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Reflections
Riders. That is who we are. We could argue and say that we are defined by our particular riding disciplines, but when it all comes down to it, we share the same desire for dirt. So what is so special about two wheels and a set of handlebars? Why do we crave for just a few hours a day on some short singletrack? Why do we fantasize about burly rock gardens instead of planting our own? There has got to be something more going on here.
Sleeping outdoors is fun whether car camping, bikepacking, or backpacking. But let's be honest. When you really think about it, "camping" is simply reducing our quality of life for a night or two. We move from sleeping in comfortable beds in climate-controlled rooms to sleeping on thin sleeping pads hoping we removed the bigger rocks underneath. And then there are bugs and the night was colder than we had anticipated. When we wake up in the morning (usually earlier than we normally do) the first thing that comes to mind is ... coffee.
Trails are more than ribbons of dirt and built features that deliver an outdoor version of a gym workout. Trails define us ... and we define them. So what is the allure of trails, especially new trails?
In our frenetic world there is a cacophony of information, messages, data, images, media, and voices bombarding us all at once. We're regularly told "do this," "buy this," "wear this," and so on. We usually deploy some kind of filtering system to wade through the noise so we can breathe easily. Interestingly, companies are the same. What we long for, personally or as a business is this, simplicity.
Since we started Loam Coffee we talk to mountain bikers on a daily basis from around the world. Many ask lots of great questions about our coffee, our roast profiles, where we source our beans from, and most often what to try out first.
Mountain bikers are social creatures. Rarely do you find social media posts of someone slogging it out alone in the backcountry on a weekend while everyone else is riding with their homies and posting all sorts of pics ... pre-ride, mid-ride, and post-ride at the pub. Mountain biking and mayhem go well together and the bigger the posse the more the mayhem. But what do you do when you need to simply peel away from everyone and ride alone?
