Coffee ride #7

Tuesday Nov 11th Veterans Day. First off happy Veterans Day to all that have and are serving this great nation. 26 miles today to finish off the 2015 Challenge. I started off stopping by the Veterans Memorial in Milton Wa and then it was off to Tacoma in search of coffee.

Today was sunny and windy, a great respite from the past few days of rain. I was bundled up against the chilly morning air, by the time I hit the steep hills of Tacoma the layers were coming off. I cruised around the hilltop area searching for a good coffee or donut shop. and lo and behold I happened on Original House of Donuts.

The Donut selected was a delight for the eyes and they had coffee to wash down all the sugar and doughy goodness.

Why have one when two is better, combined with the Pumpkin spiced latte I was jacked up like Tony Montana in Scarface after his infamous nose candy scene. Luckily I had some decent climbs to negotiate on the way home to help burn all that instant energy ripping through my system.

Crossing over the Puyallup River as it dumps into Commencement Bay in Tacoma Wa, I really enjoyed this unexpected sunny day making this Veterans Day a special one. My Dads birthday is also this day and he would have turned 80, he also was a Veteran serving in the US Army in the early fifties protecting the German border from the now defunct USSR. He's been gone 27 years and is missed dearly, Happy Birthday Dad.

 

A special thanks to MG at Chasing Mailboxes for organizing the Coffeeneuring Challenge.

Coffee ride #6

Sunday Nov 8th 2.5 miles. 6 down 1 more to go. Being an Air Force Vet I am saving Veterans Day to finish the Challenge in style, rain or shine I will put in a good effort to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Daves of Milton a restaurant in Milton Wa was the stop today. I rode from home and met my wife for sunday breakfast, the weather called for rain most of the day so I wasn't to keen on a long one.

Lead skies ruled the morning but it was a short mostly downhill run to Daves. Good ole diner black coffee was the beverage of choice along with eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Daves is a local joint that has comedy night on selected weekends. Locals made up the client list and I even ran into an old neighbor from days gone by.

I spaced out a bike pic and tossed the bike in the back of the SUV and wimped out the ride home. This time of the year my motivation is low, lots of early nights to bed and lollygagging on the couch watching football. I like to think I'm reloading for big adventures to come and don't sweat being lazy as 2015 was a big year with lots of riding and backpacking trips to round out a great year.

Coffee ride #5

Sunday Oct 24th, 9.5 miles. I decided to ride the Sumner Link trail and grab a coffee and food along the way. The Link trail is supposed to connect the Interurban trail which runs from Pacific Wa up  north  up to Seattle with the Foothills trail which runs from Puyallup out towards Mt Rainier.

 

 

Castle Perk was the coffee stop for today, its a drive up located in downtown Sumner Wa. I ordered an Americano and Italian bagel sandwich. Not much to report for this ride just short and sweet, long gone are the warm indian summer days of early fall, the gloom and doom of fall and winter have arrived, low light and short days are the norm for awhile. It will be mostly riding to work and the dreaded indoor torture sessions to keep fitness sharp for the upcoming cycling season.