South by Southwest (SXSW) 2019 Days 2-4: Some Stuff I Saw

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

I’ve seen some good stuff at SXSW 2019. Not as much as I wanted, because I’ve been under the weather, quite possibly germs from one of the many people I scanned into sessions last week. Or allergies compounded by trying to do too much and not sleeping enough, a common problem for A Dude who has too much to do and not enough hours in which to do them. Although I’ve biked downtown and in between a few venues, mostly I’ve walked alot. As in 10,000-12,000 steps per day, which is alot for me. So here are some words and pictures for you. For official SXSW photos, see this link.

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South by Southwest (SXSW) 2019 Day 1: A Dude Abikes Meets Yoga With Adriene!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

South by Southwest (SXSW), the annual, huge, internationally-famous smorgasbord at the intersections of technology, creativity, business, and more began today in Austin, Texas. After four days volunteering for the educational conference (SXSW EDU), I was already exhausted. But having mostly earned my free platinum all-access badge, I wasn’t going to sit home all day and miss out. Although I got a slow start, I found my way downtown (by bicycle, of course) to join the festivities. Herein is my report.

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What Are You Willing to Give Up (for Lent)?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 13 Comments

Today was Ash Wednesday in the Christian Catholic tradition. Numerous believers around the world went to church and got a cross made of ash drawn on their foreheads. While A Dude Abikes is not Catholic, and by no means can offer an authoritative treatise on Lent, some of my ancestors were. A number of people today and last night at One Page Salon talked about this practice of renouncing something, which is only one part of a religious of taking 40 days to prepare for Easter Sunday. Somehow this one part of a solemn spiritual ceremony “went viral” and became a sort of New Years resolution do-over. For lapsed Catholics and others who just like the idea, it is a worthwhile endeavor to renounce something “sinful” or a “vice.” It could be cigarettes, alcohol, or something stronger, like candy. Or a behavior like watching TV. In any case, I began thinking, “What am I willing to give up?”

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BOOK REVIEW: Real Artists Don’t Starve, by Jeff Goins

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Jeff Goins is a successful blogger, podcaster, coach and author of five books including The Way of Art. In Real Artists Don’t Starve, he draws numerous examples from history and modern times to illustrate his points. You can read all about Jeff at his web site: https://goinswriter.com. Also, this book has its own site: https://dontstarve.com.

This book came to my attention due to a note from Nori Rose, the Bluebonnet Witch. Thanks, Nori! As a temporarily unpaid writer, I checked it out for free from the Austin Public Library. What a socialist institution if I ever heard of one! Free books that you take home, read and return? Outrageous! But I digress, as I’m wont to do. Here are some of my thoughts on his book.

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My Recent Bike Riding: Stats and Feelings

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

After a number of bike news posts, it’s time for a personal update. This blog is meant to educate, inform, inspire and motivate. But it is also to shine a light on one bicyclist’s journey (literal and figurative), not just the good, but also the bad and ugly. Regarding the latter, lately the engine room has not been firing on all cylinders. But truth be told, it’s been that way since I can remember, just different degrees.

As I recently told a fellow rider on Strava, “I’m only as good as last night’s sleep.” Since that generally isn’t great, my biking suffers accordingly. There are plenty of reasons for that, and while some are under my control, most are not. So I do my best. The question is what to do about it, besides the obvious: stop blogging late at night and do what those celebrities like Jennifer Garner said in hilarious videos of a book with the same title: “Go the F*(& to Sleep!” However, if I did that, you wouldn’t have anything to read.

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Texas Bike Advocate Summit & Cyclists in Suits Lobby Day

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

The last three days I spent participating in these two events were a slice of bicyclist advocate heaven. Although I’m not being literal (read my post In Bike I Trust: The Faith of an Agnostic Athiest Cyclist for my thoughts on all that), it was a smorgasboard of education, networking, lobbying, and of course, bike riding. The first-ever event hosted by the board, staff and volunteers of Bike Texas brought 40 people together from many parts of Texas. I volunteered to attend as one of three representatives of Bike Austin. The summit was held Saturday-Sunday and the lobby day was today, Monday. If you’ve read this far, you may as well keep going to read the rest. You know you wanna!

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My New Bicycling Magazine Is Here! My New Bicycling Magazine Is Here!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Not since Navin Johnson (played by Steve Martin) got overly jazzed about the arrival of the new phone books in The Jerk (a film I’ve referenced as recently as my post Jerks in Cars Messing Up My Bike Rides) has a printed and bound document been quite so anticipated and well-received. Well, maybe that’s kind of a little bit of a possible smidgen or a skosh of hyperbole. Sure, when I became a member of the League of American Bicyclists, and Bicycling was was offered as a perq, I was glad to hear it. Just not jumping around shouting it to the whole street glad — only to my blog readers. Anyway, after four long months of anticipation, the last four weeks or so have brought incessant emails from the publisher but not actual magazine, it finally arrived. Let’s take a look under the hood.

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Breaking Down My 25-Mile Bike Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 11 Comments

Today the weather was sunny and warmer than it has been, with little wind, a perfect day to bike. I wasn’t feeling perfectly, and in fact was laying outside trying to get some Vitamin D on my skin. I had to go to the post office so at 4:59 I finally got on Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer. Errand complete, we headed towards my familiar stomping on the pedal grounds, the Southern Walnut Creek Trail. Let me tell you about it.

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Austin Bike News Roundup for February 18, 2019

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

There is always something happening related to bicycles in my little world, but there have been a number of bike-related headlines around the city in recent days.  On this day of closed post offices due to the 40 or so men who have resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, here are the stories that caught A Dude’s eye:

  • Keep Austin Weird:  Man charged with assault after Sixth Street fight with pedicab driver, police say (February 17, Austin American-Statesman)
  • Fortunately, he survived:  Man injured in bicycle crash in downtown Austin (same as above)
  • The investigation into the death of Anthony John Diaz, killed after apparently getting run over by a bus, continues: UT Austin police seeking Good Samaritan witness to fatal crash (February 13, 2019 KXAN News)
  • Former resident, cancer patient, and guy who did some other bike-related stuff:  Lance Armstrong becomes ‘charity chaser’ for Austin Marathon (February 14, KXAN News)
  • For a bonus, although happening 11 days ago and is slightly out of town in Burnet, Texas:  2019 FIRST CHAIR ALERT: Spider Mountain Bike Park Opening Day (February 4)
Let’s dive into the details, shall we?

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