Over the years I have drunk a lot of coffee, in fact, I am (obviously) drinking a cup right now.  Like all of us, however, I didn’t start out that way.  At the tender age of 18, I remember making the conscious decision that I was going to start drinking coffee as it is the sociable thing to do.  

To this day, I never quite know what to make of people who don’t drink coffee.  As a college freshman I already knew that coffee would be an integral part of my life even if I still couldn’t take a sip without making a scrunchy face.  I mean, what else are you supposed to do with a girl on a first date?  While it was more likely the fact that I was an awkward nerd, I’ll chalk up my dreary high school love life to coffee-free existence.  While the dorm cafeteria surely did not prepare a great cup of joe, I knew no difference between this swill and the Equator Coffee I would come appreciate years later.  

As time passed, I became more and more interested in the Coffee Culture and my eyes were opened to a whole new and exciting dimension of society.  While it is obvious to anybody that the only cool thing about the Starbucks corporation is free WiFi, there is a huge spread both in “coolness” and corporate responsibility even between local coffee shops and co-ops.  First and foremost, coffee roasteries simply must have good coffee, and when I say good, I mean it in the way Equator Coffees means it.  Premium coffee berries roasted to perfection, sustainably farmed to support communities globally.  That is good coffee.  While it is easy to pay local workers bottom dollar for their beans and pennies for the harvest, Equator Coffees founded their company around paying fare wages to hard working local employees for great products.  While this shouldn’t make the coffee taste any better, somehow it does.  It’s not dissimilar to the satisfaction of drinking a cup of coffee that you know was personally brewed by Chuck Norris: unequivocally perfect.  

As my cycling career evolved so did my love for coffee.  How else are you supposed to wake up at 5:00 AM drive 3 hours to the race, kill yourself all day and make it home alive?  It is only natural that great coffee shops are always the start and end point of any group ride worth doing, and to my delight the first ride with Mikes Bikes P/B Equator Coffees began with a delicious cup at their new Mill Valley location.  This season it has been a pleasure racing with their red Bengal Tiger on my jersey, representing all that is good with the world and the cycling community.  Thank you again to Mikes Bikes and Equator Coffees for making the successes of this team a reality.  

-Craig Fellers