Coffeeneuring is based on an idea from Joe Platzner, member of the Seattle Randonneurs. As he discussed life after the 2011 edition of 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.

Coffeeneuring, I thought. It’s perfect! I created the Coffeeneuring Challenge that year, and here we are again for the third time.

The Chasing Mailboxes 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 those who have successfully completed the challenge in previous years will attest, they are all manageable.

Rules are slightly updated from last year, based on participant suggestions. The two biggest changes to the 2013 challenge are as follows:

• You now have seven weekends to ride to seven coffee or other hot beverage shops; and
• A new category of coffeeneuring has been added– the “Coffee Shop Without Walls.”

Here’s what you have to do to officially coffeeneur:

1. Ride your bike to 7 different local coffee shops from Saturday October 5 through Sunday, November 17. Any place that sells coffee qualifies as a coffee shop.
2. You may also coffeeneur to a Coffee Shop Without Walls. What is a Coffee Shop Without Walls? It’s a place you ride your bike to proceed to make and/or drink coffee. The Coffee Shop Without Walls is geared toward the bike overnight or bike camping participant. It also captures the farmers’ markets. To qualify, you must specify how you brewed your coffee (if it was a bike overnight or camping trip) and the type of coffee you drank. All other rules apply.
3. 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. No other exceptions, unless you can make a convincing case for one.
4. 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.
5. Jot down a summary 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. Also, if you find any “you must visit” coffee shops or tea places please share that as well.
6. Take a photo during your outing, caption it, and submit it as verification that you actually went to the coffee shop and drank a beverage there.
7. Hot chocolate qualifies, as do tea beverages. Apple cider is also a coffeeneuring-approved beverage.
8. 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, an informal ride with your friends, 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 pre- or post-event ride to get a latte either before or after your organized ride.)
9. 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.
10. There are no geographic limitations to the Coffeeneuring Challenge, except that your coffeeneuring must occur on planet Earth.
11. You have to go to 7 different coffee shops, although you may ride to multiple locations of a chain, if necessary. For the Coffee Shop Without Walls, you must prepare and/or drink your coffee in different locales. That means seven different campsites/locales.
12. Deadline for submission for the Coffeeneuring Challenge is whenever the clock strikes midnight in your area on November 25, 2013.
13. Send submissions to me at gersemalina “at” gmail.com. Submissions may be in the form of links to blog writeups, screenshots of or links to your coffeeneuring Tweets, on-line photo galleries with accompanying narrative, Word documents with attached or embedded photos, or e-mail writeups and submissions with photos attached.
14. Submit all qualifying rides at the same time. That is, send me all 7 together, NOT ride 1, ride 2, etc.
15. 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.
16. Tara Rule: During Columbus Day weekend (October 12-14), you have three days to accomplish two qualifying coffeeneuring rides. (This is the Tara Rule.)
17. Vacation Rule: You may substitute a weekend of coffeeneuring for ONE coffeeneuring outing on vacation for every week you are on vacation.
18. Veterans Day Rule: You may coffeeneur on November 11, Veteran’s, INSTEAD of the previous Saturday or Sunday (November 9 and 10). Veterans are permitted to coffeeneur on November 11 in ADDITION to Nov. 9 and 10, in recognition of their service.
19. Buying Beans Rule: You may use ONE of your seven coffeeneuring trips to purchase beans (or tea) from your local roaster or tea emporium for future consumption. If you do, you must describe your purchase.

Twitter: The Twitter hashtag for the Coffeeneuring Challenge is #coffeeneuring. Only tweet if you like. This is a no-pressure situation.

Flickr: You may also share your photos in the Coffeeneuring group on flickr.

Blog it: Let me know if you blog your coffeeneuring, as I will do periodic roundups along the way.

I think that covers it. 19 rules for the 7-ride Coffeeneuring Challenge.

Seven shops in seven weekends. You can do it!

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to put them in the comments section.