A couple weeks ago, I decided to quit coffee. I’d been annoyed for a long time with getting headaches during my sometimes-epic hikes when I don’t get my usual dose. I don’t think coffee is inherently bad for you (unless you have a heart condition, or you want to keep your pearly-whites at blindingly white), but for me, it’s always been a love-hate relationship.
The first week was touch and go, but I suffered surprisingly few and mild headaches. In fact, this whole experiment started because one day I accidentally only had one cup of coffee instead of my usual three, and only barely had a headache the next day, so it got me thinking about whether I could get rid of it entirely. That very next day I happened to be attempting a bike ride to Ward, which is 57 miles round-trip and 5370′ of elevation gain. Oh, and it was one of those 90 degree days down in Boulder (granted, up at Ward it was only 77). So, I could very well have been in for a hat-trick of suffering. I did indeed feel a mild head throb when I was 2 miles from the top, which sucked, but ALSO I knew that there would be a general store when I did get to the top. And let me tell you, I needed all the motivation I could get for those last two miles, where the grade averaged 8%. I did get a coffee at the time, which was brilliant at nixing the headache, but wasn’t, in itself, a joy to consume.
I’m happy to be free of this addiction, despite a deep theoretical appreciation for the coffee bean. It appears my particular addiction was purely physiological, rather than psychological. I don’t find myself craving a cup of coffee just for the sake of having a cup of coffee. I doubt I will never indulge in a cappuccino again, so I’m not going to get all weepy and prepare a funereal last-cup event. For now it’s just one less daily annoyance.