Last time we checked in with you fine folks I was complaining about the weather, how after a hot and dry first two thirds of October we moved straight into winter. It was a good three weeks of much rain. Yeah, there were a few breaks, but dark and damp dominated. We basically got all of the rain we usually get in October during the final ten days of the month. The first week of November also started off wet: We received 3 1/2 inches of rain in a week, over half of the November monthly average of 5 1/2 inches.
But then on Monday the weather changed. The dry came in. I managed to see the total lunar eclipse early Tuesday morning. Generally I have no hope of seeing astronomical phenomenon during our winter months unless I headed to the east side of the Cascades. So to be able to see the last lunar eclipse for a couple years was nice.
It’s stayed dry and sunny since then. It’s the first spell of dry winter weather, with highs from the mid 40’s to the low 50’s. Typically this weather is ushered in by dry, cool air from east of the Cascades, which means windy conditions. But besides Tuesday, that’s not been the case. So it’s been good to get outside. And a good time for another Coffeeneuring adventure!
On Thursday November 10th, I decided to pull out the Brompton. I hadn’t used it in a bit, and it had been freshly tuned up in October. I aimed for a new coffee shop on top of the hill on NE Glisan, Futura Coffee. This space used to house Fillmore Coffee, a spot I had been to quite a bit and even started a ride or three from. Fillmore started off pretty good, but got weird as the years moved on. They had some of the best pizza in town 1 but stopped making it at some point–I’m guessing since they closed by five they were never going to do well with it, no matter how good it was. COVID pretty much shut them down, but it felt like the owner wasn’t that into it even before pandemic.
Anyways, Futura is the new coffee in the spot. After getting mochas at my last three coffeeneuring stops, I got a cortado. I rode over to Berrydale Park in Montavilla to sip it. Along the way I caught a glimpse of Mount Hood. Cloud cover had obscured the view of the mountain for the last few weeks, so it was a treat to see it again. Even bettter: after all the snow in the mountains, it was gleaming white. I’ll never tire of the view of Mount Hood, especially on a clear winter day.
After drinking my coffee, I rode over to nearby Home Despot Depot to pick up a couple things, then hit up Montavilla Brew Works for a pint. It was eight miles (12.9 km) total distance, not too shabby. The dry weather is supposed to hold for a bit. Maybe I can get all seven rides of the challenge in after all!
1 Though they did what I called the “slice trick”: Say if you go into a pizzeria and there’s two slices left of a certain pizza. And one slice is a third to half the size of the larger one. For some reason, pizzerias would give me the smaller slice every time. I don’t really understand why. Whoever comes in after me to get the last slice isn’t going to know or care about the size of the next-to-last slice. Maybe they’re saving the bigger slice for someone “cool”? Maybe they want that slice for themselves? I don’t know why, but it still feels rude to me. Yeah, I sometimes worry about stupid things.
Urban Adventure League 
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