Humanoids of Surly Feature

As long time readers know, I’ve been a fan of Surly Bikes for a long time. Basically since I started riding bikes as an adult. So when they reached out to me a bit ago to ask if I would be interested in being featured on their Humanoids of Surly Blog, I was over the moon!

The blog post came out yesterday and the response has been overwhelming. I don’t know what weird little corner of the internet I exist in, but thank you all for making it so supportive, friendly and welcoming.

Check out the Surly blog here and look for more fun stuff soon!

Humanoids of Surly Blog Post

Why I love using a trainer to ride indoors

I had an indoor bike trainer a few years ago – it made a really good door stop and dust collector but I really didn’t ride it much… it was hard to set up, loud, and I had no idea what sort of resistance level I was working with. If you asked me what brand it was I couldn’t tell you – I had bought whatever seemed decent in an attempt to keep riding through the Seattle winter. Clearly I didn’t listen to my friends and all the internet advice that told me to spend a few extra bucks for a Smart Trainer. I ended up hating the trainer and hardly ever riding it.

Fast forward three years and I’m back on the trainer game, this time off to a much more successful start. I’ve got the Saris M2 Smart Trainer and have already logged nearly 200 miles indoors! While it’s not a replacement for carefree days outside in the sun, it’s a darn good backup when it’s raining, too smoky to breathe, or you know, a global pandemic.  Read on for details on how you can win a Saris trainer….

Ready to jump on the trainer!

Why I love my trainer

Here’s a few other reasons why I’ve become a convert to using a Smart trainer:

• Easy to set up

• Connects with online cycling apps like Rouvy and Zwift, where you can ride in real-time with friends and strangers!

• Realistically simulates real-world riding, including hill climbing and descending

• It’s actually a really good work out!

Setting up your trainer

A quick word on the setup. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I am literally the least handy or mechanically inclined person in the world. My curtains literally fell down a day after I put them up. So when I say this trainer is easy to set up, I’m not lying. From box to riding, it was about 15 minutes, including the digital connections! It’s got fancy integrated cadence, speed and power data and dual ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth sensors, so you really don’t need any other connections too.

I do think a lot of people would do a double-take at seeing my touring bike on a trainer, but you know what, ride what you got, right? Full disclosure, I bought a cheap road bike that I intended to use as a trainer bike, but it’s really ill-fitting. So with a quick tire change (**very important – make sure if you’re using a trainer you’re using either a smooth tire or a tire intended for use on a trainer!**), I was able to use my Surly on the M2 trainer. Sure I don’t need the racks and fenders and safety pizza, but why not ride my favorite and most comfortable bike?

It’s honestly kind of funny – when I’m riding outdoors I hardly ever pay attention to speed, watts, cadence – I’m out there to ride.  But indoors, I guess because there isn’t scenery to look at or bakeries to stop at, the stats are pretty fun.

The Saris M2 is a “wheel-on” trainer, so you can use your current set-up (as long as your tires are smooth.

I’m really looking forward to continuing to ride my trainer and improve my fitness with it. Most winters, I don’t ride very much and then every spring, it’s a bit of a slog to get my legs back into riding shape for touring and bikepacking season. I’m hopeful that riding indoors will keep build my endurance and stamina throughout the winter so when the good riding weather comes around again, I’ll be able to go further and recover faster!

Want to join me in the trainer fun? Well, lucky you, I’ve partnered up with Saris and Machines for Freedom to help promote the Ultimate Indoor Cycling Giveaway! Go here and enter to win a slew of really amazing prizes including:

* MP1 Nfinity trainer platform
* H3 direct drive smart trainer
* TD1 trainer desk
* 1-year subscription to ROUVY
* PLUS! Machines For Freedom Essential Cycling Short
*The Luxe Cropped Base
*The Summerweight Long Sleeve Jersey in the new Moonlight Print
*The Twilight Jacket
* AND! New Insulated Water Bottles in Palmera to stay hydrated!

Kailey Kornhauser and I will also be hosting a series of Friday rides at Noon PST on Zwift we’re calling “All Bodies on Bikes.” These will be no-drop virtual rides where we can sweat together virtually! Find me on Zwift (Marley Blonsky), follow me, and I can invite you to the meetups!

Good luck and see you on the trainer!!  

Giveaway link: https://www.saris.com/page/saris-x-machines-giveaway

A Much Overdue Life Update

Wowee I am overdue for an update! You know how sometimes life changes in really big, unexpected ways and then it’s like you’re on a rollercoaster and it’s really fun and you just don’t want to stop or slow down to reflect? Yeah, that’s where I’m at.

But it’s time. And I’ve got a lot of time on my hands these days, now that we’re back on another round of COVID lockdown. So, in no particular order, here is what has been going on the last few months.

I broke up with my partner, which also meant ending our engagement.

I moved to Capitol Hill into a gorgeous apartment that I’m in love with.

I adopted two dogs.

 It’s funny, when you condense it down into three sentences, all these changes seem pretty manageable. But it’s been a lot of really big changes.

Overall, these changes have all been for the better, even though breaking up with somebody that you love is heartbreaking and not something I wish on anyone. For both his privacy and mine, I’m not going to go into details, but please know that he is a wonderful man who has all my respect in the world.

I will go into details on my new apartment and the doggos though! The rental market in Seattle is really soft right now and I was incredibly lucky to find a nearly 750 square foot, one bedroom unit that’s actually affordable.

