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Reflections
One of the topics I want to hear more about is thinking through more sustainable ways to access trail systems than simply driving. No, I am not anti-car or anything like that. I sometimes think about the absurdity of endless shuttled runs and all of the gas wasted, time wasted, and of course, CO2 emissions emitted. Maybe that is why I have been thinking of gravel riding a lot more of late.
Looking back I realize how much of the best experiences we had were from the unexpected detours. Finding a waterfall in the high desert or scrambling up a cliff in search of Anasazi ruins were not on my agenda. But my trip would be incomplete without those experiences
No, I’m not saying that introducing people has to be sequential … first gravel and the single track. But I wonder where my love would be if my first introduction was simply the kinds of trails that we have today. There’s something about learning to enjoy a good pedal, learning to corner, and getting used to bikes before going truly off road.
Loam Coffee was created to roast and deliver coffee to mountain bikers. Simple as that. However, it’s also not as simple as that. Why? Because none of us are purely “one thing.” Meaning, we’re not only mountain bikers. We all have a wide variety of hobbies and activities we’re involved in … hiking, fly fishing, rock climbing, motocross, city bike commuting, backpacking, bike touring or bikepacking, cyclocross, CrossFit, and so much more.
From the very beginning Loam Coffee has been about supporting trail advocacy and new trails. Whether that is supporting our local trail alliance, sending innumerable bags of coffee for dig days across the U.S. and Canada, serving coffee to trail builders, or having our own Trail Builders Blend to raise awareness … we believe this is an important topic.
What I’ve learned is that it’s not as much as what we do nor how we explore … as long as we’re out and about doing this together. Making memories. We can go to the coast and do nothing other than walk along the beach and look at the waves. Or hike to a waterfall we’ve been to several times. The “what” is not as important as the “why.” And that is to be together and make memories.
