My fifth round of participating in the Coffeeneuring challenge happens to be the eighth year since it was first launched by Coffeeneur-in-Chief of Chasing Mailboxes. She proclaimed “Eight is Great” when announcing this year’s theme. In years past, I’ve had fun working my own theme into the master theme, with themes like making sure each coffee shop is in a different city, or trying different donut shops, or showing off a different pair of Bloomers for each ride. Last year, I honored the master theme of “Best Intentions” by backing away from elaborate planning of special sub-themes, and simply focusing on intention. This year, I had zero interest in planning a theme for my rides, or carefully selecting new coffee shops to try for each ride. I decided to let myself roll through the challenge themelessly. I am quite pleased that I managed to avoid re-arranging my life around coffeeneuring. Rather, I worked the coffeeneuring into whatever was going on each week.
Here is my control card:
Control No. 1: 10/13/19 – Kaldi in Atwater Village, Los Angeles
Beverage: Iced Americano (with pumpkin scone)
Bike-friendliness: Excellent bike parking – large bike corral right in front
Mileage: 26
Outfit: Crazy Daisy Bloomers under a Mermaid Nuu-Muu dress
Notes: El Cochinito had a meeting to attend in Atwater Village and invited me to ride along. Well, what a great way to kick off coffeeneuring season, especially since I hadn’t been to any coffee shops in Atwater Village. Plus, it’s not far from Griffith Park, giving me a great opportunity to spin my wheels while he was at his meeting.
Control No. 2: 10/20/19 – The Helipad in Griffith Park, Los Angeles
Beverage: Delivered by thermos from Kettle-Glazed Doughnuts (along with some donuts!)
Bike-friendliness: Doesn’t get any friendlier than Griffith Park, especially the Helipad, where local bike friends gather regularly to take in a great view of L.A. together.
Mileage: 20
Outfit: Tealicious Nuu-Muu dress over Black Bloomers (not pictured)
Notes: Many Thursdays this summer, I joined a group that bikes up to the Helipad after work to watch the sunset and sip beer. As the sunsets became too early in the Fall, the group switched to Sunday mornings and coffee. An advantage to doing it in the morning is that I could then continue riding on through the park. The photo in the lower left panel is the view of the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Observatory. Lower right is a favorite mural I pass on my way home from the park.
Control No. 3: 10/26/19 – Cameron Cafe in Alexandria, Virginia
Beverage: Cafe au Lait (with an apple turnover)
Bike-friendliness: Conveniently close to the Holmes Run Trail and offers bike parking right out front. I was rolling on Capital Bikeshare that day, and there are no docking stations anywhere in that area, so I just parked it in front, next to the bike rack (with timer still running!), and kept an eye on it from my window seat inside.
Mileage: 13
Outfit: Purple Drape Neck Top over Black Hitchable Flounce Skirt & Pinstripe Bloomers (prototype for new style)
Notes: Every year in late October, I attend a conference in the Washington, D.C. area, right in the middle of Coffeeneuring season. In fact, two years ago, I was able to join a fellow coffeeneur who lives in D.C., and share a Coffeeneuring ride together! This year, I was staying in Old Town Alexandria, and thought it would be fun to explore the Holmes Run Trail and visit a coffee shop along the way. Cameron Cafe turned out to be an excellent choice. Both the coffee and the turnover were delicious. Plus I enjoyed visiting with a couple who’d also biked there and had been curious about my use of the bikeshare bike (given that we were well outside the Capital Bikeshare territory).
Control No. 4: 10/27/19 – Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park, Los Angeles
Beverage: Cappuccino (with coffee cake)
Bike-friendliness: There are bike racks on the sidewalk out front on Sunset Boulevard, but some of us like to bring our bikes into the patio area in the back, off the alley. The bookstore is always kind to the Street Librarians who gather there on the last Sunday of each month for drinks and eats, to gather some books generously offered to us from the clearance rack, as we head out on our bicycles to re-stock the local Little Free Libraries.
Mileage: 16
Outfit: Zen Nuu-Muu dress over Pinka Dot Black Bloomers
Notes: The Street Librarians Ride always has a theme. This time the theme was Day of the Dead. As we stop to do our re-stocking at each Little Free Library, we also take a moment to share a reading, usually in line with the theme. For my turn, I read from a children’s book called “What is Death?”
