Designing our Desert Collection Tees and Bandanas: Behind the Art with Molly Sugar

Molly Sugar first came into the Moonspin orbit back in the summer of 2023, when she designed our branding. Molly and I had the chance to meet in person in March 2024 at Ruta del Jefe. I’d driven from Montana down to Tucson before crossing the border to camp out, ride bikes, and be in community with a beautiful group of bikeheads in the heart of the Sky Island mountains - the heart of some of the richest biodiversity in North America.

While in Tucson, Molly generously invited me to join her and some friends for an evening out. We talked bikes, design (apparel and graphic), and what it means to build and be in community, particularly as life finds us geographically untethered as we move around, typically away from old or toward new jobs, relationships, lifestyles. Through that evening in Tucson and a little more hang time down in Mexico, I had a glimpse into Molly and her beliefs and praxis around human connection, place, aesthetic, and culture. So, when it came time to partner with a designer on some artwork for new Moonspin tops and bandanas, I knew Molly would be perfect.

Before Molly took off for a bikepacking adventure around South Korea this fall, she was able to share the following reflections with me about the role that bikes, community, and place play in her life. Read on to learn more about Molly’s intentionality in all she does.

As Molly puts it, “because it’s about bikes but also not about bikes…”

Thanks for being an amazing creative partner to Moonspin, Molly!

Moonspin: What role does mountain biking and adventure biking play in your life?

Molly: Biking has been a central part of my life for over a decade - from single speed riding during college in Richmond, VA to fixie commuting to work in New York City to gravel bikepacking in Portland, OR to desert mountain biking in Tucson, AZ today. I've biked across America twice and biketoured across my motherland South Korea. I've co-founded two organizations Radical Adventure Riders and Friends on Bikes to create more gender and racial equity in the cycling community. And as a designer, I've worked in the bike and outdoors industry for the past 7 years. So to say the least, biking is an important aspect of my life hehe!

Moonspin: How has biking deepened your relationship to place (including environment, culture, histories...)?

Molly: Most recently, biketouring in South Korea has enabled me to connect with the land, culture and people that I’ve been longing for as a Korean adoptee. I recently published Seoul to Busan, a zine that chronicles my bike tour across Korea as an adoptee returning to my motherland last year. My hope is that it not only highlights bike touring in Korea but also uplifts adoptee stories within the cycling community. Proceeds help fund my bike tour along the East Coast and Jeju in South Korea this Fall!

Moonspin: What inspiration - and awe! - does living and biking in the deserts of Southern Arizona offer you? How does that show up in your design work?

Molly: In my work, I try to capture the landscape and animals that I would often see while biking. I try to take everything in and be present while I bike because it's easy to miss the little things that the desert has to offer - from taking in the vastness of the monsoon skies to the unexpected beauty of Saguaro cacti against the backdrop of desert mountain ranges. 

Moonspin: Lastly, I love that your Moonspin bandana design incorporates both desert flora - specifically the ocotillo - as well as pollinators - including hummingbirds and butterflies. I see you in many ways as a "pollinator" with the biking community building you do. What biking means to you in terms of community?

Molly: Biking has been a way for me to connect with the most important people in my life. I first got into bikes because of my close friends in college, so bikes and friendships have always been closely intertwined. With Radical Adventure Riders and Friends on Bikes, I wanted to create that same sense of community to bring more meaning to bikes because it's about bikes but also not about bikes.