Coffeeneuring 2019: Ride 6-7

Coffeeneuring Ride 6: November 23, 2019

Destination: Sweetland Chocolates and Coffee, Rockford, MI
Drink: Madcap Finca de Dios
Distance:  2.4 miles
Bike: Surly Pugsley

It’s down to the wire on the last weekend of coffeeneuring. As we ride into town, new holiday light displays seem to have popped up all over. One of these years, it seems a combined lights and coffeeneuring ride is in order. Sweetland Chocolates and Coffee in our small downtown area here in Rockford, MI. We actually found this store first looking for chocolate gifts and only then realized they had some delicious coffee options.

There isn’t much for bike parking on this street but with the quiet morning, we felt okay about taking a prime spot right by the door. As always,e the coffee was brewed just right and the granola bar was clearly so good, it did not make it to the picture intact.

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Coffeeneuring Ride 7: November 24, 2019

Destination: Bostwick Bakery, Rockford, MI
Drink/Snack: Coffee and Pumpkin Bread
Distance:  17 miles
Bike: Specialized Rockhopper

Way outside of town near one of the larger lakes in the area is Bostwick Bakery, a famous old-fashioned bakery. We weren’t entirely sure if they had coffee available too but given the limited options open on a Sunday, we took the chance. Besides, it was a surprisingly sunny late fall day and getting a longer ride during good weather is hard to pass up.

As soon as we walked inside, we knew we’d made a good choice. In addition to the bakery counter, there was a large sitting area with all kinds of lake-themed decor. After grabbing the snacks, coffee and other drinks are self-serve in these “ad mugs” we’d usually see at old family breakfast restaurants.

Clearly we are in the off-season because the lake cottages we’d rode past were clearly closed up for the winter and we were pretty much the only ones in the bakery the entire time we were there. At least the wall art gave us a sense of a warmer day at the lake.

So that’s it, another coffeeneuring challenge in the books! As I wrapped up this year’s batch of posts, I started looking through some past years and counted the submissions. Somehow, 2019 makes this year 6 for me and I’m already looking forward to next year.

Coffeeneuring 2019: Ride 4-5

Coffeeneuring Ride 4: November 16, 2019

Destination: Kingfisher, Grand Rapids, MI
Drink: House Blend Coffee
Distance:  29.8 miles
Bike: Surly Pugsley

A beautiful day for a ride! As we took the White Pine Trail into Grand Rapids, we stopped to see the preparations for the annual holiday light show at the ballpark. I don’t remember seeing this train in recent years but it is quite the custom vehicle.

Onward we rode to an old favorite restaurant/deli, now under new ownership. The former Marie Catrib’s, now The Kingfisher, is back and feels nearly the same inside. And the bike parking can’t be beat except for that suspicious-looking alien who landed on our handlebars.

I’m happy to report the food and coffee makes it feel like old days. We hope to return here soon.

 

Coffeeneuring Ride 5: November 17, 2019

Destination: Herman’s Boy, Rockford, MI
Drink/Snack: Frosty’s Favorite Flavored Coffee with Bagels
Distance:  3.5 miles
Bike: Surly Pugsley

I think Herman’s Boy is the official mainstay of each year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge and this year is no exception with today’s ride. It’s critical to get there at the right time or the line gets quite long. Even when the parking lot is full, there’s always space at the bike rack,

Thanks, Herman’s Boy, for the upgraded bike rack this year. 

While coffee is always great here, it sometimes feels like an afterthought with all the delicious bagels and pastries.

It’s great to be so close now but I do miss the long rides from the city with a great warm-up stop at Herman’s Boy.

P.S. Thanks for the great decorating idea to use a frame to display fun coffee bean sacks.

