Cover photo courtesy of Justin Short
I recently attended my first randonneuring event, so now it’s time to throw some pretentious sounding French cycling jargon at you. Randonneuring is a form of organized non-competitive long-distance cycling that is very popular in Europe. Riders are self-supported, though they are encouraged to work together to finish a given event within an established time cut, which is usually a 10 mph average that includes stopping to re-supply or sleep, of which there is very little on the longer events. Event distances range from 200-1,200 kilometers with a series of qualifying rides necessary to participate in Paris-Brest-Paris, the biggest and oldest cycling event in the world, which, as the name suggests, takes place in Paris, France, and NOT Paris, Texas.
Our local randonneuring club is Seattle Randonneurs, which organized a 100 kilometer “gravel populaire” on the Waterville Plateau east of Wenatchee back in September. My introduction to the randonneuring community involved knocking one of the riders off her bike barely a block into the ride. I may never live that down, but she and I were friends by the end as we had teamed up to hunt down the checkpoints and fill out our time cards, which are called “brevet” cards.
I will now segue into the intended subject of this column by mentioning that the quite delightful hot, steamy coffee beverage called a “breve,” a latte made with half and half, is pronounced the exact same way as brevet, if you’re willing to overlook which syllable gets the stress. It is my belief that the homophonic similarity of these terms, brevet and breve, is what inspired COFFEENEURING, the fantastic new cycle-sport that is sweeping the colder climates. That’s right, there’s even a Coffeeneuring Challenge, and you get a cool patch to sew on your waterproof jacket if you meet all the requirements. I won’t get into the rules and regulations, because that’s almost entirely tongue-in-cheek anyway; let’s just take this in easy stages so we can get you outside on a bike, hunting down some excellent coffee roasted and brewed right here in the Inland Northwest.
This topic dovetails nicely with the last issue’s EDC column on urban fat biking, and perhaps a future column on the art of cold weather layering strategies. For now, let’s just get out there. You’ll figure out what to wear and what not to wear. There are more than a few destinations to keep in mind, Roast House Coffee is my personal favorite. They support every cycling event in Spokane, and they make damn good coffee. You can go to their tasting room on Cleveland Ave or hit 1st Avenue Coffee downtown. New Love Coffee in Kendall Yards is an excellent place to meet up with friends to sample their mouth-watering hand pies. Ladder Coffee Roasters is not to be missed at any of their three locations. The coffee shop in Saranac Commons features beans from craft roasters out of town, and Revel 77 out on 57th on the South Hill started roasting their own beans a few years ago.
An official Coffeeneuring ride can be as little as two miles in one direction, but the sky is the limit in terms of maximum distance. DOMA Coffee Roasting Company just opened a destination coffeehouse right on the Centennial Trail on the Spokane River in Coeur d’Alene. I conned two friends into riding out there with me in a cold November downpour. That 100 miles was as satisfying as it was soggy. And I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already mapped out an adventure route that summits Mount Spokane and Hoodoo Mountain on its way to Evans Brothers Coffee in Sandpoint, Idaho … but that will be for fairer weather, perhaps during Huckleberry Milkshakeneuring season. Dan Weber who works at REI has organized an event on his own (not affiliated with REI) called Donut Roll that is basically a Donutneuring event, which hits all the donut shops in one go. I think you’d have a panic attack before you got through a quarter of Spokane’s great coffee shops in the same manner.
I spoke with the good folks at Spokane’s City Planning Department too in an effort to make sure they have your safety in mind for your caffeine-addled quests. Bike infrastructure improvements include expansion of greenway bike thoroughfares and protected bike lanes in key places, and the city has purchased a snow removal machine to plow those skinny bike-only paths that routinely get buried under snow. City personnel is being trained in its proper use, and we will have rideable protected bike lanes this winter. Hopefully they are consulting mountain bike coach Frank Bennish on how to operate this machine. Frank is the guy who operates the fat bike trail groomer in Riverside State Park and elsewhere in the Spokane region; he knows all the best combinations of obscenities to shout at just the right volume to bring any mechanical contrivance to heel. Snow plowed into unprotected bike lanes could remain a problem, but perhaps I could be persuaded to trade in my cushy union grocery hauling gig to drive snow plows for the city, in which case you would never see a snowflake in the bike lane ever again.
To learn more about the Coffeeneuring Challenge, visit ChasingMailboxes.com, but I suggest just hopping on your bike to get your ‘neur on … it will stimulate your neurons. See what I did there? I might need to cut back on my caffeine intake.
Staff writer Justin M Short BA has registered for the solo category in this year’s 24 Hours of Riverside Mountain Bike Race. He’s a little unclear if he’s going for a Riverside double century or just trying to get 8 hours of sleep between laps. Either way, coffee will be involved.
