COFFEENEURING 2016

Taking Monkey on the coffeeneuring challenge.

First, what the heck is coffeeneuring? Put simply, it is a fun challenge put forth by Mary G. of chasingmailboxes.com in which, over the course of seven weeks, you ride your bike seven different places, at least 2 miles round-trip each time, drink seven cups of coffee (or similar), and take seven pictures as proof of your coffeeneuring. If you like coffee and you like to ride a bike, then coffeeneuring is for you. And, at the end, you can earn a coffeeneuring patch as a reward. What more could you ask for?

Second, why a monkey? The backstory on the monkey. While riding the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail this past summer we came across the monkey lounging in the middle of the path. We avoided squishing the monkey as we rode by on our loaded tandem bike, but circled back to see what the monkey was up to. It turns out the monkey was not up to anything, and since the monkey had no plans for the foreseeable future, we asked if he would like to tour with us. He eagerly agreed and he now comes along with us on most of our bike rides, sometimes hanging out on the bike, other times resting in a bag. Monkey has no name other than Monkey, and he is very easy to travel with, never saying a word, never complaining about where we go or when we are going to get there. We think Monkey suffers from wander-lust and is eager to see the world. We hope to oblige Monkey over the next several years as we ourselves expand our exploration of the world by bike, one of the best ways to experience it.

Here are the results of our coffeeneuring challenge with Monkey along for the ride.

COFFEENEUR #1

WHERE: The Landmark Cafe
                 867 Main Street, Manchester, CT        
                 http://thelandmarkcafe.com/
DATE: October 10, 2016

DRANK: Just the basic coffee.

DETAILS: The Landmark Cafe is just down the street from our house and occupies the space that once housed Marlow's Department Store, a local shopping icon and now landmark, hence the name Landmark Cafe, which preserves a little bit of the history of the place. Although the East Coast Greenway essentially crosses the southern part of Main St., traveling down Main St. to the cafe on a bike is no easy task, particularly with the nose in parking for the cars. On a bike, you are constantly on the lookout far cars backing out. With four lanes of traffic it would be nice to see a bike lane put in.

DISTANCE: 3.6 miles

RIDING: Bike Friday Tandem

COFFEENEUR #2

WHERE: Cafe Du Monde
                  1 Poydras St #500, New Orleans, LA              
                  http://www.cafedumonde.com/
DATE: October 16, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees and beignets

DETAILS: Went to New Orleans on business and heard about Cafe Du Monde while on the airplane. It was suggested we try the beignets which are essentially a fried dough pastry puff covered in powdered sugar, actually piled high with powdered sugar. We rented bikes and took a ride through the French Quarter which had nicely defined bike routes. Fortunately it was earlier in the day and not too crowded. We tried to stop at the main Cafe Du Monde, but the line proved to long so we pedaled down to a satellite location along the Mississippi River where we sat, drank coffee and ate beignets while watching the ships glide past.

DISTANCE: 4.2 miles


RIDING: Two rental bikes
 

COFFEENEUR #3

WHERE: Silk City Coffee
                 763 Main St, Manchester, CT              
                 http://www.silkcitycoffee.com/
DATE: October 21, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees and a Rice Krispies Treat

DETAILS: We were psyched when we saw someone was putting in a coffeeshop on Main St., not a long bike ride for our house. It looked like it would take a while to open, but fortunately they got it done well before the end of the coffeeneuring challenge. Although there are places for coffee on Main St., they are generally closed by dinnertime, so it is nice to have a place we can go in the evening, even though Main St. is not the best road to be biking on.

DISTANCE: 2.5 miles

RIDING: Bike Friday Tandem

COFFEENEUR #4

WHERE: Berkins Blend Cafe
                  1003 Hebron Ave, Glastonbury, CT              
                 http://www.berkinsblendcafe.com/
DATE: October 22, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees, cinnamon bun, and chocolate croissant.

DETAILS: We like the atmosphere in this out-of-the-way coffeeshop, particularly the free computer access where we were able to review the coffeeneuring challenge rules just to make sure we were correctly abiding by them. It is a nice bike ride on mostly back roads.

DISTANCE: 9.8 miles

RIDING: Hokitika Tandem

 

COFFEENEUR #5

WHERE: Daybreak Coffee Roasters
                  2377 Main St, Glastonbury, CT              
                 http://www.daybreakcoffee.com/
DATE: October 29, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees and chocolate croissant.

