8:00 AM - Very chilly, in the mid 40s and rain, rain, rain. As I sat on my bike on the windtrainer in the garage this morning watching the rain pour down onto the hood of my car and pool in puddles around the basketball hoop, I started thinking about how much I've done in my short-ish life. In the last 22+ years I have done a lot: Eagle Scout, 13 years of perfect attendance, rode my bike from Ticonderoga, NY to Old Orchard Beach, ME, earned my BA in History, nearly earned my MS in Adolescent Education, completed 2 marathons and most recently 1 century ride. Oh yeah... and gotten engaged to my best friend!!! So as I was sitting there on the bike I was pondering where I am going in life, how much lies ahead of me, and everything that came before today. I feel like life is getting increasingly complex, and I truly am starting to understand the argument that there are not enough hours in the day.
Today's book of choice was Stewart Lee Allen's The Devil's Cup: Coffee, the Driving Force in History. I read the first 68 pages in Allen's work, and boy was it interesting! Perhaps one of the most interesting passages was towards the end of the ride when I was reading about the first known suppression of coffee drinking which began June 20, 1511 by Mecca's religious police. They testified that coffee caused mental alterations in the drinker and was therefore a type of 'wine' outlawed by Islamic law and the Koran. It's interestig to look at historical interpretations and how much society has chagned over the centuries. To think that people viewed coffee as an intoxicant is mind boggling. While I know it is a stimulant, I hardly think you can put it in the realm of drugs such as marijuana, opium, alcohol, etc etc. I will try to read more of this book tomorrow!
On a sadder note, today is my last bike ride as a 22 year old. Tomorrow I will be an old man of 23. :(
Total Time: 1:00:30 Total Distance: 20 miles | 
