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Coffeeneuring #4: A Coffee Experience

Coffeeneuring 4: Slipstream
Date: November 1, 2014
Distance: Two miles

Coffeeneuring is a learning experience. Visiting seven different coffee shops by bike over seven weeks does more than just deliver you to new places for java – it teaches you about yourself.

I’m fortunate to live in DC, which has an embarrassment of coffee riches. Coffee has become an art form in this town, in which bearded baristas lovingly hand-pour steaming water over ground coffee as you stand there watching. I love it – up to a point.

For my fourth coffeeneuring adventure, I visited Slipstream. I had just woken up from a nap. I was cranky. I wanted coffee.

Slipstream is a brand-new Logan Circle cafe that specializes in coffee and cocktails – I was intrigued. Coffee and cocktails are things I love.

But I was in a hurry, being groggy from sleep. I sat at the bar. I wanted coffee now. The bartender/barista was very attentive. I ordered the Oktoberfest coffee because it seemed unusual.

And then I waited. And waited. The bartender wandered away, then ground some coffee beans, then wandered away, then looked for a carafe, then wandered away, then heated some water and then, ten minutes later, I received this lovely presentation.

Delicious but I don't have the patience for hipster coffee #coffeeneuring — A coffee experience at Slipstream.

It was all very pretty. Putting things on boards is all the rage in DC for some reason. The coffee was very good and it was a lovely experience.

Slipstream is a beautiful and hip. If you want a cool date in DC, and are in no particular hurry, come here. It looks like a meet-cute place in a romantic comedy. You could see engagement photos being shot here. It would look great in selfies.

And I’d go back for drinks – there were some really interesting cocktails on the menu.

But I don’t want an experience when it comes to coffee. I just want coffee, dammit! And I want it now! Joe is cranky!

I prefer good coffee. But I don’t have the patience for hipster coffee. When I want coffee, I want it now. This is just one of the many lessons that coffeeneuring has taught me.

Coffeeneuring #3: Muffins and Marathons

Banana walnut muffin and coffee for #coffeeneuring 3

Coffeeneuring 3: Uprising Muffin Company
Date: October 12, 2014
Distance: Ten miles

It was one of those days that you never wanted to go inside – a warm Sunday with fall leaves at peak color.

For Coffeeneuring #3, I decided to check out Uprising Muffin Company on 7th Street, right next to the Shaw Metro. I was up at an absurd hour – good thing they open at 7 AM. And the muffin selection is truly impressive. Their “everyday selections” include cranberry orange and lemon poppy-seed while they have daily specials including maple pancake muffins and even some kind of muffin egg sandwich.

I kept it simple with a banana walnut muffin, which was delicious, and coffee, which was okay. If you just want coffee, Compass a couple blocks away is a better choice.

Coffeeneuring suits me because there’s nothing I like better than wandering the city by bike. Coffeeneuring gives these ramblings a purpose. After breakfast, I crossed town using the R Street bike lane, then turned south on the 15th St Cycletrack and headed for the National Mall. I ran into this sight on Freedom Plaza:

Looks like the @wabadc safe cycling class #bikedc — WABA teaches safe city cycling.

It was The Intro to City Cycling class by the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, designed to teach “confident control of the bike in all situations.” The class took advantage of the wide, car-less space of Freedom Plaza to learn how to brake, corner and other necessary skills. Looks like they were having fun.

The Marine Corps Marathon was going on. I saw on Twitter that the winner had already crossed the finish line. I went down to the National Mall to see if people were still running. In fact, they were. Thousands of them. Somewhere in these hordes was the Queen of Coffeeneuring. It’s not enough that she has to bike everywhere – she runs marathons too, just to make me feel like a slacker.

Runners on the Mall #marinecorpsmarathon #igdc — Marine Corps Marathon on the National Mall.

America! #igdc #marinecorpsmarathon — America

The course went around the Mall, across the river, and basically all over the city as runners racked up 26 miles. In front of the Capitol (now covered in scaffolding – weird), a marching band played to cheer them on.

Watching this endless stream of jogging humanity, it was impossible not to feel inspired. But I was also very glad to have my bike. That running stuff looks exhausting.

Imagine what history would be like if the Greeks had bikes. It would’ve been much easier to get word back to Athens. The first marathon wouldn’t have ended in a cry of “Victory!” and death. Instead, a bike messenger would’ve brought the news of the Persian defeat. He might be sweating a bit after twenty-six miles. And Greece would be celebrated as the birthplace of the bike (and democracy).

As the runners trailed off, I headed home, passing the White House and one final fall scene:

Fall is ephemeral. These colorful leaves will be gone within days. Winter is coming once again – cold temps are rolling in. If you weren’t out last weekend, you missed the best fall weekend of the year.

