A Dude Abikes has done it! I AVERAGED 100 MILES PER WEEK FOR A DECADE! I started tracking my miles on the Strava sports app on 12/19/2015, so I actually completed this monstrous achievement a few weeks early, on 11/28/25. This converts to 9 years, 49 weeks, and 2 days. It was all done on regular bicycles and trainer bikes under my own power (no e-bikes aka motor-cycles here!). My “epic velocimania” has reached its zenith, finally. What a lengthy, weird journey it has been!

I recorded 121 miles on Strava in 2015, and I started counting miles in earnest on 1/1/2016, the date of my first blog post. Here’s a link to that: Thus Spoke A Dude… Oh, and here’s a cool fact: I ended the ride that brought me to 52,000 miles EXACTLY AT THE SPOT I BEGAN. Yep! I realized I could wait for a car to open the gate to the apartment I was living in 10 years ago. Pretty cool or silly, depending. That’s the middle picture above.

It’s challenging to write a post about a LARGE amount of miles (for me) in a small amount of words. Especially if you consider that I began in my 50th year. Now that I have begun my seventh decade on Planet Earth, it is quite clear to me that I have not pulled a Benjamin Button–become younger (or thinner). As the aggravating ailments of aging have amassed with the years and miles, I’ve found myself going slower in speed and lower in distance. That is okay and inevitable, to a degree. We are all works in progress and should compare ourselves to no one except ourselves yesterday–and maybe not even then.

The days of training hard for and doing charity rides ended a while ago. Around that time I realized that to keep up the weekly century, I could ride less as long as I biked every day. That streak is up to 6 years, 2 months, and 1 day. As I have alluded to, that will come to an end soon thanks to a medical thing. But truth be told, the streak was not verified by the Guinness Book of World Records. A few times I pushed start on my Garmin watch after midnight. For all intents and purposes, I rode my bike daily, but I shouldn’t care about the streak because it’s not 100% correct. While 14.29 miles every single day is a lot to some, it’s nothing to others. Good for them. My accomplishment is just that. Mine, and an accomplishment. A prettay, prettay, prettay good one, at that.

There are many people to thank, and exactly zero trophies to accept. An guy who comments on misspelled signs goes by Nobody Cares Anthony. Aside from you, Dear Reader, followers on Strava, and some local Austin, Texas (USA) folks, that sentiment applies to me, too. The whole thing started innocently with that first fateful ride and snowballed from there.

So, here I’ll thank a few key people: my mother, who of course brought me here and has been supportive this whole time; my father, who is no longer here but also helped me to get started and encouraged me; my younger brother, who introduced me to the newsletters of James Clear and his progress, not perfection and other Atomic Habit ideas; my Big Brother Ed (unrelated), also departed but who helped to instill a love of the outdoors through taking me on sailing outings and his example of playing tennis up to his 90’s.

There are others I could have done it without, maybe, but I didn’t: Saurabh, who turned me on to Strava (it’s all his fault) and rode many miles with me the first few years; Rhodney, who has been a bike buddy for a while and a pal for much longer; numerous bike shop folks (particularly Clown Dog Bikes, The Peddler Bike Shop, and Yellow Bike Project), community members, and fellow Strava users. Finally, there are my bike blog buddies: Sheree, Half Fast Cycling Club, Midnight Rider, Root Chopper, Kurstin, Idlecyclist, Tempo Rider, Sooper Munchkin, Bike Goddess, Neal, Patrick, and Squaremeat. Apologies if I missed mentioning you.

Non-bike bloggers were also instrumental, too many to name. Donors of the $12,000 I raised in six charity rides were fantastic. Special mention goes to Trent at Sun & Ski Sports (pictured below) who is notable for his unerring smile, scathing yet gentle wit, and many gifts of gently used and new gear, including a powerful light that I’m still using to this day and that literally saves my life every night. All of the above are amazing from small to large ways. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.

I also must thank the bikes that rode with me: Sommar (Fuji Finest — donated by Orion); Sonnie (GT Arette donated by Richard); Sookie (Fuji Silhoutte — donated by Thad); Sophie (Fairdale Weekender Archer — won in a Bike Austin raffle donated by Hill at Bicycle Sport Shop; and Soqi (so’ shee — Cannondale Quick 4 — courtesy of renters insurance claim filed after Sookie was stolen). Not alive like horses, but no less trusty steeds and partners in crime. Without them, there’s no putting on the T.I.T.S. (T.ime I.n T.he S.addle).

For the future, it is a feat I do not plan to repeat. A daily time goal of maybe 30 minutes on the bike or home or gym trainer is much more realistic. Maybe limiting myself 50 miles a week. Because stopping the streak one day makes it easier to skip the next day, and then the day after that, and so on. Whatever change I make will be hard. I suppose I “should” diversify my exercise with alternating days of cycling and swimming, and add resistance bands and maybe someday weights. Perhaps pickleball or something for fun. I see no reason to stop my daily walks or yoga, though I could make them faster and more vigorous, respectively. Overall, focusing more on my nemeses of sleep and food and striving to improve my overall health instead of achieving a mileage goal makes sense. Easier said than done.

What else can I say about my two trips and more around the equator? A lot. Here are some key words: It was, at times, quite excruciatingly difficult, painful, hard, sweaty, hot, cold, wet, exhausting, and gut wrenching. It was also fun, beautiful, amazing, surreal, incredible, boring, weird, awesome, and indescribably delicious. Hopefully, someday the money for a developmental editor will come my way and my book can tell more tales. For now, I submit to you, for your consideration, a few brief lessons learned. While not original or revolutionary, maybe they will speak to you.

• I am a badass. You are a badass. We are all badasses in different ways. If you can find your inner badass, you might benefit from letting them come out to play.
• Bicycling is for almost all bodies, so stop fat shaming. Some of the best cyclists I know don’t look like the pharmacologically enhanced professionals and we never will. Who cares?
• If you have one person who believes in you, no matter what, that is enough. Even if that person is you.
• You can do far more than what you think and definitely more than what others think. Stop listening to stinking thinking. Get out there and stink it up with everyone else (Tom Hanks in Punchline).
• Keep your eyes on the prize, but you can only do one pedal stroke at a time. Be Here Now.
• Do yoga or something to recover from biking or whatever your main activity is.
• Hydrate, sleep, eat, and try to forget or at least not worry about your goal until it’s time to do it again the next day or whenever it is (but don’t forget to do it).
• Streaks are stupid. Exercise regularly. Rest days are important. Do as I say, not as I do.
• If you encounter naysayers, smile–and use them as fuel for the fire when you prove them wrong.
• Know when to rest, quit, or at least scale back, while you’re ahead. Ego can injure you.
• Be nice. That cyclist you laughed at because of their flat tire may help you fix your flat down the road.
• Say “on your left” when passing, ring your bell… but assume you aren’t being heard for multiple reasons, and give a wide berth.
• If the Buddha biked, he’d say don’t get too attached to your bike, your goal, or anything. And be mindful, in the moment, and enjoy it!
• Remember, we’re all just temporarily able-bodied.
• Definitely do not have fun or a sense of humor about you, your activities, or your goals. (Kidding!)

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