Black Hills BackBone: 2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge - Feeling Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast,

You've got to make the morning last,

Just kicking down the cobblestones,

Looking for fun and feeling groovy.

The 59th Street Bridge Song, Paul Simon (1966)

After a year hiatus, I'm back with the Coffeeneuring Challenge. And, unlike our #CoffeeOutside - Rapid City gatherings, this doesn't require setting a specific time and place and it doesn't mean sitting outside early mornings, unless, of course, that's what you want to do.

From her website ChasingMailboxes.com, endurance athlete Mary Gersema describes the concept: "The Coffeeneuring Challenge is a time to mellow out, slow down the pedal strokes, and make the most of a delicious time of year by lingering over a cup of your favorite fall beverage. This challenge offers an opportunity to connect virtually or in-person with others, and can also be a time to carve out space for solitary contemplation over a beverage. Let's coffeeneur our way through the changing seasons."

"The Challenge is essentially as follows:

between October 7 through November 20, 2022
ride your bike to 7 different places
at least 2 miles round trip each time
drink 7 cups of coffee (or another fall-type beverage) and
document your coffeeneuring (either photos, Strava tracks, journal entries, control card, etc.)"

More information at Coffeeneuring Challenge 2022.

I don't need much of an excuse to ride a bike or drink coffee, but it's a fun twist. This challenge took me all around Rapid City, with nice, long stops at places I normally ride by, such as the Memorial Park Band Shell, Rushmore Lions Nature Park, Wilderness Park, Jackson Park Disc Golf Course shelter, the Nehemiah Memorial Slack Line & Balance Park, Founders Park, School of Mines Campus Quadrangle, and Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park. I even stopped for coffee on an unnamed U.S. Forest Service Road while scouting Black Hills Bounty routes.

To submit the requested documentation to complete the 2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge, I am Craig Groseth of Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. Below are my completed control cards and pictures of my rides, all of which are in the "Coffee Without Walls" category. I also completed the digital form linked on your website. Thank you, Mary, for creating and nurturing this community of Coffeeneurs.