Coming Out

 Everyone talks about it, but few really talk about how long it takes. And how anxiety ridden a process it can be. 

When I was still maybe not fully out to myself, my girlfriend pulled the info out from me. This was the summer of 2019. I told a therapist a few months later. I didn't tell anyone else until January of 2020. And that was just my siblings. I accidentally maybe hinted at things with my parents in May, and didn't start hormones until June. And now, I'm still only out to like, 3 more friends?

Right now, I'm waiting on a response from my parents in regards to a more formal and official coming out. I sent it Sunday morning. It's now Wednesday night. I'm currently terrified. Both at what they might respond with, and their lack of a response.

Last week, I told someone I was confused about what my name was, because in that split second decision, I couldn't decide if I could trust them or not. I used my name at my ear piercer, but my deadname with a laser hair removal place. I don't know how either place feels about trans people.

I'm completely putting off making any mention to friends. Covid helps. Because I don't have to see any of them in person. But still. I don't know any of their opinions on trans people. I have a few trans acquaintances added as friends on Facebook. I haven't told either. Although I know both of them would definitely be supportive.

We're hanging with my girlfriend's family this weekend. Her parents don't know. I don't want to come out, because she needs to come out as bisexual to them first. Also, I'm not sure I want to come out in person with them. Especially if I'm also not doing the same with my parents.

Ugh. The whole situation is a mess. And I'm not sure I'll ever get to stop the process of coming out. It'll be a constant cycle for the rest of my life.

Food Review - Dannon Light + Fit - Collagen & Antioxidants yogurt

Today we have with us the Dannon Light + Fit brand yogurt, specifically looking at the Collagen & Antioxidants yogurt. The specific flavor is mango kiwi.

Based on the label, it seems to be marketed towards the type of people that are always worried about keeping their body looking young and healthy. Another thing is, that the nutrition facts take a jab at skyr, pointing out how they have removed all of the fat from their yogurt, thus lowering calories significantly. Compared to a Greek yogurt as well, and it has about half the sugar.

Initial thoughts upon opening the top is that there's a lot more mango smell than kiwi. Also, there's something peachy mixing it up. Taste confirms the smell. There's no noticeable kiwi in it for me. It just tastes like mango. There's some sourness in the taste. Similar to a Greek yogurt. Thickness is close to a Greek yogurt, but not quite there.

Did I like it? Sort of. It was strongly disappointing to me that there was no kiwi flavor hanging out in it. It really should just be called mango right now. If it was just labeled mango, I would've chosen a different flavor, and you'd be reading a different review right now.

Would I buy it again? No. Not because of the missing kiwi though. After eating this, my mouth started feeling odd, and not in a pop rocks way, but a where'd this weird itch come from? And my memories went back, and I was reminded this wasn't the first time with a mango yogurt. So, I might be allergic and should get that tested out.

As for would I buy another flavor? Sure! Why not? Minus a few small complaints about this particular flavor, and the fact I might be allergic to it, the yogurt seemed alright. The better skin, bones, and tendons are just an added benefit.

Food Reviews - Kite Hill - Blissful Creamy Coconut Milk Yogurt

Today's yogurt is brought to you by it being a free item at Safeway as a Just4U reward. What we are reviewing is Kite Hill's Blissful Coconut Milk Yogurt, in the blueberry limoncello flavor. Kite Hill also makes an almond milk yogurt, as well as an almond milk Greek yogurt.

 

Let's start with what it is. It's a coconut yogurt that is advertised as dairy, soy, and gluten free. It's also kosher and vegan. So it definitely fits within a more restrictive diet. Especially since behind dairy, soy is another food that is frequently avoided, for both allergen and other dietary needs.

So, now that it's been introduced, how does it taste? It has a very mellow blueberry flavor, with just a hint of lemon. There's no real sour or tangy notes from the lemon though, if that's something you hoped and expected. Since it's coconut milk based, you'll also find coconut flavor. This shows up more as the blueberry and lemon flavors have started to die down as an aftertaste. One thing missing was any sort of fermented yogurt tangyness. Maybe it's hidden by other ingredients, or maybe coconut milk doesn't leave any in the first place.

