Coffeeneuring Ride 2: Ninth Street Espresso

Ride 2: October 12 / Ninth Street Espresso / 11.2 miles / Espresso & Coffee Black

Once again it was raining on Saturday, so I had to wait until Sunday to fit in a ride.  Again, it was in the high 50s to start the day and very sunny, so I dressed up*, stashed a jacket on the bike just in case, and picked out where to go next. 

*A quick note about my riding outfit:  there are people who ride bikes out there that dress up in spandex and team kits to make themselves aerodynamically "fast."  I am not that guy.  When I say "dressed up," I usually mean a pair of well worn Carhartts, a t-shirt, a Melanzana hoodie, some high-top Chuck Taylors, and a trusty Colorado Rockies hat.  No, I don't wear a helmet.  Yes, I am aware of whatever thought that just provoked. 

Ninth Street Espresso is in Alphabet City, and, again, was on an Internet list that said I should go there.  Can't argue with the Internet.

The shop is a little under 6 miles away and I had several choices of how to go.  Remember last week when I said to avoid Midtown?  Well, for whatever reason, I ignored my own advice and decided to rely on the Broadway bike lane below Times Square to get me to 20th St.  So, I rode down Columbus Ave, which also has a bike lane that is pretty good until Hell's Kitchen, took a left on 40th, which kinda has a bike lane, and then to Broadway.  This is when I began to hate myself.  Sure, there is a bike lane on Broadway, but between the diagonal avenue crossings, pedestrian malls, and weekend crowds, it was really a miserable time trying to ride down 20 streets.  I definitely should have done a river ride.  Once I got to 20th St, the ride over and down to Alphabet City was easy.  Pluses for this ride: I didn't get hit by a car, and the weather was FANTASTIC for riding. 

It did take me 40 minutes to get there, and this place is only a few blocks away from MUD Coffee (25 min ride, way better route).  The shop itself <Point B> is much wider than MUD coffee, has some outdoor seating, and is nice and open inside.  Only drawback: because of the sun angles it was in the shade.

I met a friend that lives on the Lower East Side there, so we ordered some coffee and talked about pretty much nothing.  The menu there is very simple, so I decided to go with a plain espresso.

 

The espresso was great and the caffeine definitely got the motor going, but it's so small.  I don't usually do too well with small quantities of food or drink, so I quickly followed that up with a regular cup of Coffee Black (Black Coffee, for those of you who didn't ski patrol at Copper Mountain before).  Even drinking inside they were using paper cups for coffee, which seemed odd to me.  Is it too much to ask for a regular mug in my hand?  We're all adults here. (Maybe?)

After that, I headed to a bar on 7th and 2nd called Standings <Point C> to watch the Broncos beat the Jets, keep track of my fantasy team, and heckle my friends. 

I rode home about 4pm up Third Avenue, which doesn't have a bike lane, but moves at a good clip, so I just ride in the right lane.  West on 60th St, and I cut through Central Park to get home. 

The coffee shop was OK, the riding was fantastic (except for Midtown...) because of the great weather.   Also, Go America, Go Broncos.

Ride 2: check.