D&F 6/29/25
This week was long. I spent 50 hours in June on my bike; climbing over 16,952m in 911km, but a week in a room in Chicago with my team wore me out. I am not a big fan of the Windy City, despite a few culinary highlights—it's too hot in the summer, and the train is weird.
My doctor suggested the lake beach, which sounded fun, but I couldn't make it there on this trip. I did see the White Sox lose a baseball game, and discovered a Whirlyball bloodlust in myself and a few of my reports we'll need to revisit.
The travel and the countless hours of work-required socializing meant a delay in this newsletter going out, and also a bit of a truncated edition. The summer is always a little light on links, and since so much of what I've read this month was very bummer oriented, or about new releases in cycling gear, I'll spare you.
Links
- One thing I did watch this month that absolutely ruled was a documentary from Belgian goofball Average Rob about his survival of the Marathon du Sable. Between the sand and the daily marathons, none of this journey looked fun, but the persistence and stupid determination were charming. There's a lot of brotherly love in this video too.
- If you need another big journey to watch as you prepare for your long weekend, I suggest this video of Lael Wilcox setting the new women's world record for cycling circumnavigation of the globe. Lael is so fucking cool! She's a proud queer woman, endlessly positive, and incredibly fast on a bike. I love that in this record-setting attempt she focused on engaging with friends and fans all through the trip—never turning down a chance to make a kid's day. I imagine when you're a top athlete it's challenging to thread the needle between performance and approachability, but she makes it look as easy as riding all day every day.
Closing
I'll try to find a few more interesting things in the coming month as I avoid doom-scrolling. On the upside, this week marks the start of the Tour de France—and a return of the rivalry between Vingegaard and Pogacar. While it's nowhere near as entertaining as Drive to Survive, the Netflix series on the Tour, Unchained, is worth a watch if only for the excellent quotes from the Visma team car. These two little guys are some of the best cyclists ever to ride, and their rivalry has led to a 1-2 placement a record nineteen(!) times. That's more than Armstrong/Ullrich, or Hinault/LeMond.
Alternatively, you can watch the end of Squid Game, or catch up on my new favorite: Industry. I guess what I'm saying until next time is: stay indoors, stay cool, and stay hydrated, space cowgirls~