Not Ignoring Real Horror

When we were in Germany in September, we visited the Dachau concentration camp. Unlike Auschwitz, which was an extermination camp, Dachau was the "model" labor camp. Make no mistake: the Nazis had no qualms about exterminating these prisoners, including to "set the tone" in the camp, but the primary goal was to work them to death while providing inadequate shelter and food, and conducting medical experiments on them. 

I bought That Was Dachau from the store at the memorial site/museum, started reading it on the plane ride home, took it to DC, San Fran, and Atlanta, and finished it in Nashville. It was written by a man who was imprisoned there and became a historian later in life. It was a very well-researched book and he complemented the documented record with some personal observations ("I saw that," or "Here's an example of what some of us did"). 

It was well worth reading, even if it was dark. An abbreviated version of what I've been thinking about:

- There are parallels between Hitler's rise to power and today's GOP gambling on Trump/Trump allies. Republicans: hold your ire. I am not alleging that Trump himself wants to exterminate entire groups of people (I think he's not that committed to anything other than himself.) But the political tradeoffs we're seeing for the pursuit of raw power is frightening.

- Tons and tons of people, unfathomable numbers, really, were cruelly murdered - both quickly and slowly - way more than we'll ever know. 

- A lot of people had horrible, cruel, sadistic motives. It was not just a few bad actors.

- The Nazis weren't just interested in killing people who were Jewish, Roma, gay, Polish, Russian, Czech, political adversaries, etc., but wanted to set up a system of sustained enslavement to benefit German society in perpetuity. 

There's a lot more than that. And, it is a very accessible account, if you can avoid dwelling for too long on the actual people being mistreated or killed. I highly recommend reading it. I think our future demands that we understand events like these.

My TRAM Week - In Haikus

[Sunday]

Proctor fairgrounds camp
Speedway hid sounds at setup
Beeping noise 'til storm

I pile all the things on the couch and then
decide how to fit them into 2 bags.

I camped next to this fitness center's abandoned van.

Dinner in Duluth the night before we started riding.

It wasn't supposed to rain Sunday night.
On the bright side, the wind, lightning,
thunder, and rain blocked the
noise of whatever alarm beeped every
seven seconds all night long. Something
we couldn't anticipate when we set up 
camp during the very noisy speedway races.

[Monday]

84 miles
Mostly straight and flat 'til end
Chisholm camp was great

My friend Steve and I were the last two to leave
on the first day. Probably not the best way to
kick off an 84-mile ride for the day. But we caught up
to people and weren't the last ones into camp.

Fantastic camp behind the museum. They
left the back door to the museum open so our team
could use flush toilets and sinks - not biffies - 
for our two nights in Chisholm.

The front side of the museum (apologies for
the video screen shot).

In Proctor and in Chisholm, I had daisies under
my rain fly. Cute way to start the morning.

Kellie and I dubbed this the Titanic Schoolbus. 

Deb was a willing participant.

Who can resist a thing like this?

Travis, Deb, Steve, and me on our way back from dinner
on the patio at Jim's Bar.

[Tuesday]

40-mile loop
Mesabi Trail to Hibbing
Same hills: felt okay

Pretty mining pit lakes up there.

Stacy's Cyclers Mon-Weds (Keisha and Kim
joined us for Thursday and Friday).

The absolute cutest girl fortuitously had
a lemonade stand out on this country
road in the middle of nowhere. Hundreds
of riders stopped to buy a glass.

Chisholm waitresses
Worked their asses off for us
Good place to visit

[Wednesday]

Beautiful trails
Downhill beyond Virginia
Wind to Biwabik

From the new bridge in Virginia, MN

Steve and me. Proof!

The wind was nice until we had to
ride into it.

It also misted on and off. Not sure what Steve
did with his camera to make it look like I'm
riding a kid's bike! It's hilarious.

63 miles
Cute little town, nice people
Good band in the park

Lily Tomlin?

Keisha and Alicia joined us Wednesday night,
after setting up their tents.

Kellie taught me the art of holding
my phone upside down for photos like this.

This was my third time staying in Biwabik on a
BikeMS ride. Each time has been great, and with good music!

[Thursday]

70 miles
Scenic route, fast, smooth shoulder
Two Harbors; last night

Major tailwind and smooth roads made for a day of
fast, fun riding in a beautiful part of the state. I lingered
a bit at rest stops to stretch (and goof off).

Better camp than past:
Shore of Lake Superior
Oh! Black flies, black flies!

Lake Superior from our camp.

Two Harbors is a little sheltered, so the lake
is calmer. It is still freezing cold water, though.

Steve and I took the scenic route to go skip stones
with the others on the beach. Partly because it was fun,
but partly to escape the murderous biting black flies.

Escaped to taproom
Back for team competitions
Smaller than years past

Deb and me, two teens on their devices. Trying to
see if black flies were better on pavement than in the grass,
after the always-fun team song and jersey/t-shirt competitions.

Two Harbors camp. My tent is the yellow one.

[Friday]

39 miles
Along the lake 'til the hills 
1600 feet 

Me, making coffee for Alicia in the morning.
I like to make coffee for people. Many thanks to Deb for bringing 
a stove and fuel.

Lake Superior along Highway 61.

Requisite "bike porn" photo.

View from Enger Tower Park, about 2/3 of the way
up the hills from the lake back to Proctor.

Cool walkway gazebo thing and Enger Tower.

I didn't climb the full tower. I was too
busy eating Fritos and slamming a Coke.
The hills to get up there were pretty serious...
for Minnesota, anyhow, on the fifth day of riding.

A great week away
Riding for friends with MS
Thank you for support!

