Type 2 Diabetic. Cyclist Flâneur.   Coffeeneur.    Errandoneur
A bike / map geek with a gadget obsession and a high-viz fetish.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Coffeeneuring Time of Year

It's that time of year again: Coffeeneuring! It's fun! It's painless! It makes sense during an insane time.

The back story, from many years ago and passed down orally, is that there's a bike activity called randoneuring. Randoneuring is riding bikes for distances, self-supported, within a set of rules. Trust me, it's big in France.

Coffeeneuring is an attempt to

  • expose people to the randoneuring concept
  • keep people riding at a time when some put their bikes 'away'
  • support local coffee shops
  • demonstrate the importance of bicycle shoppers
and these are all good causes.

Just like most cults, Coffeeneuring has evolved over the years. Now there's merchandise - patches for those who complete the challenge, even the occasional order or coffeeneur-themed sock! At one time the rules were complex, and then very complex, and now they've gotten way simpler with a new emphasis on the Spirit of Coffeeneuring. Draw any parallels you will.

Coffeeneuring is apolitical. It is neight rural or urban. It is international. It is gender inclusive. Here's a link to details.

I hope you enjoy Coffeeneuring in 2020!

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Rivnuts - where have they been my whole life?

I have a rear rack on a bike. Eventually, one of the bolts that connect the rack support to the seat tube fell away. When I looked at the whole, expecting to see threading for a bolt, there was just a hole, a bit bigger than I expected.

I took it to a guru who said, Yep you need a RivNut. Click here for Park's view. A RivNut is a rivet that you put into a hole on a bike frame, and when you tighten and deform the rivet, you end up with a smaller threaded hole you can put a bike bolt into.

Absolutely genius.