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Reflections
Winter means different things depending on where you live. Winter in the Sonoran Desert is vastly different than winter here in the Pacific Northwest. While many lament the low-hanging clouds, gray days, and constant wetness it’s a season I look forward to. Plus, there’s no better time to drink coffee than now.
Social media is both freeing and haunting. It’s freeing in the sense that it is fun, playful, and of course … social. You get to share what’s going on in your life with friends, family, and strangers alike. We also get to keep tabs on people from afar. That family member you haven’t seen in a while or that friend who moved overseas whom you now see in person once every few years. Social media opens the door to share our lives with others.
But it haunts us.
2019 was a big step forward as to living deeper into our vision, mission, and values. Also, it was a year leaning more into our brand and identity … who we are, who we’re here for, and where we’re going. As oddly as it sounds, we’re finding our voice and growing comfortable in our own skin as a company.
I’ve come to see mountain biking as the bridge between urban and rural … city and wilderness. Due to sheer population density most mountain bikers live in a city whether large or small. What that then means is the continual travel from the city to the backside of nowhere to ride. We leave the comforts of city life … access to amenities, services, and the pulsating rhythms of constant activity … to replace with the quiet remoteness of a trail.
We all have our origin stories. Each business has one too. I do know this: if it wasn’t for the countless hours spent out on the trail in the Sonoran Desert there would be no Loam Coffee.
One of the exciting things about mountain biking is you never know what you’ll find or see out on the trail. From lost car keys to bike parts to spotting deer or a bear from afar we can never anticipate the unanticipated. I’ve spied on bald eagles perched directly above me and have peered down from a low cliff to watch a 6 foot long white sturgeon lazily swim at the surface. I feel as though I’m always prepared for the unprepared … or at least assume I could anticipate confronting a mountain lion on the trail (which I couldn’t) or troublemakers shooting guns too close to the trail (which I hope I don’t). But a few weeks ago I came across something … someone … I wasn’t anticipating.
A rogue trail builder.