Stacy's Cyclers in blue (other than Travis, who is a safety dude
for the ride). Kellie and Gregg are in yellow. They're from
the team MS is BS, but they're our friends and they
camp and hang out with us, which is fun. Friday
was Stacy's birthday, so she had a special bday t-shirt.

Found this at the fairgrounds.

Time to start putting sunscreen on
under my watch, where the holes are to hook it on?

I was one of the top fundraisers in 2021, even though I had to
skip the official ride. (I did 3, 100-mile rides on my own.) Thank you!
My donors have contributed $4,760 so far this year - fantastic!

https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/GoMaggieGo-2022

What the what?

I often sing/refer to the chorus of Europe's "The Final Countdown," a lackluster song from the 1980s whenever it is getting close to crunch time for something, whether it be a bike event, a work thing, or some other occasion. I just looked at the lyrics to that song and they are super stupid. I need to find a better song! Especially this week, leading up to the Ride Across Minnesota.

Anyhow, it appears I've been neglecting this blog once again. Years ago, I posted at least twice a week. I guess I've gotten to a point in our relationship, dear reader, where I feel you don't need to know every detail of my existence. But the resulting effect is that you get an update that reads like a 3rd-grade essay on "What I Did Last Summer: The Sequel." So is that a 4th-grade essay by now?!?

Oh yeah, so getting back to the point. A week from today, I will have finished the first day of my 5-day Bike MS ride. What's noteworthy? Well, the first day this year is going to be 81 miles. We haven't had a 60+ day on the 5-day ride for several years. And, unlike prior years, I have not ridden that far yet in a single day. (In fact, the furthest (farthest? ☺) ride I have done this year was exactly one day ago - - when I rode 65 miles. Before yesterday's ride, I noticed that I'd ridden about 820 miles this year. In previous years, for several years, I'd have logged at least 1,500 miles by now. Like last year, for instance. (What are you gonna do? I can't go back in time - only forward.)) (Also, how many parentheticals can be put into one sentence? (I'm not sure, but if anyone can succeed in breaking the record, it is me.))

Anyhow, the first year I did the Ride Across Minnesota, we rode either 94 or 96 miles the first day, and it was freakin' hot, and unusually hot for a ride originating in International Falls (depicted as Frostbite Falls on Rocky and Bullwinkle). But I digress.

I'm not totally with it this year. I will be just fine on the Ride Across Minnesota, but it will be work, for sure, compared to recent years. But what else have I got to do that week? Nothing. Nothing except to ride to support the MS Society. Oh, and I do need to remember how to camp in a tent, on the ground, in a city park often near train tracks. And under relentless floodlights. With someone squealing their car tires nearby.

We also have had some memorable storms on this ride in years past - - like the the year when water from a lake was spraying into my tent and I zipped the tent into my pants when trying to put the rain fly on when pulling on said pants (after sleeping as close to naked in a public park as possible in super hot temps) and as the wind broke my friend Steve's tent, meaning that we had to share a 2-person tent with all of our gear. Or the year that the guys were at some bar (where "picklebacks" were a thing), while Deb and I heeded the tornado sirens and sat inside a municipal building. Or the year that Stacy, Steve, and I made it back to camp and our gear was sitting in puddles and Travis made us some coffee with Irish whiskey to warm us up as we set up our tents. Or the year that the trail got washed out and Deb and I got a hotel room so that we could dry out our gear yet that was the also year that I tried taking senna pills for the first time for bathroom issues and poor Deb was subjected to my stinkiness in a hotel room with windows that did not open.

So, it is sure to be a memorable week, next week, with some stories.

Oh, my 3rd- or 4th-grade report! 

The Twin Cities Bicycling Club's all club ride this spring.
I really need to just smile with my mouth open rather
than covering up my braces. I love my new sunglasses and cap.

Running lots of errands this year - pharmacy
drive-thru, Target curbside pick up, and...

Clematis and wisteria at the garden store... and

going to the Red Cross...

...to donate platelets. (I did get hot shortly
after exiting and did remove the vest STAT.)

My bruise from a collision on a group ride.
This is the yellow and green phase, rather 
than the swollen black sore phase. Better this than
the alternative: landing in the lane of 
oncoming traffic.

I've been riding with Major Taylor most
Wednesdays...

And have been doing a women's ride from my
local bike shop most Thursdays.

Some beverages follow, either at the local
taproom or Sea Salt, the park restaurant
by Minnehaha Falls.

My worlds collide a little bit when I get to see
my Major Taylor friend Carolyn on a ride organized
by the local bike shop rider leader woman. I'm so 
fortunate to have so many resources - and riding friends! 

Even though I haven't done many
Twin Cities Bicycling Club
rides, I do follow their routes
on my own time, to learn new
parts of the metro.

I did get to do this ride with the group
yesterday and it was tons of fun. Not shown:
my house to the green starting point and
from the red stopping point to my house.

Not sure how I got so dirty considering
that fellow TCBC riders did most of the
work in fixing my flat tire yesterday
(thanks, guys!)

A bunch of my time is also spent with her royal highness, Haley Alice Swardoney, and getting her out into the woods, acclimating to other dogs, and living her best dog life.

Haley and I went to my favorite spot
in the whole world. Glad I got to finally
take her there.

The lake at my mom's and stepdad's place. I didn't take my bike this time.
And that's totally okay.

Haley engaged in her first real appropriate
dog play activity ever. Good job, girl! 

So excited to go to Wisconsin.

Livin' the dream.

Thanks to the generosity of friends and acquaintances, I am past the halfway mark to meeting my goal. Want to support my fundraising efforts for the MS Society as I take a week off work to ride 300 miles in uncertain conditions and with an 81-mile ride the first day? Here's the link: https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/GoMaggieGo-2022. Thanks for considering my request!