Coffeeneuring #2: Sunday Washington Ramble

Breezer foldy bike — Fast and foldy, it’s the Breezer Zig7.

Coffeeneuring 2: Compass Coffee
Date: October 12, 2014
Distance: Ten miles?

I am not one to count miles. I don’t Strava. Winning the #1 spot and a crown made of pixels doesn’t interest me.

What I like about biking is the ability to just pick up and go. It’s simple. And in DC, it’s the easiest and quickest way to get around.

My plan for Sunday was to hop on my recently-repaired Specialized Sirrus and ride to Alexandria, less than an hour way. But I didn’t want to put on padded shorts and put my feet in toe clips. I just wanted to go.

So, for my second coffeeneuring adventure, I hopped on my Breezer, a foldy I bought off Craigslist seven years ago. With its small wheels, this little bike takes 90-degree turns with aplomb. Low to the ground, it’s also easy to get on and off – ideal for the stop and start nature of city cycling. Fenders, kickstand and a sturdy chain guard round out this practical urban cycle.

Leaving my Logan Circle apartment, I cruised down the 15th Street Cycletrack past the White House and down to the Mall, where the Army Ten-Miler was wrapping up. It’s inspiring to see so many people running and races make DC a delight, as blocked-off streets mean car-free riding.

I biked over the 14th Street Bridge because I wanted to try out my new monopod. It enables you to hold the iPhone over your head so you can get pictures like this one.

Army Ten-Miler on 14th St Bridge — Army Ten-Milers cross the 14th St Bridge.

Returning via the Mount Vernon Trail, the foldy with its 20″ wheels and seven speeds was more than quick enough for the conditions, keeping pace with everyone but speedy MAMILs (middle-aged men in lycra – a great acronym).

After going over the Memorial Bridge (my favorite), I biked down the Mall toward the Capitol. The leaves have just begun to change in DC.

Starting to look like fall #igdc #dc — A few trees have begun to change colors near the WWII Memorial.

I stopped to experiment with the monopod. No one likes photos shot from below – it’s an unflattering angle. The monopod allows you to lift the iPhone above your head.

Monorail! I mean - monopod! Makes a good combo with camera timer now built in iOS 8 — I’m holding the monopod up and away from me, with the Natural History Museum in the background.

After a stop at Taylor Gourmet for lunch, I turned north on Seventh Street, making way through Wizards fans heading for the Verizon Center.

Destination: Compass Coffee. This former laundromat in Shaw is now a lovely coffee place where they roast their own beans – you can see the roasters in the back. I sat in the window and had coffee and a cookie. The crowd was millennials working on laptops.

They need some bike racks – there were bikes locked up all over the place.

Bike parking at Compass Coffee #bikedc — This fence makes for convenient bike locking.

Located at 7th and Q, Compass is on a really interesting corner. Next door you’ll find the only Chicago-themed bar in the city – Ivy and Coney. Get the hot dog but don’t ask for ketchup (which they refer to as “shame sauce”.)

Across the street is Dacha Beer Garden, where Liz Taylor oversees a rowdy crowd of beer drinkers. It’s the best mural in the city.

Lovely fall day to bike through Shaw #igdc #latergram — Liz Taylor mural at Dacha Beer Garden.

You wouldn’t notice all this in a car. And you probably couldn’t find a place to park. So, get a bike. Slow down. And go where you please.

Coffeeneuring #1: Peet’s!

First #coffeeneuring trip of 2014 #bikedc — Dark roast coffee with my bike and the L Street cycletrack in the background.

Coffeeneuring 1: Peet’s (17th and L)
Date: October 4, 2014
Distance: Five miles

Coffeeneuring has returned! The rules are simple – bike to seven different coffee shops by November 16. Check out Chasing Mailboxes for all the details of this coffee-fueled, bike adventure.

For my first coffeeneuring trip, I took my Specialized Sirrus to the Peet’s at 17th and L NW in Washington, DC. Peet’s is a coffee chain from Berkeley that recently replaced all the Caribou Coffees in DC.

I’m a firm believer in feng shui. Some places have good chi energy. With its big windows and corner location, this spot has the plentiful light and ample people-watching that’s perfect for reading, writing or blogging. In fact, I wrote part of my novel Murder in Ocean Hall here when it was a Caribou.

Peet’s is an improvement. The coffee is better and the baked goods are delicious, especially the amaretto brownie.

Located on the L Street cycletrack, and with the White House just a couple blocks away, the Peet’s at 17th and L makes an ideal coffeeneuring destination. It’s also close to National Geographic and innumerable bikeshare stations.

