Sunday, August 12, 2012

There and Back...all before 10 AM!

August 12, 2012  PEDALS adventure: 

It’s always fun to introduce novice “urban bikers” to the ins and outs of riding the trails. Our neighbors, Alex and Jennifer, have enjoyed the holiday donut rides with us from our homes, and Jennifer has even ridden with me in the annual nighttime FW Rivergreenway ride sponsored by the FW Parks Department.  Alex, however, has yet to start an urban ride from anywhere other than his own driveway.  After this ride, we have changed all of that!

Our favorite FW Rivergreenway path is the Maumee Path.   It is on the east side of FW, travels along the Maumee River, eventually ending in downtown.   More often than not, rides on this path end at what we consider to be the coolest Starbucks anywhere at the corner of Jefferson and Fairfield streets. The four of us decided this would be a great morning ride destination and set off from our house at 7 AM.  

It was a beautiful morning, although a bit cool for August.  We layered up, as much of the path by the river is heavily wooded and could be cooler than at our houses.   We drove to the Carrington Field trailhead on Coliseum Blvd. to start the ride. We enjoyed the shadows that the early morning sun cast on the path and the River, traveled alongside some FW neighborhoods, and soon found ourselves riding on the bike lanes in downtown FW.
Our favorite Starbucks
Jefferson and Fairfield in Fort Wayne

The downtown FW Starbucks is located in a renovated old Firestone Tire store.  The store was about to be demolished when SB purchased it, and turned it into a funky coffee spot.  Besides the typical ordering and seating area inside, this SB has an outdoor ”garage” area, with tables, chairs, couches and giant overhead garage doors that are opened (or closed) as the weather warrants, as well as a fabulous outdoor patio area.  
 
We got our drinks and pastries and sat under the old photos of the Firestone as it used to be.  Besides enjoying good coffee and great conversation,  we enjoyed looking at the ridiculously low price for tires that was advertised in the old photo taken when it was a Firestone store.  The architecture of the old store certainly stands out, and I, for one, am grateful that SB rescued it from the wrecking ball, and maintained the façade, making it both vintage and modern all at once.  It is no wonder it is our favorite SB location ANYWHERE, whether you sit on the patio watching the wide variety of  cars go by on the major downtown thoroughfare (Tom says it’s a great place to “shop” for a new vehicle..if you wait long enough, every kind eventually goes by),  or choose the garage, or even stay in the store (when it’s too cold). 

The coolest thing about Alex’s bike is that is has a nifty pressure spring shelf on the back, an accessory to go along with its designation as a “commuter bike.”   While we have never figured out how anything very big would fit under the pressure spring arm, I was able to utilize it on my first ever biking/shopping experience.   This SB had Café Verona K-cups for use in our Keurig coffeemaker at home….it was the first time I had seen that blend in a K-cup.   I whipped out my gold SB gift card, bought a box, and loaded it on the back of Alex’s bike.   AWESOME!!!  

The only thing left to do was to hop back on our bikes and back to our car and back to our neighborhood….an adventure in biking and eating and friendship, all before 10 AM!
The stats: 8.2  (RT), Time: 59 min. , ODO: 387 miles

1 comment:

  1. I always recommend car-shopping with TomLough! Who knew we could car shop at a Starbucks? His car-creativity is why Tom will always be my "Car Guy."

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