Struggle, Sliders, & Project 2025
Life, Lessons, & Chain Grease
12-10-25 — 24.5 Miles
12-11-25 — 48.7 Miles
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Tough One
Yesterday’s ride was a grind. The mileage this week has been great — I’ve managed to get out every day — but today my quads were throwing a small rebellion, and the breeze was less “refreshing” and more “why are you like this?”
Charlie showed up for the A-group ride, and for a brief moment I thought about dropping to the B-group. Charlie told someone he wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be pushing the pace. That sounded safe enough. So I saddled up with my A boys & girls.
We rolled out with a tailwind, clocking just over 22 mph. I took my pull, everything was fine, and as we slowed for a red light Charlie casually announced that he was “feeling better.”
That was the first warning sign.
Green light. Charlie jumps to the front, and suddenly we’re hammering 25+ mph like we’re being chased by a swarm of e-bikers. His pull was longer than most, long enough that I had a spiritual experience.
Then at the next stoplight… he peeled off and took a different route home.
Meanwhile, the rest of us turned right into 30 more miles — the last 25 straight into the wind. We survived (barely), cursing Charlie for detonating our legs before disappearing like some sort of one-man tempo tornado.
Whoever said “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” was not writing after a headwind ride. They certainly weren’t dealing with the cramping I’m getting while typing this.
Still, I’m lucky. My friends back in Wisconsin are cramping today too — except theirs is from shoveling snow. I’ll take sore quads over ice scrapers any day.
Sliders
Sadly, this section is not about baby sandwiches.
Remember the TV show Sliders from the late ’90s? A group of characters jumps through a wormhole into alternate Earths — same year, same planet, completely different worlds.
That’s how I’ve felt since January 20th, 2025. Every morning feels like I’ve woken up on the wrong Earth, some upside-down version where our allies think we’ve abandoned them and America is suddenly being mentioned alongside the “Axis of Evil.”
The Department of Defense is now the “Department of War.”
We bomb alleged drug boats.
We board another country’s oil tanker and call it anti-drug policy.
The president rants online like a teenager with a burner account, then falls asleep in meetings.
Our White House feels like the set of a bad reality TV spinoff. And the cast? The most unserious people imaginable holding the most serious jobs.
Health care for millions is on the chopping block. ICE — now filled with former Proud Boys and one-time domestic extremists — is detaining American citizens. Florida is torturing people at “Alligator Alcatraz.” This is not the wormhole I signed up for.
Every time I try to metaphorically “change the channel,” something even more chaotic appears. The Speaker refuses to bring up votes that would actually help people. Adults need to re-enter the room — preferably soon.
Behind all of this, unelected men are pulling the strings: Peter Thiel, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, and Elon Musk — the masterminds of Project 2025.
Meanwhile, the president pardons drug dealers while simultaneously declaring war on drugs in Venezuela. His grasp on events… let’s just say many of us have questions.
Sliders found a way out. We need a new wormhole too.
Project 2025 Update
Remember the “before times,” when warnings about Project 2025 were brushed off as paranoia? When people told me I had Trump Derangement Syndrome? When DJT insisted he had nothing to do with Project 2025 — right before hiring its authors to run the country?
Well, here we are.
We’re one quarter into the term, and Project 2025 is already 50% complete. Peter Thiel, Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, and Elon Musk — none of whom were elected — are essentially directing the country. The president is their microphone.
Here’s what’s been done so far:
Medicaid gutted; up to 5 million could lose care — no replacement plan in sight.
Attacks on immigrants: ending asylum, ICE raids, new mass detention centers.
Elimination of the Office of Civil Rights; rolling back protections and ending equity programs.
Withdrawal from the WHO and Paris Agreement.
Reduced access to abortion and reproductive care.
Defunding the National Weather Service.
Firing thousands of civil servants, replacing them with loyalists.
Removing regulations that protect the environment, food, water, and consumers.
There are 319 objectives total. They’ve completed 160.
Our global reputation? That’s taken a harder hit than my quads after Charlie’s pull.
And now Jared Kushner, backed by Saudi funding, is attempting to buy Netflix and other media outlets, including CNN — which would be turned into yet another propaganda arm. Fox News is already starting to resemble Russian state TV.
Final Thoughts
I’ve written a lot about the dangerous, anti-democratic moves being made by this administration. Lately, though, those posts don’t get much engagement. I’m not losing followers — but the likes, shares, and comments have gone quiet.
Are people afraid? Afraid to agree publicly?
Isn’t that exactly what this administration wants?
Fear.
Silence.
Isolation.
They want you to believe you’re alone. That the majority supports this chaos. They do not.
But silence leads to helplessness — and helplessness leads to losing the rights we once took for granted.
We are the majority.
It’s time we act like it.
And I promise — Monday’s Substack will be more uplifting.