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Ready to Ride? What to Do Before Biking

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

A certain friend who shall remain nameless sometimes shows up for a ride with A Dude Abikes.  This person is almost always not ready in one or many ways, from not having water in his bottles, having eaten, or done anything to his bike.  This is very vexing to A Dude’s soul.  So I always ask, “Are you ready to ride”?  I thought it might be helpful to share the things that A Dude recommends.  Over time you’ll find what works best for you, it will become second nature, and you’ll memorize the list.  In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt and might help to write or type out your and have it visible.   Continue reading →

My 1,500 Consecutive Days of Yoga: Everyone Knows It’s Bendy

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Still Stretchy After All These Years (4+)

Early readers of this blog or those new ones perusing the archives (welcome!) know that I have a daily yoga practice of 30′ (or more) going back to December 4, 2013.  (I count the anniversary as December 6th, because I lost two days to having been on anesthesia for an exam.)  When I counted up the days, the 1,500 benchmark seemed impressive enough to revisit.  I actually reach that day Monday but becoming a D-list celebrity steals that fire.  (I’m writing this Tuesday about this blog I forgot to finish on Saturday.) That’s OK, I’ll just do more yoga and it will calm the jangled nerves from all the paparazzi camped outside, clamoring for a few bon mots or a candid picture of A Dude Abikes. Continue reading →

Buddha Beginner’s Mind-Boggling Blogger Blues; Clues I Still Have Alot to Learn

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

“The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind.”

–Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal Talk on Zen Meditation and Practice

You Don’t Know What you Don’t Know, Don’t You Know?

A Dude Abikes began this blog in 2016 as an experiment in writing about his biking. For the first two years, he focused mostly on all the biking, not so much on the smithing of the words. As 2018 unfolds, he has resolved to write daily for a month and then regularly after that. It’s clear there is still quite alot to be learned about the art, craft, science and je ne sais quois about web logs.

beef pho
Lunch with Kathy included beef, broccoli, mung bean sprouts, basil and meat in broth. Plus oodles of noodles I brought home.

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When It’s Too Cold and Windy to Bike, Have a Massage, Walk and Bath

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Alternate Your Training to Recover and Avoid Burnout

After 2016’s average 100 miles per week of cycling (see 5,306 Miles in 2016: A Dude Abikes’ Year of Bicycling Vigorously), I received some very good advice from bad-ass bicyclist buddy Bryce who rode over 6,000 miles last year, helped A Dude out on part of an 80-mile ride New Year’s Eve of 2016 — while he was sick! — as well has contributed to a number of my charity rides, is activity with Please Be Kind to Cyclists, and organizes their annual Ride of Silence honoring cyclists killed by cars. I don’t remember the exact words, but they were something like:

“Take some time off the bike. If you don’t really miss it, maybe do some other things. If you do, then get back on.”

Sage words indeed. I did that last year, but not this one. Thanks to my depleted iron stores, I’ve been forced to slow down now. Exercise-induced anemia is a real thing, as this scientific extract from the British Journal of General Practice shows. Apparently my “Epic Velocimania” (4,714 miles in 2017) wore me out more than I knew. The week of severe restriction to fruit, nuts and seeds did not help A Dude’s energy. Continue reading →

Cadence & Speed Sensors; Proposed Bike Lanes; and My Verified Iron Deficiency

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Part I:   More Data from Garmin Gadgets

I finally made it to Sun & Ski Sports for the sensors.  Once I figured out how to sync then with my Garmin vivoactive hr watch, they were easily installed by Mike the Mechanic.  Speed is already measured by the watch, but now it can be measured on the home trainer.  That is, if we don’t blink and miss Austin’s short winter and I don’t need to pedal inside.  However, clearly, I do.  The X-Files has been back on for over a week and I hadn’t seen either episode.  Such Scully-y and Mulder-y goodness!  If you’re not a fan, you have no idea.  I’m sure the paranormal investigating FBI agents are cyclists when not busy hunting conspiracies or aliens and such.

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To (Vitamin) B, or Not to B: A Cautionary Tale + Fat-Burning with a Home Trainer

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Hey, I Thought This Was a Blog About Bicycling!

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A week as a vegan dangerously depleted my B vitamin levels.

After still feeling exhausted, groggy and not coordinated enough to bike safely, I took action and called my doctor. He ordered B6, B12 and iron tests. Then I went to get a Vitamin B complex injection. Soon after, my headache, brain fog and some fatigue lifted. I felt ok enough to see the hilarious new movie Jumanji:  Welcome to the Jungle with occasional riding partner Saurabh, and going home I had the occasion to run to catch a bus. A Dude Abikes does not run (maybe some day), so this was a significant sign that I had more energy from the shot. Even though I was drinking fresh organic fruit and vegetable juice and eating soups that I or a health food restaurant made, it was imbalanced and I paid the price. Hard. It will be interesting to see the lab results.

