4.5 Years of Consecutive Daily Bicycling, and This Dude Is Pretty Damn Tired

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

“Everybody’s “got something.” That’s the title that Good Morning America host Robin Roberts gave to her book about fighting then recovering from cancer–twice. I’ve mentioned–okay, complained–about the various things that my body’s got plenty of times. I guess this is another one of those times. Because despite the milestone of daily riding my bicycle, my mileage is miserable, my Strava stats simply suck, and this dude’s definitely dealing with downright dullness. But for some perspective, the moon and sun achieved totality in eclipse the other day here in Central Texas. It was pretty cloudy and anticlimatic especialy for all of those who plunked down thousands to come see it. This dude, and the Earth, spin on.

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4/4/2024:  Parking in Bike Lanes is Illegal; Austin City Council:  “But We Really Mean It This Time!”

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

You’re not supposed to park in the bike lanes because it’s wrong. When drivers park in bike lanes, they endanger (and potentially kill) people on bikes because have to ride out into traffic. There are those drivers who don’t care (aka sociopaths), don’t understand (can’t read the signs), or are in a hurry/are lazy. For all of them, the motivation should be to avoid a ticket. We’ll see about that.

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On St. Patrick’s Day, How the Bicycle Helped Bring Feminism, Freedom, and More to Ireland

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Today is the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day which falls during International Women’s History Month, plus it’s been two weeks since my last post. Also, I’m a quarter Irish-American myself. All together, those are as good a reason as any to blog. But when it comes to bicycling and Ireland, I don’t know much. Sure, I’ve heard of famous Irish pro cyclists Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche, and Dan Martin (born in England but a dual national, given his mother is Irish and related to Roche). I enjoyed watching the latter back when I tuned into the Tour de France. Martin was a cheeky breakaway and mountain climbing specialist. Professional sports isn’t for 99.9% of people who bike, though. There’s also that Idlecyclist chap, the fellow blogger who’s doing more hiking these days. (No judgement, and it still rhymes). But it was fascinating to learn that the bicycle has an important role in Irish history.

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3/3/2024: Why I Hate E-Bikes / E-Bikes Might Also Be OK

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

I just wrote a post the other day, How Writing Has Helped My Bicycling, but the month and day numbers match again, so it’s already time for another post. As for a topic, I had a hard time choosing one. I was going to go with biking while sick, since I’ve been struggling with something for a few weeks now. A normal person would stop biking until they got better. But I’m in the capitol of Texas where one of our slogans is “Keep Austin Weird,” so in my case, I just have kept riding somehow. I do slower and thus fewer miles, which makes me sad not to meet my goal. There’s not much more to say on that subject, which is boring. I haven’t done an Austin Cycling News Roundup in a while, but I’ve not been very plugged into the bike scene lately, and that takes a little time to research. I considered reviewing the Reddit bicycle discussion, r/BikingATX, but also not much there. So, I landed on my hatred of electric bicycles aka e-bikes, otherwise known as motorcycles. Yeah, I said it.

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How Writing Has Helped My Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

It’s Leap Day, 2024. Let’s jump right in. I have kept a journal for most of my life since being a young teen, encouraged by my maternal grandmother. There have been plenty of long gaps and since starting this blog in 2016, many days that I skipped both to work on my bicycle memoir. Writing is a way to express your feelings, and in a journal it’s private. Blogging is sometimes an online extension of that, depending how personal you want to get. Either way, helping to clarify thoughts, process emotions, outline goals, and refine motivation are all good for your health. Which in turn is both what one needs for any sustained exercise habit or practice and a benefit of the same. The fact that I’ve written a whole book (or two, since it’s too long–even as I try to revise it a third time, what it really needs is funding for an editor) is another way I’ve expressed myself, usually about all my biking. Sure, I could still ride a bike without writing, but both are entertwined and part of my daily do’s, and so far as I’m able to continue, I plan to and hope I will.

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4 Takeaways from 4 Years, 4 Months, 4 Days of Consecutive Daily Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Four–she’s a jolly good number. Another cycling milestone has passed, and that’s something worth commemorating with a blog post. Surely, there are plenty of much older geezers than I who have been out there racking up decades of daily bike rides. Or maybe not, and I’m in a handful of elite athletes who have a streak going. Hahahaha! Even pro riders take days off, and I’m certainly the very model of a modern amateur. As I often say, any day my streak might end, and somehow, life will go on. But I’m still streaking… for now. So here are some words about that.

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2/2/2024: 5 Reasons Why Austin, Texas Is Not as Bicycle-Friendly As It Thinks

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Austin, Texas. Just the words call up images in the minds of people who have lived here a long time, the recently arrived, and those dreaming of coming here. I know this because I’ve been all three, obviously in reverse order. I’ll stipulate that we’re much better off than Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and most other cities in the state. This isn’t a comparison with them. But compared to the great bike cities of the world, to which Austin can aspire, we are surely lacking. And Austin sure thinks highly about itself. It’s evident in our slogans — The Live Music Capital of the World, Keep Austin Weird, The People’s Republic of Austin, Silicon Hills, The Third Coast (as if–we’re over 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico).

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BOOK REVIEW:  Bicycle Diaries, by David Byrne

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

Talking Heads were active as an independent pop rock band from 1975-1991. They became world famous in the 80’s, the era of Music Television (MTV), with numerous danceable and singable hits that still get heavy radio play today. A big part of that fame were the whispery to soaring vocal sounds and quirky, herky-jerky dance moves of tall, angular, and gangly frontman, lead singer, guitar player, and co-songwriter, David Byrne, Spoiler alert, he’s also a bicyclist! This post is not a literary critique, but some random thoughts about his book. But stick with me, because as Byrne sings in the “Burning Down the House” lyrics: “Watch out, you might get what you’re after.” One thing is for sure: it’s doubtful such a multi-talented dude is being honest when he sings, “I’m an ordinary guy.”

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Sophie’s Revenge: Meet My New Bicycle Soqi, the Cannondale Quick 4

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

Faithful readers already know that two years and ten days ago, my Fairdale Weekender Archer I dubbed Sophie (because she was sea foam green and to follow after Sonnie and Sookie) was stolen by a brazen bicycle thief. It was a shock and loss I never really got over. Sophie and I passed 20,000 miles together; through this blog she was known in other countries, and we did some pretty epic rides. She is gone but not forgotten. But keep reading, for the rest… of the story.

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