Sharing stories and adventures about all things coffee, stories, and stoke
In Portland we have a magical wonderland called the "bargain basement" at Next Adventure. It is a whole treasure trove of used outdoor adventure goods. Your city has them too. Need new snowboard boots for the season? How about dropping $40 on a pair of last year's rentals? Did you blow out your MTB shoes? There's a pair of Five Ten Kestrel shoes (barely used) for $55. Need base layers for winter riding? Covered. Goggles? Yep. Mountaineering boots? Plenty.
Sometimes I forget we're in the coffee industry. In my mind we're in the bike industry. Odd admission. What I mean is this. When I started Loam Coffee I was mentally coming from the vantage point of a mountain biker, former mountain biking guide, and immersed in the mountain biking culture. As a result, I viewed ourselves from the very beginning like a bike or component company ... a RaceFace, Pivot, Maxxis, Shimano, etc.
Let's be honest ... not all mountain bikers are created equally. They all have different loves, tastes, preferences, flares, routines, and when it comes to where to ride we all have our biases and go-to trails. Again, be honest ... you have different mountain biker friends that you tap to ride with knowing what kinds of trails they love and only ride. In theory we all should ride everything, but we don't. So when you feel like a shuttle day you hit up those friends. When you're feeling spritely and pedally you message those friends. Every trail has a different purpose and attracts different kinds of riders.
This is who we are; friends, riders, family. Though many of us will never have the opportunity to ride together, we know that as we descend, every rider is with us, leaving their mark in the dirt behind us.
I like pedaling. I like climbing. I like long climbs. I even like long technical lung-busting climbs.
And then I moved to the Pacific Northwest. For years prior I was a XC singlespeed guy ... long rides through the desert, undulating terrain, and the only consistent verticality seemed to be when going up. In other words, climbing was simply part of it. That was it. End of story.
And just like that the race season is beginning to wind down. There's one more stop on the Enduro World Series tour, the World Cup is over, and slowly but surely riders are making their way back home. Some are picking up life and jobs that were in place before the craze of race season. Now? Plans are already under way for the 2017 season. New potential sponsors, saving money, off-season training and weight training, and even taking a break from riding on dirt. So what else can you do to prepare for next season?
Pft, up your coffee game of course.
