Few songwriters have been able to capture the human experience as thoughtfully as Paul Simon. Through Simon & Garfunkel, he created songs that explored ambition, struggle, aging, relationships, and the passage of time with a rare combination of simplicity and depth.
The Boxer, released in 1969, remains one of the duo's most enduring works. More than fifty years later, its themes of perseverance, resilience, and life's hard-earned lessons continue to resonate with listeners of all ages.
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There comes a point in almost every worthwhile pursuit where quitting starts to make sense.
Not because you've failed. Not because you don't care anymore. Simply because it's hard.
We tend to celebrate grit and determination as though they're qualities we possess all by ourselves. Danny Mackey, Josh Kerr's coach, offers a different persepective.
He shared that he would have walked away from coaching—twice—if it hadn't been for people who loved him enough to keep him going.
We all like to believe we've made it on our own. The reality is, most of us can point to someone who picked us up when we were discouraged, challenged us when we needed it, or simply believed in us during a season when we struggled to believe in ourselves.
None of us gets very far alone.
Whether it's a coach, a spouse, a training partner, a parent, or a friend, the people who stay beside us during the difficult seasons often shape our lives far more than the victories themselves.
Find the people who love you enough to carry you through the seasons when you can't carry yourself. Then become that person for someone else.
Show up! Put in the work! Regroup! Put in the work! Don't quit! Believe in yourself! Develop your skills! Process > outcome! Be okay with uncomfortable! Compete!
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For the past several years, buying a Reãl kit has required a little patience.
I'd open a preorder, collect orders, send everything to the factory, and then we'd wait. It allowed me to build exactly what was needed without carrying inventory, but it also meant that if someone discovered Reãl the day after a preorder closed, there wasn't much I could do except ask them to wait for the next one.
This week, that changes.
For the first time, I have H340 Apex kits in stock.
Not hundreds of them. Just enough.
That means if someone orders an Olive Bib with the Dark Strata Jersey, or chooses one of the new Sea Foam Green or Black Jerseys with the Black Bibs, I can usually have the order on its way within 24 hours.
To most people, that's probably not a big deal.
To me, it's a milestone.
It's a sign that Reãl is growing the way I hoped it would—not by trying to be the biggest, but by becoming a little stronger, a little more capable, one step at a time.
For the first time, Reãl isn't waiting on production. It's waiting on riders.
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While it's the middle of summer and the Georgia humidity has me looking for just about anything cold, every now and then something comes along that's worth turning the oven on for.
I was raised in the South, so biscuits are never very far from my mind. Add sharp cheddar, fresh jalapeños, plenty of garlic, and enough butter to make a cardiologist uncomfortable, and I'm obligated to give them a try.
I spent the weekend tinkering with this recipe. The first batch wasn't quite there—it took longer to bake than expected and was saltier than I wanted. So I went back, reduced the cheese, cut back the Old Bay, adjusted the seasoning, and tried again. Sometimes the best recipes aren't the ones you get right the first time; they're the ones you keep tweaking until everyone reaches for a second biscuit.
If you're willing to sweat a little in the kitchen this weekend, I think these are worth it.
Yield: 9 biscuits
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 425°F for 28–32 minutes
Ingredients
Biscuit Batter
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10 tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter
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1½ cups (195 g) all-purpose flour
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1 cup (120 g) cake flour
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1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
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1 tablespoon + 1½ teaspoons baking powder
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½ teaspoon kosher salt
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2 teaspoons garlic powder
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1 teaspoon onion powder
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1 teaspoon smoked paprika
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½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
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1½ cups (150 g) freshly shredded Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar
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2 small jalapeños, finely diced (seed one, leave the seeds in the other for moderate heat)
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1½ cups whole milk, room temperature
Garlic Butter Finish
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2 tablespoons melted butter
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1 small clove garlic, finely grated
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1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
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1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the butter in an 8-inch square baking dish and melt it while the oven heats.
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Whisk together the flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and Old Bay.
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Fold in the shredded cheddar and diced jalapeños, coating them with the flour mixture.
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Pour in the room-temperature milk and gently fold until just combined. The batter should remain soft and slightly shaggy. Do not overmix.
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Spread the dough evenly over the melted butter, allowing the butter to run up around the edges. Score the dough into a 3×3 grid before baking.
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Bake for 28–32 minutes, until deeply golden with crisp, buttery edges and the center reaches about 200–205°F if checked with an instant-read thermometer.
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Stir together the melted butter, garlic, parsley, and lemon juice. Brush generously over the hot biscuits and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Chef's Notes
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Reducing the cheddar to 1½ cups keeps the biscuits lighter and lets more of the buttery biscuit flavor come through.
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Cutting the Old Bay and salt back creates a much better seasoning balance.
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Freshly shred the cheese for the best melt and texture.
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These are intentionally jalapeño-cheddar biscuits first. If you love bacon, add 6 slices of very crisp, crumbled bacon, but I think they're outstanding without it.
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In this week's Warm Up, I mentioned Danny Mackey, Josh Kerr's coach. I thought it would only be fitting to share the race that prompted those thoughts.
Josh Kerr didn't just break the mile world record. He spent the better part of a year telling everyone he was going to do it.
Back in December, he announced his goal of running 3:42 for the mile and called it Project 222...222 seconds. Every day he wrote, "I have run 3:42 for the mile," in his journal. Even his cold plunge lasted exactly 222 seconds. It wasn't wishful thinking. It was a daily reminder of where he believed he was headed.
Then last weekend, 27 years after Hicham El Guerrouj set a world record that had stood for nearly three decades, Josh Kerr did exactly what he said he was going to do.
If you have 222 seconds, I think it's worth watching. See it here.
Oh...and if you want to appreciate just how fast that is, head to your local track and run 100 meters in just under 14 seconds.
Then do it again.
And again.
Until you've done it 16 times.
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