D&F 5/28/25

Another month is ending a lot quicker than I expected. In May I’ve spent a lot of time on my bike as I continue to train for bike touring in Japan and the Mt. Diablo Challenge. With 1,211km (752.48mi) of distance and 17,931m (58,828.74ft) of climbing, and a ton of personal records this spring, I’m feeling great. It helps that I’ve also lost a lot of weight this year between all the cycling, getting my hormones fixed-up, and taking Zepbound: 28kg or 58lbs as of writing this newsletter. When it comes to cycling, especially uphill, being lighter helps a lot. I toured Japan last year at almost 300lbs, and while it was fun, I really struggled on the steeper gradients, which told me that my weight vs. gravity was a losing proposition. I think if I went back (save for some very poor choices route-wise) the same roads would feel much better now.

Beyond cycling and body stuff, I’ve celebrated my favorite young person’s second birthday (hi J!), and seen a few friends for the first time in a while. The summer isn’t my favorite season, but I do love the long sunny days at least—it helps with the long rides.

Links

Since I work in tech, I use a lot of software—much of which I didn’t choose, and this post resonated with me.
“We don’t see the software, so we don’t see how it alters how we work, what we perceive as productive, or how doing things differently becomes increasingly difficult to imagine.”
In my time in the working world (my first job was 25 years ago), I’ve seen so many bad decisions being made to accommodate processes foisted upon a team by the calendar, mail, or to-do software they use. It sucks. Instead of just going along with someone else’s choices, it’s vital to talk to the people you work with (or love!) and build an actual rapport and supportive system together. I promise the time you spend figuring out how to communicate will pay off when you need to talk about hard shit.
During a time of political unrest, uncertainty, and fear it’s important to find allies and work towards a common cause, even if those allies are imperfect. In my experience it’s way easier to take potshots from the sidelines than engage in the real world’s messiness, whether it’s in activism or mutual support systems. People are tricky and complicated, but I appreciate this article’s take on listening and looking for common points to get to a goal.
This website runs on a smartphone with a solar cell. How cool is that?! My own website is as small as I can make it—running with simple compiled HTML for free on simple hosting, but a repurposed cell phone with a solar cell is another level of rad. With another read-later app closing down, I’ve had web content on my mind; how do you actually read it instead of looking at it, then filing it away to never be read? I tend to cull things regularly, and only use “read later” for short stories or until I get a chance to read the day’s articles at lunch or in the evening, but in the past I saw how quickly the archive overflows. I think simple, lightweight design and text-forward websites help with this. Is it nice to see a bunch of images and go on a journey while you read? Hell yea! But what can be a luxury can also impede the actual reading. “I’ll save that for later”, is much more likely to go through your head with a well-produced long-form piece than a shorter-form comment or mini-essay. Let the web blogs flow, but maybe keep the long stuff for an e-reader or actual books. Or don’t! It doesn’t hurt anyone to store articles indefinitely, I just love actually reading them.

Closing

Next month I don’t have a lot of wild stuff planned, but I might have a trip report from the fabled midwest. On the bike I’ll keep ramping-up volume, and off the bike, I’ve still got eight seasons of ER to tackle (it’s strangely addictive). If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope the extra daylight is giving you more time to spend with folks you love, or doing fun stuff—northern hemisphere, I’m jealous of your cooler temps and winter holidays. Until June, keep reading and loving life, space cowgirls~