Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 7

Sunday November 19, 2017

Unfortunately our neighbors were unable to ride with us on our final ride. With a busy week ahead for the holidays and colder weather, we were unable to reschedule.  Jen and I were out late last night to see my favorite band, Son Volt,  and got in around midnight--something we usually don't do, but the show started late and we hung out later than usual.  No regrets though, the show was amazing, as were all the other times I've had the opportunity to see these icons. The rain came in as we were leaving and behind it, the temps fell like a rock.  The difference from yesterday to today's ride was about 25 degrees, with a steady 20 mile per hour wind constant from the north. 


The ride today was obviously a short one. A ride to a local park for our final coffee outside of the 2017 coffeeneuring season.  The wind was cold, biting out of the north, and our spot right on the bay probably wasn't the best for an MSR stove to cook our water; it blew out three times, but we persevered and were able to have a nice cup of folgers instant and a Tazo Tea for Jen. 

I would have had some cool pics of the boiling process and some nice landscape pics, but my usually dependable SD card SPLIT IN HALF as I put it in the reader. bummer. 

The kiddos were selling beverages again on the corner today, which may have been an option as they were selling hot chocolate and hot tea, but we missed them on the way to our planned stop. Needed the exercise today anyway!


So, a fifth coffeeneuring season for me comes to a close. It's been a wonderful, albeit quick season.  Looking forward to more off-season trips, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the indoors and hiking trips. 

Ride 7:
4.3 miles
Coffee Outside, Sandpiper Pier/Park

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 6

Saturday November 18, 2017

Once again, unseasonably warm weather returns before a cold front blows through tonight.  Team La Condesa decided to get ride six in before it gets cold, and will be harder to do rides during Thanksgiving week. 

Our ride today was a windy nooner around local neighborhoods under 75 degree weather, with a stop near the end of the loop at McDonalds for a nice iced Cafe Mocha.  

On the route, we made a turn and found two younger kiddos selling lemonade--even though that's not necessarily on the list of stops, we had to grab a cup of fresh lemonade.  I know you never know what you're gonna get at lemonade stands for .50 cents, but this lemonade was very good!  We took ours on the road, all the while talking about the weeks events, and how acupuncture can make one emotional. We also found out Joe loves lacrosse, as he is a coach.  WE also know he recruits lemonade salesmen, to make sure they're furthering the sport in the area :)

After an easy eight miles, we put ride 6 behind us.  Hard to believe we only have one ride left in this coffeeneuring season.  We'll try to knock it out tomorrow. 

Good Lemonade stand.  .50

Ride 6:

7.9 miles

Stop McDonalds

Two Iced Cafe Mochas

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 5

Sunday November 12, 2017

Coffeeneuring Ride 5

Sometimes, it's all about business. We usually have one of these real quiet rides every year.  This year it was ride 5.  We were up early and at the pedals around 8AM before any of us really had any wake up time.  We rode the 98 under nice weather conditions to the Whataburger in Gulf Breeze, hoping to get there before the church crowds get out, because the demand for coffee goes up exponentially around 9:30.  Luckily we made it with time to spare and we all had a nice big 16 oz black coffee.  I ate a new Chorizo Taquito, which isn't nearly as good as the Chorizo burger, while Jen had the staple, coffee w/creamer and a sausage/egg/cheese biscuit.  

We rode with Joe and Amber again (of course) on this trip, at a decent pace for beach cruiser style bikes. 

Met up with a friend who was nursing a hangover and talked about things really not relevant to coffeeneuring so I felt that this trip was kind of a quiet one as far as what I'm used to, but nonetheless, ride five was in the books. 

all binazz

Ride 5:

10.7 miles
Whataburger

Black Coffee and Coffee w/cream and breakfast

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 4

Sunday November 5, 2017

What a difference a week makes!  Last week we rode in fifty degree weather, and this Sunday there was a delicious fog over 68 degree weather.  

After a time change, it is usually easier to do coffee outside, so the plan this morning was for team Lacondesa to hit the Naval Live Oaks reservation for some black coffee. We originally thought a bean run was in the works, but I'd been sore and figured a mild mileage trip would be best.  

The ride to the NLO was uneventful but the fog was gorgeous. Even though I'm still having a front brake issue, I was able to keep up once I disconnected the calipers-it was a rear caliper brake kinda ride. A very faint fog up front, with the thickness lying just above the bay.  I was a little concerned once we got to the woodline on bloody 98 that we wouldn't be seen, especially since none of us brought our bright blinky taillights.  Amber and Joe decided riding faster on the narrower bike path on the north side of 98 in the reservation was a good idea and Jen and I were easily dropped.  The good thing about Sunday mornings is the roads are somewhat silent, with the exception of the eager church-goers.  

