Life In The Saddle

When it comes to making coffee in the wild , the Aeropress has always been my preferred method. For bikepacking and bicycle touring trips it is the ultimate compact coffee maker. The new Aeropress GO is the brand’s innovation on the already superb design. The GO is smaller, lighter, and has some great functionality improvements. Let us start with how it works… the same as the Aeropress: you place a paper filter in the perforated bottom cup of the chamber, then add scopes of fresh ground coffee to the chamber. You then pour boiled water into the chamber and use the provided stirrer to circulate the grounds. When you have left the mixture to brew for as long as you wish, you take the plunger and push the coffee through the filter into your mug. With the new Aeropress GO the procedure is the same as with the original Aeropress, but there are a few slight changes in the instruments. To make things more compact, the scoop has a smaller handle, and stirrer is foldable; so, both fit ins...

It seems every cyclist I know is in love with the dark aromatic drink—coffee. What is it that makes us love this bean-based beverage so much? Is it the caffeine kick we crave to keep our legs spinning? The warming feeling when you are getting ready to brave the elements? Or is it tradition, and part of a long running café culture in our sport? In this post, I look at the natural stimulant that makes so many of us tick. I try to find out what it is that really makes coffee as valuable as liquid gold for many two-wheeled enthusiasts. Stimulate and Motivate We cyclists like to see ourselves as a hardy bunch—often rising at dawn to train throughout the year or pitching up camp in wild and remote places on our bicycling tours. Those brisk mornings are often a struggle. It can be a challenge to pluck up the willpower and strength needed to pull heavy legs from under the duvet or sleeping bag and get them turning those crank-arms. A fresh coffee supplies a unique source of motivat...