For the benefit of the poor soul who has to read through everyone’s blog posts and Facebook entries to check to see if we’ve completed the 2016 Coffeeneuring Challenge, I’ve put together a compilation of my rides.
Ride 1. 21st October 2016. The spontaneous one. Instantly inspired by a friend’s Instagram posting about something called “coffeeneuring”, the short ride to my closest coffee shop at Allington Farm Shop. 5 miles round trip.
Ride 2. 26th October 2016. The one with the veggie breakfast and the too-warm cycling gear. 18 mile round trip to Merkin’s Farm.
Ride 3. 30th October 2016. The one with my husband and the lovely lunch. 31 mile round trip to The Birdcage, Malmesbury.
Ride 4. 9th November 2016. The one with the peacock and the soggy saddle. 5.2 mile damp ride to Grounded, Corsham.
Ride 5. 16th November 2016. The one with the china crockery. Folly Row Cafe, Kington St Michael. 10.9 miles.
Ride 6. 18th November 2016. The one that felt like cheating (but wasn’t!) Costa Coffee, Chippenham. 7.6 miles.
Ride 7. 20th November 2016. The one with the flood and the flask, where an aborted ride was saved with a “coffeeneuring without walls” trip. 2.5 miles around my own village.
7 rides done in 7 weeks, in fact in 4 and a half weeks (due to my late start). A total mileage of 80.2 miles. This is waaaaay more than I would normally do on my bike, especially at this cold and wet time of year! It’s wonderful what a challenge will push you to do.
The more observant amongst you will notice that my last 3 rides all seem to be done within 7 days. If you’ve read the rules (you have read the rules, right? You’re not the sort of person who just ticks the box that says “I have read the terms and conditions” without actually reading them, are you?!) you’ll know that rule number 6 states “Two Rides Max Per Week”. Okay, I’m not trying to cheat, but this challenge did originate in the U.S. where a new week starts on a Sunday. Soooooo, technically today’s ride was in next week, whilst Wednesday’s and Friday’s rides were in last week.
Have I convinced you? Have I successfully completed Coffeeneuring 2016?
If I have, that’s great because I’d love to officially complete the challenge and get my patch. If I didn’t, well I’m happy I finished the challenge unofficially and that it’s got me out on my bike for 80.2 miles that I probably wouldn’t have done without Coffeeneuring.
So thank you, Chasing Mailboxes – see you next year!