Team Lacondesa broke out both MSR stoves and fired up the Stanley pots to get the water boiling.  Jen and Amber enjoyed some tea, while Joe and I went with the double bagged folgers 16 oz for some wake up kick starter on the ride back.  We hung out and talked.  I was also able to break out the work issued Fuji XT-1 and get some pretty cool pics.  Hey, I know-but I need to get familiar with a camera for work.  It is truly a beautiful and awesome camera.  

There were plenty of photo opportunities in the NLO.  Spiderwebs with dew, and of course, the team drinking beverages and talking.  A great ride day, even if the jet-lag of time-change persists even today as I write this the Wednesday after.  

Ride 4:

10.9 miles

NLO destination

Coffeeoutside with Folgers and the MSR stoves

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 3

COFFEENEURING 2017 RIDE 3 OCTOBER 29, 2017

So...the front came through last night and it was COLD this morning.  We decided on a short three-mile (in case of freezing conditions except it's 49 degrees because we're bitches) emergency ride to Starbucks for coffeeINSIDE today.  The ride had biting winds from the north.  

I wore tin foil over my wool socks (youtube--dont' judge me) and we made it. 

Starbucks was our emergency ride, so I'm hoping there aren't rain or rain and cold days--this is Florida, so I doubt or hope this won't happen again.  The ride is always great with team LaCondesa though.  As we hung out (and I was hot inside the coffee shop) we were able to catch up on all the recent news including local homicides and how we knew the suspect (who is now in jail) at one time.  Crazy how things happen to us later in our days. Good ride; good chat; good coffee; good friends.  

What is it about the Salted Caramel at Starbucks where the last gulp of the 'syrup' leaves your rear taste buds kicking to the point where you want more--almost to the point where it activates your puke trigger and you wanna gack?  Anyway...

47 degrees--39 with the wind chill. 

3.8 miles. 

Salty Caramel gack Grande (Jen had some kind of pineapple tea--yeah, it was iced). 

Happy Ride 3 anyway.  I probably didn't need the tin foil on the socks but it sure helps to be prepared :)

1/3 of team lacondesa

Team Lutz (half lacondesa) selfie with our coffee and "iced tea" wha????

Jen and her bike

Team LaCondesa's bikes

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 2

Ride 2--Sunday October 22, 2017

My three speed Electra cruiser has been giving me a little bit of a problem lately.  I recently had to have the dropout lock fixed at my local bike shop, only to find that I needed a new three speed cable mount, at the rear hub.  What a pain--three-speeds are very easy to work on unless it's mine, I guess.  I was able to hang out with my bike shop guy and he showed me how to fix it if it happens again.  The bike worked perfectly after the fix.  I even bought a new randoneur rack as a thank you for the front of the bike. 

We rode downtown this weekend for gallery night--got in 3.8 miles, which reminds me how long it's been since I've ridden more than 15 on a single ride.  It has been a VERY long time--like I said in an earlier post--I'm ashamed of my mileage this year for sure.  

Today we decided to ride to Drowsy Poet Coffee house on the beach.  A staple ride since we started doing coffeeneuring years ago.  It's one of our absolute favorite places with a fantastic ambiance, great views, and even better coffee. 

Today it felt like I was riding in the Tour de France with team Lacondesa. I actually got dropped by my other slow riders on the trip over this morning. We had a tail wind too, and I had no idea why I couldn't catch up.  I figured it must be a late night last night, drinking late, sleeping late, lack of exercise on the bike--no matter what I tried, I could not catch up to my neighbors and wifey.  It was crazy.  By the time I got to the 4 mile mark I was pouring sweat, and had to stop.  There was either something wrong with me, or with the bike.  

I had given up on trying to catch up at this point. I figured my friends or wife would at least turn their head to see that I wasn't with them anymore, but it never happened. 

My first stop was to loosen the rear brake, and take a look at the hub that was giving me trouble in the first place--maybe something was tightened too much in the shop, or a brake was rubbing.  I adjusted my seat to a higher height, all while dripping sweat and being out of breath.  It was crazy.  Surely I wasn't this out of shape. I adjusted a few things, then had the same problems.  Finally after a few breaks, some stops, adjustments, I felt like i was making some headway.  Maybe my body was just getting reused to riding more than 5 miles at a clip.  Something was wrong but i couldn't figure out what the heck it was. 

Finally I caught up to Team LaCondesa at Whataburger. I certainly thought multiple times about just calling them and telling them I'll cook my coffee later, and came very close to turning around and riding later.

Once in the parking lot, instead of cutting the trip short and going to whataburger, I decided I was going to push on. I told my friends it felt like the rear hub was rubbing on something but even loosening the brake cable and the nuts on the axle didn't seem to help.  

We got to the bridge. I realized what it was at this point.  I obviously wasn't going to be riding my cruiser up a 6% grade with what seemed to be my brakes being on, so i dismounted and pushed it up the half mile hill.  When I pushed the bike, it was super hard to push at this point.  What a disaster this turned out to be.  Along with the 20 mile per hour headwind, my neighbor Joe, a the top of the bridge suggested we maybe just turn around and go to whataburger--hell no, we made it this far, I'll try to fix the problem at the bottom of the hill, once we make the Drowsy Poet parking lot.   

