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.”
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.
In my New Year’s post I covered my year in cycling and a bit about the walking. In this post, I take a closer look at walking and my other daily activities and practices.
Year Eight of my journey since I began this blog is in the books. This annual post looks at the statistics recorded by my Garmin vivoactive 3 watch and Strava fitness tracking app. They show the numbers of what I did bicycling, walking, and doing yoga (with a few swims). Beyond the data, it tells a story of being active as I age and despite my efforts, remain a fathlete. Let’s take a look at how I did whe compared to 2022 (which you can read about in this blog post). Spoiler alert, I beat every year except 2020 and 2021. Not too bad, comparing myself to me, which is the only way to really do it.
On December 25, 2013, I began what has now become a decade of doing downward-facing dog (or other poses) for 30 minutes every day. Before that there had been a three-week challenge my sister-in-law roped me into. Initially starting on December 4, those few weeks were interrupted by two days when I was too out of it from a medical thing. I began again (a key in establishing any habit), and I discovered a four-week Yoga Journal program called “Boost Your Willpower.” When that ended, I kept going. Another month, then a season, half a year, a year… and I have not stopped since. (Yesterday marked 3,652 days, if you’re counting.)
Death comes as the end of all living beings, be they mammalian, amphibian, reptilian, and avian. To paraphrase a 1972 song that recently got stuck in my head by the band The Main Ingredient, “Everybody plays the ghoul, there’s no exception to the rule.” As my brother says, “Nobody gets out alive.” In this cheery and uplifting post, A Dude Abikes (c’est moi!) shares a few thoughts and a dozen pointers on how people on bikes can remain among the land of the living.
As the subspecies of Homo sapiens who propel themselves around on two-wheeled machines, bicyclists are certainly vulnerable road users and thus susceptible to death by car crash. “In 2021 there were 966 pedalcyclist fatalities, accounting for 2.2 percent of all traffic fatalities that year,” (in the USA). That’s 966 too many, but relatively encouragiing considering the 42,939 people who died total by car crash which includes pedestrians. Another stat says 20% of the cyclists in crashes with cars were drunk. Also, “In 2021 an estimated 41,615 pedalcyclists were injured.” This is according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, bicycling is still generally safe if you follow the rules and ride defensively.
So, what does one do to steer clear of the Grim Reaper, to avoid getting into that irreversible and proverbial pickle with that old black-clad creeper with the sickle? These tips are probably not news to most of you who are hard core cyclists, but they bear repeating. These tips are probably not news to most of you who are hard core cyclists, but they bears repeating. (Those two sentences were brought to you by Monty Python’sDepartment of Redundancy Department. Well, really just the second one, if you want to be precise. And where did the talking bear come from? What’s their story?)
Know thyself. If you think you’re faster than that car barrelling down the road toward you, and you’re not, you’ll learn this lesson quickly. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and ride within them. If you’re not sure, don’t risk it.
Be visible. During the day you are more likely to be seen, but there’s also more traffic. At night can be fine with good lights, a safety vest, and brightly colored clothes are all great ways to remain among the not dead (yet), in the land of the living crowd. A very bright headlight that is flashing even during the day can really help you to stand out. Conversely, avoiding all of those things are a good way to get deaded quickly.
Never trust car drivers to follow the law. Tonight on my daily ride, an idiot was driving a Jeep IN THE PROTECTED BIKE LANE HEAD ON! This happened as I approached an intersection, trying to enter the two-way bike lane HE HAD COMPLETLY BLOCKED. This was with a car right in front of me. Even if they signal or wave you on, watch them like hawks until they pass or you know you’re safe.
Follow the law. There are plenty of cyclists who flaunt the rules. We’ve all half-stopped or rolled through four-way stop signs when no cars are around. But FFS, don’t go darting across red lights, rie in the opposite direction, fail to signal, and so on because you could die. Be predictable and act like the vehicle you are.
Wear a helmet. Yes, they’re not perfect, they mess up your hair, and look silly. Try watching this crash test dummy (head only) video on YouTube by Chris Rollins on YouTube. The slow-motion in particular shows the graphic impact of a head hitting the road at 55 mph with a helmet (granted, it’s a motorcycle helmet) versus one without protection. Then go immediately to buy a helmet and wear it 100% of the time you’re bicycling. I once crashed on a shitty sidewalk and hit my helmet, not my head. That’s why I’m here and not dead. Here’s my post titled New Bicycle Helmet Poem, which has a link to a more serious post, Helmet Schelmet: Should You Wear a Brain Bucket on a Bicycle?.
