Coffeeneuring and other adventures

MG over at Chasing Mailboxes announced the second annual coffeeneuring challenge. The challenge being to ride to 7 different coffee shops before Nov. 11. This is a challenge because you can only do the rides on weekends (Saturdays & Sundays, UNLESS your "weekend" falls on other day, like mine) and each ride needs to be at least 2 miles round-trip. I've tried this challenge last year, but fell short of the required number of trips. I think I'll make it this year.

Coffeeneuring Trip 1:
Coffee Shop:  Chinatown Coffee Co.
475 H St. NW
Date: Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 (Wednesday/Thursday was my "weekend" that week).
Miles: 3.98
Beverage of choice: Latte

I chose Chinatown Coffee because I needed to drop Kermit off at BicycleSPACE to get my rear brakes switched out, and this coffee shop was nearby. I always forget how busy it can be, though. I found a spot & sipped my latte, which wasn't too bad at all. Not bad for the first trip. I did not order an espresso over ice, because I didn't want to be murdered where I stood.

Latte, bike lock & Linus bike bag.



Bike in the coffee shop (not mine).



Coffeeneuring Trip 2:

Coffee Shop: Columbia Heights Coffee
3416 11th St. NW
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012.
Miles: 2.80 miles
Beverage of choice: Medium House Coffee

My favorite neighborhood coffee shop. I come here quite often. It's small, cozy and a staple in the neighborhood. I know I'll always run into someone I know. I was on my way to BicycleSPACE to pick up Kermit, so what better way to fuel up for my ride? The 11th street corridor is certainly becoming the place to be. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough bike racks to accommodate everyone anymore (and there's a good amount of racks!). But its a nice street to stroll on without the circus atmosphere of Adams Morgan or the touristy atmosphere of the H St. NE corridor. It's very much a neighborhood area.

Again, bike lock, Linus bike bag & coffee.



Coffeeneuring Trip 3:

Coffee Shop: SOVA
1359 H St. NE
Date: Saturday, October 20th, 2012
Miles: 4.05 miles
Beverage of Choice: Dark Mocha

I love coming to H St. NE, but it is such a pain to get there. The most efficient way for me to get from Meridian Hill to H St. NE is to take Florida Ave--which is a nightmare to bike on. Drivers are way too aggressive & treat it like a highway. It was even worse because Howard Homecoming was happening, which turned the already-congested area of GA/Fla Ave into a complete mess. But I survived. I really wish DDOT would do something about FL Ave. It needs traffic calming measures and improvements for pedestrians & cyclists (the only people who have it worse on FL Ave than cyclists are pedestrians. It's the exact opposite of pedestrian-friendly). I love SOVA and don't get there nearly enough. It's a nice comfy place to enjoy a cup of coffee & tea and zone out. The mocha was much too sweet for me though. And I didn't have much time to zone out because I needed to head over to The Daily Rider and get Betty decked out with lights for the Illuminated Art Ride (more on that later).

Super sweet mocha: very decadent. Not pictured: lemon poppyseed muffin (delish!)




Coffeeneuring Trip 4:
Coffee Shop: The Coupe
3415 11th St. NW
Date: Sunday, October 21st, 2012
Miles: 2.80

Back to the 11th St corridor again to try out the new joint in town, The Coupe. This place was opened by the same folks behind The Diner, Tryst & Open City. The Coupe's concept is to basically combine the concepts of all three into one big place. It was my first time here, and I was eager to see inside after watching it being built up over the months. I will admit that I felt like I was cheating on my little coffee shop, though they close at 7pm and I didn't make my way to the Coupe until 9pm. The best part of the place is that its 24 hours! Awesome. I was very impressed when I walked in. The place is huge and has an interesting set-up. One side is the restaurant & food counter area, and the other is the coffee/bar lounge area. I can definitely see myself grabbing a late night snack or coffee and getting comfy at 4am. I sat at the "lunch counter" area (since it was just me) and ordered a latte & some grub. The latte was very good! I also had the burger special (since I firmly believe that you can judge a restaurant's quality by its burger) and I was slightly disappointed. I like my burgers rare. Very rare. But this burger was practically raw :-/ The middle was still stone cold & the cheese was barely melted. Ugh. Otherwise, it would have been fantastic. They top it with house-made onion rings and I ate it with their side of house-made potato chips (which were fantastic). They also serve frog legs (?!) which I'm not brave enough to try and a rabbit pot-pie which I'm definitely gonna get next time. Anyway, a fun trip.

My latte (with animal crackers!)




Coffeeneuring Trip 5:
Coffee Shop: Point Chaud Cafe & Crepes
1736 14th St. NW
Date: Monday, October 23rd 2012
Miles: 2.05 miles
Beverage of Choice: Mint tea

I like this little creperie on 14th St. I wasn't in the mood to ride too far or even to get coffee (hence why I had tea instead, which is allowed according to the rules) but I knew I needed to get another trip in while I could, because I never know what's gonna happen with my schedule. I had the grilled chicken pesto crepe (delicious) and the mint tea really hit the spot.

Crepe & tea




Only two more trips to go. Can I make it? I want to say yes, but I don't want to get too cocky because last year I missed the contest by one trip.

You might also note that for the last three trips, they are on consecutive days (Saturday, Sunday, Monday). My days off last week were switched around so that I ended up with two "weekends" back-to-back; Friday/Saturday and Sunday/Monday. This is because I worked 10 days straight the previous "week" and hadn't gotten my days off yet. I'm not cheating, I swear!

Another bonus to my "double weekend" is that I was able to participate in some BikeDC activities that I normally don't get an opportunity to do. DC Bike Party, the 7th Street Social Ride, and the Illuminated Art Ride are few of the bike events I was able to participate in. Posts on those rides coming up soon!