Need more ideas where to go in DC? Check out my seven coffeeneuring trips from last year. Good luck!

Bike Therapy: Visualize Your Ride, Your Life

happy hipster — A cyclist enjoys a fall day in Washington, DC.

Can you write your way to the ride you want? To a certain extent, I think you can.

That’s Mary Gersemalina on Chasing Mailboxes, a great blog devoted to biking, run-commuting and coffeeneuring.

In her post, Mary talks about visualizing the ride that she wants. She doesn’t want it to be a story of failure, where she doesn’t measure up to faster riders. Instead:

I wanted my story to be about working through whatever unexpected challenges the ride offered.

Mary is shaping her narrative through positive visualization. Rather than dwelling on what could go wrong – a broken chain, a flat tire, a hot day – she focuses on the positive nature of the experience and her own strengths, imagining how she will tell this story when she’s done.

We are the stories that we tell ourselves. The mind is good at telling you what you can’t do. These stories limit our potential. While this negativity may have saved our ancestors from being eaten by lions, it’s not so useful today.

With her visualization exercise (imagining telling the story of this ride), Mary gets past her negative thoughts, recognizing that while there will be problems, she has the strength to overcome them.

In addition to being the queen of coffeeneuring (where you bike to different coffee shops), Mary also created the Errandonnee Winter Challenge, in which you pledge to conduct twelve errands by bike. The opportunity to be a part of this positive, group activity caused me to set aside my preconceived notions about winter cycling (it’s too cold, dark) and start using my bike for just about everything.

The experience of conducting ordinary activities by bike turned what was once a weekend activity into an everyday one. By completing twelve errands over twelve days by bike, I got to be a part of the errandonnee narrative. Rather than believing that winter was too cold for biking, I now have the errandonnee story: you can do anything by bike, any time of year.

Hey it's my #errandonnee patch! #bikedc — The coveted Errandonnee patch.

And I got a patch. Never underestimate the power of tchotkes on human behavior.

Biking is therapy for many people. It’s a joyful exercise that combines the thrill of accomplishment (I biked all those miles) with the pleasure of seeing the changing landscape. We’re problem-solving primates who like to move – biking is ideal for that.

And scientific research has demonstrated that everyday cycling makes you happier.

Bikes are happiness engines that provide rich rewards for anyone who will ride them.

Bikes, Beer and the Arts: 2013 in Photos

“Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.”
Cities, The Talking Heads

In 2013, I didn’t travel to anywhere exotic. I didn’t have any great adventures. I didn’t experience anything particularly unique.

But I was in a city – adventure came to me. Photowalks, film festivals, performance art, burlesque, comedy, music and biking all could be found in Washington, DC, the city I have a love/hate relationship with. I experienced as much as I could, capturing every moment with my iPhone or DSLR. Here are my favorite photos from the year, featuring bikes, beer and the arts.

Fun with Flickr

I have really mixed feelings about Instagram. While it’s a great social network, I hate how it shrinks pics down to little squares. I was glad to use the upgraded Flickr mobile app, which provides all sorts of adjustments and filters for iPhoneographers (my favorite filter? Brooklyn).

Continue reading “Bikes, Beer and the Arts: 2013 in Photos”

Seven Coffeeneuring Trips in Washington, DC

Cappuccino at Peregrine on Capitol Hill #coffeeneuring — Perfect cappuccino at Peregrine Espresso on Capitol Hill.

When I first looked into the Coffeeneuring Challenge, I thought to myself: so many rules! You can tell it’s a contest created by a Washingtonian.

But the strictures were good-natured and amusing, a Byzantine level of complexity that obscured a simple idea:

Bike to seven coffee shops over seven weekends from October 5 – November 17.

There’s something about completing a goal, even an arbitrary one, that excites the imagination. It provided motivation to get me out of the house and on my bike. Here’s where I went:

1. Buzz Bakery in Alexandria
Date: October 6
Distance: 17 miles
Drink: Coffee (and a cupcake)
This was a really pleasant ride on the Mount Vernon Trail. This branch of Buzz Bakery was right off the trail but I had never been there before. That’s what I liked about coffeeneuring – it provided inspiration to visit new places.

2. Big Bear
Date: October 15
Distance: 6 miles
Drink: Coffee
Next stop Hipsterville as I fixed my foldy bike and crossed the city to Big Bear in Bloomingdale. Note: I took advantage of a special proviso of the coffeeneuring rules that allowed weekday adventures by those effected by the government shutdown.

3. Union Market
Date: October 20
Distance: 8 miles
Drink: Cappuccino
I’d never been to Union Market, and followed some crazy Google bike directions to get there.

