Coffeeneuring ride #1: Bump 'n Grind

I found out about the Coffeeneuring Challenge and thought it looked like fun.

I wasn't feeling well today but got myself out of the house to take a trip to Bump 'n Grind. They made a decaf latte topped by a lovely latte leaf.

There's a Capital Bikeshare stop right outside the shop, but I didn't see any bike racks. I locked my bike to a stairway railing. Getting to the shop isn't the easiest because the traffic on East West Highway is very fast. I had to do some sidewalk riding, which isn't ideal either. I combined the trip with a ride to the grocery store. A woman told me that she used to have a bike like mine in Germany a long time ago. The Linus seems to bring out comments, compliments, and stories from passersby.

Oh, and butterfly handlebars I put on the Linus didn't work for me, so I'm back to the original bars. I'll be experimenting with a few stems of different heights and extensions and working on being mindful about not locking my elbows, to try to get rid of the elbow pain.

Trekking/butterfly bars for the Linus mixte

I bought this Linus mixte 8 in May and have been using it to commute to work two or three times a week. Roundtrip it's a 13 or 14 mile ride. Lately my elbows have really been hurting. I thought I was riding with my arms too straight and locking my elbows so I put a shorter stem on the bike about a month ago.

But the pain has persisted and gotten worse. I think that going downhill and when braking I tend to lock up my elbows. It doesn't help that I have only one hand position with the original North roads handlebars.

I decided to give trekking/butterfly handlebars a chance. Honestly I think they're a bit funky looking but perhaps they will grow on me. I've often wished that my Linus could have drop handlebars, because I think the leaned-over position might be fun and faster, but I haven't known how to accomplish that with the twist grip shifters. These trekking handlebars will be the closest approximation of that possible with my current brake levers and shifter. I hope that with more hand positions some of the stress will be removed from my elbows.

Mostly because I wanted something soon so that I can start bike commuting again, I ordered the Nashbar trekking mountain bike handlebar, which was fairly affordable at $19. It's black--not my first choice. I was leaning toward the Dajia Cycleworks trekking handlebars from Velo Orange, which are silver, but they're out of stock. I decided to sacrifice looks for practicality in this case so I can get back on the road.

I haven't put bar tape on yet because I want to experiment with different configurations for the brakes and shifter. For now I have the bars flipped this way because it seems more comfortable. This stem pictured has about the same extension as the original stem that came with the bike, but it's taller. I wanted to raise the bars up a bit. Will post updates on how the new handlebars work out.