I ride. You ride. I drink coffee. You drink coffee. But why? Setting aside the coffee part of this conversation we're left with a lone question ... why do you ride?

Maybe I'm too introspective. Maybe I over analyze things way more than I should, but I constantly ask myself these kinds of questions as I pedal away from home towards the trail. I have a 20 minute ride before I hit dirt which means on top of the humming of my knobby tires on pavement I simply think. Once I hit dirt I'm not in the reflective mood as I shift into act-and-react mode.

Do I love mountain biking? Why do I love it? What about it do I love? Is it a form of recreation? A lifestyle to be enjoyed (and consumed)? An escape from the pressures and noise of life? A retreat? A soul-satisfying rhythm of life? A utilitarian way to burn calories to keep off the spare tire?

These are probably odd questions to ask, especially from a coffee roasting company. Shouldn't we be talking about roast profiles, manual brew techniques for the outdoors, single origin coffees versus blends, light roasts versus dark, and why you shouldn't add sweetener to your coffee? Sure, and we do sometimes. But we're mountain bikers. Self-identified as such. And since there are sites like Pinkbike to the Global Mountain Bike Network to Enduro Mag and the like we're not really in the game to post demo reviews, bunny hop techniques, and the like. And so we talk about mountain biking ... and coffee ... and ultimately the culture and lifestyle behind them.

As to why I ride and you? I'm not sure we need to answer it. I don't think it ultimately matters because truth be told our motives probably change from ride to ride and week to week. Sometimes I need an escape, other times a workout after I know I ate crappy food the day before, and yet other times I'm focused on progression. Nonetheless I ride. You ride.

It doesn't matter why you ride ... just ride.

Words by Sean Benesh, Loam Coffee Founder and Brand Manager. Photo by Ben Wurmser and Tina Gerber.