Renee Nicole Good was killed–apparently unnecessarily–by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) officer at a protest of immigration policy in Minneapolis the other day, reigniting a protest movement with over 1,000 events across the country. Your dude attended one tonight that involved some angry young folks marching around downtown Austin and chanting anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) slogans. At one point, two people set a Department of Justice flag on fire. I thought it was dumb and counterproductive; and should have been my cue to leave. But the Texas Department of Safety–who was kicked out of a joint operation with the City of Austin for aggressive law enforcement actions–again overreacted by firing pepper balls that spew out a gas that causes eyes to water and breathing to become inflamed. This caused the crowd of several hundred to disperse coughing, wheezing, eyes burning. Some were prepared with gas masks and stayed in the smoke, and soon after many marched down Congress Avenue without a permit. Your dude was not too badly affected, and biked home. As I wrote on Strava, my sinuses needed to be cleared out from cedar fever, anyway.

Despite their mission to protect and serve, along with Austin Police Department, whose bike cops corralled, intimidated, and even tackled one protestor, DPS once again reminded us that armed people with guns tend to use them at the first feeling of fear. That’s all to say that while it could have been worse. For Renee, and her surviving spouse, children, family, and friends, it could not be any more horrible, tragic, and wrong. It is yet another dangerous chilling sign that freedom of speech and assembly is under threat in Texas and America. You may disagree, and I support your right to do so. Generally I try to keep ADudeAbikes.com apolitical or at least non-partisan. But enough is enough and silence is the voice of complicity.

The murder of a civilian by a government goon is important, and makes a post about how far I biked pale in comparison. But it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled bicycle blog. If you are new here, you missed the much bigger news covered in this post: 12/12/2025: 52,000 Miles Bicycled in 519 Weeks!!! That was monumental and worth a read. I’ll wait. Really.

Last year’s story is best told by the slide show which Strava the fitness app generates at the end of each year. All images copyright Strava.

So, I was 189 miles short of my goal. Big whoop, right? It is a little irksome, but that’s okay. Because after hitting that decade-long goal, the last few weeks of it were sort of a let down. Not to mention I have my usual tiredness to blame. The point was that I finished strong.

These images show in more detail just how much effort I put it. It was a lot–11% of the year. The 60-mile ride time elapsed was over eight hours, but I stopped a lot to rest so riding time averaged 11 miles per hour, which is pretty good for me. I also had four personal records on short segments. You can read about that ride here: 6 Years of Consecutive Daily Bicycling and a 60-Mile Ride.

That milestone reminds me that as of today I have six years and four months of a daily biking streak going. The usual disclaimer is that I started my Garmin watch, and possibly the pedals, after the stroke of midnight a few times. So, ’twas not a true streak if Guinness Book of World Records were counting (as far as I know, they were not), but that’s splitting hairs. Regardless, it’s an accomplishment and if I can’t toot my own horn here, where can I? It’s not even about me bragging, it’s recording it, and hopefully inspiring other aging fathletes (fat athletes) like me. If I can do it, maybe you can, too.

These stats are interesting, too. I met Chad once (on my epic, 202 Miles in 2 Days: How I Bicycled from Houston to Austin & Raised $2,000 for MS), Sanora never, and Brandon only a few times. But they support me with thumbs up more than anyone else. The most ridden segment makes sense, as a path I travel many days. Only 7 local legends, but that’s not something I pursue or think about.

This past year comes in 6th out of 10, which is a bit surprising. It felt like a lot more effort. But it’s understandable, given I’m 10 years older than when I began, and aging brings more challenges. Plus, I had a very big year during the pandemic and above average the year after. See these posts: A Devil of a Year: 6,666.66 Miles Bicycled in 2020; 7,278 Total With Walking and I Can’t Drive 5,555.55 Miles, But I Bicycled Them; 6,056 Total With Walking in 2021.

What more can I say about the year when the whole decade is now done? Well, to make the 100-miles per week average, I had to keep at it until the end. I had actually started the year with the idea in the back of my head that I would go for 6,000 miles. But that quickly fell by the wayside with cedar fever, sinus infection, and later on a couple of jobs, plus numerous other personal challenges getting in the way. To come within 200 miles of my annual average is still pretty good for a slow old fart like me.

I may have more to say about last year and some big news about what’s next for A Dude Abikes in future posts. In the meantime, feel free to like this post, comment below, follow me on Strava and here if you aren’t already, or even send me a note via gmail to adudeabikes. Thanks to all who read, commented, liked my blog in 2025. May we all have a happy and prosperous 2026!

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