Froomey Falls: 4-Time Tour de France Winner Blows His Nose… & His Chances

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

The sad news hit the cycling world that Christopher Froome, British rider for professional bicycle racing Team Ineos (formerly Team Sky), has broken his hip, femur, elbow and ribs and is out of 2019 Tour de France. “It’s just a bike race” he said after the terrorist truck attack killed 86 people and injured over 400 in Nice, France on Bastille Day during the 2017 Tour. What can we mere mortals learn from his epic fail? I’m so glad you asked. I’ll tell you if you click on “Continue reading.”

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A Blog About Something… and Inspiration from Rocketman

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

“No news is good news,” it is said. Well, maybe not if you’re in the business of providing news or views people can use. Like, say, in a blog. What may be my favorite TV show Seinfeld was reputed to be “a show about nothing.” But that was just bullcrud made up by the press because of a line said by George in the “show within a show.” The real one was about how comedians get their material. How do bloggers get their material? Well, as this blog is (mostly) about bicycling, there’s usually no shortage of people, places or things to talk about. Except like now, when nothing comes to mind. Please indulge me as I write a blog… about something. I know, how about Rocketman?

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The Next Door App Bike Haters Are at It Again

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

Every so often someone — always a car driver — gets on the neighborhood app called Next Door to bitch about bicyclists or biking infrastructure the City of Austin has installed. The latest is about some plastic bollards that make a semi-protected bike lane, narrower car lanes and additional concrete that is meant to be traffic-calming. It’s in what was designed to be a high-density, pedestrian and bike-friendly neighborhood. Named Mueller, after the former airport upon which it sits, it’s generally a safe area to bike. Except when you read what the aggressively bike-hating people are posting in Next Door. I wrote a previous post on this in January 2018. Now the haters are back, so of course I have a few choice words. (Of love – tough love.)

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10 Days of Walking and Hanging with Missy, the Cattle Dog

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

Returning readers will recognize that from time to time, A Dude is called upon to care take some animals. There has been Buddy Willis, Juniper and now Missy. When a friend offered me the opportunity to get away from the near-nightly next-door neighbors unsanctioned cantina. They serve beer and play loud northern music from south of the border (yes, that border, I’m in Texas), I jumped. There was also a house, seven chickens (all you can eat eggs!), and plenty of tell-oh-viz-yun. As for the dog, she was a handful, a piece of work, and a real character. So let me tell you a few things and show you some pictures of Missy, the Cattle Dog.

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My Meh May 2019 Strava Statistics: Slowing, Not Stopping

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

May is the fifth month, the last one until October when we Texans can hope for a few cool, low humidity days. Melinda May – she goes by just May – is the name of kick-butt ABC television show MARVEL’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. played by Ming-Na Wen. I didn’t know it had come back on so I got caught up on the first four episodes. Silly, outlandish, preposterous, and not exactly the height of the performing arts, I enjoy it because of all that — it’s fun. And may also means you might. So I might have kicked butt on the bike-book-blog-walking-yoga this month, or maybe it all kicked mine. Let’s look at the numbers to see. But here at A Dude Abikes, having the dedication to keep on showing up is half the game.

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Summer Is Coming: Surviving Cycling in Sunny Central Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

If I had seen a second of that program about dragons and stuff on the Home Box Office channel, I could continue the allusion. But I haven’t so I can’t. But I can however tell you that the hotter-than-hell-fire breathing dragon that is summer in Central Texas is starting her terrifying approach. Temps are already topping out at the low 90’s in Austin, Texas. People, get ready, a lack of rain is comin’. I share my tips on how to deal. Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor in real life or TV. I’m just telling you how I deal with the heat. If you have or may have a medical condition that makes being outside dangerous, ask a real doctor, not a dude. This goes for everything on my blog. If my experience helps, great. But always use common sense, take responsibility, and you do you.

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Stillness

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

After Friday’s more reflective post about managing your energy (brahmacharya, in yogic terms), the long weekend in the US gave me the opportunity to retreat. Not the kind like giving up in a war. I hate war, but this is not a post about that. And I don’t mean a fancy spa (I wish!) or escaping to a meditation center, though I’ve done the latter. I mean I’m house and petsitting, which is a nice chance to do less outward activity and to do other things that have been neglected. Go within, reflect, journal, rest and read. To experience something many of us forget is there all around us and within us. Stillness.

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Brahmacharya: The Yogic Practice of Moderation

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

The philosophy of yoga as handed down over thousands of years continues to be valuable and available to those who wish to study it. It may be lost on some if not most modern-day, lycra-clad, booty-tightening students and teachers alike. Yours truly does not often crack open the ancient texts for some light reading. But I did spend a summer at a yoga center, and after over five years of daily (well, nightly) practice, I still consider myself essentially a beginner. Lately, I find myself struggling with one of the branches of the practice in particular. Surely I’m not alone, so here’s a little post about brahmacharya.

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Nothing Lasts… “Forever Bicycles” Sculpture Departs Austin, Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist of the Excessivist movement who is a very, very big deal in the art world. Huge, you might even say. For the last five years, Austin, Texas has been proud home of his incredible piece of 1,254 gleaming steel bicycles called “Forever Bicycles.” I went down to bid it farewell before it was dissassembled. Where it goes, only he knows. Here are some of my photos and information about this amazeballs installation.

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