George Howell Roastery Tour

Today's day off was punctuated with a good tour and cupping at the George Howell Coffee Company in Acton, MA. We've been serving George Howell's Terroir coffee since the beginning of the Ride Studio Cafe due to its high quality and local presence so it was about time that we saw George Howell and the George Howell family (employees all seem to have longevity here, so not only is it a family business, but the employees appear to have become family, too). We've met many of the people of George Howell and are very fortunate to have a GH employee on staff at the RSC (Sal), so we have been fortunate to build a solid relationship with them over the past 2 1/2 years. Seeing them at home in their test kitchen and in their environment helped put their coffee in context and a new light.

We saw green beans being turned into coffee beans and then got to taste nine different coffees next to each other: from sumatra (wet climate & low elevation yielding earthy flavors) to the Lenana, the highest in elevation (~5000 ft), fruity: ripe blackberry in this case. 

I enjoyed hearing what George Howell had to say about each coffee as we were tasting - he didn't hold back his opinion about each and seemed particularly fair in discussing the coffee other very well-known companies serve.

People would love to learn coffee from this perspective - I'm hoping we'll get to do more with GH at the RSC where it comes to cuppings and brewing methods.

Just another day "off." I really need to take off the barista hat and re-enter bike land before the off-season is officially upon us.

An Interview Question

Today I interviewed with someone last week for the Cafe.

Question: How would you handle a situation where people are lined up for coffee, someone comes in wanting to buy a bike, someone else is there to pick up a bike, someone else has a flat tire and the cash register freezes up.

Answer: This afternoon when I was barista, a similar situation unfolded. Someone ordered two pourover coffees, someone else came in to demo two bikes, someone else came in to buy two tubes, a couple came in after being out of town for three months and wanted a drink and to say hi after the long time away. Everyone who'd been sitting with their drinks needed to pay prior to leaving. I secretly wished they'd just leave, as uninterrupted time with a customer is always more valuable than the few dollars I'd be handed.

Answer?! There is a way to handle this situation as the situation somehow went away, but it's a blur. Dishes didn't get washed but everyone, somehow, got taken care of. I think the candidate's response was good and somehow thinking about his answer to the question made me a bit more conscious of the situation as it was unfolding. Maintain composure, perspective and acknowledge the importance of the time of each customer who is waiting.

Cool Bike Ride & First Century for the Seven

A long day in the saddle means not much time for anything else and I'm anxious to get to other things still considering I feel approximately 2 1/2 years behind in a few areas. One day, however, did me more good than had I spent it doing anything else.

Today was the first century for my new, awesome-awesome-awesome Seven bike. It's odd that 100 miles feels almost trivial on this bike. I step on the pedals, it goes; it cruises over everything (lots of rough pavement) without notifying me of what it's dealing with at street-level; it climbs without holding back and descends with confidence. After 100 miles, my body feels good, nothing hurts. Today was a base-building ride, so I was really watching my heart rate and keeping it aerobic, so it was the kind of effort I should have been able to maintain where it comes to fitness.

At no time did I have to rearrange my hands on the handlebars or stretch in the saddle. Titanium is a very special material & having a bike that is properly engineered and made out of it is such a treat. (Not all titanium bikes in the world are awesome like Sevens & I shudder when people think all ti bikes ride similarly.) I didn't have to get used to my new bike, it was just perfect from the first moment I rode it. It didn't even occur to me until later today when asked how the bike did that it's still new and I should be paying a bit more attention to it. I still appreciate it as new, but I have an affinity/particular protectiveness of it as if it and I have done 10,000 miles together already. I believe we're nearing 700 miles and 6 weeks, though I have to check my odometer to be sure.

Here are a few pictures from today's ride. It took me down through Boston, past Harvard, then MIT (where there were students pouring out of its buildings), through Allston, across the bridge to Brookline, down through Hyde Park into JP (Jamaica Plain) through the Emerald Necklace, into the Blue Hills, back into the Blue Hills, then south through Canton into Sharon, up through Norfolk, Medfield, into Dover (ice cream stop), and as direct as possible from there to Lexington.  The day wouldn't have been complete without a post-ride Ride Studio Cafe hot chocolate for recovery & relaxation. I was lucky to make it 1/2 hr before it closed. The ice cream came when the day was hot and hot chocolate was when it was chilly. I think fall has arrived. 

Central Square - every time I'm here, I think I need to move to this bustling mini-NYC.

 MIT & too many students.

Heading over the bridge to Boston. So gorgeous.

From Jamaica Plain, entering the Emerald Necklace. Such natural beauty. The many forests I rode through were so peaceful & significantly more beautiful than this intersection.

 Beautiful park.

It was hard to capture this scene completely - bike in the foreground & Boston in the background with lots of greenery in between. Perfect combo & my favorite scene today.

