Ride of the Week: Coffee time!

It's autumn.  The air is crisp and cool, and colorful leaves add a vibrant dimension to our already beautiful scenery.  We're riding with more clothing lately, perhaps digging our long-fingered gloves and tights out of storage.  For many of us, the big rides of the year are in the books.  We're bringing down the intensity a notch and spending more quality time with the "rain bike".

Image

Now is a great time of year to round up your friends and enjoy social rides to the neighborhood coffee shop for a nice hot drink and warm camaraderie.  From this basic idea, the notion of coffeeneuring was born, a seven-week challenge drawing in riders from 17 states plus DC and five countries last year.  You can join the Facebook group, compare rides with new friends from the Strava group, and follow the play-by-play with twitter's#coffeeneuring hashtag.

Sundays during October and early November, the Cycling in Autumn For Espresso Series (CAFES) can help fill your need for coffee and riding.  We'll do our coffeeneuring all around the region, visiting Black Diamond, Carnation, Magnolia, Bothell and more.  Each week the distance is a little shorter to help gently taper into wintertime.  As with all group rides this time of year, a light is recommended all times of the day or night, and your companions will really appreciate full fenders on your bike.

Brisk-paced riders, please join me at 9 a.m. this Sunday, Oct. 13 at the South Bellevue Park and Ride, when we will set out for the second ride of the series.  This route covers 50 miles to Carnation for a visit with the ever-cheerful baristas at Sandy's Espresso.  Along the way, we cover some classic riding on the Sammamish Plateau, through Snoqualmie Valley, over Union Hill and around Bellevue.

For all the details, refer to the Ride Listing.  Questions?  Comments?  Head over to the Meetup Page.  Hope to see you Sunday!