The apartment is a perpetual work in progress

It’s in a historic building on the quiet part of Capitol Hill, built in 1927! There are some really fun details that they’ve kept as they’ve remodeled throughout the years, including a fold-out ironing board in the kitchen and the original toilet! I love thinking of how many people have pooped on that exact same toilet!

The building is also pet friendly, so as soon as I was settled in I started my search for a dog. I quickly found a pair of bonded senior best friends who were in need of a permanent home and soon found myself as a brand new dog mom!

Lacey and Daisy Mae

I feel like I won the dog lottery. These girls are the absolute sweetest pups ever. They warmed right up to me, cuddling on the first day and settling right in. We’ve quickly established a pretty good routine (I think?? I don’t actually know since I’ve never done this before…) and I’m definitely spending way more money than I thought I would. Who knew vets and food and toys and all the things were so expensive?

Of course you can follow all of their adventures on Instagram.

I’ve also got a few exciting things lined up in the bike world. I’ve seen a first cut of the film All Bodies on Bikes that we’re making with Sweetgrass Productions, Zeppelin Zeerip and Shimano. It’s looking so good and I can’t wait to show everyone when its released this spring. I’ve also got a fun promotion coming up in December with Machines for Freedom and Saris, so keep your eyes on my Instagram for details about that.

Pedaling away on the trainer

One of my goals for this winter is to be more engaged on my blog and to finally update the recommendations section of my website. I have a good friend helping me with some website changes and hopefully she’ll be able to hold me accountable to more consistent content. Please let me know what recommendations you’d like to see and if there’s any gear reviews you’re looking for!

I Introduced My Partner to Bike Camping

I never thought I’d date a non-cyclist. My life revolves around bikes - it just doesn’t make sense. But the heart does funny things and here I am, engaged to a man who hadn’t ridden a bike since childhood when we started dating three years ago!

We’re pretty cute, if I do say so myself

Needless to say, he definitely hadn’t been bike camping and all of our shared camping trips so far had involved the car and way too much stuff. Every time we loaded up the car and a cooler for a weekend, a little piece of my soul died, as I would so much rather be on a bike, even if that limits how far we could go or how much stuff we could take.

Turns out, I had been making a lot of assumptions…and a certain somebody would’ve loved to have been invited all along.

We fixed that last weekend with a quick overnighter to Fay Bainbridge Park. If you’ve been a long time reader, or found me through Google, you might remember my review of this park as “close to Seattle, but kind of like sleeping in a parking lot.” While I still hold true to all of that, my opinion of it has changed.

In my happy place, on the road with my bike.

For a beginner bike camper, or someone just looking to get away for the night, this spot is actually perfect. When I wrote the review previously, I never really took advantage of the beach that’s literally steps away from the hiker-biker sites and doing that changes everything about this campground. I’ve also found a much less hilly route (more on that later) which makes it a bit more enjoyable of a ride!

I helped JR pack for his first bike camping trip, emphasizing that each extra thing he brought meant more weight on the bike. He didn’t quite listen to everything I said and still insisted on bringing a hatchet to split wood, a full roll of duct tape, and work gloves, but he also didn’t complain once about the load he was carrying :)

After catching the 11:25 ferry on Saturday, we took a leisurely route to camp, stopping at both Blackbird Bakery and Bainbridge Brewing. I was glad we took the early ferry, as we got one of the last hiker-biker spots left at camp! Definitely a popular choice this weekend (and we were able to squeeze a few more groups into the area, while still being COVID-safe.)

Going to Fay Bainbridge also meant my sister and nephew got to hang out for a few hours! Liam brought his bike too so we did lots of loops of the parking lot, some beach exploring and of course roasted s’mores on the fire!

A bit crowded bike camping, but still plenty of space to be had

This is a great time to plug the Ride Spot website and app, which I’ve shared our route on. It’s a new venture from People for Bikes to help people discover safe, fun places to ride bikes. You can follow bike shops, ambassadors (hi!), and other industry folks who will share with you our favorite places to ride in cities all across the US. You can also share your own favorite rides as well!

We had absolutely picture perfect weather for our entire trip - 70s during the day and high 50s at night with no rain in sight. We woke up to clear skies on Sunday morning, drank our coffee on the beach and packed up for home.

JR checking out Frog Rock!

On our ferry ride back, JR was gracious enough to let me interview him. I thought it’d be a fun way to share his thoughts directly on how our trip went. Click through for a quick interview with him - I’m just learning about audio and while editing lost most of it, but enjoy a few seconds!!

So what’s his advice for a new bike camper? Well, I had great audio clip of it, but turns out I need to take his advice and learn from somebody who knows what they’re doing. His best advice is to go with somebody who has done it before and can show you the ropes.

A few things he mentioned included that he had no idea you could cook a pad thai so easily over a backpacking stove (or that a backpacking stove was so small), how small and lightweight gear can be and the importance of looking at elevation when deciding a route!

Chopping Veggies for Pad Thai

If you’re curious about the pad thai, it’s my go-to camp recipe. I got it from Bikepacking.com and have modified it slightly. If you make it, let me know how it goes!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili peppers

1 package of rice noodles

1 shallot

2 cloves of garlic (or however much you want)

Green onions

A Lime

A can of protein (Tuna, Chicken, Tofu, whatever)

At home, mix the sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter and red pepper into a water proof container. I really like these squeeze tubes that can be refilled. Pack all the rest of the ingredients.

When you get to camp, boil your noodles until they’re soft (a couple of minutes.) While they’re going, chop up the rest of the veggies. Drain the noodles when they’re soft, mix in the sauce and veggies and squeeze some lime juice. Voila!