#Coffeeneuring Challenge: The 2016 Edition

The 6th Annual Coffeeneuring Challenge: Yay, I finished! Autumn of last year is a complete blank for me so presumably I didn't even attempt this wonderfully traditional challenge, and I know I did not complete in 2014.  So I am quite surprised and pleased that I did succeed, on 7 separate occasions, in riding my bicycle at least 2 miles for the pleasure of a hot beverage. 

I have finally figured out why this is such a tough thing to do if I'm riding with Adam. It's all down to the "spirit" of the challenge. See, Adam does not drink hot drinks. But the problem is more than that. We are both "tourists" and love nothing more than spending the day together out on our bikes peering at everything. However, Adam is not a coffeeneur at heart. He does not see the point of stopping -- or 'interrupting' -- a perfectly good bike ride for something as trivial as having a drink.  Drinking is for hydration and drinking from his bottle on the bike while on the move is perfectly adequate and sound good sense to him. Stopping is inefficient. He does it for me but I have to pointedly and directly request it. Hints go right over his head. Yet, how many times have we ended a ride only for him to say "Oh no! You didn't get to log this as a coffeeneuring ride!"  If I didn't know him (and his honest heart) so well, I'd suspect Coffeeneuring Sabotage.  

So this year, knowing that one week of the 7-week challenge would see us in the Netherlands where we would be cycling together every day, I devised a strategy:  get him cold enough and/or present our plans each day as ambitious enough that some kind of proper sit-down stop would be not only (1) welcome, (2) sensible, (3) enjoyable (even for him), and/or, if push came to shove, in some way (4) absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, the weather during our Amsterdam sojourn was fully co-operative! 

But I am jumping ahead to the second part of my 2016 Coffeeneuring Challenge.  

Without further ado, here are my 7 rides in chronological order. 

RIDE #1

Destination:  Chilterns Gateway Centre (National Trust), Whipsnade Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 2GY, UK

Date: Sunday, 9th October 2016

Hot drink of choice: Plain Black Tea with Milk (score: average, say 3/5)
Total mileage: 23.8km
Bicycle: Riley the Enigma

Bike Friendliness: 

Quite good. There are bike racks but it is perfectly okay to keep your bike with you and lean it against a table or wall within your line of sight.  This is a popular stop for cycling clubs.

Other Observations:

This was a beautiful morning and it was nice to see so many families out early to enjoy the great outdoors. Lots of dog walkers and kite flyers. After enjoying my hot beverage, I freewheeled into Dunstable to visit Adam's daughter and her fiance in their new, first home.

#Errandonnee 2016 Challenge: Ride 12 (Sunday London Ride)

Errandonnee #12

Date: Sunday, 6 March 2016

Errand:  Sunday London Ride

Category:   Social Call/Ride

Destination:  Hyde Park Corner, London, to Fatboys, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London 

Distance: 37.3km (23.4km on ride itself + 13.9km getting to it and back home again)

Steed: Petra the Puch Princess

What I learned/observations:

The day dawned (or, more accurately, the darkness gradually lifted on an extremely foggy morning) and we were out the door by 7.30am to catch a train to London to join friends for the long-running Sunday London Ride. We were shocked when our calculations suggested that we haven't been on one in three years!

We decided to use the new East-West Cycle "Superhighway" aka Crossrail for Bikes to make our way from Blackfriars towards Parliament Square. I am disappointed to find that this brand new, not yet finished, cycling "superhighway" is woefully inadequate. I don't know when the plans were drawn up but bi-directional provision within the width of one car lane is simply not good enough. After years of dangerous over-capacity, the Tavistock route has been upgraded to one full-width lane in each direction -- and that's not a so-called "superhighway"!

#Errandonnee 2016 Challenge: Ride 6 (Life Behind Bars)

Errandonnee #6

Date: Thursday, 10 March 2016

Errand:  London Commuting

Category:   Work (2)

Destination:  Fitzrovia, London, W1

Distance: 2.3km

Steed: Lorelei the Puch Princess

What I learned/observations:

Had a guy in a sharp suit and trenchcoat in the Tavistock cycle path this morning -- on his scooter. I can't see I'm too pleased about mixing dissimilar vehicles in the same space but I suppose it's better than having motorised scooters in the cycle lane as is allowed in the Netherlands. And given the choice of footway, cycleway and roadway and considering his overall speed, the cycleway no doubt made the most sense to him. (No photos of him, unfortunately.)

Malet Street between RADA and Birkbeck College.

Bedford Square, where the cycle countraflow is officially on the footpath.

#Errandonnee Challenge 2016: Rides 4 & 5 (Urban Night Riding)

Errandonnee #4

Date: Monday, 7 March 2016

Errand:  Evening Commute from Office to Train Station

Category: Work (1)

Destination:  St Pancras International, London

Distance: 2.3km (each way)

Steed: Lorelei the Puch Princess

What I learned/observations:

I often wish I had my camera to hand when I'm commuting. From time to time, I do stop to photograph things that catch my eye, but these have tended to be on my morning commute and therefore in daylight.

Tonight saw my first attempts at taking photos in central London from a moving bicycle. In the dark. With gloves on. Of course there were 3 bad shots for every half-decent one. Good thing I took quite a few!

I quite like the area I work in (Fitzrovia). It's a buzzy mix of old and new, not at all 'sterile' like the City. 

Liberated from her usual bike stand (just out of sight to the left).
I intended to take a photo of Lorelei at the stand, with the glorious Charlotte Street Hotel behind,
but a couple was standing there having a rather heated debate (in another language)
so I unlocked in a hurry and moved a few yards away.

#Coffeeneuring 2014: Ride 2

Happiness is a rich smooth cappuccino
(with soy milk for my friend Grace)

Destination:  Look Mum No Hands!, Old Street, London
Date:  Saturday, 18 October 2014

Hot drink of choice:  Cappuccino

Total mileage: 56.4km
Bicycle:  Lucy the Brompton

This was our friend Andy's 40th Birthday Ride. 

Some of you may know Andy: he rode London-Edinburgh-London in 2009 and out of that came an amazing little book called Barring Mechanicals. Andy is a lovely guy: gentle and unassuming and terrifically funny. He's also something of an IT whiz. This past year his job has meant he's basically been living in a hotel in New York, writing and fixing code 22 hours a day. So his wife knew exactly what he'd want when he came home: a pootle on his bike with a bunch of friends, ending with CAKE at London's iconic bicycle cafe/bar/workshop, Look Mum No Hands!

So that's what he got.