DETAILS: The Daybreak Coffee Roasters is a new coffee stop for us. Located in the heart of Glastonbury, it was very busy on the morning we were there which I figure is a good sign. We were not disappointed with the eclectic atmosphere and variety that the place had to offer. The ride in is not so easy as there is a lot of traffic with little to no shoulder once you get into the commercial district of town. Besides good coffee, there are two nearby bicycle shops (Cycling Concepts and Bicycles East) to visit and peruse the biking goods.

DISTANCE: 14.7 miles

RIDING: Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #6

WHERE: Volo Coffeehouse
                  4360 Main St, Manayunk, PA             

DATE: November 5, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees.

DETAILS: We attended the Philly Bike Expo (where we happened to bump into Mary and were able to introduce ourselves as fellow coffeeneurs) and while riding back to the car which was parked in Conshohoken along the Schuykill River Trail, hopped off the trail to grab a coffee. Easy riding, even off the trail as they have the road marked for bike traffic.

DISTANCE: 34.4 miles

RIDING: Hokitika Tandem

At the Philly Bike Expo with Mary.

COFFEENEUR #7

WHERE: Shady Glen
                  840 Middle Turnpike E., Manchester, CT              

DATE: November 19, 2016

DRANK: Two coffees with an egg, bacon, and home fries breakfast.

DETAILS: Shady Glen is known for their cheeseburgers where they grill their cheese to a crisp and layer it on top of the burger. Quite delicious! Getting there by bike is an easy enough process although the main establishment is located on a major four lane state highway with no shoulder. Fortunately it is never so busy that cars can't easily get around the bike.

DISTANCE: 8.6 miles

RIDING: Hokitika Tandem

WHY DO WE ENJOY RIDING? - HERE'S A REASON

It was a warm and sunny Autumn afternoon, so we decided to take a ride on our local Rails-to-Trails following work. As we were riding along, we were mildly startled by this large object passing just over our heads from behind us. We had no idea what it was initially until it dropped down in front of the bike, a couple of feet off the ground, wings out stretched, as it glided along in front of us. It was a beautiful hawk! Coming towards us from the opposite direction, a lone biker on the trail had to stop and dismount for fear of being struck by the bird. She ducked, while the hawk soared gracefully over her head and took a perch along the path on a formerly used telegraph pole. We pulled up next to it and admired it for a moment. Surprisingly it did not fly off, and I was able to capture it in this picture. Not an experience we would have had while traveling in a car or sitting on our couch. And thus is a reason why we enjoy biking.

Hawk along the Hop River State Park Trail.

LONG ISLAND LOOP AROUND PECONIC BAY

I have been wanting to do this ride for over a year now. Figured we would wait for a nice Saturday weather wise then hop the ferry out of New London, CT to Orient Point, Long Island, NY. Of course, nice Saturday's came and went and we always seemed to have something else to do. Finally, a few weeks ago we committed that if it was going to be a reasonable weather day on September 24, then we would go. It was, so we went.

Leaving New London, CT on the 6:30 am ferry.

Enjoying coffee and a muffin.

Arrival at Orient Point, Long Island, NY.

Getting ready to disembark.

The ride was planned as a loop around Peconic Bay, first going west along the North Fork of Long Iisland, then turning at Riverhead, NY and heading east along the South Fork of Long Island, then taking the ferry across to Shelter Island then another ferry back to the North Fork and return to Orient Point. About 81 miles total, which is our longest single day ride to date. Terrain was mostly flat, so made for an easy ride.

Our route around Peconic Bay, Long Island.

Heading out from Orient Point, NY.

Lavender Farm. Missed the blooms by a couple of weeks.

Lavender Farm.

Greenport, NY. Setting up for Maritime Festival.

Along the route.

Lots of vineyards on the North Fork.

Taking a break at Harbes Farm.

Cider donuts and coffee, a good combination.

Outside the Big Duck.

Eating lunch behind the Big Duck.

Receiving a history lesson about the area.

Laura went to college in Southampton at Southampton College, so we took a tour of her old campus. It is now owned by Stony Brook University which is working to fix it up.

Laura's freshman dorm.

Laura's sophomore dorm.

On campus.

Windmill on campus.

Streets of Southampton, NY

More Southampton, NY.

Getting some ice cream at Sip'n Soda in Southampton. I tried their famous Lime Richey. Good, but not my thing.

Outside Sip'n Soda.

South ferry to Shelter Island.

On route on Shelter Island.

North ferry from Shelter Island.

Sunset at Truman Beach.

Made it back to Orient Point for the 8:00 ferry back to New London, CT. We had a nice ride, but found Long Island to be very congested with traffic, due mostly to the limited number of roads in the east and west directions. When we ere able to get off the main routes, it was certainly more enjoyable. It is a beautiful place, however, with lots of deer, picturesque views, and quaint towns.

Click HERE to see more photos on Flickr.