A Little Talk

Every single day is an experience. Oh the tales that can be told about each day - there's so much, it's impossible to capture. Too important to write down the highlights & not forget some of the small things that comprise each day that help inform decisions of the next. So, so many of the small details add up to be big ones, I am seeing things add up.

Yesterday
Dear blog reader: if you ever feel the strong desire to go back to school as the solution to being in a job or profession you're not completely satisfied with, might I suggest starting with the really inexpensive Toastmasters. If there's one thing I've ever done that's paid off many, many times what I've invested, it has been this. Off my soap box, paying a lot of $ for formal education typically doesn't make sense if one really wants to learn; there are 1,000 ways of doing it for little to nothing. I used to wake up uber early to prep for and attend a 6:30-8am Toastmasters meeting every other week. Once it's possible to give a well-constructed, organized speech of 7-10 minutes in length at 6:30am, no speech after that can ever be seen as challenging.

Yesterday I spoke to a group of 25+ women in business in Lexington. It was a 20 minute talk about who I am, what my career path has been to get me here and what is involved in the business I'm helping run and manage.

Key points were these:

- I have had no career path and I don't have a "career." My path has been one of my making as I've been following my heart, doing what I want to do--insisting upon it (to myself) even when I haven't been qualified (how many jobs have I ever done that I started off qualified? None that I can recall.) Then I have let things fall into place naturally from there. Now I have a lifestyle, not a career, not a job. The word "career" has never set well with me, I'm not entirely sure why. All of my other jobs have been jobs. Each has been a major player in my life and I have each to thank and many people have made a big difference, too. This is just the beginning and I am a beginner. Every day I begin again, taking on something that is new. I'm not an expert on anything, but if my story can inspire, I am happy to tell it.

- Community is critical and key to the success of the business. It's about connection with people, an individual approach, friendliness and inclusion. There is so much to this, but this is the 50,000 ft view.

- I described the business model to the attendees and the result. People connect, great ideas are shared, people are accomplishing goals they wouldn't have dreamed of weeks or months ago. Friends have been made, spouses have the space to thank as the place where they spend quality time together. High-end bikes and high-end coffee - the best in class is offered so as to create the optimal experience. The list goes on and on. I could go on and on. I often think of the Studio as a think tank, a retreat, an oasis from the realities of the outside world. I only hope that it inspires, helps others to think differently, rest, rejuvenate. It has been all of these things to me, but I'd like to see it be even more. The bikes go along with this very nicely.

If sniffing a crayon makes a person's blood pressure lower, then seeing or touching a bike likely has the very same effect - likely much more considering the emotions surrounding riding that almost every person brings with him or her from throughout life's major experiences where a bike had some role.

For me, crayons make my blood pressure higher. My worst grades in school came from coloring assignments as I couldn't stay within the lines and I found those assignments to be incredibly boring. I'm still upset about being reprimanded in Kindergarten for not coloring the drawing of the greenhouse the right way. I'm fortunate that I developed a healthy relationship with bikes as that was precarious, too. Most of my first bike-related experiences weren't great, to be honest, with my great experiences all coming once I was an adult. I only got a road bike after having to *really* be talked into getting it.

- There are daily challenges, but it's the passion that I have for what I do that carry me from one day to the next. How could anyone push through tough days if one isn't doing what one loves? It would be impossible for me.

Afterward one woman mentioned to me that it appears that I have no fear that typical people would naturally carry with them. I hadn't seen it from that perspective before. Have I gotten to the point that I see risk and am able to stare it down without flinching? Maybe in some areas, but I still have a long way to go. I have found that this is the most important factor in being successful in business. How does this translate?

See the goal clearly - invest all of the resources it takes to reach the goal - success is not guaranteed but it is guaranteed to not happen if it the goal hasn't been fully pursued. It's the investment of resources that is so heart-droppingly scary, but those who can do it are the successful ones.

Tired Ramblings, Sleeplessness and Productivity or Lack Thereof

On Sleep 
Last night I finally couldn't sleep. Usually I am out cold before my head hits the pillow - literally. Often I'm far from a pillow when I pass out for the night, if I'm so lucky to get to sleep for what is defined as a night on something that is soft. When I have a chance to sleep, I do. When I have to work, well, I have to work. I need to be working now and today I'm making a rare exception.

Work is Play
If my work weren't my play, it would just be work and I wouldn't be able to do it, I couldn't justify the time and the many cool things I'm missing out on. My life is very inexpensive. I have nothing to lose if I decided to take a fun, part-time job with the only purpose being to pay the bills and to pay for fun past-time activities. Good thing I can't do that because of my deep desire for fulfillment. I work really, really hard to keep work fun. And by that, I mean I try to stay as on top of things as humanly possible--by working when I should be sleeping. This way, I can look relaxed (usually) and enjoy the company of people when they visit the shop. I think being a relaxing environment and having an escape from the pressure and stress of everyday life is one thing that makes where I work different from almost all others. People feel this, it attracts them to come in and stay awhile.