It's texture is as advertised. It definitely is smooth and creamy. There were a few pieces of blueberry floating around, certainly not much compared to most other yogurts that go around leaving chunks of fruit in. As far as thickness, it's fairly thin, certainly not as thin as a drinkable yogurt, but definitely one of the thinner yogurts I've eaten.

So, did I like it? Yes I did. Would I buy it again? Maybe. As far as dairy free yogurts go, it's one of the better ones I've had. However, I'm not the biggest fan of coconut, so to have that showing up in every bite isn't the most appealing. There's also a lot of added sugar, and almost no protein. So if you're worried about nutrients and macros and all that, you're better off with something else.

Biking with non cyclists

So far this year, I've done 4 big rides with non-cyclists. And by non-cyclist, what I mean is that you can convince them to go on bike rides, but they won't choose to do it themselves, or actively pursue them on their own.

First was the McKenzie Pass scenic bikeway two days before it opened to cars. I got my dad and brother to join on this one. We had done it last year as well, but dad was switching from a mountain bike to an old road bike, and not getting a head start up the hill. It was cold and we had to deal with rainy mist all the way up the west side. Dad had to keep stopping and walk a bit to keep his legs from cramping. Eventually, I took off towards the top, and ended up waiting almost an hour for dad to be the last to arrive, absolutely miserable and shivering in the observatory the whole time. From there, descending was an interesting story. My dad and brother, who hadn't sat still for nearly as long, took off just fine. On the other hand, I shook so bad that I had to ditch the bike in the dirt early on. This became a characteristic of the rest of the descent, me grabbing the brakes and squeezing the top tube between my knees as hard as I could. Because of that descent, I can honestly say I think they had more fun than me.

Second was a camping trip. After a S24O three years ago, my girlfriend wanted to go again. We decided on a campground, and I figured out the route. It unfortunately had a lot of busy highway that I wish we could've skipped, because at times it unnerved both of us. We kept it slow. She occasionally had to walk up some of the hills. Of which there were many rolling ones. And we stopped for ice cream mid route. The next day took longer. She was tired. We found a way around one big hill. But it worked out and we made it back.

Third was another ride I planned for my girlfriend and I. It was composed of a couple of popular routes, plus a connector. Since I was familiar with the routes independent of each other, I didn't pay attention to how long it was, estimating to be about 25 miles. It was not. It was closer to 35, and I'm not sure she would've agreed to join if she knew that. There was another complication too, in that one spot I expected to be able to refill on water was out of service. The parks department had shut off drinking fountains due to Covid-19. This put us low on water with 10 miles still to go. She was having lots of problems with her saddle that day too. It's never been the most comfortable for her, and she's mentioned that before, but she rides infrequently enough to forget it's a problem until the next ride. We need to change that.

The fourth was one I mapped out on a whim. It combines part of a scenic bikeway in a big ring through several small towns. Turns out this ring is also a common ride, because I later found most of it in a cycling guide book. At just under 65 miles, it's a good route for riding a metric century, because there's no real shortcuts. If you wanna quit, you'll have to hang your tail between your legs and hope someone can come pick you up. Anyways, so I tried getting my brother to join the day before, but he said no. So I tried my dad. And he agreed, under the condition that he could call mom when he wants to be done. He set out in front, setting the pace, but we soon hit a headwind, so I jumped in front and had to make sure I went slow enough he didn't disappear behind. Flats were fine, but just like McKenzie Pass, he struggled up hills. Though he had fun on the descents. At close to 30 miles, he said he'd call it in the next town, but it came up quickly and he said nope, I'm gonna keep going. At the second hill of the day though, he really called it. We made it to the top, descended to the town below, and said goodbye. He still ended up riding 51 miles. Not bad for his second big bike ride of the year.

