@sauer.tucson was an absolute blast. While the riding itself wasn't completely unfamiliar, the scenery sure was. Being surrounded by 30 ft tall saguaros, jumping cholla, prickly-pear, and other pokey plants was new to me. I literally got to ride off into the desert sunset on Friday, followed by a clear night sky with some of the brightest stars I've ever seen, accompanied by an almost full moon. The route was at times extremely technical and challenging. (Most of) the climbs were not as long or steep as I have encountered in Arkansas, but they were just as chunky and rocky. With plenty of rowdy descents. The sand was deep and soft, forcing you to fight your way through it, often for a couple miles at a time. Staying relaxed in your upper body while putting power to the pedals in the perfect gear was the key. The nighttime temperature drop caught me off guard. I thought I was prepared for it, until I started shivering every time I wasn't climbing uphill. I slowed my pace just to keep the wind chill down, and even cut apart my emergency blanket to line my shoes and gloves with. It worked quite well. I managed to find the only mud puddle on the entire route in the middle of the night. A dark spot in the road that I didn't think anything of suddenly stopped me in my tracks and almost threw me over the handlebars. 5 inches deep of the stickiest mud was holding my bike upright. It was comical yet extremely annoying as I had to scrape off many pounds of mud with sticks and rocks to get my bike even rolling again. I ended up going 1.5 hours over my goal time of 30, and have no hangups about it. I know the few things that I could have done better, but it was the first time in the desert and I certainly learned from it. Thank you @kopeus & @henley.phillips for the fun time. My cabbage has been fermented.

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"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?" was my mantra throughout @polarroll weekend. I registered to race before I knew I was having hiatal hernia repair surgery, and after the surgery was on the calendar, I thought I wasn't going to race because I wouldn't be out of recovery quite yet. Well, a week or so before the race, the fomo got me, so I ended up loading up the bike, picking up my race number, and lining up in the back of the starting gate. I knew I should quit if the conditions were gnarly... ...but that's where the mantra came in. Even with grooming's best efforts, there was so much new snow that the trail immediately blew up. I should have bailed right away, but I am who I am, so I was not going to send that #quitter text. Step after step, we hiked our bikes in a line. There was space to hike two wide for a bit, then it was down to single file. It was slow. For the two and a half months leading up to the race I took recovery seriously. I did some heavy duty resting, so I showed up with no fitness. I relied on muscle memory and experience, and it got me through. I tried to take it easy, but I got impatient and passed people whenever I had the opportunity, either by hiking a bit faster, or with ridiculously low tire pressure, I was able to ride past a few lines of folks. From the constant dismounting and remounting, my hips were screaming, but I continued on. I was so happy to find @buttcrackjenny at the Hugs & Bacon Station! We tackled the last third of the course together, and that was a highlight. So was the beautiful snow covered trees all over the route. We crossed the finish line together mid-pack after 26 miles in 9 hours and 8 minutes. I imagine we hiked about 85% of the course. Even though I tried (mostly) to take it easy and be intentional with my movements, it was a big day and I worry that I tweaked my hernia repair. I am in contact with the surgery team, and I'm going to monitor symptoms this week, so wish me luck. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

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Starting at 12:30 tomorrow we invite you to swing by Washington Fair Oaks Park in Minneapolis to donate period products and clean water bottles. These hygiene products will be delivered directly to people who need them. The water bottles will be used to stock medic bags in the event of chemical weapon deployment. We ask that period products must be in their original packaging or in a clean Ziploc bag. Water bottles must be squishy with a removable cap for rapid use. They must be new or clean. We wish we didn't have neighbors afraid to leave their homes. We wish we weren't treating our friends' eyes from chemical burns. But this is the reality in our hometown right now and we know that our small group of committed people can change things, we know it's the only thing that ever has.

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2025: Small numbers add up 📸@acdef #cycling #strava #2025 #endofyear

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