Coffeeneuring 2018, Ride 4: Two Stroke Coffee, Sun 4 Nov

It’s been awhile since the last of my 2018 Coffeeneuring Challenge rides, but there’s still time! I did intend on doing something last weekend when we were out on the coast. It would have been interesting to do something with those janky cruisers, whether head to a coffee shop nearby or bring the Coffee Outside kit. Alas, I didn’t bring the kit and we never got around to going to a coffee shop, partially because there didn’t seem to be anything decent in Long Beach and we had free (and good!) coffee from the hotel. Oh well.

But I’m back at it this week! And to prove that not all “beach cruisers” are bad, I decided to pull out my Schwinn Heavy Duti for this ride. I do love this bike and like riding it. It’ll never be a “long rides” bike (I think 20 miles would be pushing it) or a bike to explore hilly terrain, but it’s good at what it does: a utilitarian beast with style points.

I decided to head out to St Johns for this adventure, to Two Stroke Coffee Company. Right now there’s only one bicycle cafe in town that I know of, Golden Pliers. I had already gone there on Ride No. 2, so time for another two wheeled theme cafe, this time motorcycles! I like Two Stroke as they have good coffee drinks, a smattering of food, and even beer. I’d come here more often, but St Johns is about five miles away, and in the opposite direction of everything else in Portland.*

This time around I had one of their fancy drinks. They have a menu of seasonal coffee and tea based drinks. I got the Vermont, which is basically a white chocolate mocha with maple syrup and cinnamon. Delicious!

I hung out in the cafe for a couple hours, working on art. Then I leisurely made my way back home, stopping for dinner at Homegrown Smoker on the way.

Ride Statistics:

• Distance: 12 miles round trip (approx.)
• Bicycle: Schwinn Heavy Duti
• Cafe: Two Stroke Coffee
• Drink: The Vermont, a white chocolate mocha with maple syrup and cinnamon. Coffee from Water Ave Coffee
• Other: It was a beautiful November day, partly sunny, a high of 60F/16C

*This be the reason why lots of people talk about moving to St Johns but never do, myself included.