Coffeeneuring 2014

Being retired, I have declared my normal coffeeneuring days to be Sunday and Monday.

Coffeeneur #1, Ava Roasteria, Beaverton Oregon

Date: Sunday, October 5
Drink: iced latte
Distance: 4.5 miles
Bike Friendliness: bike rack concealed behind a post at the door.
Factoid: edible chestnuts have really prickly husks, horse chestnuts (inedible) have slightly spiny husks - see the picture below.

Even though I live about 2 miles from this coffee shop, I have never been there.  They are open 24/7, so you'd think it would be a great place to locate a perm start, but I prefer Jim and Patty's, as I don't start or finish perms in the middle of the night.  So far, anyway.

I had to return a library book (The Magician's Land) and deposit a check (SPOT Gen 3 refund, yay!), and Ava is right there.



Vibe: On a sunny Sunday afternoon, it was extremely popular with the "study in a coffee shop" crowd.

Ordered an iced latte, and enjoyed it out on the patio.

From there, I proceeded to my favorite bike shop, where I met one of the newer mechanics, Ryan, and he found a chainstay bridge bolt for my fender, because the one that was there went walkabout, and I don't need a fender crumpling up and wrecking my upcoming planned bike adventure.  Where I plan to exercise the Vacation Rule :-)

Riding home, I picked up some chestnuts from a couple of trees, some inedible horse chestnuts and some (well only one worth keeping) edible chestnuts.  The really prickly husks contain the edible ones.



Took a snap of a local Desire Path.  It actually IS on the Beaverton plan, but way far in the future.  Nice now, but will be a sucking mudpit within a month.



And a snap of a road with a very bad sight line, which is on my route to Beaverton.

Coffeeneur #2, Mc Donalds, Annapolis, MD

Date: Monday, Oct 15, 2014
Drink: iced tea
Distance: 50 miles
Bike Friendliness: I just helmet locked my bike and went inside...
Factoid: the bike shuttle over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, while expensive ($30!) is a decent deal.  The driver was a super guy; told me all about the bridge, took me to the 7-11 on the east side, and dropped me at the motel.

Because I had just ridden 50 hot, headwindy miles from Arlington, VA, I had iced tea.
This was where the shuttle across the Bay Bridge was meeting me; he showed up a few minutes later.  Super nice guy, told me all about the bridge, and dropped me at my motel on the other side.

Coffeeneur #3,  McDonalds, Chester, MD

Date: Tuesday, Oct 16, 2014
Drink: just coffee
Distance: 5.6 miles
Bike Friendliness: didn't see a rack, left my bike in the vestibule
Factoid: Hwy 50/301 does a nice job of creating a moat down the center of the communities there - limited crossing points, and bicycles not allowed at all.  Bicycle crossing is legal, but fraught with peril.

Vacation Rule!

Coffeeneur #4, Lewes DL- Cape May NJ Ferry, M/V Cape Henlopen

Date: Wednesday, Oct 17, 2014
Drink: mocha
Distance: 4.5 miles to the ferry, 80+ miles afterward
Bike Friendliness: very much so - bike racks on the car deck, first on, friendly crew.
Factoid: the posts on the car deck are called "staunchions".

Vacation Rule!

Coffeeneur #5, Coava Coffee, Portland, OR

Date: Sunday, November 2
Drink: latte
Distance: 13+ miles riding, in all.
Bike Friendliness: only one lone parking staple outside; we had to get creative and lock to gas meters and power pole supports.  Later, we saw folks bringing their bikes inside.  We should have done that; there was certainly room, but we didn't know if they were ok with that.
Factoid: Coava also fronts as a handcrafted wood products venue.  Lots of nice woodwork as part of the walls, and all the tables were also handcrafted, and very well done.

A fleche-style coffeeneur; a group of us converged on Coava Coffee.
This is both a coffee shop AND a woodworking showroom - bamboo products; pretty cool stuff.

We all thought they could have had more chairs.  I saw a woman sitting by herself at a big picnic table, and arranged a swap for the four chairs we had at the end of another table, since we were more than four, and she would get a real chair.



I was so happy to have a social gathering, with ceramic mugs and latte art.  I had a latte and a croissant.



Some folks peeled off to go to other things, one more joined us.

After that, we stopped by the New Deal Distillery, so Gary could buy some ginger liqueur.



From there, we rode over to Detour Cafe, for second breakfast/lunch, where there was MORE coffee, and an excellent potato skillet.





I then took myself to Universal Cycles, where new winter cycling shoes were purchased, and then rode in the now-increasing rain across the Hawthorne Bridge and up to the Goose Hollow MAX transit station, and took the train over the hill, then coasted on home.

Coffeeneur #6: BOGZA Coffee, Beaverton, OR

Date: Monday, November 3
Drink: chai
Distance: 5 miles
Bike Friendliness: while The Round has bike racks, the closest ones were far away and in secluded locations.  I elected to lock to a metal bench just outside.
Factoid: The Round has the tallest building in Beaverton (parking garage)

I had heard from a fellow board member from the NW Bicycle Safety Council that there was a new coffee place in Beaverton.  Beaverton could use some new coffee places; mostly we have chains, and a few independent shops.  The menu looked promising.  The husband said he'd meet me there, as I was going to swing by the library, return a book (Divergent), and pick up a new one (The Slow Regard of Silent Things).  I was also checking out my new wet/winter cycling shoes (Lake MX 145, men's version).

Navigation to the library from my house is fairly straightforward; just one caution required street crossing.  Getting from the library to The Round was a bit more interesting.  I elected to ride up SW Hall (one way, three lanes), and turn left on SW Millikan Way just north of SW Canyon Rd, which would put me right there.  I elected to do a Copenhagen Left; as the mass of cars going north quickly evaporates, and then it is easy to cross SW Hall.  Found BOGZA, and Fitz was just arriving.

Since I'd already had plenty of coffee for the day, I ordered a chai and a chocolate croissant.  We went for the squashy chairs in the corner.  The front of all the businesses in The Round (a condo/retail/office development in Beaverton, which, since construction started in 1997, has still not really taken off) are rollup glass doors; this could be nice in the summer.



I expect it would be more lively before or after work, as the MAX train stops right there, but at 2:30 in the afternoon, it was pleasantly peaceful.

While preparing to leave, some guys walked by, one: "that is a nice looking bike!  What is the brand?"  Me: "Rivendell".  He said he had an Atlantis, so we gazed at my bike in mutual admiration for a bit, then he moved on.

Coffeeneur #7: Jim and Patty's Coffee, Beaverton, OR

Date: Monday, November 10
Drink: salted caramel latte
Distance: 4.4 miles
Bike Friendliness: The strip mall has a wheel-breaker bike rack which one cannot successfully u-lock to.  I u-locked the Riv to itself, and looped my very sturdy cable through the rack.  And sat where I could see it.
Factoid: Back when it was Coffee People (early 90's), this was their Beaverton location.  After many years of not being here, they reopened in the same storefront.  These are the people who started and nurtured my coffee addiction.



The library had a book for me, so I rode over there, then back to Jim and Patty's to have a drink.  I was also seduced by a pastry; hard to say no to "Well of Nutella".

I thought to try something new, so ordered a salted caramel latte.  It was QUITE good; I'd order it again.

Note on the bike-friendliness: the shop itself is not inherently bike-unfriendly; I have started a brevet from here, and they were delighted to have a swarm of randonneurs descending early on a Saturday morning (I warned them).  I'd put it on the cluelessness of the strip mall.