4. Capital Crescent Trail
Date: November 3
Distance: 18 miles
Drink: A bad cappuccino-like substance
I love the CCT. It’s my favorite trail in the city.

5. Peregrine Espresso
Date: November 10
Distance: 9 miles
Drink: Cappuccino
It was a beautiful day to visit Capitol Hill, and experience the best cappuccino in the city.

6. Illy Cafe
Date: November 16
Distance: 7 miles
Drink: Cappuccino
A hidden spot in the city, I’m a big fan of hanging out at Illy and reading – or writing – a book.

7. Buzz Bakery at the Navy Yard
Date: November 17
Distance: 11 miles
Drink: Coffee (and a cupcake)
I wrapped things up by going to a Buzz Bakery, but this time in the revitalized Navy Yard neighborhood.

What I liked about the Coffeeneuring Challenge is that it gets you in the habit of biking places. And drinking coffee (not that I needed help with that). By combining a fun activity with a goal, it’s a perfect expression of the joy of biking, demonstrating the great time that you can have on two wheels.

Coffeeneuring #7: Washington Navy Yard

Destination: Buzz Bakery, Navy Yard, Washington, DC

Total distance: 11 miles

The great thing about biking around a city are the surprises you see along the way. Being on a bike allows you to cover large amounts of ground quickly – but it also lets you stop and check things out, in ways that you couldn’t if you were trapped in a car.

I was on my way to the Navy Yard for my final coffeeneuring adventure when I noticed that Constitution Avenue was closed along the National Mall. I stopped and asked someone what was going on. A historic Pullman train car was being installed in the African American History Museum. It’s such a large object that the Pullman is going in first and then they’re building the rest of the museum around it, which isn’t scheduled to open until 2015.

Watching the Pullman car get delivered — A historic Pullman train car being hoisted into the under-construction Museum of African American History.

Continue reading “Coffeeneuring #7: Washington Navy Yard”

Coffeeneuring #6: Illy Cafe

Illy cappuccino for #coffeeneuring 6 — Cappuccino from Illy Cafe at the Renaissance Dupont.

Everyone has their secret spots, places that they only know about.

For me, it’s Illy Cafe at the Renaissance Dupont at 22nd and M St NW. It’s a hipster-free zone, without a beard or skinny jean to be seen. There’s also no wifi, so you don’t get laptop campers or deluded grad students.

A beautiful cappuccino is only $3.08 – probably the cheapest in the city.

And for the price you get to hang out in the Renaissance’s spacious lobby. It makes a great place to read a book. Continue reading “Coffeeneuring #6: Illy Cafe”

Coffeeneuring #5: Peregrine and the Perils of Grad School

Cappuccino at Peregrine on Capitol Hill #perfection

After last week’s episode of bad coffee in Bethesda, for this week’s coffeeneuring adventure, I was determined to get a good cappuccino.

I knew exactly where to bike to: Peregrine Espresso on Capitol Hill.

And not only was it delicious, it was artistically perfect, as you can see from the photo above. The work of a good barista is indistinguishable from magic.

Peregrine gets a bad rap for being a hipster haven, of being home to skinny jeans, ironic facial hair and hipper-than-thou attitudes. But it’s not the staff that’s the problem, I realized as I looked for a place to sit. It’s the patrons.

I had to perch on a stool in a corner because the tables were occupied by grad students with laptops. While I’ve done my share of work in coffee shops, I would never choose a busy store like Peregrine. And I certainly wouldn’t occupy multiple chairs with my textbooks, knitware and electronic devices.

Nobody cares about your grad school dissertation – that is what I felt like shouting. Ten years from now, you will not even remember what that paper was about. And your thesis advisor, the only other person to have ever read it, won’t remember either.

Grad school won’t get you a better job. I’d be more impressed by someone who managed a Wendy’s than someone with an MA. The Wendy’s manager had to get people to show up and work every single day – that’s really hard, and much more impressive accomplishment than going to classes.

Besides, all those old rules and gatekeepers are coming down. Our most successful companies, like Facebook and Apple, were founded by college dropouts. There is no reason to genuflect before some academy before you can do what you want. You can do so now.

Avoid the trap of grad school. Instead, take advantage of the opportunities that cheap tech and the internet have brought us. Want to be a director? Go shoot a movie with your iPhone. Aspire to run a company? Use Kickstarter to raise the money. Want to change the world? Use Meetup to start organizing people.

If for no other reason, avoid grad school so you can enjoy Sunday afternoons outside. Ten years from now, you’ll remember sunny fall days like today – not the time you wasted hunched in front of a computer.