Rest, Recovery, and the Ones Who Don't Get Either

Today in the USA is a day of national reflection, and for me, it's also a rest day. That's not a coincidence I take lightly. Our bodies need rest to heal and repair from training — coaches will tell you recovery is the most critical part of the cycle, not an afterthought to it.

As athletes, we bring real discipline to the doing: proper form, planned routes with rest stops, power meters and heart rate zones dialed in to hit our numbers. But without that same rigor applied to rest, recovery, sleep, and nutrition, all that effort erodes — quietly at first, then all at once. Anyone who's pushed through 24 hours without sleep knows: you cannot thrive without rest.

Yet for those battling cancer, there is no rest day. There's the daily weight of the fight, the exhausting back-and-forth with the medical system, the heartbreak of not being able to show up for the people they love because their body won't let them, and the loss of simple joys — like getting on a bike — that illness takes without asking.

That's what we're riding for.

So to my friends who've read this far: take heart, and take action. It costs so little to lift someone up — a text, a visit, an hour of your time — or to throw in with a group working toward something bigger. That's what the Great Cycle Challenge is: neighbors and coworkers turning miles into dollars, so that someone fighting cancer might get back to the ordinary rhythm of rest, of riding, of being with the people they love.

Thank you, Great Cycle Challenge. And thank you, Zebra Technologies teammates — for riding, for giving, and for reminding me why the miles matter. May this day of rest bring you the same clarity it's brought me.

Plan Do Check Act, Change Plan with Joy

Charity rides have a way of putting everything into perspective. Planning out September using intervals.icu has been a fantastic way to dial in the training. It’s been an absolute joy to ride, lift, and stay active this summer in preparation for the Great Cycle Challenge—and to look ahead to the cooler autumn weather in October and November for some long weekend miles out in the country.

As always, heading into the first week of September required a quick pivot and a schedule adjustment. Isn't that just the way? As Robert Burns wrote in To a Mouse, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and as Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke famously observed, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. As I work to stay consistent, embrace the realities of middle age, and push past self-imposed limits, I find genuine joy in the effort and in contributing to something much larger than myself.

Thank you, Great Cycle Challenge!