Fall 2025 coffeeneuring challenge

Bikes! Coffee! Fall colors! After last year’s far-too-fun return to coffeeneuring, I eagerly awaited this year’s challenge from Chasing Mailboxes.

But wait. WTF is coffeeneuring?

A riff on the cycling sport randonneuring, coffeeneuring is, at its core, riding your bike to a place to drink coffee. This year’s challenge was as follows:

Between October 11 through November 24, 2025:

• ride your bike 7 times,
• to at least 6 different places
• at least 2 miles round trip every time
• drink 7 total cups of coffee (or another fall-type beverage),
• and document your coffeeneuring

I’ve done similar challenges in past years:

• 2014 Errandonnee challenge
• 2016 Errandonnee challenge
• 2024 Coffeeneuring challenge

The rides

1. October 23 - 4.6 miles - through the neighborhood and Woony bike path to my coworking space. Coffee from the shared kitchen.
2. October 24 - 9.1 miles - Providence Bike Jam, Halloween edition! I met up with friends and stayed very toasty (too toasty) in a unicorn onesie. It was a nice night and there were a lot of us out. An unnamed beverage was enjoyed.
3. November 5 - 4.6 miles - coworking again! Yes, the first couple weeks of the challenge were a little boring. Coffee and typing.
4. November 2 - 5.3 miles - off to Ogie’s Trailer Park for a new friend’s birthday party. Happy birthday, Travis! Enjoyed a fall ale and snuck in a trip to the co-op market too.
5. November 8 - 13.0 miles - absolutely stunning day on the East Bay Bike Path. My sweetie dropped me off in East Providence and I pedaled to Riverside to meet up for coffee at Borealis with a new friend. Enjoyed a nice long roll back home through Providence.
6. November 16 - 7.4 miles - took the ebike to the secret coffee shop by the river to join in celebration of Angela’s birthday, then ran errands in the West End.
7. November 24 - 5.2 miles - “OMG, it’s the last day of the challenge! Off to New Harvest - oh no, it’s closed, Seven Stars it is!” I took advantage of the 50-degree weather and took the ebike to enjoy an afternoon tea. Ran into a friend before I set off for home.

Observations

This challenge was, as always, a much-needed additional excuse to get out on the bike and go. Most of the year I am a functional rider - using the bike to go places and do things. Coffeeneuring requires that I have some fun with it, and with the changing seasons and shortening days it’s always a way to connect with the outside world before winter sets in.

This fall’s challenge was more of a stretch than last, mostly because the weather seems to’ve gotten cooler faster than last year, and rainier too. I had more going on this fall, too, which I don’t really mind.

One connecting thread of this year’s rides is how many were social. Heading into our fourth (!) fall in New England, my wife and I are really feeling connected in Providence. This fall has felt heavy as fascism continues to take hold in the U.S., but we continue to build connections locally, meet our neighbors and cultivate friendships and community here. I turned 41 right in the middle of this challenge and heard from so many folks near and far. It’s a serious time, but it’s not a hopeless time.

On a much lighter note, my wife and I are talking seriously about getting a second ebike. We bought our REI house-brand cargo ebike on sale shortly after we moved here in summer 2022 and are just shy of 1,000 miles on it as of today. The ebike is technically my wife’s, but I ride it often - it’s functionally our second car. A second one would mean we could go on rides together more easily and potentially reduce our car use even more. It’s fun to think about.