#coffeeneuring2019: Eight Is Great; Nine Is Fine

It was the last weekend for this year's coffeeneuring season. I already had seven rides in the book. But a) this year's challenge suggested doing an "eight is great" bonus ride and b) the weather forecast was very promising for late November. So in the end, I did two coffee rides.
 
On Saturday my good friend and riding buddy Kevin headed out for a quick morning ride. Kevin had suggested Finca Coffee as our destination. I hadn't heard of them before but was intrigued when Kevin told me their backstory: Before opening Finca, the team had run 5th Element Coffee in our neighborhood. 5th Element had great coffee but for various reasons didn't survive very long as a business. The new shop has a different (and probably better) concept: Less industrial, minimalist decor with a focus solely on coffee; more light and warmth, still good coffee, but also fresh Salvadoran food. There were still some issues with the place, which is why in the end decided to not make this my final coffeeneuring ride. I'll have to go check Finca out again to come up with a more informed verdict.

Cemetery on Kroghville Road

On Sunday the plan was to head east, pick up some VeloViewer Explorer tiles and also collect new roads. With no firm coffee plan in place, I headed to Cottage Grove. In the interest of road collecting and because my usual routes to Cottage Grove suck in various ways, I tried a slightly different route: Milwaukee to Sprecher to T to Seminary Springs, but then I continued on Gaston instead of turning right on Vilas. Gaston was great and taking Highway N into Cottage Grove started promising as well, with a comfortable bike lane. Unfortunately the bike lane quickly disappeared, and I may have to try yet another route to get to the Glacial Drumlin Trail in a comfortable, stress-free manner.

Where are ma fenders???

The trail turned out to be in not the greatest condition. Compared to other unpaved trails in the area, the Glacial Drumlin usually drains well and dries quickly. However, I was greeted by soft, peanut-buttery conditions. Presumably the ground was still frozen, preventing the water from draining. Of course I was on a fenderless bike...

Fortunately my route took me off the trail soon anyway. Heading further east on Highway BB, I was reminded that it was deer hunting season by a big dumpster on the side of the road, "Deer carcasses only." I was getting close to the first tile, on the wonderfully quiet Kroghville Rd. The roads remained quiet, with most through-traffic either on BB or on the interstate. Because of the interstate cutting off access, I had several out-and-backs on dead-end roads to get to the tiles I needed.



At this point I was well beyond the half-way point and needed to make a coffee plan. I considered riding north into the small town of Marshall, but I suspected the only coffee I'd be able to find there would be at a gas station. Cottage Grove was another option, but in the end I decided to just ride back to Madison and get my coffee there.

This was my first time visiting Garver Feed Mill, a restored historic brick building hosting several food vendors. I had seen pictures of the interior before, but only being there in person made me realize how huge (and currently empty) the space is. Surya Cafe brands itself as "conscious, plant-based cuisine." As they were closing shortly and their food prices seemed fairly high, I just got a double espresso and a gluten-free, vegan cookie. The cookie was crumbly but tasty; the espresso was quite alright. I'll definitely return and try their food.



I guess this was it for coffeeneuring season in 2019. I had a really great time and look forward to doing it yet again next year. Thanks so much to Mary G for organizing the challenge year after year! I would never ever ride this much at this time of the year without the Coffeeneuring Challenge.

Rider name: Harald, Kevin
Ride #: 8
Date: 11/23
Total mileage: 25 mi (41 km)
Drink: Drip coffee
Location: Finca Coffee

Rider name: Harald
Ride #: 9
Date: 11/24
Total mileage: 69 mi (112 km)
Drink: Espresso
Location: Surya Coffee
Music: Bad Company - Inside the Machine

Coffeeneuring ride 7: #coffeeoutside on the Glacial Drumlin Trail

For what could have been the final ride to complete this year's coffeeneuring challenge, I decided to get in an instance of #coffeeoutside, that is make my own coffee somewhere in the outdoors. As my wrist continued to feel better, a longer ride seemed in order, and I headed toward Lake Mills, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Madison.

Patching my spare tube, after the flat on the previous ride

 A large proportion of the ride is on the Glacial Drumlin Trail, but first you have to ride some nice-ish country roads to the trailhead in Cottage Grove. Eventually the trail will be extended all the way into Madison, but that will still be a few years.

Mini horses near Cottage Grove

On the trail

It had been raining a lot over the past week. I had read reports of other bike trails around Madison being very soggy or even flooded. But the Glacial Drumlin turned out to be in fine condition.

Koshkonong Creek had high waters

 Shortly before reaching Lake Mills, I passed two cyclists with camping gear, maybe headed to the Sand Hill Station campground, where the SO and had done an S24O earlier in the season.

Rock Lake

The plan was to first ride to the Tyranena Brewing tasting room, have a beer, and then make my coffee on the way back to Madison.

Warm enough to sit outside at Tyranena...

On the way to Lake Mills I had kept my eyes open for good coffee spots and decided on a bench with a pretty view of wetlands. Thousands of birds provided a wonderful soundtrack to complement the gurgling of my Bialetti Moka Express. Even the coffee itself was bike themed: Just Coffee Co-op had given out sampler packs of their Revolution Roast at a cyclocross race. The coffee is named for Revolution Cycles, a great local coffee shop. And while the coffee itself is a little too dark for my liking, it made a good fit for this #coffeeoutside adventure. As a side note, The Bialetti works great as an outdoor coffee maker. It happens to fit perfectly into the pot stand I made ages ago out of a illy coffee can, and with a capillary hoop alcohol stove it will make coffee pretty quickly. The coffeemaker is certainly not the lightest, but for coffee-centered trips where weight is not the highest priority, I really like this combination.

The days have gotten shorter

Almost back home

This was a wonderful ride to complete the coffeeneuring challenge, and I'm really glad I participated in the challenge this year. We had an uncharacteristically warm fall this year, but still there were days where maybe I wouldn't have gone out hadn't it been for the challenge. And it also encouraged me to seek out some new coffee destinations in an around Madison. I did a few more coffeeneuring rides in the meantime and may blog about them. But the submission deadline for the challenge is just around the corner, and so I had to write up my official entries first! See you again next year, and always be coffeeneuring!