That’s right, people. Coffeeneuring Challenge time. Another six weeks of rule-based biking and imbibing is here! Yeah!

Some of you may recall that coffeeneuring is based on an idea developed by Joe Platzner, a member of the Seattle Randonneurs, as he discussed life after last year’s Paris-Brest-Paris. He noted:

A bunch of us have trained pretty hard for PBP. After PBP, I’m probably going to lobby RUSA for an official “Coffee Shop Run” medal. To earn it, you need to ride your bike slowly to a nearby coffee shop and enjoy a fine beverage. I think this would be a big seller in September.

I wholeheartedly agreed and the Coffeeneuring Challenge was born!

The Coffeeneuring Challenge is a relaxed weekend cycling endeavor for cyclists everywhere. If you like riding a bike and enjoy drinking coffee or tea (or even hot chocolate), you should consider giving the challenge a go.

In a loving nod to the French, the Coffeeneuring Challenge has its share of rules. Don’t let them intimidate you, though. As the 12 people who successfully completed the challenge last year will attest, they are all manageable.

Rules are slightly updated from last year, based on the Coffeenering Challenge After Action Report some consultants put together for me. Here’s what you have to do to play.

1. Ride your bike to 7 different local coffee shops from now through Sunday, November 11.
2. Only Saturday and Sunday rides qualify. Weekday rides are ineligible, unless one of the following applies to you:  a. You have a job that does not have a Monday through Friday tour of duty. In that case, your days off are considered your weekend; or b. You are retired, in which case you may choose the two days that you consider to be your weekend days for the sake of the challenge and stick to them for the duration.
3. Only 1 coffee shop per day counts and a maximum of two rides per weekend. If you visit 7 coffee shops in one day, you may choose only one as a qualifying ride.
4. You must do a short write-up of your experience that includes: 1. where you went (address and website, if possible), 2. the date you went there, 3. what you drank, 4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, and 5. total mileage.
5. You must also take a photo during your ride, caption it, and submit it as verification that you actually went to the coffee shop and drank a beverage there.
6. Hot chocolate qualifies, as do tea beverages. UPDATE 10/8/12: Apple cider is also a coffeeneuring-approved beverage.
7. You may not combine your coffeeneuring ride with any other ride such as an organized century, populaire, or brevet. You may, however, combine your coffeeneuring ride with a grocery run, ride to the gym, or other transportation/utility-oriented ride. (If you do an organized ride, you may do another, separate coffeeneuring ride on the same day, e.g., a post-event ride to get a latte after your organized ride.)
8. Your ride must be at least two miles total, but there is no maximum so yes, you could ride 100 miles for a cup of coffee.
9. There are no geographic limitations to the Coffeeneuring Challenge.
10. You have to go to 7 different coffee shops, although you may ride to multiple locations of a chain, if necessary.
11. Deadline for submission for the Coffeeneuring Challenge is whenever the clock strikes midnight in your area on November 16, 2012.
12. Send submissions to me at gersemalina “at” gmail.com. Submissions may be in the form of links to blog writeups, on-line photo galleries with accompanying narrative, Word documents with attached or embedded photos, or e-mail writeups and submissions with photos attached.
13. Submit all qualifying rides at the same time. That is, send me all 7 together, NOT ride 1, ride 2, etc.
14. There will be a small prize for those who successfully finish the challenge (though don’t quit your day job, as it is not a mountain of money), and you will be featured on this blog.
15. During Columbus Day weekend (October 6-8), you have three days to accomplish two qualifying coffeeneuring rides. (This is the Tara Rule.)
16. The Veterans Day Rule: You may coffeeneur on November 12, when Veteran’s Day is observed, INSTEAD of the previous Saturday or Sunday (November 10 and 11). Veterans are permitted to coffeeneur on November 12 in ADDITION to Nov. 10 and 11, in recognition of their service.

That’s all! 15 16 rules for the 7-ride Coffeeneuring Challenge. Seven shops in six weekends. Are you up for it?? I hope so, and if you have any questions, feel free to put them in the comments section.

Have fun, everybody. I look forward to following your progress and maybe I’ll see you coffeeneuring!

UPDATE: Also, when you are out and about, share your coffeeneuring tweets and photos by using the #coffeeneuring hashtag!