Coffeeneuring 2015: Coffee Outside

Ride: 1
Destination: Council Crest Park, Portland, OR
Date: Sunday, Oct 4
Beverage: coffee brewed right at my picnic table, with milk and sweetner
Bike friendliness: picnic tables under shady trees.  Pretty nice!
Total mileage: 15.75 miles



Coffeeneuring 2015 is underway, with its delightful collection of rules.  Given the traffic on the Coffeeneuring facebook group yesterday, it looks like participation has exploded this year.  There are postings from Kyiv (Ukraine), and somewhere in the Central Asian Steppe!

Rule 2 allows for Coffee Shop Without Walls (Coffee Outside).  At its simplest, one procures coffee, rides somewhere, and drinks it.  More elaborate undertakings include collecting all the equipment needed to grind and brew coffee in the Great Outdoors, and doing that.

Every year I have said to myself "gonna do Coffee Outside!", and then I don't locate the needed equipment, and it doesn't happen.

Part of the plan was to do this with the gear already at the house.  I used to backpack, and had certainly made coffee outside!

This year, I rummaged in the shed, went through my backpack twice; no Svea 123 stove...  More shed rummaging (this includes climbing over the riding mower, and balancing on a few things to reach the upper shelves, without inside lighting, so it is kind of dim), and I finally spotted my Sigg Tourist cookset, which I knew contained the stove.

The stove has not been used for a couple of decades.  It had some fuel, and right next to the cookset was my old fuel bottle, which had more fuel.  Filled up the stove, and it fired right up.

Next up was to get a mug and a drip thingie.  Mugs are easy.  For that matter, so was the drip thingie.  I had a choice of the cone, or a Bodum Solo.  Grabbed the Bodum Solo, just because I hadn't used it before.  I think it, and the mug, came into the house many years before as part of a Drum Corps Auction.

My destination was Council Crest Park, one of the two high points in the Portland area, and a popular destination for cyclists wanting a climb.  From my house to the summit is about 6 miles and 800 vertical feet.

Got to the park, and as usual, rode to the very top, to enjoy the view.  Another cyclist started a conversation by admiring my bike :-) and we went on from there.





Then I prospected for a spot to set up.  There are some picnic tables under some tall trees down below - no path, and a steep embankment, so I had them all to myself.



I had ground the coffee at home (blend of Mocha Java and Espresso Decaf), so had only to heat up the water and brew away.



Pulled out my knitting while the water was heating, and worked away on my lace Elemental Shawl.  Now in the final 8 rows, but each row is 855 stitches.  Won't finish quickly!

So I'd knit 50 stitches, and then sip some coffee.  Coffee was ok; maybe I'll use the drip cone next time.  Or more coffee.

Coffee consumption complete, 2/3 of a row complete, and the stove cooled down, I packed everything up to finish the ride.  Tradition dictates that one circumnavigate Council Crest on Fairmount Blvd before returning, so that's what I did.

It was SUCH a nice afternoon that there were many cyclists out on Fairmount, and even more on Hewett Blvd on the return.