sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

March 25, 2014


errandonnee 2014
posted by soe 10:59 pm

Remember when I did the Coffeeneuring challenge last year? Well, Mary at Chasing Mailboxes also hosts a winter biking challenge focused on encouraging participants to run errands via bicycle. The Errandonnee ran for two weeks and required completing 12 errands from a minimum of seven (of 11 categories). You also needed to rack up at least 30 miles in the process and document the process with photos.

Because Rudi is out of commission and couldn’t participate this year, I decided to take part on behalf of the Burrow. However, my bike is living in the office parking garage at the moment, since it crowds the space Rudi needs for crutches, which meant I needed to use Bikeshare to complete my quest. It was fine, but definitely meant I had to think about the process more than I would have with my own bike.

The errands:

Day 1 (March 7), Errand 1
Category: Grocery Shopping
Miles: 2.03

Grocery Shopping

A trip to Whole Foods because tulips were cheap also netted some food items.

Day 2 (March 8), Errand 2
Category:
Coffee/Snack
Miles: 5.86

Qualia

A cup of tea, a salty oat cookie, and knitting make for a lovely pre-sunset afternoon.

Day 5 (March 11), Errand DNQ
Category:
Personal Care/Health
Miles: .56
I forgot to record any photographic evidence of riding to volleyball. Oops.

Day 8 (March 14), Errand 3
Category:
Work
Miles: 1.71

Ride Home from Work

Biking home at twilight.

Day 10 (March 16), Errands 4, 5, and 6
Categories:
Breakfast/Lunch, Library, and Non-Grocery Store
Miles: 7.35

Lunch at Blind Dog Cafe

McMillan Reservoir

Shaw Library

Library DVDs

Walgreens


Lunch (outside) at Blind Dog Cafe, my favorite pop-up cafe, followed by a loop around McMillan Reservoir, before a trip to Shaw Library to return an overdue book and check out some videos. I concluded the afternoon with a pre-snow storm stop for recycled-content toilet paper at Walgreens.

Day 12 (March 18), Errand 7
Category:
Personal Care/Health
Miles: 2.45

Marie Reed

This is the elementary school in Adams Morgan where I play volleyball. There’s a CABI dock right outside.

Day 14 (March 20), Errands 8-12
Categories:
Work, Wild Card (atm banking), Library, Lunch/Dinner, Snack/Coffee
Miles: 12.28

CABI

Reagan Building

Jefferson Memorial

West End Library

Luna Grill

Ted's Bulletin


I rode to work (see how much brighter that shot is than most pictures I’ve included) and then still had nine miles and four errands to go. First, I hit the Reagan Building, where my bank informed me there was an atm where I could deposit a couple checks I had. This was not a lie, but it required passing five other non-relevant atms and the assistance of four building employees to locate it in the catacombs. While a long ride was necessary to finish the challenge off, it was now dark, which meant picking a route that was safe in low-light conditions. I opted to swing around the Tidal Basin to see for myself about the cherry blossom situation (they aren’t lying; we’re still weeks away), before heading to the West End Library to pick up a book I had on hold. By then it was cold and 9 p.m. and things were starting to shut down, so I switched to food-related errands. Rudi was dining with a friend, so I biked to Luna, where I nearly forgot to take a picture, for grilled cheese and tomato soup, and then followed it up by riding over to the new location of Ted’s Bulletin to pick up a pop-tart and doughnuts for Rudi and me to have for dessert at home.

Totals: 12 errands, 9 categories, 31.68 miles

The overall lessons learned? I really like challenges that require I drink hot beverages and eat over ones that don’t. I really wanted to quit while I was at dinner, still a couple miles short of the quest’s 30-mile minimum, but didn’t because I was biking for Rudi. If he’d been able to complete his own Errandonnee, I would have quit one errand and two miles short, and it totally would have been the right decision for me. (Clearly a marathoner I never shall be unless I have to run one for some charitable purpose.) But I didn’t, and that’s fine, too.

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