There's some lessons too from all of this:

• Let them set the pace. It's more fun when you're close enough to talk, aren't forcing them to go fast, and spending a lot of time just waiting for them to catch up.
• The best way to let them set the pace is to let them ride in front.
• You're likely stronger rider. If you're riding into a headwind, make it a little easier on them and stay at the front.
• Communicate where you're going. Both beforehand, and on the ride, they like knowing where they are and what's ahead. If there's a turn coming up, let them know what street they're looking for. If you know the terrain, let them know if that hill rolls down the other side, or secretly keeps going up.
• Be a tour guide. If you're familiar with the area, and they aren't, tell them about it. Distract them from their tired legs by pointing out the spot you once saw a turtle. Bonus points if you can still find a picture of said turtle on your phone. Describe how the parking lot in front of some fancy new tennis courts used to be a pile of cow manure that you helped deliver while working for a college grounds department 8 years ago.
• Be patient with stopping. On a route you've ridden a bunch of times, features on it don't stand out to you, but might to them. If the want to stop and watch something, take a picture of something, or detour slightly because something looked interesting, let them.
• Keep them comfortable. Some people's level of comfort differs. My dad and brother were fine riding in cold mist. My girlfriend wouldn't have been. Some people deal with close passes by big trucks better than others (Though I'm not sure anyone likes it). Plan your route accordingly, and depending on situations, don't be surprised if they want to bail.
• Help with their bike. They might not recognize when something is wrong with their bike, or how to fix it. In this vein, I feel like I pump my girlfriend's tires up before every ride, and once helped my brother fix a crooked stem so he could pump his tire up.
• Don't feel neglected if they don't want to ride with you. They don't always feel like doing some big hard all day effort. It just isn't a priority like it might be for you.
• Make it fun. Stopping for ice cream mid ride, making it an event like camping, or choosing scenic routes or cool destinations are great for this. The scenic route part is especially important. They probably don't like climbing hills, so your favorite route that's just a loop of a bunch of the biggest local climbs isn't going to be interesting to them.

Here's some things maybe not to do:

• Take them on a camping trip. Find out the campground 25 miles away isn't open for the season yet. Convince them that staying at a campground a further 20 miles away is our best option. Try and set the same pace on the return trip as you did leaving.
• Get drunk at a friend's wedding 2 towns over, and convince them to join you on a 35 mile ride the next day to retrieve your truck.
• Climb a hill from two different directions, planning to meet at the top. Descend before they get there, don't recognize them on the descent, and keep going.
• Tell them you just want to go fast and subsequently take off, leaving them all alone on the bike ride you convinced them to join you on.
• Bike-n-hike, but choose an uphill hike at the top of the steepest climb in town.
• Say that riding across town to your parents house for Christmas is a great idea. Ignore the fact that the forecast the next day when you'll ride back calls for rain.
• Want to go on a ride, but they don't have a bike, so they borrow one from a friend, and the rear tire comes unseated, which causes the tube to go flat, so they're forced to walk/carry it for two miles.
• Don't help them adjust their seat, so by the time the ride is over, they have a giant bruise on their taint.

Estrogen

Today I started HRT. Can't wait for my body to start changing.

Mental Health (CW: Suicide, Depression, Homicide)

I've spent most of the day listening to Daniel Johnston. The last three days, and, really, the last few weeks, sadness is almost the only emotion my body feels. There were brief distractions, like talking with my therapist, and the hour I can get out to go running every couple of days, but it just returns.

Some days, I wish I could head right back to college, where I first really started experiencing my suicidal ideations. If I could only have gotten them worked out 8 or 9 years ago. But here I am now. a wreck of a person, with parts of my life falling apart, and I don't know how to care, only how to be sad.

In December, under the advice of my therapist, I hospitalized myself. I was having panic attacks, related to some intrusive obsessive thoughts. They whipped my suicidal thoughts into a frenzy. It was all my mind could focus on, just a whirlwind of death and blood and violence, and I was falling apart. Skipping meals, and avoiding knives were normal.

