Yes, today is Mother's Day, started in 1908 by Anna Jarvis. Today I sent my mother a gift and phoned her before riding. But Heather Cox Richardson wants us to consider Mothers' Day (plural, not singular), which "started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers' Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society." Women had served on the home front in both wars, and had given their husbands and sons to the wars. Howe felt the war was barbaric and unnecessary, and asked "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone know and bear the cost?" I was struck by that: "Mothers alone know." That is, the men and boys lost to the wars know only their own suffering. The men in charge of countries know only their desire for power. (Women did not yet have the vote.) So, yes, only the mothers waited at home for their men and boys to come home, or not, or maimed. Howe published her beliefs and became a suffragist and advocate for women's equality in society. Do read Richardson's full essay. It'll make you love your mother even more! Credit: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-9-2026 Image: https://w.wiki/N5kJ Public Domain Today, I rode my new gravel bike for the second time, longer this time. I haven't ridden Eureka Canyon for years, so it was on my list of hills fondly remembered to ride again! Before starting, I moved my Brooks saddle from my road bike to the gravel bike, because the seat that came with the gravel bike didn't feel very comfortable when I rode two days ago. The Brooks saddle is more comfortable, but I'm concerned that my sit bones started to feel a bit raw at about 40 miles. Worth paying attention to. The whole ride was great. I was amazed, again, and how much better my cadence is. Even though the Straggler is significantly heavier than the Domane, the low gears really help! I can maintain over 80 cadence almost all the time, and even when climbing, it never went below 60. Whenever possible, I tried to pedal at a very low level of effort, using as low a gear as necessary to stay over 80 without working hard. But when climbing, I may have been producing a bit more power, even at a higher cadence than on the road bike, because I was working fairly hard to power a heavier bike up the hills. That may be why, after feeling great for all of today's climbing and the long B40 descent, I was feeling a little worn out as I worked my way through town back to the van. This weekend I'll join the Climate Ride Green Fondo. Saturday, 98 miles and 6K feet. Sunday, 57 miles and 4.5K feet. Until today, I was planning to ride the Straggler both days, to avoid the struggle with steep climbs on the Domane with the cadence in the 30s. But based on how I felt today after 53 miles, I think it'd be prudent to ride the Domane on the 98-mile route Saturday, since the Wine Country Century showed I'm capable of that distance and ascent on that bike. Maybe ride the Straggler on the 57 mile route Sunday, since that's similar to today's ride.