I have been SUPER busy this month. So busy, in fact, that today marks only my second ride in the 2014 Coffeeneuring Challenge. If you're not familiar with coffeeneuring, a) what?, b) where have you been?, and c) check out MG's great Chasing Mailboxes blog on the subject or take a look at the posts in the active Facebook group. I'm proud to be one of the original coffeeneurs and while several weeks have passed without my participation, I'm now eager to join the party.
Today I decided to keep it local and sample the wonderful fall fare at the bountiful Apple Bin Market where I was surprised to find not only fresh apple cider donuts, but also a new pumpkin-apple cider donut variety. Needless to say, I had to stage a taste test. Results: pumpkin wins by a neck.
Coffeeneur Ride Details:
October 25
Apple Bin Market, Ulster Park, NY
Costa Rican Coffee w/ sugar and half & half
Apple Cider Donuts
17 miles
My first coffeeneuring adventure this fall was on October 12 when I went for a quick ride to check out a new combination art shop/cafe in Kingston's famed Rondout district. The coffee was tasty and the location quite lovely.
On my way home from Kingston, I spotted a new historical plaque on a familiar street corner. I've known that abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth had ties to this area, but I did not realize the complex depth of the connection. After seeing the plaque below, I decided to do a little research. It turns out that Truth was born into slavery in 1789 on a farm within 10 miles of my home, sold at the age of 9 with a flock of sheep for $100 to a man in Kingston, sold at the age of 11 to a tavern owner in Port Ewen with whom she lived for the next 18 months until she was sold to yet another slave owner two doors down from my house in West Park. At the age of 29, Truth finally escaped from slavery by walking over ten miles one night over the road I now use as a major training route directly across 9W from my house. Since the farm house I live in was built in the 1770s, it's likely that Truth knew or visited it during her time in this town. While I've known that slavery was present in all of the northern states in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is still a shock to learn how embedded in New York society it once was. I don't think I'll look at this training route in quite the same way again.
Coffeeneur Ride Details:
October 12
Olivieri's, Kingston, NY
Espresso
Fig Newton
22 miles
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