goodbye, snow days

hello Mallorca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has struck me recently that I live on a polar opposite schedule of everyone around me— Fridays, instead of marking the end of a week of work, are generally for me the day before an event, and therefore the peak of anxiety. Mondays are the denouement, typically a rest day and a chance to check out after a day or two of maximal effort, physically and socially. Mondays we look forward to as a chance to breathe.

but this Friday I don’t have a race and I actually don’t have a race for awhile now; such is the kind easing-in of Spring. Sunday I fly to SPAIN which I could not shut up about even if I wanted to!!!!! since I have, believe u me, never ridden a bike in Europe (save for that one time I had a layover in Stockholm and POC took me out for a mtb ride in the snow). Anyways. Ridiculous.

I used to believe, as an aspiring roadie pro, that making it to Europe marked the pinnacle of success as a cyclist, and while that concept has been turned on its head entirely by the advent of gravel and our true “world championships” being in small-town Kansas, flying overseas to ride, as part of this career I’ve shaped for myself, still holds the same weight. I can’t think about it too much or I’m paralyzed by the magnitude of it. Maybe I’m making a simple thing bigger than it is— I tend to do that to even the most mundane— but sitting here in the icy sunshine of my last morning at home for a long time, it is so big that I can’t even accurately perceive it. All these anecdotal accounts of the glory of it all and I simply won’t know what it’s like until I do.

The trip begins with a week courtesy of Pas Normal in Palma, Mallorca, with some of my best friends in the whole world. We arrive a few days early to log some (ok, a lot) extra miles and seek out all the best routes before an intensive few days of meeting everyone (like 100 people?!) involved with the brand. I can’t say that anyone I’ve partnered with before has done something on quite this scale and it’s intimidating. But Maude and Domi will be there so it’ll be fantastic. Maybe I’ll make some new friends too.

MidSouth airbnb timez w Domi

Enough time has passed that I don’t have much to say about MidSouth. Maybe I never did. I always come home with such mixed emotions after that event. It is not and probably will never be a race I excel at. The speeds are so high, the course is demanding but not in a long hard climbing way or a technical way, just a fast unrelenting way, and as a born and bred Spoiled Californian the course is…..not much to look at. But the people the people the people!— it is our big gravel family reunion and so special for all the reasons we extol gravel in the way that we do, and I reconnect all my little relationships and get sucked in and so I’m inevitably full, in that specific way, and so frustrated with myself competitively. No doubt I’ll be back next year.

massive arms courtesy of hours shoveling snow

lol

The next newsletter will probably arrive at an odd hour, postmarked from Mallorca.

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Music: the new Lana album dropped last night soooo I’ll likely have that on repeat for the next few weeks. She was a slow burn for me but the last six months have been full of moments that are so specifically her. The new one is a little more ~raw~ and experimental upon first listen which I am loving.

Also of note— the Kali Uchis album that dropped early this month, and the new 6lack which I have yet to listen to but seems promising.

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Recipes! I’ve actually made a few great things lately, a couple of which are worth sharing.

firstlyyyy I am gone for long enough that I started to reconsider how exactly to ensure my starter survives— yes it will generally “survive” for months and months in the fridge, but takes some time to wake back up after the acidity goes beyond a certain point. So this time around I’m trying a different method. Drying!

Basically it’s how you can mail-order starter on the internet, or preserve it interminably— you dehydrate a thin layer of starter into little flakes and then, when you need it, you can rehydrate and the little wild yeasts wake back up. I imagine this also takes several feedings, so maybe just as slow as abandoning it in the fridge, but it’s both a fun experiment and a way to send starter to people and fly it places and all that! And also a great security backup in case you lose your main starter.

I made a little video about it ◡̈

@amityrockwellfor posterity!! 🍞

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part DEUX: I made something surprisingly good last night for dinner and feel an obligation to tell the world about it since it is so far from something I would normally eat but I was lying in bed thinking about it last night AND this morning that’s how good it was.

Tuna-salad-not-Tuna-salad:

I hate mayonnaise. I realize I’m probably the minority here but it frightens me. Hence I have never had traditional tuna salad howEVer my cool uncle recently gave me some albacore he caught and canned himself and I needed a fun way to eat it, and tuna-salad-not-tuna-salad was born. I imagine this is leagues away from what a typical TS tastes like but it is so good!!!!! it’s fairly minimal in terms of dressing so using a high quality canned fish is essential.

1 tiny shallot

1 clove garlic

2T apple cider vinegar

1T pickle brine

juice and zest of 1 small lemon (microplanes make the best zest imo) (meyers are the best lemon)

1 can albacore or similar fish, not overly salty

few springs finely chopped herbs (dill, tarragon, basil, whatever I’m sure they’re all good here)

1 very ripe medium/large tomato

10-12 mild green olives (castelvetrano are my absolute fave)

choice of vegetables, raw or cooked

salt and pepper to taste

finely dice the shallot and garlic and put in the bottom of a large bowl with the ACV and pickle juice, to marinate while you prep everything else. I leave them on the bottom of the bowl and add everything in layers, mixing it all as the last step, to give them maximal time.

juice and zest the lemon on top, maybe reserving a bit of lemon juice to add to taste at the end.

break up the fish with your fingers into smaller pieces— we are not mashing this at all so however small you want the final result to be.

cut up tomato into little squares, similar size to the fish, getting as much of the juice in there as possible. add both to bowl.

chop herbs, add. I had a ton of dill in the jar of pickles I keep around so I pulled some of that out and added as well.

cut up olives into little pieces— if they have pits, crushing them with the flat side of the knife helps release them and makes life easier. if you’re using stronger olives than the big green ones, or using jarred olives, maybe use less.

add whatever other veggies might be languishing in the fridge— I had a fresh artichoke I’d steamed the night before which added a really nice nuttiness, but anything that isn’t going to disturb texture too much I can see being delicious, and also allows you to adapt this seasonally! yay. maybe fennel, or roasted peppers, or fresh peas, etc. Take texture into consideration— the crunchier the item, the smaller/thinner you will want to cut it up to maintain a good eating experience.

salt and pep to taste.

mix gently, and adjust salt and acidity as needed :)

I ate this on some rye crispbreads along with some microgreens, but it would also be amazing mounded on some toast.

T T F N. i mean, ciaaaaao