Now, it's been 5 months since my release, I'm on a combination of lexapro and lithium, and I'm much more mentally stable, but I can't stop feeling sad.

Some of this relates to other parts of my life as well. I've been questioning my gender identity and working towards transitioning. This upheaval in one's life does not create a stable environment in which one can grow and thrive. Nor does the stay at home orders everyone has been living under for the last two months as well. What also doesn't help is I've been unemployed since October. I've made little attempt to return to work. The thought of starting over at another job honestly scares me. The thought of losing another job scares me even more. But this unfortunately seems to be a normal cycle within engineering. I can't do this. I need more stability than that.

At this point I'm just tired and sad and trying to continue on by forcing myself to get out of bed each morning. At least I'm managing to eat food now though.

Bike Share Bike Fun - The Recap!

Alrighty everyone out there, here it is, the recap of my adventure from a few weeks ago.

It's me, walking to the bus.

I set out on foot about a mile to the bus stop for the local bus with a dedicated lane. It took a while, but it has the advantage that it has a ticket kiosk so I don't have to fumble with change I don't carry.

After sitting and waiting for a while, it arrived, I hopped on, and sat down, ready to be whisked away into town. Upon approaching the downtown area, I hopped off as soon as I was near a bike share, ready to select my stead.

A post shared by Matthew Rooks (@skinnyrook) on Apr 21, 2018 at 12:56pm PDT

Upon reaching the station, I selected a bike, fumbled around in my pocket for my phone to look up my account number, entered it, and hopped on. I say hopped on, but in reality, it was more like, wow, this bike is heavy, how do I get it either, A, not aimed straight off the sidewalk, or B, in the street where I shall be riding it?

The next few blocks were spent liberally raising the seat at every light, just to try and get it high enough. And at another light, I learned that yes, one can track stand one, though it certainly is not easy. Gaining a feel for it's weird wobbliness, I aimed it towards the top of the nearest hill, because why not? Cycling is all about climbing for the sweet descent.

A post shared by Matthew Rooks (@skinnyrook) on Apr 21, 2018 at 1:01pm PDT

And, I made it! I must say though, that's probably the toughest hill climb I've ever done on a bike, just due to the sheer weight of the thing. Upon barely catching my breath, I hopped back on, wishing to prioritize saving money over saving my body, and sailed down the hill, being much less fearful of that descent than the times I've done it on a fixed gear.

Finding the closest docking station, I shoved it in there, locked it, and began the slow walk back to the bus station, to recover whatever fraction of my lungs were left. All in all, a painful (thanks gastritis), but fun experience.

Bike Share Bike Fun!

Yesterday, a new bike share program launched here in the city of Eugene. My weekend plans involve finding one and going for a ride. I'm going to make it more interesting, however, by hopping on the bus, which I've taken probably less than a dozen times, ever. Why? Because I can't drive or ride my own bike to the bike share. Both would be weird. So I'm going multi-modal, and am going to have some fun with it.

Food Reviews - Coconut Water

Coconut water is one of those things I consume because it helps, not because I like it. It's pretty neutral pH, so it does a decent job combating bouts of acid reflux. I'm not the biggest fan of coconut in general, so the water without pulp is certainly preferable. There's an odd tang, but I'm not sure that's the correct way to describe it. It's also not exactly the cheapest drink, so I don't drink a lot of it.

Bike Fun - Errandonnee 2018 - Updated

My stomach is still holding me up somewhat, but I heard of Errandonnee 2018 while listening to last week's episode of the Sprocket Podcast at work.

Basically, the goal is to complete 12 errands and 30 miles by bike in 12 days, from March 20th to March 31st. You can read the full rules over at Chasing Mailboxes.

I'm a little late to start, and haven't followed most of the rules properly, like taking a picture of where I went, but was curious how I was doing, even being held back, and definitely not riding as much.

I'm also going to stretch the rules slightly, because several of the trips were on a longboard, since my stomach prefers not being crouched over very long.