 

Coffeeneuring 2019: Ride 3

Coffeeneuring Ride 3: November 3, 2019

Destination: White Pine Trail Picnic Area, Plainfield Township, MI
Drink: Green Tea
Distance: 2.4 miles
Bike: Specialized Rockhopper

Wow! Somehow a few weeks slipped away and I’m barely on track to finish the challenge this year. The leaves have fallen and it is starting to feel like winter. In the interest of getting in a quick ride, today is a Coffee Shop Without Walls ride featuring Taiwanese tea from a recent work trip.

I often ride past a little picnic bench and rest area off the White Pine Trail but it is now so close to home that I rarely stop. It sounded like the perfect destination today.

One of the first times I rode the White Pine, I remember stopping here and admiring the carvings in the tree stumps. For some reason, I remember taking a picture of these for coffeeneuring once before but now can’t find it in the archives.

 

It was quite chilly and I wasn’t dressed for lingering so I walked the trail a bit to stay warm as I drank the tea. With all the fallen leaves, I could finally see the Rogue River through the woods below.

Coffeeneuring 2019: Ride 2

Coffeeneuring Ride 2: October 13, 2019

Destination: Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, Grand Rapids, MI
Drink: Latte
Distance: 14.4 miles
Bike: Trek Road Bike

Fall is coming fast in Grand Rapids. After yesterday’s fun riding the vintage John Deere, I went down to the basement bike shop and threw a different project bike in the stand. This morning, the early 1980s Trek I’ve had hanging for the last few years finally got its shakedown ride.

Today’s ride took me south on the White Pine Trail along the Grand River into downtown Grand Rapids. I met my friend and coworker (and 2nd year coffeeneuring rider) at his building and rode to a newer coffee shop just as freezing rain began to fall.

Our ride today features the Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea shop. We found great bike parking right out front and a quiet table for a pair of soy milk lattes and a pastry.

After enjoying our drinks, we parted ways and headed for home.

Coffeeneuring 2019: Ride 1

Coffeeneuring Ride 1: October 12, 2019

Destination: Mug’s Up (Rockford Farm Market), Rockford, MI
Drink: Dockside Blend
Distance: 2.2 miles
Bike: John Deere 3-Speed

The John Deere 3-Speed is one of the first “collector” bikes I found as I started my long journey into and around the bike industry. I say “found” because I was half a world away when it was purchased on my behalf.  Nearly 10 years ago I was sitting in a dormitory in Antananarivo (the capital city of Madagascar) with my first shot at high speed internet access in months. For some reason I ended up on craigslist for Chicago, Illinois and was scrolling through used bikes. This John Deere was listed as a “barn find” and instantly caught my eye. For some reason I emailed the link to my dad and said I’d like to figure out a way to get this bike. A few days later I get a message that the bike was in my parents’ garage waiting for my return. To one of the few readers of these posts—thanks, dad.

Somehow after all these years, I still haven’t dug into restoring this bike. Maybe I just can’t stand the idea of losing the patina of its former life on a farm. At the very least, it needs new tires but I’ve tried that once before. It was a time when I didn’t know that there are 2 diameters of 26 x 1-3/8″ wheels in the world. Naturally, I got the 597mm “Schwinn” size and it was just a bit too big. With rotting sidewalls and cracks all over, I braced for an explosion of air as I pumped the tires up to pressure for the first time in years. Somehow they held today!

As you can see, I also added a bit of local coffeeneuring-specific gear, a Three Toes Threadworks feed bag, to the handlebars to hold the mug.

A short pedal down the White Pine Trail to downtown got me to the weekly Rockford Farm Market. Today was particularly quiet, likely due to the first cold fall weekend of 2019.

Of course the coffee stand was popular today with the chilly temperatures. They had about 5 coffees brewed so I asked for their recommendation. They suggested their best-selling coffee, the Dockside Blend, and I would agree it was quite good.

I grabbed a bag of fresh kettle corn from another stall and despite the great bike parking at the farm market, I rode onward. I found a quiet lookout over the Rogue River just off the trail to enjoy the hot cup of coffee before riding home.

Ride 1 of the 2019 Coffeeneuring season was a great way to get back on a bike I’ve had hanging in the basement for far too long.