How LOAM Coffee Began: Coffee at Trailheads and Race Mornings
In 2015, I started LOAM with a simple idea: good coffee belongs outdoors.
At trailheads.
On race mornings.
Along dirt roads before the day gets going.
What began as a way to raise funds for a mountain bike guiding company slowly became something else. The coffee took off. The brand grew. Nacho the Van showed up at gravel races, mountain bike events, and trail building days. What started as a side project became a real thing.
When a Coffee Brand Becomes Something Bigger
But over time, I realized something important.
The coffee was never the center.
It was the excuse.
The real through-line was always the places and the people ... the early starts, the long miles, the small towns, the volunteers setting up in the dark, the quiet moments before the chaos of a start line.
LOAM became less about what was in the cup and more about where it was shared.
Why I’m Shutting Down the Coffee Business
And that’s why this shift feels less like a shutdown and more like clarity.
The coffee chapter has come to a close. I’m selling the mobile setup and stepping away from operating LOAM as a coffee business.
There’s no drama behind it. No burnout story. No sudden pivot.
Just a recognition that the work I care most about now lives in storytelling ... documenting events, bike races, trail building, rural communities, and the culture that forms around movement.
What LOAM Is Now: An Outdoor Storytelling Identity
So what is LOAM now?
LOAM continues, but not as a coffee company.
It continues as a creative identity rooted in:
Outdoor places
Events and race culture
Rural roads and small towns
The quiet moments before and after movement
Coffee was the beginning.
Story is the constant.
The Future of LOAM and Outdoor Event Storytelling
If you’ve followed along for the journey, nothing essential is disappearing. The focus is simply sharpening.
You’ll see more documentation of events. More reflection on place. More attention to the communities that form around gravel races, mountain bike trails, and rural roads.
LOAM and my personal work are no longer separate lanes. They’re part of the same through-line ... exploring how outdoor culture shapes people and places.
If you’re here for the outdoors, the events, and the in-between moments, you’re still in the right place.
Sean Benesh is a storyteller and strategist based in Portland, Oregon. He works with rural communities, trail organizations, and race organizers to help them tell their stories, grow their online reach, and build momentum through photography, writing, and social media. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Trail Builder Magazine and serves as the communications director for the NW Trail Alliance.