Currently, I'm at:

1. 3/21 - A bike ride to the grocery store, 3.7 miles
2. 3/24 - A longboard ride to a coffee shop, 1.2 miles
3. 3/24 - A bike ride to the pharmacy, 1.7 miles
4. 3/25 - A walk to the grocery store, 0.8 miles
5. 3/25 - A walk to a nearby bike shop, for a talk on bicycle touring for beginners, 0.2 miles
6. 3/26 - A bike ride to drop something for medical reasons, 1.4 miles

So there, it's currently the 27th, and I'm halfway there by activities, but only about a third of the mileage done.

Unfortunately, I've got plans that can't include the bike today and tomorrow, so I'll miss out then, but we'll see about Thursday the 29th. It is good though, to see that my ability to be active certainly seems to have picked up, however slight. Maybe I'll have to create for myself a modified April Fool's version, from April 1 to April 12.

--Update--March 29th--

7. 3/29 - A bike ride to a kitchen supply store, grocery store, and drug store, 3.7 miles

Still not entirely close on either distance or trips, but I'm certainly doing something. Although I had some really bad reflux earlier in the day, and it definitely messed with my lungs and their ability to function correctly.

--Update--March 30th--

8. 3/30 - Another bike ride, this time to the bank to deposit a paycheck, 4.3 miles

I forgot this was even going to be a possibility. Surprise paychecks because you weren't paying that much attention to the date are great though. It was nice, sunny, I was still dealing with more reflux problems, and also trying out a new heart rate monitor.

--Update--March 31st--

9. 3/31 - Another grocery store trip, 3.7 miles.

This is the last trip of the group. Another grocery store run.

--Conclusion--

9 trips, 20.7 miles. So far, I didn't manage to meet either the goal of 30 miles or 12 trips. But, it feels good to know that I still made it out on the bike much more than I thought I would.

Food Review - Avocado and Turkey Sandwich

This grew out of an attempt to replace the cheese in a standard meat and cheese sandwich.

Of everything I've done so far, it's definitely my favorite. It's pretty simple too. Just make whatever sandwich you normally make, but with avocado instead of cheese.

Currently, that's avocado, turkey lunch meat, and mustard, all on sourdough bread. It looks good, tastes good, and will 100% stick around for the future.

Food Reviews - Silk Dairy-Free Blueberry Soy Yogurt - Update

Part of my dealing with gastritis is learning that dairy doesn't mesh well with some of the drugs they've given me to help me cope. As such, regular yogurt, while full of lots of good bacteria that could help my gut, became off limits. As such, I've been on the lookout for something to fill that void in my diet. This was one such attempt.

It's a soy based yogurt. I thought it tasted pretty good. In a taste test, without regular yogurt to compare it directly too, I didn't notice much of a difference. This is good, because I still don't enjoy alternative "milks."

So, would I buy it regularly? Probably not. It's not exactly cheap, compared to regular yogurt. Would I eat it again though? Yeah, I'd eat it again.

4/3 Update

I've since also tried their strawberry flavor. I'll stick to the blueberry in the future.

Gastritis

A couple months ago, if I had been asked who my biggest enemies were, I would've probably jokingly said something like cars, or bad drivers, or inattentive drivers. Something having to do with the people I have to watch out for while biking around. For the last month or so, however, I'm going to change my answer.

Why am I changing my answer? Because my current enemy doesn't seem to be a big fan of either coffee, or bikes. I started this blog to ramble about coffee I've drunk, with the side notion that maybe I'd find a way to sneak bikes into it as well. And now, I've got very little to talk about either.

For the last month, I've basically been kept from both by gastritis. Basically, something caused me to develop a hole in the mucus membrane of my stomach causing a bunch of pain and difficulty eating. One big dietary change everyone says is to cut out coffee, so that was gone almost right away. Followed by a nasty few days of more head pain, as I had to force an immediate caffeine withdrawal on myself.