Control No. 5: 10/28/19 – Bar Nine in Culver City
Beverage: Mocha (with a cheese biscuit)
Bike-friendliness: Well, they got rid of the bike rack they used to have out front, but we are inclined to forgive them since there is now an electric car charging station in its place. Several of us rolled our bikes inside, and no one seemed to mind.
Mileage: 12
Outfit: Blue Toad & Co. dress over Leopard Print Bloomers
Notes: This was a meet up with the Women on Bikes Culver City group. These women have a regular tradition of meeting up at a different local coffee shop every other Monday morning. They are especially great at supporting women who are new to city biking.
Control No. 6: 11/3/19 – Blue Bottle Coffee, Downtown L.A.
Beverage: Cafe au Lait (with a maple pecan scone)
Bike-friendliness: There may be bike parking right in front, I forgot to look. I parked across the street in front of the Grand Central Market.
Mileage: 21
Outfit: Jade Nuu-Muu dress over Shimmering Sapphire Bloomers, topped off with a green Bikie Girl Bloomers Boat Neck Tee
Notes: El Cochinito had a field trip in downtown L.A., having his Economics students explore relevant principles at the Grand Central Market. He first has them walk across the street to see the beautiful Bradbury Building, often used in filming, most notably the original Bladerunner. I rode along and enjoyed my treats at Blue Bottle Coffee, right there on the corner in the Bradbury Building, while they did their field trip. Afterward, he and I continued on through Chinatown into Elysian Park to take in some iconic views of the city.
Control No. 7: 11/10/19 – Hot & Cool Cafe, Leimert Park in South Los Angeles
Beverage: Cinnful Coffee (with coffee cake)
Bike-friendliness: There is bike parking right in front and the Ride On Bike Co-op is next door, should you need any parts or repairs.
Mileage: 15
Outfit: Wildfire Nuu-Muu dress over Romantic Ruby Bloomers
Notes: El Cochinito and I will be doing a bike tour in Cuba over the upcoming holidays, and I wanted to make sure we squeezed at least one ride into this busy weekend. I also wanted to make sure we climbed some sort of hill to get some training value out of a short ride. I decided the perfect route would be to nearby Kenneth Hahn Park in the Baldwin Hills. This 400-acre park atop some sizable hills in the midst of a large metropolis offers great views. I used to think there was no way to ride a bike to this park until a group ride I was on a couple years ago took us there. I was delighted to be able to show this route to El Cochinito (who otherwise knows his way around L.A. more thoroughly than I do). He also hadn’t been to this park in well over 20 years, since before the basin at the top had been made into a grassy meadow. This was once the site of a reservoir that spilled down the hillside in 1963 when a dam broke and the ensuing disaster took five lives and damaged over 200 homes.
We then descended gleefully down into Leimert Park to enjoy one of my favorite local cafes. If you like some flavor and a hint of spice in your coffee like I do, I strongly recommend the Cinnful Coffee. Their coffee cake is a delicious accompaniment.
Control No. 8: 11/17/19 – The Free Cafe in Leimert Park in South Los Angeles
Beverage: Iced Coffee
Bike-friendliness: It doesn’t get any friendlier than this – the host is a bicyclist who sets up the cafe in his backyard. Bikes are welcome, and can be leaned against the fence along the driveway.
Mileage: 7
Outfit: Sirena Nuu-Muu dress over Shimmering Sapphire Bloomers
Notes: The Free Cafe is a friend’s project intended to cultivate community. He invites all his neighbors to come to his yard for coffee and conversation about once a month. Occasionally, he sets up the Free Cafe at other locations, such as parks or other host homes. I enjoy riding there, as it’s only 3 miles from home, and it takes me on some bike-friendly streets through pretty neighborhoods, and over a small bridge that crosses the freeway. I love going over this bridge, because it is a hidden delight.
Originally this was to be my celebratory “Eight is Great” ride, but I completely forgot to snap a photo of my bike or my coffee! I don’t think that made it any less great. In fact, it was a great way to cap another great season of coffeeneuring.
WeLove2Bike! 