PROLOGUE
THE CARBON NEUTRAL ZONE
PERSPECTIVES
MICHAEL WOODS ON WHY HE’S TRYING TO RACE A CARBON-NEUTRAL SEASON
In the last hours of 2020 I was having a drink with Christian Meier, an entrepreneur and former pro cyclist. Six years ago Christian and his wife Amber opened La Fabrica, a coffee shop in the heart of Girona. This venture seems like a slam-dunk now, but when they opened, the idea of charging two euros for a cup of fairly-traded coffee, in a land where a euro could get you a croissant and an espresso, was an intimidating prospect. However, La Fabrica transformed the trajectory of the ancient city. It is rare to walk down one of its streets without hearing the sizzle of a coasting freehub, or passing a cafe with words like ‘avocado toast’ written on the menu. The town has become a mecca for cycling and coffee shop culture, and La Fabrica, along with Christian’s two other businesses, Espresso Mafia and The Service Course, have been at the forefront of this movement.