Coffeeneuring #5
Sunday we went to Bloc 11, in Union Square, Somerville. I actually rode alone but met Paul at the coffee shop.
What, you went with someone this time? Yes, I did. I had a reasonable amount of time to ride but figured that since I never see Paul, I ought to call him and see if he was available on short notice and he was, and company is always better than just putting on miles. Paul came from a couple of miles away, in a different direction that I was riding from, but we had coffee together. He had a double expresso and I had a pour over in a pint glass, which might be considered too big a cup, or glass, of coffee. Since Paul lives in the city and rides a lot, he had his basic single speed, locked with what I understand to be the original Kryptonite lock:
I rode my Surly Cross Check. The ride was about 12 miles.
5) Is the Coffee Shop beautiful?
Sure, in a vaguely hipster way - but remember that I'm nowhere close to being a hipster and might be making assumptions here. The shop is in an old bank. There are cool rooms in the back, including old safes, which seem private, more or less. I once came here with a two year old and he loved checking out all of the spaces - but it was empty on a rainy winter morning, unlike the full house we experienced. The coffee is great - I sometimes stop there on my commute if I am driving. And there are many bikes parked in front, including in one of those bike racks that occupy an on street parking stall. We saw this nifty porteur in front:
It had a Novatech generator hub with a Schmidt headlight, a Sturmey Archer internal gear hub in the back, and, obviously, a nice porteur rack. The wiring for the lighting was hidden the frame and the fenders. I couldn't tell if it was a new bike or if the wiring ports were added recently.
7) What else did I forget to ask you that you want to share?
What was the rest of your ride and weekend like? Well, on Saturday there were five loads of laundry and I packed twenty bags of leaves (and we aren't finished yet). It's not like we have a lot of trees but our neighbors do. We brought in some plants for the winter, including this elephant ear, which must be 6 or 7 years old now:
That leaves Monday, Veterans Day, which was a holiday for me but my wife had to work. I tried to get the boys to ride and had the bike trailer out and the child seat attached to the rack but at 45 degrees it didn't seem like a good day for coffeeneuring with young children. But it was a good day for a playground.
Oh, and the ride back home. I really enjoyed riding through the city on a warm fall day. Rain was coming so I eventually packed away my wool sweater and pulled out a soft shell jacket when the first drops started coming down. But not until after I checked out the new boardwalks off the Fitchburg Cutoff Path:
A sign said this was in the Mystic River Watershed. Unfortunately it soon joins a brook that gets sewage overflow and it is surrounded by office parks on both sides but it still feels like a nice corner of the world:
Apparently these are the questions you should ask any coffeeneur, if you get the chance and he or she is the talkative type:
1) Where do you live?
2) How did you decide to coffeeneur?
3) What bike are you using as your coffeeneuring bike?
4) Where did you choose to coffeeneur for your nth coffeeneuring trip?
5) Is the Coffee Shop beautiful.
6) What other types of riding do you do besides coffeeneuring?
7) What else did I forget to ask you that you want to share?
Questions 1-3 and 6 are not related to this specific trip and have been answered in a previous post so that leaves just 3 questions to answer here:
4) Where did you choose to coffeeneur for your fifth coffeeneuring trip?
Sunday we went to Bloc 11, in Union Square, Somerville. I actually rode alone but met Paul at the coffee shop.
What, you went with someone this time? Yes, I did. I had a reasonable amount of time to ride but figured that since I never see Paul, I ought to call him and see if he was available on short notice and he was, and company is always better than just putting on miles. Paul came from a couple of miles away, in a different direction that I was riding from, but we had coffee together. He had a double expresso and I had a pour over in a pint glass, which might be considered too big a cup, or glass, of coffee. Since Paul lives in the city and rides a lot, he had his basic single speed, locked with what I understand to be the original Kryptonite lock:
I rode my Surly Cross Check. The ride was about 12 miles.
5) Is the Coffee Shop beautiful?
Sure, in a vaguely hipster way - but remember that I'm nowhere close to being a hipster and might be making assumptions here. The shop is in an old bank. There are cool rooms in the back, including old safes, which seem private, more or less. I once came here with a two year old and he loved checking out all of the spaces - but it was empty on a rainy winter morning, unlike the full house we experienced. The coffee is great - I sometimes stop there on my commute if I am driving. And there are many bikes parked in front, including in one of those bike racks that occupy an on street parking stall. We saw this nifty porteur in front:
It had a Novatech generator hub with a Schmidt headlight, a Sturmey Archer internal gear hub in the back, and, obviously, a nice porteur rack. The wiring for the lighting was hidden the frame and the fenders. I couldn't tell if it was a new bike or if the wiring ports were added recently.
7) What else did I forget to ask you that you want to share?
What was the rest of your ride and weekend like? Well, on Saturday there were five loads of laundry and I packed twenty bags of leaves (and we aren't finished yet). It's not like we have a lot of trees but our neighbors do. We brought in some plants for the winter, including this elephant ear, which must be 6 or 7 years old now:
That leaves Monday, Veterans Day, which was a holiday for me but my wife had to work. I tried to get the boys to ride and had the bike trailer out and the child seat attached to the rack but at 45 degrees it didn't seem like a good day for coffeeneuring with young children. But it was a good day for a playground.
Oh, and the ride back home. I really enjoyed riding through the city on a warm fall day. Rain was coming so I eventually packed away my wool sweater and pulled out a soft shell jacket when the first drops started coming down. But not until after I checked out the new boardwalks off the Fitchburg Cutoff Path:
A sign said this was in the Mystic River Watershed. Unfortunately it soon joins a brook that gets sewage overflow and it is surrounded by office parks on both sides but it still feels like a nice corner of the world:
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