Sharing stories and adventures about all things coffee, stories, and stoke
Viewing entries in
Reflections
I like to create and start things. Maybe it's because I started off university studies as an art major. Art is about creating from scratch. A blank canvas is where it begins. However, I'd say that for me even beneath the surface of all of this is a natural curiosity. I like to create and start things because I'm curious.
I feel as though I'm always poking and prodding topics that, while they are near and dear in the world of coffee and bikes, don't always garner the most attention. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people talking, writing, and doing these things. They just don't snag the headlines like when Trek releases a new frame, Marzocchi drops a new fork, or the latest happenings in the DH World Cup. Don't worry, no conspiracy theories harbored here and like you I love reading about all the latest happenings in the mountain bike world.
It's hard to explain, but there is something magical about the Pacific Northwest. Of course, that's a very American term because when we lived up in British Columbia for a couple years it would more or less be considered southwest Canada, but anyways ... you get what I'm saying. No one really knows or has explicitly defined what the PNW is as far as geographic boundaries. My hunch is that it starts somewhere in northern California and follows the coastline all of the way up to southeast Alaska. Pretty much wherever there is lots of rain, fog, and dense forest (with lots of loam) there you'll find the Pacific Northwest.
Long before I ever had my first sip of beer I knew about "beer muscles." Actually, come to think of it, I vividly recall when I was 4 years old sneaking a sip of my Dad's Old Milwaukee (maybe it was Schlitz) when he stepped of our the truck to pee while we were driving along the back country roads (for obvious reasons). But we know what beer muscles are. In a sense they are that inflated ego and sense of invincibility that comes when too much beer has been consumed.
Often times what happens early on ends up setting the trajectory of our lives or at least influencing us in some way. That first time you picked up a basketball and you were hooked. That first time you borrowed your neighbor's hockey stick and it somehow just felt right. That first time you listened to someone masterfully play the piano and you immediately begged your Mom to sign you up for lessons. That first time you remember riding a bike (banana seat and baseball cards in the spokes). As they say, first impressions are everything.
Mountain biking is so much more than a good workout. If that's all we were looking for we'd be satisfied with spin classes at the gym. Instead, it is about community. About our squad(s). Mountain biking is just as much (or more) about a lifestyle and a people than it is about simply a sport.
