Coffeeneuring Ride 4: Acclimating

With winter coming soon, I thought it would be smart to try to become acclimated to the cold before the temps start to plummet too much.  So today I jumped at the opportunity to ride 10 miles into a 20 degree wind chill for a cup of hot coffee.
Long story short, (and I do wish I could write an actual story) after getting off to a late start, I made it to the coffee shop five minutes before it closed. This meant that I had to enjoy my beverage al fresco, which is also good for acclimating. Come January, weather like this will feel like a heat wave.

Date: November 8
Location: Casa Latte 5493 Miller Trunk Hwy, Hermantown MN
Beverage: Snickers Latte w/ Almond Milk
Distance: 20.4 miles
Observation: Tailwinds Rule! Even more so when it's cold out.

Coffeeneuring Ride 3: Pumpkin Spice

Since I've gotten a bit behind on the coffee rides, I am going to have to start doing two a weekend to get caught up.


Sunday morning was a bit cooler than Saturday, so I decided to take it indoors to Perk Place, where I enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte and also bought a bag of locally roasted beans. Perk Place is a family owned shop that just opened last winter. Although I've been here several times, this was the first time that I biked.


Being located in a strip mall, my parking choices were limited to either: a chain link fence 100 yards away, a wheel bender bike rack 200 yards away, or unsecured on the sidewalk. Being the lazy guy that I am, I chose the closest option. Since I could watch the bike from the window, I didn't feel quite as nervous leaving it there. Bike thieves probably sleep in on Sundays anyway.

Date: October 26
Location: Perk Place, 1336 W Arrowhead Rd, Duluth MN
Beverage: Pumpkin Spice Latte with almond milk.
Distance: 10 miles, which included a stop at the grocery store.
Observation: Sunday morning is the best time to ride into town.

Coffeeneuring Ride 2: Lake Superior Sunrise

We're on week four of the Coffeeneuring Challenge already, and I've only done one ride so far, so I guess it's time to get my butt in gear.
For my second outing I decided to do a coffee shop without walls while watching the sun rise over Lake Superior.


I chose a perfect day for it. When I left the house 45 minutes before sunrise the temp was 48 and the skies were clear. I made very good time. The ride was all downhill with a strong tailwind.


Oh the joy one feels upon learning he hasn't forgotten anything.


Although the water was a bit slow to boil, I got the coffee pressed with a few minutes to spare.


Hot on the rocks.


For your (quick) viewing pleasure.

My coffee companion. I didn't share. He seemed high strung enough.


Here is just one small contributor of Lake Superior's water. It's much more impressive in the spring.


Although I left my squirrel friend behind I still had some pleasant, and quiet, company for the ride home. Even if he would have spoken, I never would have heard him over the wind.

Date: October 25
Location: Skyline Parkway overlooking Lake Superior
Beverage: French Press with soy creamer and salted caramel agave syrup
Distance: 14.9 miles
Observation: Nature is beautiful, hills and headwinds, not so much.

Coffeeneuring Ride 1: Stretch It Out

It's Coffeeneuring time once again and I'm a week late getting started, so let's get this thing going.

I hate to admit it, but I was a bit coffee'd out by the time I had a chance to get out to ride, so I invoked  the buying beans rule and went to Caribou coffee to pick some up.


It was a beautiful day and I wanted to stretch what would have been an 8 mile ride out a bit, so I took the scenic route.


I stopped at Hawk Ridge to admire the view and check out the....um.....hawks.


While there were no hawks to be found I did spot a laker out on the water. Despite the lack of raptors, it worked out ok. Thousand foot ships are much easier to photograph than soaring hawks.


Eventually I made my way to the coffee shop. I didn't really want to include this picture, or even ride across the parking lot, but this where I went so here it is.


Date: October 12
Location: Caribou Coffee, Woodland Ave
One pound of Amy's Blend
Distance: 14.4 miles
Observation: The longer path is always more enjoyable.

Holey Rollers

For a while now, I've been looking for ways to make riding my Mukluk more enjoyable. Although it's great fun to ride, it takes so much effort just to get the thing moving, that riding it becomes quite a chore. So I decided that a bit of weight loss was in order.  Since they say the best weight to lose is rotational weight, I took the plunge and drilled out my rims.

Because there are already a ton of how-to's on the subject ( I learned the most from Vic at The Lazy Rondo Blog) and because I'm terrible at stopping what I'm doing to take pictures, I'm not going to go into too much depth on what I did, but there are a couple things I learned that I will touch upon.


A jig really helps to hold the wheel steady while you drill. I made mine by nailing some pieces of cedar fencing together.


A template helps get the holes lined up right where they should be. I used a center punch so the drill bit wouldn't wander.


Drilling the holes was the easy part. Smoothing the edges was a pain. I used a grinding wheel on my dremel and it took forever. Before I do Trish's wheels I think I'll pick up a deburring tool. It should be quicker and will probably do a better job.


The most vital part of the whole project is picking a fun tape. Musn't be boring.


The final numbers: It took me 7 hours which I would have just spent reading bike blogs, $20ish in tools and supplies, and 1.2 lbs lost between the two wheels.

