Coffee & Normalcy

After all of these years riding and blogging about my adventures, it's rare that I experience a "first" these days. That said, there are still plenty of firsts to be had, and I had one today: my first ever coffee ride. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of ride, it's essentially what it sounds like: it's a group ride to get coffee.

If you know me well, you know that I'm no stranger to group rides. I join as many as I can fit into my schedule. So why haven't I participated in a coffee ride before today? It's not that I didn't want to, but it's just not my preferred riding style. My ideal weekend day involves having breakfast and coffee at home, and then heading out for a ride. So in that regard, it was kind of outside my comfort zone to join in one this morning.

I found out that the good folks at roll: were resuming their coffee rides thru a personal invite from my good friend Jason, who used to work for them. Timing is everything, because I have been really itching to get back to some semblance of normalcy in a post-COVID world. This seemed like as good a time as any:

A modest turnout for an early Sunday morning ride, but a good one nonetheless. Also a gorgeous morning to be on a bike:

Our destination was Roosevelt Coffeehouse in downtown Columbus, about 4 miles away from the starting point in Bexley. Not a bad way to spend a morning at all:

In addition to coffee, they had some delicious handmade vegan "pop tarts" that were a perfect mid-ride snack:

I don't know if I've showed off my new sasquatch bike riding sticker here yet, but just in case, here it is:

Most everyone dispersed from there, but as the weather was still relatively pleasant, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to get in some more miles. I headed off briefly with Jason and my new friend Joseph to peep this neat mural nearby the coffeehouse:

They branched off from there and I kept riding around central Columbus. It's always nice to see a change of scenery from the same boring suburban roads I frequent every day. ;) After a nice couple of hours in the saddle, I ended up at a beer garden of course:

Gemüt Biergarten, to be exact. We passed by it on the coffee ride, and I decided I'd head back here for lunch and an adult beverage towards the end of my ride. In addition to being a neat-looking old building, there's the added benefit of ample bike parking:

And of course, a picture perfect kolsch on tap for a balmy late Spring day:

I headed home from there to finish some adulting I'd started yesterday. Overall, a pretty solid Sunday if I say so myself. Mayhaps I need to re-evaluate my weekend riding routine. I'd absolutely do another coffee ride the next time it rolls around (pun intended).