Biking went along with the eating difficulty. Normally, I was eating about 2,600 Calories to maintain weight while cycling. Now, 2,000 is a pretty good day, and 1,800 is average, and 1,200 is survivable, but miserable. The exercise just isn't sustainable. Previously, I was at 20 miles a day, commuting to work, running errands on the weekend, for fun, for transport, and just because I felt like it. Now, if I just feel like it, I have to be prepared to feel tired and exhausted for the rest of the day. I can't physically eat enough to maintain my body, and add the exercise.

So, for now, I'm taking it one day at a time, adjusting everything as need be. Eating the weirdest, and at the same time, most boring diet I've ever had. I'll probably have to pivot to sharing interesting bike content and weird recipes I've found or made work.

Movie Time - CocoraVelo

Sometimes, you find footage on the internet that fits in so well with the theme of the blog that you can't help but share it.

This is a short documentary about a bikepacking trip to Colombia, with the purpose of learning about how coffee is grown and produced.

COCORAVELO | An All The Places Original from All The Places on Vimeo.

In addition to the video, check out All The Places' Instagram. They've got some photos, behinds the scenes footage, and mentions of future travel documentaries.

Thanks to The Radavist for sharing this in the first place.

Coffee Plant Roasters - Nicaragua Mama Mina

Sometimes, calling these blog entries "Now Drinking" is a bit of a mislabel. Sure, it's the bag of coffee that's currently open, but I'm not really drinking it. That's not it's fault though. That's on me. Coming down with the flu for the second time in a winter, after having the flu shot, does wonders on messing with one's body, and in an attempt to try and deal with some of the headache and anxiety, I've cut my caffeine intake off for the time being.

That said, here's what I started drinking two weeks ago. For once in a long while, I managed to make it off work soon enough to stop in at Coffee Plant Roasters. While there, I picked up this coffee from Nicaragua, the 1st Nicaraguan coffee I've mentioned here.

This coffee all comes from the Mama Mina farm, with more info about the farm here.

Roasters Notes: Clean, semi-sweet, with pleasant notes of nuts and citrus

Once again, I've not actually recorded my taste experience. Sorry. That's what coffee with the flu is like. I wouldn't be able to figure anything about the taste out anyways. I can, however, tell you that it smells good, since I've got the bag right here besides me, since I saved it to remember the tasting notes from the roaster.

Close Calls and Cameras

It's been almost 3 years since I began regularly commuting by bike. After a bad crash in early summer last year, and some close incidents, I purchased an action cam and bolted it to my handlebars. Some of the footage from it has been funny, some frustrating.

However, I'm still trying to decide whether the footage is useful. All that exists after the incident is a short clip. Where someone driving a car does something stupid, followed, usually, by too much loud swearing from me. Every close call just sits on the hard drive of my computer. Where I can watch, rewatch, and only just feed the rage back into myself. Why? I don't know. Is it mentally healthy? Definitely not.

So, with that out there, I'm just going to share a moment from my night time commute. It's probably the closest miss. Mostly because of the speed, and how much I had to actually react to avoid it.

It's those moments, where I wish autonomous cars were here long ago. And then, I'm reminded that even systems designed to keep cars from running into things have problems.

Product Review - Planet Bike Superflash Micro

Welcome to the cycling side of the blog. Where, instead of what coffee I'm drinking, you are subjected to me talking about bikes, and bike related things. So let's begin.

Up for review today is the Planet Bike Superflash Micro rear bike light, pictured below.

Wait, what? A product review of a disassembled product? Mhm. That's exactly what's happening here. This is going to end up being a mix of review and teardown.

This light was purchased for my girlfriend's bike about a year ago. It was used occasionally, and as far as lights go, put out adequate light for letting people know you were in front of them.

But then, it died. I've not disassembled it and looked far enough to determine if it was because of a bad lithium ion battery, or a lack of adequate charging protection, but either way, the battery now reads 0V from positive to ground. There's burn marks between the two where the battery leads were soldered to the board, so it looks like it overcharged, then arced across, killing the battery, and potentially other parts of the circuit.

