Coffeeneuring Map - A Connected Activity Made Possible by the Web

In this post, the Chief Coffeeneur describes the map that is being used to track locations for this year's event.

And here in his fine blog about biking around the neighborhood, Daniel describes the process by which he is accumulating the information and creating the map.

In the category of when worlds collide, this collective activity has much in similarity with the Connected Courses event in which I'm participating over here.  Both involve a loose collaboration among a set of interested participants, where communities are defined with links and hashtags.  This one here is about riding bikes and going for coffee!

Coffeeneuring #3

After a start under threatening skies, I got a phone call from my brother and stopped to chat.  As those autumn Seattle skies opened up and the squall commenced, I moved under a tree to continue the conversation and stay dry.  After wrapping up business with Sam, the prudent thing to do was to cross the Ravenna Park Bridge and head down the hill to Zoka for a latte and a Zoka Bar.  

The plan was to wait out the showers.  But, back on the bike, it became obvious that I wasn't dressed for the weather.  With the cold/cough/upper respiratory phlegm yuckness that's been present for the past couple of weeks, I turned back, headed up the hill toward the warmth of home.  On the way, I snapped this photo of a casualty from last night's wind storm.

Fall in the Great Northwest is time for rain gear and long-fingered gloves.  8.7 miles today, but let's live to ride another day and be better prepared.

Coffeeneuring #2

An almost 29 mile loop around Seattle on a beautiful fall day included a stop at Zeitgeist Coffee in Pioneer Square for a double latte and a ginger molasses cookie to qualify for Coffeeneuring #2.

The Blue Riot was back from it's overhaul (bottom bracket, drive train, etc, etc,) with new fenders for the upcoming monsoon season, and a spiffy new accessory, an Acorn Medium Saddlebag.

Record-breaking heat today (73 F!) brought out the crowds, including several sightings of those using the new Pronto bike-sharing service.  Popular today, but we'll see how many of these things get used between mid-November and the end of February.

Coffeeneuring #1 - And, we're off!

Coffeeneuring 2014 began with a counter-clockwise Seattle Urban Loop, including riding past Green Lake, Golden Gardens, Magnolia, Seattle Center, Downtown, through the I-90 tunnel and return via Leschi.  37 miles, 2129 ft elevation gain.

Highlights of the bright fall day included a trip through Seattle Center, as well as my first use of the new 2nd Avenue bike infrastructure. SDOT has made 'improvements' to the Bike Lane of Death, still sort of gnarly and emotional, especially when passing the ghost bike memorializing where the cyclist lost her life.

The requisite coffee was obtained at the Leschi Starbucks, a frequent stop for many on their Sunday rides.  The double grande iced mocha hit the spot.