The Cars: Mood, Motion, and Music

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

As I drove around a borrowed car doing my job today, numerous songs by the band The Cars played. The reason was that lead singer Ric Ocasek had died of heart disease at age 75. For many Americans, The Cars are a band whose music instantly transports your mind back in time. It brought back some memories of driving my first car as a youth (a VW bug).

Their songs were a big part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. When their first album was released, I was just a couple of years shy of the perfect age of hearing their music and seeing their videos on MTV. But I soon caught on and caught up and became a fan. I even was in a garage band that played their song “My Best Friend’s Girl.” As I drove on my job, the band played on.

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Lazily Leaning Lightly Into the Low Lulls

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

As mentioned in the recent post Car-Free Dude Drives Borrowed Auto, Doesn’t Die, I’m working a lot and having to drive a car to do it. Since I’m in Austin, Texas (at least that’s where everyone keeps telling me I am), and it’s only mid-September, it’s still hitting 100 degrees many days. That’s true even if it’s not actual temperature because of the heat index (aka real feel) or humidity.

Point is, I ain’t biking much at all. It’s either miles or money, and since I’ve done plenty of the latter, it’s high time for the former. And that got me to thinking: What do you do when choice or circumstance keep you from your routine and goals? Come on inside this cozy post and A Dude’ll tell ya how he rolls. Or doesn’t.

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Two More Austin Bike Shops Are Closing

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

It’s no secret that while bicycling is popular, bike shops are suffering. This hit home for A Dude when he was in Bicycle Sport Shop on Guadalupe yesterday and learned that it was going to shut down. Retail will stop on September 28, but repairs may continue for a little while. When word hit two years ago hat the local chain was taking over the site of dearly departed Ozone Bikes (which lasted 23 years!), people were happy and relieved.

BSS will still have four stores in the Austin area.

But the sales of nearby college students and homeowners never materialized. It’s especially sad because this is where Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer that I won in a raffle came from here, and I’ve gotten to know the shop folks. The good news is that all the employees they’ll all be able to be absorbed into the remaining BSS shops to keep their jobs.

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Car-Free Dude Drives Borrowed Automobile, Doesn’t Die

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Yes, you read that correctly: A Dude is driving an infernal combustion pollution-mobile for a while. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but it’s required for a job, so I’m going with the flow. However, my bicycle mileage is suffering greatly. My wallet on the other hand, which has been starved for quite some time while I wrote and now edit my book, is enjoying the influx of filthy lucre. I haven’t planted any trees to offset my carbon footprint, but my time without a car has earned me a fair bit of good karma. (See 14 Years Not a Slave to Cars.) But it’s still a dilemma, one that my little blog isn’t going to solve.

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What Some Other Bicycle Bloggers Are Doing

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 13 Comments

I grow weary of writing about myself at times. This is particularly true when my bicycle riding is not as consistently prolific as usual, for one reason or another. Illness, injury, work, heat, Tour de France are unto themselves each a good reason to take some time off my bike activities, but all at once is a super good excuse, ahem, reason. But since my bike activities include writing this blog (although it often veers off into other subjects), I still feel I must publish (or perish!) thrice weekly. Today is no different. By the way, I’d love to know about some bike blogs by women riders, if anyone has seen any good ones they’d recommend. Posthaste and herewith are some snippets from fellow bicycle bloggers, in no particular order. Enjoy and go visit and like their blogs too. Tell ’em A Dude Abikes sent you.

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When Life Gets in the Way of What You Really Want to Do

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

As if exhaustion from being out in the Austin, Texas heat wasn’t enough of a sign that I should stay in this evening, I just dropped something heavy on my foot. Now I’m sitting here with ice on it. I was going to have to miss the only open shop night at Yellow Bike Project anyway because I thought it was yesterday and went there for nothing. So while I’ve been out walking a bit more, I’m also getting plenty of heat exposure. I call it sun poisoning, or Vitamin D overdose. So, my bicycling is sucking.

I am writing this post because that’s what I do every Wednesday, Monday and Friday night for over a year — for now). I’ll have a much-needed shower, do my half hour of gentle yoga (probably all on the floor) and hopefully collapse into bed for a full night of rest. But what do you do when life gets in the way of what you really want to do? Whether it’s ride your bike, write your book or blog, etc., how can we do it all? (Hint: You can’t.)

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Austin Bicyclist 2019 Death #3: Unknown Male

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

I have been thinking that it is good news that no more bicyclists have been killed in Austin, Texas since Anthony John Diaz and Jessica Saathoff died earlier this year (which is two too many). Then I did a general search for bicyclist and Austin, and learned this sad news. A man died in the hospital after being hit at a busy intersection of the interstate highway and a regional highway service roads. There is very little information at this point, but it’s important to report and also remember that bicycling, when done carefully and legally, is usually quite safe. Unfortunately not for this victim.

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I Finished My Book, but It’s Far from Over

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

It’s true, I have completed the first draft of my bicycling memoir. It covers the period wherein I rode 10,000 miles in two years. A quick comment at the end of my recent post about comedian Jake Johannsen went largely unnoticed, but I completed Chapter 24 (one for each month) and added an afterword and epilogue. Now I’m going back and editing it before I start showing it to other people. With the positive reception to The Bike Rider and the Farmer, my first fiction piece, I feel like the year of writing effort is beginning to pay off, and I wanted to share that with A Dude Abikes readers. Lastly, since Sorryless, who frequently comments (and who writes an entertaining blog you should check out, after mine, of course!) has requested the occasional update, here it is. Is four links in the opener three too many? If so, I am not sorry.

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