Build

So, now that we know it's dead, let's talk about how they built it.

The lens and body of the light were glued together, requiring the use of a knife to get in and pry the two apart. It certainly was not designed to be disassembled.

The circuit and battery assembly are held in the body by a rubber gasket, which also serves as a cover for the USB charging port. It's possibly designed like this to help limit the circuit board from being vibrated apart. A very real possibility if it's attached to the frame of a bicycle.

The on/off switch sits in the middle of the lens, attached to a spring. There is not a rubber seal or anything around it, so I wouldn't try submerging this light in water, since that is just about the only entry point (unless you left the USB port cover open.)

Final Thoughts

Would I buy this light again? Maybe. It's one of the least expensive rechargeable rear lights on the market, and I can't guarantee any of the other ones have better overcharging protection. Instead, I'll stick with a warning about charging batteries. Don't leave them plugged in overnight and unattended, because you never know if there's nothing there to prevent them from frying themselves.

Spella Caffè - Ethiopia Guji Kercha

When my brother saw this bag of coffee on the counter, he got all excited, thinking that I was in the know about Spella Caffè. The truth is, I wasn't. I'm not sure what it means to be in the know, other than the fact a friend told him the place reminded him of an Italian Caffè, and now he wants to go visit.

Anyways, now I'm in on the secret too. Accidentally. And only because I forgot to buy coffee at Tailored over the weekend, and then worked too late on Monday to make it to Coffee Plant Roasters before they closed. So, now, a desire to buy something I hadn't had before, as I stood before the coffee choices in the aisle of the local grocery store led me to this.

The coffee itself is a dark roast, darker than I normally drink, and darker than most seem to roast these days. It makes sense though, if they are Italian. As for taste, I still know nothing, other than the fact that I think it tastes good. But I've also yet to find a coffee from Ethiopia that I didn't like.

Tailored Coffee Roasters - Colombia La Chorrera

Tailored Coffee Roasters is another roaster local to me, and, like Coffee Plant Roasters, is also surprisingly easy to reach by bicycle on the way home from work. They aren't exactly new, I just never bothered stopping there and picking up a bag from them before now. That's not to say I haven't had their coffee before. There's a coffee shop a short walk from my house that uses them for their beans.

So, now that the coffee shop introduction is out of the way, on to the beans. These come from Nariño, Colombia, but I couldn't tell you if that means the department or the city within it.

Like the last coffee on the site, I apologize that, to my taste buds, coffee is usually just coffee, and tastes as such. That being said, I do have something resembling notes for this one. Most importantly, is that this is a fairly light roast, and because of this, it threw off my brewing slightly.

My usual routine can be best summed as 4 mins in a french press, but the first few times I brewed it, I was left with the distinctly mild sour taste of under extracted coffee. It's a problem I hadn't really had with the french press before. Not unless I was tired and accidentally added water to whole beans. Adjusting the grind a few notches tighter has now helped, but it wasn't something I was expecting. I'll probably forget the change and end up over extracting the first cup of whatever's next.

Making Coffee Outside

Ever so often, the need to make coffee outside of the home arises. This could be a backpacking trip, bicycle tour, a regular camping trip, or a quick morning adventure to the top of a mountain or similar.

It's important then, to have something easily packed and light weight to take with you. In my case, that includes the following items:

• A titanium backpacking pot
• Alcohol stove - made from an aluminum can
• Kalita Wave dripper and filter
• Mug
• Coffee

My brewing setup, on it's maiden voyage in the backyard.

This combination has now seen two Sub-24 Hour Overnight bike trips and a backpacking trip. It works well. The stove nests in the mug, and the mug in the pot. From there, an aluminum foil windscreen, and lighter also get added to the pot.

As for the coffee, I usually try and pre-grind enough before the trip, especially if the trip will be short or if you'll be backpacking and trying to minimize the weight. For a long bike trip, and fresher coffee, a hand grinder can be packed as well.