It’s blog deadline time again.  Usually I have no problem coming up with a topic.  Tonight I kind of did.  I notice my posts tend to fall in several categories:  a status report on my biking / walking / yoga / dieting / blogging / book-writing; something educational, entertaining or informative about bicycling; something off-topic but tangentially related to riding a bike; and then the totally random rave, rant or other piece like a movie review.  This one is kind of a mix of the first and last.  I’m as curious to see where it goes as hopefully you are, and  I hope you like the smell of potpourri!

Http or Https? and Sir Mr. Dude Guy Bikes Alot

Today I had to deal with the whole https nonsense.  A website is secured if it has the s.  Except with WordPress, you have to pay for that.  Except when you don’t.  After some back and forth with WordPress and my DNS provider, I had my domain “unmasked.”  At the moment you’ll see that http://www.ADudeAbikes.com turns into httpS://ADudeAbikes.Wordpress.com.  But after some friendly advice from author Dale Thele (whose work you should really go check out, as should I in more depth), I’ve decided to let it go back to being http for now.  If I can get some blog help to figure it out, or funding to upgrade, especially if I want to start offering A Dude Abikes bike jerseys and other merchandise, I’ll need to make it secure.

I didn’t bike today, because I needed rest.  And I needed rest because I biked 153 miles last week in six days.  In fact, I’ve biked 506 miles in the last four weeks.  So I’m proud of kicking ass and taking names, but today I was just exhausted.  I did my walk but couldn’t muster the energy for much else except yoga and this blog.  I did ride the Fuji last night for the first time in two weeks, helping Saurabh make his comeback (again), and I felt like I was flying.  Sophie the Fairdale is a strong, steely, sturdy woman, so switching back felt like taking off ankle weights.  Pretty cool!  But I’m still oh-so tired.

I’m very aware that the 14 hours I put into pedaling is alot of time that would be better spent on income generation.  Biking is of course scientifically proven to literally be 1,000,000 times funner (yes, that’s a real word I invented — look it up!) than working at a job.  Unless and until people start paying me to bike, blog, and write my book, A Dude has got to find cash other ways.  We’ll see what jobs may come in his week, though, because I’m not ready to let go of my goal.  I think I can do it all, but I have to reduce at least some of the biking in order to stay solvent.

Alien Space Hunter and  Bike Movies

Readers of this blog know that I enjoy movies.  Alot.  Even though Movie Piss (yes, you read that right) has severely throttled selection with its bait-in-switch, destined-to-fail business model.  Since it was a rest day, tonight I went with non-biking friend Ben to see the new movie, The Predator.  It’s ironic that the movie made the news more for the sexual predator the shithead idiot director Shane West put in a scene with Olivia Munn than for being a good movie.

Saurabh thought it was forgettable, but I really enjoyed the latest in the franchise about an alien space hunter gone amok.  This installment had alot more hilarious banter amongst the group of soldiers (Thomas Jane‘s performance stands out) and an updated look and creature features, to turn an old movie phrase.  It also harkened back to its roots, especially with the ominous soundtrack and some clever casting like Jake Busey (whose dad Gary Busey was in an earlier installment).  Even global warming makes a cameo, so that’s cool, too.  Sure it’s not going to win many awards, but it looked good and was enjoyable for a sci-fi action flick.  I’m guess I’m a bit of a hunter too — for mileage!

A good biking buddy, Trent, with whom I’ve never biked, turned me onto a documentary from last year that I plan to watch and review for you here.  It’s called Le Ride, and it’s about four guys who try to replicate the 1928 Tour de France.  Led by Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race, it looks like an incredible effort.  They use original bike and clothing replicas, take the same route, doing some dangerous and incredibly hard days on the bike.  It’s currently available on Hulu and now a generous soul has shared access, I can’t wait to watch it.

I was thinking of doing my third Mamma Jamma Ride to Beat Breast Cancer which is this Saturday.  I did 65 miles in 2017 and raised over $1,500.  But due to nagging injuries, fatigue, and just not feeling like begging people to donate, I didn’t do the requiste fundraising.  So although I’m probably able to do the mileage, I’m not allowed to do the ride.  I do feel like I ought to be doing charity rides, and there’s one in Southlake, TX in November that would be great.  But without logistical support like bike repair, parts and gear, car rides and housing, I’m unable to squander precious money on rent cars, hotels, and the like.  Charity starts at home, and until I figure out how to monetize this blog and my book, I have to look elsewhere for financial support.  Too bad, so sad for me and the cause.  If the internet wanted to raise $1,500 by Friday, I’d probably do it. (If you’re really interested and have money to donate, Gmail me as listed on the About page. But it would probably be for a future ride.)

Bloggers Are Cool and Interesting People

I’ve enjoyed some engagement with fellow bloggers recently, something I het to do far less than I’d like.  I also post this blog on my activity tracker app sometimes.  So while it hasn’t shown up yet due to the 10 email followers, there are now 301 people actually following this blog.  That’s relatively still pretty low, but it’s a pretty cool statistic considering I started the year at 20.  I’ll do a post in October about this quarter’s stats.  The key point is that I’m very grateful to all those who actually read this, whether it’s one time or some time or all the time.  I do wish there were more comments and feedback to let me know what you think, though, so please feel free to chime in.

Well, that’s all for this little round-up.  I hope it didn’t stink!

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