Plot your route. Ask your local bicycle shop, other bike riders, or even find your city’s bike map if they have one. But when going somewhere new (which is not often, since I’ve been in Austin about 27 years total), I pull up Google Maps, select the Bicycle option to highlight the green or dotted-green paths. These are usually safer ways to go. Usually; you can verify this yourself by looking at the street view to see if there’s a bike lane, a debris-filled narrow shoulder, sidewalk, or nothing. If it’s a commute, and you have a car, you could drive first to find the best way.
Ride only on trails, sidewalks, and side roads. Depending where you live, you might be able to find shortcuts that take you away from major streets. I often ride sidewalks, especially when there are no bike lanes and traffic is screaming by at 50 miles per hour. Just check your municipality for where it’s legal; in most places, it is fine. Of course you have to pay extra attentiion to vehicles coming out of parking lots, especially if you are goiing against traffic; cars definitely are not looking for you. Then there are curbs, gaps, pedestrians, etc. Trails are great if they go where you want to. Streets are likely inevitable though at some point.
Be willing to go off the beaten path. Some places are more bicycle-friendly than others, so be prepared for some dirt, mud, grass, and the like. Recently, on a ride in the ‘burbs of a certain large Texas city, I had to do some rough riding in the dirt. Although it could be anywhere, including Austin, it is more common for that area for a sidewalk to simply end. The alternative was biking on the service road of a tollway, so I chose life and stayed away from Death Race 2023 by going slowly over the uneven udeveloped earth.
ABC — Always Be Checking. Keep your head on a swivel. Look as much ahead, to the sides, and behind you with peripheral vision. Some people opt for rear-view mirrors.
Eliminate distractions. Never use headphones (bone conduction might be an exception, but still, I don’t), talk on your cell phone, or blast your Bluetooth speaker. These are no-brainers, which your head will bee if you do them and don’t see hear the silent electric vehiclee behind you with a distracted driver as they smash into your clueless body.
Get an electric bike. I don’t use one (yet) or go out of my way to advocate for them, because it feels like cheating. I call them motorcycles, which they are, technically. And, although I’m a fathlete, I’m trying to not get fatter, so I need the exercise. However, they are less polluting than cars, so I’m not opposed to them whee operated safely. They are risky when ridden by inexperienced riders. But if you can handle them, they will give you extra power going uphill or to get out of the way of cars.
Ride in a pack. Group rides are generally better especially on rural roads because there is safety in numbers. Unless you get some jackass who plows into your peloton. Vehicles generally will get the point and wait until it’s safe to go around you.
BONUS: Don’t ride at all. This one makes no sense to me, because not bicycling does not compute. And, no risk, no reward. Not bicycling guarantees you won’t die by riding a bicycle. But if you get around some other way than by bike, those aren’t risk-free either. You could also include riding exclusively on a trainer with this point, because you’re not really riding. However, you could die on on a trainer, especially the kind with rollers, or from a heart attack, or sheer boredom.
I thought about including those newfangled air bags that iniflate from your helmet when it senses a crash, but it’s a product that’s not widely available yet, is expensive, and it won’t keep the rest of your body from being mangled in a crash.
Well, there you have it: a baker’s dozen ways to stay alive on your bicycle. Which is your favorite? What would you add to the list?
‘Tis the season, it’s that time of year. For some, the hap-hap-happiest. For others, a terrifying hellscape of war, poverty, and all the rest of humanity’s ills. For the fortunate, life goes on without as much suffering. For the able-bodied, it’s the last 31 days to strive toward whatever fitness goals you may have. That includes this dude, for whom it’s time to put the hammer down and finish what he started. (Seriously, why am I holding this hammer?) After the holidays, another new year is looming. When the tidings of comfort and joy, forced capitalist present-buying and the same old songs are over, there will pressure to make another batch of New Years resolutions. With all that is going on in this out of control world, maybe all that one has control over is moving your body, even if it’s in small ways. How have you been moving and grooving yours?
After recently commemorating four years riding a bicycle every day, and before that spending 15 years being car-free, I know there are lots of big moments in my journey. But it’s the small pleasures of bicycling that satisfy, sustain, and sometimes surprise me. Thanksgiving is a time when gratitude gets more attention, but any time is a good time to be grateful.
Lily Tomlin, the great comedic actor, allegedly said that line about things getting worse. It certainly applies to how people move around most big cities like Austin, Texas. I’m now an authority of the subject because I read the FAQ and attended one protest held by Rethink35.org titled “Wider Won’t Work.” Oh, I also have ridden my bicycle daily for four years and 4,000 miles in Austin so far this year. I see traffic, because like all cyclists on the street, I AM traffic. So, yeah, maybe I am an expert. And as with the (un)affordable housing and homelessness crisis, we Austinites can all agree on two things: 1) there is a problem with transportation in Austin, and 2) we do not agree on what to do about it.