Turns out it wasn't the rear hub at all--the front rack that I installed was rubbing against the front brake cable causing the FRONT tire to appear to be on the brake--all those adjustments were for not, so the way back I was constantly adjusting all the adjustments I adjusted in order to try and make the ride easier, which failed in the first place!  Needless to say, once I figured out it was the front brake, I just disconnected the brake up front and no longer had the problem. I'd rather be moving anyway--I can always put my feet down if my brakes don't work!  

Glad I got it figured out, we enjoyed three iced coffees, and I had a hot Caramel Macchiatto--not the best decision on the day where it felt like I was murdering myself, but at least I was able to figure it out.  The ride home was a little hard due to my legs being toast from the ride over, but much more pleasant.  The worst part of the ride home was the final two miles, where the wind held dead at us at about 20-25 miles per hour. My legs were burning, but we got the ride completed.  My red face was from overheating, windburn, and more than likely a little blood pressure.  Maybe I should watch my salt intake.  

Ride 2: 14.5 miles, avg speed 8mph

Ride to Drowsy Poet in 20mph headwind

Brake problems. 

Don't murder yourself. Fix the problem before the ride. 

#droppedbyteamLaCondesa

Hot coffee was just another of multiple bad ideas today.  Hot windy Ride 2

Amber and Joe enjoying their frappuccinos.

Coffeeneuring 2017 Ride 1

Ride One - Sunday October 14, 2017

I gotta say, I'm a little embarrassed about my miles I've ridden this year, but as usual, now that I have my friends that ride with me and push me along, I'm ready for team LaCondesa's 5th year of Coffeeneuring on the Emerald Coast of Florida. 

We've had a lot of changes occur this year to the infrastructure in our town.  A new Three Mile Bridge to Pensacola is in the works and is to be completed in 2020.  When she's finished, she'll be a beauty, with 8 foot wide PROTECTED Pedestrian/bike lanes, and easy on and off, crossings, parks, etc--you name it, this new bridge will have it. Unfortunately, the construction phase currently makes the bridge a nightmare, so, in effect, all of our coffeeneuring trips will be done locally, and preferably to the beach also.  

We all want to do more coffee without walls trips this year.  I'm not a 'foofy' coffee type drinker by any means, and, after checking the wallet on a couple of trips, i'm just fine with boiling my own water and French Pressing my own Folgers, or if I'm feeling 'foofy'--a ground up bean from Dunkin or Starbucks. 

So, without further ado--trip one. 

We originally planned to ride Friday evening on kick-off day, but re-living horror movies with my now teen-children made for a night at home. Once you start Pet Sematary, you can't just stop it and return to it, if you know what I mean. So the cancellation with the neighbors was not a problem, and we rescheduled for Sunday morning, which is when we usually ride anyway.  

Our weather has been really weird this year too.  It was a cooler September than October, and we were riding a late heat wave brought on by the aftermath of Hurricane Nate. That lasted a week, until Sunday. 

When we rode that morning, there were some scattered storms in the distance, but I was happy to get back on my coveted Electra three-speed. The wind was heavy, but we all decided to do a 4.5 mile loop, with a stop at a local boat ramp to watch the storm clouds (hopefully) work their way out. 

I bought about a 5000' roll of Velcro (so i never have to buy it again, I'm hoping) and was able to get my special 'coffeeneuring bag' attached to my recently acquired front rando rack.  This bag has been sitting in my garage over the past few years. It's important to me--given to me as a Christmas present by a co-worker who used to ride with us on a regular basis, but doesn't have the time any more due to recent promotions. A canvas randoneur bag, with perfect pockets to hold my travel packs of coffee, and, the bag is just wide enough to perfectly hold my Stanley Stainless coffee pot and MSR burner with a tank of gas.  YES!!!  The virgin trip with it occurred this morning and it held up and did it's job well!

Four years of coffeeneuring attached. #reminders

The air was damp and humid for today's ride.  I had to re-think hot coffee on a day like today but the wind made it bearable--drinking hot coffee that is--there was just enough wind to keep it somewhat cool in the shade, so the 80 degree weather with 95% humidity that made it feel like 150 degrees wasn't all that bad. 

A quick cook, a two pack of Folgers in a Yeti 20oz cup and we were golden.  We hung out at the local picnic table and listened as the stressed out boaters tried to get their boats in and out of the water. Joe and Amber broke out their very lightweight camping stove and chairs--I NEED one of those chairs! We also caught up and had our 'Sunday Coffee conversations' about past week occurrences and everything in between.  A great first ride to start the 2017 season. 

4.5 miles to Oriole Beach Boat Ramp.

Coffee Outside, in the Wind.
Folgers insta packs.

Rob, Jen, Joe and Amber.