Coming up next time: An even less detailed look at my tubeless conversion. Stay tuned.

Boulder Lake S24O

This past Tuesday I loaded up the Trucker for my first bike camping trip in almost 2 years.
My plan was to go to the Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center and stay at one of their free lakeside campsites.


As this was just an overnight trip, I only used 2 panniers and a frame bag.




The fall colors are coming along nicely.


The 17 mile trip was entirely paved until I came to the cross country ski trail that leads to the campsites. Trish and I scouted the trail last year, so I knew which of the ten campsites I wanted.


Lo and Behold, the site was available. As a matter of fact, I believe the other nine were open too. The only company I had was an owl, a few woodpeckers, and a couple of geese.........and cars on the road, and gunshots in the near distance. Next time I'll probably go further up the trail. Wearing blaze orange probably wouldn't be a bad idea either.




Ultimately, I found the view to be well worth having to listen to a little road noise.


After tending to a little campfire, I hit the hay for a very restful 9 hours of sleep.

Overall I had a really good time. The sites there are all really well appointed, especially considering that there is no fee. They will even deliver firewood for $5 a bundle if you reserve a site (which is a $30 fee).
The only part of the experience I didn't like was the loneliness of a solo campfire. I have no issue at all being by myself, it just seems that a campfire is better when it's shared.
I'll try to not let another 2 years go by before I bike camp again. I'll have to start early next year so I can get into the groove.

Welcome Bikers

Why thank you!

What? You weren't referring to me. 

My mistake. 

Tin Lizzie

And I thought I lived life in the slow lane. 

Wait, they passed me. I guess I do. 

Go Vegan

After devouring a couple of tofu scramble burritos for breakfast, I went for my Sunday morning ride where I came across this little bit of pavement graffiti. I wasn't quite sure if it was telling me to be vegan or if it was cheering me on because I am vegan. I appreciate it either way.


Because man cannot live on burritos alone, I stopped for some iced coffee. I had a black and white mocha with almond milk. It was delicious.


The osprey cheered me on too.




I achieved a new milestone. I rode no handed for what must have been a whole five seconds. Since I don't have the greatest balance I won't be making a habit of it.


Look! I did it again.

4 Months Later

I can't believe its been four months since I last updated this blog. It's not that I haven't been riding, I just haven't taken many pictures. It feels as if I keep seeing the same things over and over, and I just couldn't seem to get inspired enough to pull the camera out of the bag.......until today.
So here goes nothin'. Time to get back in the swing of things.


To start things off here's the ever popular over the handlebars shot-Pavement Edition.


This group wants nothing to do with me and I don't blame them. I must have approached from upwind. I didn't take a shower until after my ride.


I'm not a real big fan of paddle boats. Because my legs are so long, I always end up sitting on the back of the seat in order to be able to pedal without getting a knee in the chin. At least with a bike I can raise the saddle into the stratosphere if I need to.


Another over the handlebar shot. This time it's the Gravel Edition.


I took this B/W shot down low for the sake of a little variety.


My second deer sighting of the day. The first was nothing but a blur.


On the way back home I came across the course for the triathlon being held today. Apparently, triathletes aren't the brightest bulbs in the box.

20 Days Later

Looks like spring is making a little headway.

Errandonnee 2014: Complete

As Monday is my normal day off during the week, it tends to be the day I run most of my errands. I was able to knock five of them off of my to do list while at the same time, complete this years' Errandonnee challenge.


With spring coming it seemed like a good time to get a haircut. Indoor parking is always a bonus.

Category: Personal Care and Health
Distance: 7.5 miles
Observation: The best errands always include free coffee.


I stopped at the credit union to pick up some check registers. It's good to stay in balance.

Category: Wild Card
Distance: 2.1 miles
Observation: As long as you're in the neighborhood you might as well stop.


I came here thinking that I didn't need anything, but I left with a couple of saddle locks, which are wire cords that you loop through the saddle rails. As long as the would-be thief isn't carrying a sharp pair of scissors, I think our Brooks should be safe.

Category: Bike Shop
Distance: 0.7 miles
Observation: You never know when you are going to find something you didn't know you needed.


We needed coffee beans and I needed something hot to drink. The beans ended up being ok, but the mexican hot chocolate ended up being the best I've ever had.

Category: Coffee of Dessert
Distance: 1.5 miles
Observation: I will stay somewhere much longer if I can keep my bike in sight.


The final stop of the day was to pick up some "grape juice" to go with dinner.

Category: Any Store That is Not a Grocery Store
Distance: 9.6 miles
Observation: The best wine chiller is a pannier in winter.

So, the final numbers for the 2014 Errandonnee Challenge are:

12 errands from 7 categories
Total Distance: 45.9 miles
Observation: I think I've done as many errands by bike in the last 2 weeks as I have in the past 2 years.

I'm hoping that next year, instead of doing errands by bike specifically to meet the challenge, the errands will be things I'm doing already. Completing the challenge will just be a bonus.

Big thanks to MJ for helping to kick-start my use of a bike for a purpose.