rec·​re·​ate | \ˈre-krē-ˌāt \

Definition of recreate:

• to give new life or freshness to : REFRESH

• to create again

With coffee in hand this morning finds me poring over topo maps, google, and different trail apps to plan out my next two days. Today is a local mountain bike ride … probably Sandy Ridge or Syncline across from Hood River. Tomorrow is a family exploration trip through Oregon’s high desert. While plans are finally coming together the details aren’t as important as the need to get out … escape … recreate.

This has been an intense fall as far as my schedule and work load. Like you, I juggle lots. This past week I started teaching a new Master’s-level course intensive which has ratcheted up my work and stress load. I keep thinking about the need to recreate … to get out and ride. Not as an escape, but to remind me of who I am.

The word recreate is an interesting term. On one hand it carries the notion of breathing new life into something as you see in the definition up above. Refresh. I need that. You need that. That’s one of the reasons we ride. But then there’s the second definition that has me thinking anew about the term. “To create again.” Re-create. We know that create is to bring something new into existence. Then recreate is to create again. That term and its multifaceted definitions are packed full of meaning for us today.

As I’ve shared throughout these Loam Coffee articles we all have different motives for riding. I think at the core one of the reasons is this idea of a reset. Meaning, a check-in of sorts. Who are we? What are we doing? Why? When we ride we recreate … we reconnect with who we are, what we’re doing in life, and even why. Maybe that’s doing a lot of overthinking, but it’s where my mind is this morning as I’ve coasted into the weekend on fumes and worn out. I need to pause and recreate … to re-create. Create again. I have nothing I want to escape from. I’m stoked and giddy on life. But I need these pauses and reminders of who I am and why I am here.

So as I finish my coffee this morning I’ll pack up my bike, hit the trail, and find some solace alone. I’m looking forward to this re-creation process.

Words by Sean Benesh, Loam Coffee Founder and Brand Manager.  Photo by Daniel Walden