Mia wanted to do a “long ride” as she approaches her goal of a century (100 miles) this season.  We’ve done a 60-something mile ride back in June, plus the Killer B weekend of back to back 70 mile days way back in April, and now it was time for a little longer.
The goal was to ride up route 132 from Concord and follow this to route 104 in New Hampton, cut over to Bristol and Back Route 3-A through Hill, Franklin, Boscawen.   As we passed the Merrimack Country Jail it was obvious we would barely hit 60 miles on this loop.  So we headed out Corn Hill to Webster and towards Hopkinton, Warner Road and back home via River Road.  When all was said and done we hit just over 72 miles.  Ride data here.

We averaged a pretty decent pace and I dare say that Mia is getting pretty strong as a rider.  She did awesome and even pushed the pace a few times, even as we got into the upper 60’s for mileage.

The other thing we did this weekend was finally make our own iced coffee.  I used a “recipe” found on Vermont Coffee Company Facebook page which linked to this “recipe”.  I say “recipe” because this really is a no-brainer.  2 things, water & coffee grounds.  Not really a recipe, it just takes the guess work out and gives you the right ratios.

Mia and I have made 4 quarts of this and it should last us through the week.  Here is the world’s simplest iced coffee directions.

• 2 Quarts cold water
• 1.5 cups coarse ground coffee of choice

Put the coarse-ground coffee in the bottom of a 2 quart pitcher or jar.  Fill the pitcher or jar with filtered COLD water and gently stir to wet the grounds.  Leave undisturbed on your counter for 12-24 hours.  Then, using a fine mesh strainer, pour the coffee through the strainer into a clean pitcher.  If you wish a finer strain you can place cheesecloth or a paper towel inside the strainer.  Store the iced coffee in the refrigerator for up to a week.

I like things on the bolder, richer end of the spectrum and this ratio listed above gives a nice bold iced coffee base.  All you need to do is add ice and then as much (or little) milk and sugar as you want.  I also made an iced latte with this yesterday afternoon.

This boils down to less than $1 per 16oz.  Much cheaper than DD or Starbucks or any other local cafe choice.

This works so well since you don’t heat up the coffee it doesn’t oxidize as quick and the acidity is cut way down too.  This keeps the flavor of the coffee intact and let’s you get the week out of it.

Try this one if you like iced coffee, it’s really darn good!

Thanks for reading

-Pete