BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Coffeeneuring 2018 is underway!

I'm in! I already have my first trip in. https://twitter.com/bus15237/status/1051584384929853442

*bump* If you haven't started the coffeeneuring challenge yet, you still have the opportunity to complete it!  Gotta start this week, though! So far, I have four rides in, so challenge completion is looking good...

I’ve done and tweeted three, hoping to work in a fourth and fifth by Sunday.

One week left, yinz... I finished the challenge today! Woot! The following coffeeshops were visited:

1. Anchor & Anvil, Ben Avon
2. Anchor & Anvil, Coraopolis
3. Kaffeehaus Café, East Allegheny, Pittsburgh
4. Steel Valley Roasters, Homestead
5. Everyday Café, Homewood, Pittsburgh
6. Tazza d'Oro, Millvale
7. Café 412, West End, Pittsburgh

All but the first one were new to me. Total distance ridden was 75 miles. Total expenditures were $58.37. Also, first time doing and completing the challenge!

Like in 2016, I'm making this a Pittsburgh adventure tour. Seven trips, seven different parts of the area. So far: Week 1 - OTB North Park (northern suburbs) Week 2 - The Big Idea Bookstore (between the rivers) Week 3 - Café 412, South Main St, West End (west) Week 4 - Crazy Mocha, South Side Works (south near the river) Week 5 - Coughlin's Law Firm, Mt Washington (south up a hill) Week 6 - Tazza d'Oro, Millvale (north near the river) Week 7 will thus be either a distant diagonal (Emsworth, Aspinwall, McKeesport), or east of the Blue Belt. Haven't decided yet. All so far but #4 were new to me to consume anything, though I'd been in Big Idea to buy books several times before.

If you come out to Aspinwall, be aware that Aspinwall Beans and Cream, the only coffee place around here, closes early, typically by 3 p most days.   There is a Coffee Tree in the Fox Chapel Plaza, but Fox Chapel Road and Freeport Road are not very bike friendly. There's also a great coffee shop in Blawnox, Curbside, with the happiest people on earth who work there. And there's always Starbucks in the Waterworks Giant Eagle just 500 feet from another Starbucks in the Waterworks Barnes and Noble. Which reminds me of this movie clip from Best in Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKdEdzHnfU

Ride #7 in and done! A rainy-day bike trip from West View to Ben Avon. (Sorry, I have a decided unappreciation for the three miles of Perry Hwy nearest my house, but I had to go to West View on an errand anyway, so simply took the bike with me and started from there.) Anchor and Anvil at 7211 Church St in Ben Avon, for a huge medium cup of coffee and an Oram's donut. This was my "distant diagonal" adventure destination; see post above for explanation. That, and it was in a steady drizzle, but I was not about to let a little rain keep me from getting a ride in. This is at least the third year I've completed the challenge, and at least the fifth I've attempted it.

Blog post!