*Trigger Warning: This story deals with depression and loneliness

For me, coffee rides are more than just a nice interruption from the training.

There was a time when getting out of bed felt incredibly difficult.

I was struggling with depression. Some days even the simplest things felt overwhelming.
I had no energy.
And no one around me to get my out of my dark place.

I knew I had to do something to get better.
That's when I started to go on solo coffee rides.
All my motivation came from knowing that there would be coffee waiting for me somewhere.
And a piece of cake. To fuel my starving body.
And perhaps an old lady in the café who noticed my loneliness and shared a few words with me.
My very personal Coffee Ride Club. 

A reason to live

A short bike ride, a coffee and a piece of cake sound almost meaningless.
But they weren't.

They gave me a reason to get dressed.
A reason to leave the house.
A reason to eat.
A reason to go somewhere.

And once I was outside, I started noticing things I hadn't been noticing for a long time.

The sunshine.
The flowers growing at the side of the road.
The fresh air. 
The smell of freshly mown grass.
The view. 

One small thing was enough to make my worth living.

Learning to be mindful

Slowly, all those small things added up and gave me something back.
Energy.
Curiosity.
A reason to look forward to the next day.

The coffee rides became less about getting out of bed but more about being somewhere else.
Being outside.
Being present:
Enjoying something without needing it to have a purpose.

I still carry it with me today.

We spend so much time focusing on our next goal.
But there is so much life in the small things.

That's what The Coffee Ride Club is about:
about life and gratitude for being alive
about all the small things that bring you joy
about connection to yourself and to others you share the table with
about being present.