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About Beans, Bikes, and Blooms

Beans, Bikes, and Blooms, the site for caffeine freaks, biking geeks and garden peeps. We are your go-to authority on coffee, recreational cycling, and gardens set in the context of travel.

So, while we cover bike trails and city rides, amazing botanical gardens, and where to get a great cup of coffee at the start or end of the day, at its core Beans Bikes and Blooms is a travel site.  

We feature unique coffee shops and roasteries in your town and across the globe.  Local coffee houses are a fantastic way to tap into the flavor of a place. And the roastery experience is a treat for the senses.

Like other cycling sites Beans, Bikes and Blooms provide you with trail guides, local bike paths, and city tours. But we are not a GPS, tracking, or stats-based site. There are plenty of them out there. 

Beans Bikes and Blooms delivers general experiential knowledge of local bike tours, paths, and trails that is useful to the recreational cyclist while traveling. Additionally, we supply you with ideas for what to do when you’re out of the saddle. This includes where to stay, places to eat and, you guessed it, coffee shops. It’s your all-in-one place for bike-centric explorations in thrilling destinations.

For garden lovers, Beans, Bikes, and Blooms introduce you to eye-popping botanical and natural gardens in interesting locations. We suggest fascinating experiences and notable sites you can incorporate into your horticulturally immersive trips.

And, finally, you will find reviews of products we think you will find useful when brewing, pedaling, planting and on the road.

About Susan

Hi!! I’m Susan. I like travel, dirt…and coffee! (Not necessarily in that order)

I’m an avid gardener and love to visit gardens of all kinds when travelling. I live in southern New Jersey with my husband Bill. We live in a 1980s contemporary that sits on 2-1/2 wooded acres. This is where I have my floral and vegetable gardens. We have a wonderful patio area situated beside a manmade pond with a waterfall surrounded by perennial beds. This is where you will find me most of the year as I love to have my hands in the soil. 

We share our little slice of heaven with our rescue pets: 4 cats 🐈‍⬛(Abby, Cheetoh, Cosmo, and Syd) as well as our dog Nola 🐕 and the latest addition, our puppy, Dax. 

In 2021, at the ripe age of 55, I decided the thing to do would be to take up mountain biking. Because, doesn’t everyone?? Lol. I fell in love! I ride a Trek Fuel EX 5 🚲. I am by no means a pro. But I love getting out on my local trails. I also travel with my bicycle which allows me to experience new terrains, hone new skills and see sites that I might otherwise miss. It also provides me an opportunity to connect with local cycling communities.  

And then there is coffee. I’m not sure whether to call myself a coffee connoisseur or a caffeine whore 😂. I have every coffee-making device imaginable, I love to visit independent coffee shops and roasteries when I’m on the road. But when I’m home I admit that I sacrifice exotic blends for what’s available😒. 

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Some Fun Facts About Susan

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  • I’ve been married for 26 years
  • I hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Public Relations
  • I’m a member of the North American Travel Journalist Association (NATJA)
  • At 29 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I’m doing better than I ever imagined.
  • I’m a former triathlete (but not a very good one).
  • The garden is my happy place, yet I routinely kill my houseplants
  • I have a titanium hip
  • I love things that go fast; cars, rollercoasters, watercraft, well, you get the idea.
  • I’ve driven a Ferrari at 140 mph.
  • I’ve ridden a camel in the desert, journeyed into pyramids, and climbed Mt. Sinai for sunrise.
  • I’ve been to 33 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
  • I have visited 22 countries on 5 continents
  • I’m super clumsy. It’s part of my charm
  • I’m sarcastic and a bit self-deprecating
  • If you want to hang with me, you better have a sense of humor
  • At the same time, you need to be able to dive into deep philosophical, political, and intellectual debates

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