Barracks Row at quarter past three, their sign was turned to “closed,” but when they saw our disappointed faces, the workers opened back up. We were not the only customers to come in to buy sweet goods, but their beverage service was already turned off, so we, joined by our on-foot friend, Sarah, headed up the street to Capital Teas for drinks. We took them down to a pocket park to enjoy a pleasant afternoon.
After Sarah headed home, Rudi and I pedaled back toward Dupont Circle, making an impromptu stop at the Botanical Garden for some more sun. We also saw these sheets with murals made by child refugees in the Middle East along the sections of the Mall closed for renovation.
RIDE #7
Location: Qualia Coffee, 3917 Georgia Ave., N.W., DC
Date: Nov. 2
Drink: Lapsang Souchong tea
Distance Ridden: 5.97 miles
Bike Friendliness: Racks on the sidewalk. Cabi a few blocks away.
Thoughts: Upshur Street Books opened Nov. 1 and I was eager to check it out. Just a few blocks up from Qualia in Petworth, I found the bookstore darling and well-curated and early reports suggest it’s been well-received. I joined their membership program, so I’ll be back, probably for a little Christmas shopping.
After buying a book, I headed to Qualia for a cup of strong tea and some shortbread cookies. I was already partway through another book, so I read that while drinking my tea, soaking in the final sun of the day, and admiring the coffeehouse cat through the window.
RIDE #8
Location: Taqueria Nacional, 1409 T St., N.W., DC
Date: Nov. 9
Drink: Mexican hot chocolate
Distance Ridden: 5.58 miles
Bike Friendliness: Bike racks on the sidewalk. Several Cabi stations within a couple blocks.
Thoughts: I started out with some time in the garden before heading to Georgetown. I’d intended to hit Baked and Wired, but it would seem that everyone else in the world has now come to realize theirs are the best cupcakes in the city, and while I am happy to wait in line for a couple minutes for a treat that’s expensive and bad for me, I refuse to wait half an hour when other options exist. Since it was late afternoon, I decided to head down to the river and hang out at the park for a while, before swinging back up past the bakery to see if the line had dissipated. It had not. My next thought was to stop at Stachowski Market and get a piece of pie, but while they had pie, they did not have hot beverages, so I passed there, as well. By this point, I figured Rudi was home from his ride and I invited him to head east with me for a drink before dinner.
We waffled for a bit about where to go, before deciding on the Bakehouse (for a maple latte for Rudi). When we arrived, I asked him if he needed to pre-game his drink with a taco from next door and he thought this a marvelous idea. When we got inside, we discovered they’d added Mexican hot chocolate to their cold-weather menu, and we added that to our order of a taco and yuca fries. We ate outside by the fireplace (a fountain in the summer) and really enjoyed the hot chocolate. It was sweeter than most Mexican hot chocolates I’ve had, which tend to veer bitter, and they’d added some mini marshmallows, which, thanks to the rapidly cooling temperatures, did not melt and were fun to suck out of the lid.
And, yes, after we were done, we headed next door as planned. I had a bowl of chai and Rudi got his latte and said hello to some other cyclists he knew who were there. We read the comics and split a cookie and then headed home for dinner.
RIDE #9
Location: Big Bear Cafe, 1700 1st St., N.W., DC
Date: Nov. 15
Drink: A pot of black tea. (I can’t remember the specific type, but it was their basic, unflavored black.)
Distance Ridden: 5.85 miles
Bike Friendliness: Several racks. Cabi nearby.
Thoughts: I spent longer at the garden than I’d intended, so my trip to Big Bear was later than expected, putting me there just before Happy Hour and shortly before sunset. I took their last piece of zucchini cake (yum!) and my pot of tea and headed outside to soak up the last few rays of sun. Their outdoor space is lovely — some of the best in D.C., I’d say — and I made use of it for eating, knitting, and drinking until I was out of tea, light, and feeling in my fingers. They tried to light one of their heat lamps for me, but it must have been out of fuel, so I took that as a sign it was time to roll home and close the book on Coffeeneuring 2014.
Total Coffeeneuring miles: 63.88 miles
Many thanks to Mary and all the other Coffeeneurs for such a fun event!
