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Reflections
I've learned to mix up my routine (keep in mind I don't abandon a routine) throughout the year. Seasons seem to be the best times to do so. Summer and fall find me spending more time out on the trails while the wet winters and springs find me spending more time on my gravel bike and climbing hills. I find that unless I mix it up like this I'll get dreadfully bored with mountain biking. (GASP!)
There is seemingly an explosion of people either selling homes and moving into conversion vans or at least doing so for extended periods of times. The spontaneity and flexible it allows is unheralded. Many of us long and dream about such a day when we can go and do the same. To walk away from our 9-5 jobs and make our careers and livelihood sync up with life on the road. To drive from mountain bike hotspot to mountain bike hotspot waking up each morning, brewing up our coffee, and then hitting the trail that you're parked next to.
Frost covered the grass and there were still patches of snow along the gravel jeep road that we climbed. With temperatures hovering right around freezing sucking in the cool air was refreshing on the long climb. After an hour of ascending we finally hit the turn-off to descend back down the valley on pristine singletrack. Rocky and well-drained, it was the perfect winter riding spot.
One of the reasons why I rode a singlespeed for a decade was because I had grown to hate derailleurs. There is nothing worse than being out on a ride, whether a speedy commute to work, a trip to meet a friend at the coffee shop, or on a long climb while mountain biking up Syncline in the Columbia Gorge, and then hear those dreaded noises ... Clank! Pop! Pow! The sound of the derailleur in rebellion. With so many moving parts and a stretching cable it seems like we’re always tinkering with our derailleurs. Or there are those moments when a rock or log rips our beloved 11-speed derailleur clean off.
As much as we push the wondrous effects of coffee before you hop on your bike what do you do when you're fully caffeinated but motivation to ride isn't there yet? Simply put, you don't "feel" like riding today. What do you do?
The way you brew your coffee is also a thin-slice into your personality. Do you doubt? If you tell me how you brew your coffee I can begin telling you a little bit about who you are. No, this is not like the middle-aged magician dude at the carnival guessing random things. So tell me ... how do you brew your coffee?
