Coffeneuring 2016 Finale - Duke's Famous Delly, US Route 1, Elkridge MD

For the Coffeneuring Climax of 2016, I decided to get serious with this and have my coffee with breakfast at an actual sit-down restaurant. Still keeping with the "Commuting in the Route 1 Corridor" theme-within-a-theme.

So I present to you "Duke's Famous Delly".

Duke's is next to where the giant flea market is on Saturday, which is an amazing thing if you need more cheap stuff to clutter up your house. It's in the strip next to the historic Trinity Church where there used to be a Sunny's Surplus (I miss it so) and where there is now the Triple 9's Billiard Hall.

This stretch of Route 1 is pretty inaccessible by bike. I had to go the wrong way on Montgomery, then on 103 past the liquor stores to Uncle Grube's pit beef, then on Roosevelt Ave past where the mulch operation used to be, then cut through the Trinity parking lot. That's a 6.5 mile ride to get to coffee. But no riding on Route 1. Until you need to continue on, up Route 1 for about a quarter mile to get to Montevideo Road.

My coffee drink was "coffee", which came in a styrofoam cup. Breakfast was a ham and cheese omelet on a styrofoam plate, with cold toast and an orange juice from the cooler. It was very, very cheap.

I remember going to Duke's back in the 90s, when it was a more typical diner/deli, and claimed to be in operation since 1946. You could get a sub or an omelet made with what they call "debris" in New Orleans, which is the bits of leftover meat scraped off the grill. Nowadays, Duke's appears to be run by a very overworked Asian woman. The business is almost all delivery drivers grabbing takeout food.

Decor is amazing. You have this rose/mauve/turquoise color motif surviving from 1989, with Art Deco lettering on the back wall over a ginormous mirror with - get this - silhouettes of deer. WTF.

Services for bicycles include a big post in front of the building where you can chain your bike to foil any thieves who don't realize they can just lift your bike and chain over the post.

The visit to Duke's added 3.1 miles to my 10.6 mile commute, on mostly horrible roads.

Coffeneuring 2016 Ride 6 - 7-Eleven, US Route 1, Elkridge MD.

Can you believe it's week 6, and I still haven't had to go more than two miles from home to find a cup of coffee on Route 1?

This week on the "Commuting in the Route 1 Corridor" theme-within-a-theme, it's 7-Eleven. This is at the intersection of Route 1 and Rowanberry Drive, across Rowanberry from the big pile of dirt and hole in the ground which is the site of our once and future library.

My coffee drink this week was "coffee". This was not just coffee, I suppose. It was 7-E's "Regular Exclusive" coffee, which pretty much covers all the bases. I mean I'm a pretty regular guy, and I am happy that 7-E has made some coffee just for me. You know, exclusive. For regular people. Like me.

Amenities for bikers include these steps here, where you can sit and drink your coffee. The Seven-11 also has a wall, which is the front of the building, which you can lean your bike against.

Access is easy from the west via Rowanberry, but to continue on you have to ride a bit along Route 1, which is never enjoyable.

I had a "breakfast bite" to go with my coffee. The checkout guy noticed me hungrily eyeing the cylinder-shaped meat products turning on rollers on the front counter, and talked me into buying it. It was pretty good.

I don't know why the breakfast bite is moving back and forth like this. I think it's probably a feature of my Google phone, which must automatically detect pictures of food and do this to make it look even more tasty.

This coffeeneuring stop added no extra miles to my commute of 10.6 miles, because I discovered a secret path through the bushes where you can carry your bike over the CSX train tracks. 

Coffeeneuring 2016 Ride 5 - Elkridge Deli Cafe, US 1, Elkridge Maryland

For week 5, I'm across the street from Cindy's Soft Serve, at the Elkridge Deli Cafe. The "Commuting in the Route 1 Corridor" theme is still going strong.

I've never been to the Elkridge Deli Cafe before. I'd never even noticed it until I searched on Google to figure out more places I could get coffee on the way to work. What we have here is a very small cafe in a strip shopping center, run by an Asian couple. Decor is worn formica as you can see.

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My coffee drink was "coffee", which came with free refills. I got some oatmeal to go with it.

Amenities for bikers include a wall you can lean your bike against. Access is from Route 1, which is never fun, although you can cut through the parking lot of the shopping center across the street from Montgomery Road. 

This coffeeneuring event added 1.1 miles to my normal 10.6 mile commute.

There were three other customers, who were all old white men. I doubt they would have been there if the Legion Hall was open at 7:00 AM. One of them had a baseball cap with a giant handgun on it that said PROTECTED BY THE SECOND AMENDMENT.

There are other handy shops in this shopping strip. You can get a tan, you can get your vaping supplies, you can go to the Oriental Spa.