The lesson for me, and maybe for you, Dear Reader, is while something may seem healthy and doable, it may not work for you individually. Buyer beware!

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My First Week of 2018:  Exercising & Eating Better Is Hard Work, But Worth It

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

“Moderation in all things, especially moderation.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not Every Body Can Be Like [Your Favorite Celebrity Vegan Name Here]

It’s no coincidence the acronym for this cool clinic spells N.A.P.

As predicted, out of necessity, I ended up modifying my diet to include more than just fruit, vegetables and nuts. While I lost 13 pounds in 7 days, I believe it was too much radical change, detoxification and finally deficiency that led me to add back in a tin of sardines in olive oil and a fish oil tablet.

I knew something was off when I went to Neighborhood Acupuncture Clinic today. I couldn’t fall asleep as usual, and pedaled home as if in a sea of jelly. This is dangerous, and I dropped and cracked my shades. Which makes a dude sad since they are very nice and were donated by a nice guy. Sigh.

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It’s Late on a Sunday, and You Haven’t Met Your Goal. What Do You Do? (Day 7)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment
010718 Strava photo bar.png
Check out this cool short map video of my Sunday night ride:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1346454488

It’s Good to Know Your Limits, So You Can Exceed Them

Dragon fruit at Wheatsville Coop. Not as smoky as expected.  For dragons.

It’s late on a Sunday night, cool and windy outside.  You’re tired after a long week.  But you haven’t met your bicycling (or running, blogging, yoga, walking,  crotcheting, or whatever) goal.  What do you do?

Well, you could stay in and rest, get ready for the week, and try again next week.  Or you could drag yourself out the door and go for it.  Only you know what’s best for you, but I can tell you what I did:  I went for it.  Why?  Because I like to push myself to see what I can do.  And I wanted to start the first week of the year meeting as many goals as possible.  Looking deeper, I can see that my motivation came from a desire for consistency in my bicycling practice, especially since I have cut my goal in half from two years ago to 50/week (although I may raise it again). Continue reading →

Soup-er Tired, but Good Things Are Happening Bike, Blog and Body-Wise! (Day 6)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Today I walked, talked, (but listened more), biked, job searched and now am blogging. I have yet to yoga-cize, but I will, even if I must take a sivasana siesta first. But I’m tired. Partially that’s because of having extra energy from the cleaner eating, which leads to doing more than I should (like spending too long on this blog), staying up too late, and then fatigue. Although I’m eating super healthy, it’s insufficient in quantity and diversity.

Also, I’ve started to notice a craving for fats, which I’ve somewhat managed to address with almonds or walnuts, seeds or avocado in my smoothie or soup, and peanut butter with an apple. I’m not having any grains, which is a big shock to the system. So my plan is to survive the seventh day then reassess what all I can and want to eat but also NEED to eat. I’ve had an image of a delicious pink/orange piece of baked wild salmon. Yum! (I guess you’d call that salmon-colored.)

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My Journey Toward Being a Little Less of a Fathlete (Day 5)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.

— Theodore Roosevelt

Bike Life Is Hard; The Struggle is Real

Bicycling on average of almost 100 miles a week for the last two years, totaling 10,020, was damn hard. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to really put in words what I went through to accomplish it. Yes, there’s much more serious suffering in the world, and I’m not comparing war, poverty, disease, accidents or having to even look at or listen to US President #45. However, when I put “suffering” in my posts as a key word, I am not kidding. I often truly suffered while biking. But I’m grateful for making the choice to push myself far beyond my limits or expectations of others who believe people with excess adipose can’t kick some serious ass. Wrong!

Some people say biking IS suffering. Strava has a “Suffer Score.” From saddle sores, to wrecks, muscle pain and cramps, nearly getting hit, maimed or killed by shitty drivers every single day, cold, wind, rain, snow, 100+ degree Fahrenheit Texas summers, and hills – gott im himmel, the hills! – and of course being on a bike for 10 hours riding 100 miles in a day four different times, twice back to back — is super [expletive] challenging. Even more so when you’re overweight, not so young anymore, and a full-time desk jockey until I was laid off a few months ago. (Anyone wanna hire A Dude?) So yes, the struggle is real, as those who do any sport at some distance and intensity know. But it’s nothing to be afraid of: Suffering forges you into a better, tougher, fitter you. And that’s way (weigh? whey?) more important than a number on a scale.

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