The day after my last post, I hit this milestone of 1,461 days of biking in a row*. That blog was a pretty good one if you missed it: 10/10/2023: What to Do Before a Big Bike Ride. It was prompted by my annual long ride, which I did the next day. The weather was cool and overcast with a little breeze and mist. Then it warmed and cleared up a bit; an almost perfect day for riding. I stuck to my favorite Southern Walnut Creek Trail again like last year’s ride, which was delayed a few weeks due to illness. Though the trail was not totally empty of the humans, it often felt that way. Because I had followed (most of) my own advice in the above post, it was a good ride, and I could have kept riding another 15-20 miles, but I stuck to my goal of 58. Naturally, I was kinda bushed, but I had managed it again for the eighth year. One small step for humans, one giant ride for moi.
Over the next few days I took it easy, and over a week later, I’m back to my usual around 15-20 miles a day. Four years every day is a pretty big deal, but it went by with no fanfare. By now, the daily riding is an habit. Unless illness, injury, or death happen, I figure I may as well keep the streak going. Especially since the media and sometimes people constantly remind me that I don’t match their ideal or preferred shape and body weight. Doing less over the summer plus stress added pounds. Slowing down, riding less, and doing other things more, especially making the filthy lucre needed to survive unafforable Austin, make sense. But as David Byrne and Talking Heads told us, “We’ve got to stop, stop making sense.” It sure seeems like there’s more senselessness out there in the real world, e.g. the US Congress and the MidEast.
So, news flash: Rome is burning (has it ever not been aflame?). Meanwhile, A Dude is biking, entering year five of this daily pedal, from one mile in the snow and ice or when sick, to 58. Every ride is the same, and it’s also different. A road less traveled, a new street taken for the first time, changing seasons, sights, sounds and smells. A pack of Volkswagen Beetles meeting up at the Top Notch Burgers passed me the other day; today I saw a dog with blue ski glasses on (the owner said it was to protect her eyes which just had drops put in them). The friend with the titanium freshly installed in his shoulder told me, “Every ride could be your last in Austin.” He’s got a newfound apprecation for life, thanks to the hit and run he survived with some scratches and a new collarbone. But he’s going to get back on the horse to bike to and from work soon as his doctor approves. Like the old Timex watch commercials, we “take a licking but keep on ticking.”
I finished the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth recently. Even star athletes and others at the top of their game got their not by some mystical gift called talent. They found methods to do their best. We can do the same in our chosen (or even unchosen) arenas. They put in the work. They–and we–may also embody the notion: “Live every day like your hair is on fire.” It’s a quote that comes from several different Buddhist sources. Sounds painful. To simultaneously have urgency and equanimity seems difficult. (Especially if you don’t meditate regularly; I wish I could.) But if you have passion and perseverance, they will take you far. In some cases, literally. Like 4,000 miles this year for me.
Is that enough? I try to imagine not biking and cannot. Why would I quit? Trying to imagine it produces a different kind of emotion, something that would baffle me and at least feel like it hurt psychically, a subtle form of torture even. Not bike? It does not compute. Or is it too much? I’ve asked several doctors of late if they think I’m overexercising; none have said yes. Instead, they all encourage me to keep doing it. One may have said “If you get tired, ride less.” If I did’t exercise when I’m tired I would never do it. I do rest, just not enough, even though I try. Sometimes the body and brain simply require me to do lower mileage days, so I comply. “Ride less” seems logical to a point, but to this overweight an aging dude, mostly it sounds ridiculous. I recently read William Shatner’s book Leonard. Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy, would not approve. It’s a conudrum to which he would say: “Fascinating!”
What are the positives of all this riding? Well, I’m so glad you asked! I’ll tell you. A daily ride takes the guesswork out of knowing if I’m exercising (on top of my daily walk and much longer streak of practicing yoga every day). My resting heart rate is lower than my age… and it’s been going down even more lately. That’s just one of the health benefits of exercise. There’s also: Vitamin D (when I am out in the sun–with hat and sunscreen), the feel good hormones, weight loss or at least maintenance, building muscles and lung capacity, being out in nature, seeing cool shit, meeting interesting people, being part of the community (what are called the social determinants of health), improved balance and coordination, increased brain stimulation, more self-confidence, having fun. The list certainly goes on.
Maybe my streak will end tomorrow. I would be pissed but probably also feel a little relieved. Besides, it has *not been verified by the Guiness Book of World Records (or anyone else, for that matter). But hey, check my Strava statistics. So I’ll do me, and you do you. Ride your damn bike, or not. Do whatever it is that you do to keep your mind and body somewhat healthy in this often very unhealthy world. As former folk singer and Unitarian Universalist minister Fred Small once sang, “We’re all just temporarily able-bodied.” Death comes as the end for us all. Let’s just hope it’s not today.
Take it from me: If the day ends in “y,” it’s a good day for a bike ride.
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