NOTE: Nothing I'm going to say is backed with research and everything is written while I'm on my post ride caffeine high. So, take this information with a seriousness level equal to a deranged twitter (X, sure....) thread.
Coffee is a very peculiar thing. Caffeine specifically, like my question is... why this substance is not regulated is beyond me. But the effect of this psycho active drug is truly one for the books.
I used to drink it daily on the mornings back in high school. Though I must have liked the sugar in these premixed coffee packets rather than the coffee itself. I never felt that it spikes me up and gets me ready for the day, at most it gives me the runs, if you know what I mean. Without really seeing any effects on myself, I cut the coffee out of my life at college, as I really don't have a sweet tooth. So, I will either take no coffee at all, or sometimes take some from my sibling's cup, because you can't deny that it smells good sometimes.
The blog will get deranged from here. Cut straight to today, where I am cycling 40kms a day. I start my journey back home pretty late, around 6pm. And you know what, sometimes you really don't think you have the energy to trek back home. Sometimes I overexerted myself on the first half of the trip. Maybe I really pulled hard ("pulling" is going all out on the bicycle) for reasons unknown. Bottom line is... I'm really starting to feel fatigued on the legs.
So, I stop by the nearest 7-11 near me and grab a cup of coffee. Nothing too crazy, just plain brewed and nothing added (I'm still counting calories). ALSO, please don't buy expensive coffee, an americano has no right to be that expensive (7-11 price is pretty close as I used to buy fresh coffee grounds). Chill for a bit and finish the entire cup while thinking about life or raving at my music.
I might be exaggerating, but coffee gives me straight up night vision. When I cycle home, I feel like I'm chasing prey. I will play a game of chicken with oncoming traffic; it is that stimulating. For a regular trip back home with no coffee, I will maybe pull 1-2 times when I feel like it. But when I'm on a caffeine rush... every chance I get I will accelerate like I just spotted prey. Peregrine falcons, heard about them? Well, their hunting technique is to get high up, divebomb and punch prey. The kinetic energy straight up kills the prey instantly. I reckon that with that speed the pain did not even register. Now imagine the primal desire when I pull onto traffic. It feels the exact same thing.
I once let out such a visceral scream on residential road because of how good I felt accelerating recklessly on an empty road. It was so loud my throat was hurt and I definitely disturbed the peace that night. On the last uphill before home, I was once hysterically laughing. The music choice was godly and I'm laughing at the pain on my legs. I've never cycled that uphill on that hard of a gear ever, and I wouldn't even try that sober.
I'm not an avid drinker of the coffee. It physically hurts to drink coffee for me. The anxiety and the tightness on my chest feel like I'm fighting with my life. I've felt the worst of that when I was on the race with my dissertation one night. I couldn't sleep and my body was in a full panic.
BUT NOW... Oh boy. I realized that caffeine would work wonders if you really needed it for a very intensive physical work in like 1-2 hours. But of course, moderation. I estimate that I used this forbidden juice twice a week, on my really fatigued days.
People really go to a Starbucks, get coffee, sit on a couch, and talk to people? How? How do you not get that urge to fight a gorilla with nothing but a meter stick. How used is your body to caffeine abuse that you don't feel it? Or is that there is so much sugar in your coffee that the insulin spike and body crash after removes the effect of caffeine? Yeah, about that, some of you guys and girls are straight up ordering syrup with a spit of coffee. Don't do that seriously. Do not give yourself a sugar addiction. Good rule of thumb is... if you can't muster the stomach to drink an americano you don't actually like the coffee portion of your drink, you just like syrup and whipped cream.
Taking pure coffee in the morning I can understand. If you really need Batman drugs to get ready in the morning sure. But some coffee from packets / baristas are just straight sugar with barely any coffee at all. Have we failed to maximize the potential of this very legal drug as a society? Do we need a coffee revolution?
But I still consider that coffee spots are good third places and a ripe time to socialize with people. I'll give you that with no objections. But please people, the sugar drinks you order, and the price you pay both in health and in money, you might want to reconsider.