Fulfillment
A note on fulfillment: The team and I received many thanks for the Vuelta breakfast we served up Monday morning. That is fulfilling. We are directly changing lives and I'm part of the team that is doing it.

The other day, a man who had been crippled for 29 years and has walked for just a few months, came to us for a trike. We don't sell or build trikes, but we were the only hope to this man who could very, very slowly, walk from home to our shop. Jeff, our pro mechanic, built up the trike and we've been seeing this man riding all over town all of the time now. The trike is his new set of legs and it's awesome. Even though I didn't do much directly on that bike, it's hard not to feel pretty good about seeing the yellow of the trike streak by the window.

Cycling and Coffee Combo
Cycling and the subject of it, in general, is an escape. Life is too serious & people take it too seriously. Life is made lighter with good old fashioned time with other people discussing topics of relatively little consequence. And, of course, conversations are all made better if held over coffee. I've had many cups of not-good coffee in my pre-RSC life in order to reap the benefits of the conversation that comes with it. So cycling and *good* coffee in one space. Happy people.

Personal Life (?)
I need to spend more time in my personal life and I will be sacrificing my personal physical and emotional health and happiness a bit less this coming year. I've lost a few friends along the way and it saddens me deeply that I don't have more time for those left and for my family who are uber important to me. Recently I closed a door that I didn't have to, but it had "normal good life without time for the work I want to do" written on it and it was taunting me. I prefer not to be faced with the temptation. Some of the sacrifices of the first year have made sense. For two years running, not so much. My attempt is to keep moving toward the nirvana of business: one that is self-sustainable. No one person should be the make-or-break factor. In the business I'm in, I'm a cheerleader. I'm supposed to be a manager, thank goodness my title is curator because that's far more accurate; my personality doesn't go particularly well with manager. I'm not critical to the business, but I think my role is important right now. It will change in time and I hope to get to the point that I don't have to be physically present so much. 12+ hour days standing on my feet (there are more than I can count) will eventually get old and the changes I can make will be smaller. If I'm not constantly changing things, I get bored.

I miss my life some, but not too much. I think if you told me a year ago that I would have only a handful of weekend days off (note, I made my own schedule, so this is purely by choice) or almost no multiple-days off in a row a year ago, I would have died. Now, I've figure out how to enjoy that prospect. I like weekends because of the cool stuff that happens on them - I don't need the weekend. I do need some of the cultural stuff that happens on a Saturday or Sunday sometimes. I need social time away from work, but when I'm away, I need me-time so much more than anything else.

Since I've been in my new life a little over a year, it's given me a chance to look back on it a bit more, even though it's hardly anything to look at since it's flown by so fast. There have been many ups and downs, though so many more ups than downs.

The Glass: It's Full and Bottomless
Being unhealthily positive and optimistic, I somehow turn a less than positive situation into something that can be seen and felt as good. I think this is the only way I've been able to adjust to some of the changes I've had to make to my life. 

Back to Sleeplessness
I can't explain my sleepless night last night fully, but I do know that I had time to read 1/2 of a book. I haven't done anything for myself in a long time that has felt so good. Somehow, I wasn't completely wiped out today, though I got further behind than I would have liked. And now I'm wasting valuable time writing this instead of making progress on really important things.

Blogging, however, is something I want and need to do more of, I need to document more of what's going on and what I'm learning right now. It's rich stuff, every single day is a tremendous learning experience. I just hope I'm alive enough right now to really be drinking in this experience and storing away the things I need to accomplish great things in the near and distant future.

The future is a few hours from now, and I'm procrastinating.

Top 10 Reasons Why it's Great to be a Barista

10. Anytime you want a tasty drink, you can make it - any size, any special recipe.
9. No one day resembles the last.
8. Meet people from every walk of life.
7. Get to be an artist - latte art is art.
6. Create something with care and attention to see and taste an immediate result.
5. Not possible to get bored.
4. Learn a lot in a few ways: Talking with customers is always educational. Overhearing conversations is informative, and there is so much to learn about coffee, equipment, regions, roasts, roasting companies, tasting, etc, there's no end.
3. In a position of great responsibility.
2. Make people happy daily. Be appreciated and thanked, probably more than at almost any other profession.
1. Be part of the lives of others. Celebrate with customers as they have good news to share, watch their children grow, hear their stories of traveling the world, listen as they discuss their work, be introduced to their best friends, receive their advice, see their perspectives, make their friendship.