coffeeneuring post

content/post/2021/12/im-joining-the-coffeeneuring-challenge.md

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+---
+title: "I'm Joining the Coffeeneuring Challenge of 2021"
+date: 2021-12-14T08:52:00+01:00
+categories:
+  - braindump
+tags:
+  - Hasselt
+---
+
+Mike Harley wrote about something odd a few months ago: in his blog [on languishing and trying to see the positives](https://obsolete29.com/posts/2021/10/19/on-languishing-and-trying-to-see-the-positives/), he describes his feeling of stagnation and emptiness that Adam Grant of NY Times calls _languishing_. I could relate and e-mailed Mike to thank him for writing it. But that's not the odd part. The odd part is the action plan to combat languishing: by joining a _coffeneuring challenge_.
+
+_A what?_ was my first thought. But [the Chasing Mailboxes 2021 blog post](https://chasingmailboxes.com/2021/10/05/coffeeneuring-challenge-2021-the-c1-edition/) on the challenge explains it loud and clear[^chal]. Get your ass on a bike, cycle to coffee shops over the course of some six-ish weeks, have a delighting drink, and collect some proof while you're at it. "Ride your bike to 7 different places, at least `2` miles (`3.22` km) round trip each time", the challenge states. Three kilometers, _round trip_? That's hardly a challenge... My cycling trip to my work is a round trip of `14` km. 
+
+[^chal]: The site states to submit your challenge by December 10th. Whoops. Oh well, I don't care that much for the "rules"---like posting a picture of every single trip: that'll become boring pretty quickly!
+
+The purpose is of course not to grow a lot of leg muscle---although I guess it's allowed---but to get out of your couch, breathe in fresh air, and have fun, by yourself or by a group of friends. I know I'll probably not make it this 2021 as this year is only two and a half weeks left. It's been on my mind since I've asked Mike about it. Yesterday, I finally took some time off to get my first coff-wait, tea. I'm not into coffee. Is that against the rules? Looks like the challenge mentions tea, hot chocolate (now _there's_ an idea), and even cider. Great, we're on!
+
+First stop: [Espressobar Kaffee Cyclette](https://www.kaffeecyclette.be/), about `12.1` km from my doorstep. I figured the first coffeeneuring stop should be more than thirty minutes away. It's a relatively new bike bar that does specialize in coffee, although the black peachy tea I consumed was also more than adequate. Monday also happened to be market day, so I scored a pot of locally harvested honey at a reasonable price. Dragging the thing back home was a bit of a fiddle as I forgot to attach my cycling bag. 
+
+![](../coffeeneuring.jpg "That's.... not my bike? Oh well. At least I managed to capture the atmosphere of the day: grayest of gray.")
+
+I tried convincing my wife for a few times to join me on weekends but she wouldn't bulge. I guess It'll be just me and me. Not that it matters that much. I love straying from the beaten paths with my bike and I did end up discovering another _knooppunt_ (see [accidental discovery by bike](/post/2021/08/accidental-discovery-by-bike)) that led me to a meadow full of frolicking horses. 
+
+That alone proved to be worth the soaked T-shirt.