The Coffee Ritual

Rituals. We all have them but one ritual that nearly all cyclists partake in is finishing a ride with a stop at their local cafe for a cup or two.

All the GP boys are into their coffee, we've had to convert a few though. The day when Lovers ordered a hot chocolate in front of the Director, you should of seen the look on Slim's face. It was one of disbelief... you've ordered a what?? It took a while, but Lovers started with a trainer latte (basically a fluffy) and is now a bona fide latte drinker, although he caps it at two cups. Any more and he's a mess.

At the other end of the scale we have Joe, who's been known to consume up to six long blacks after a ride. It wouldn't be the same without the coffee stop at the end of the ride, says Joe. "Coops the coffee drinker" is one name Joe's known by.



Typical daily coffee consumption for Joe is one coffee first thing in the morning, 2-3 after training, and then maybe another coffee or two in the afternoon.

Joe is stocked up on beans for the Tour of Wellington next week, but there's concern about the coffee situation in France where he'll be based for the next seven months. The French aren't known for great coffee so you better stock up on some of your favourite Gusto beans before you leave Joe!



Coffee may be optional for some, but for the GP it's an essential part of our riding routine. Or maybe it's just an elusive quest to find the ultimate cup of espresso.

Caffe L'affare

It's been great catching up with the Director (Slim) while he's been in town the past couple of weeks. We've had some solid rides around Wellington and lost, or I should say kept in check some of the excess from too much eating and drinking over the Christmas break.

Today was Slim's last day in town before returning to the land of milk and honey and we finished with a coffee stop at Caffe L'affare. Ciao Slim.

The lie in

There's nothing quite like having the occasional lie in, especially when you can hear the wind howling and the rain bucketing down on the roof outside from the comfort of the horizontal position. Then once sufficiently rested, rising up from bed to enjoy a cup of your favourite coffee with breakfast. Yep, sometimes it's the simple things that are the best.

Today was one such morning. Then, news came through that JC was up and out the door by 7am and had put in 4 hours on the bike by the time I was even thinking about doing something... damn.

To top it off, hot on the heels of Joe's exploits, news came through that Slim had been up early training in the freezing cold and snow blanketed fields around Crema over the last few weekends.

Tomorrow won't be a lie in, that's for sure!