Houston Bike-By Shooter Kills Another Cyclist, but Houston’s Lawson Craddock Still in Tour & Has Raised $114,000+

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

I was going to write about how I’m unable to bike for a while, or the heat wave (109 F forecast for Monday!), or possibly put up pictures of my collection of bike t-shirts.  Then I saw this sad news that made me do a double-take because it’s just crazy.  There’s not much to know at this point until they catch the guy who did it.  And what’s making this more news than it might be otherwise is that the victim was Dr. Mark Hausknecht, a cardiologist to former US President George H.W. Bush. Houston, we have a problem.  It’s you.  Quelle bizarre!

AlkekLogoSmallOrgMeanwhile, in the crazy-good Houston bike news department, Lawson Craddock, whom I wrote about recently (Texan Lawson Craddock Breaks Scapula on Day 1 of Tour de France, Just Keeps Riding. Quelle Courage!), is still riding in the Tour de France and donating $100 for every stae.  His GoFundMe page, which you should definitely contribute to, has now brought in over $114,000 for the Alkek Velodrome damaged in Hurricane Harvey.  Since it’s used to train the next generation of cyclists, it’s a good cause.  Read more about both these crazy stories below!

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Bikeable + Walkable Cities = Cool! Bike Austin & Center for New Urbanism Happy Hour

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

One of the themes of this blog is that bicycling is both a solo sport and then again, it’s not.  You pedal your own bike, unless you’re chilling out on the back of a tandem.  But from the people that made your bike, all the gear and accessories, the roads, the food, the beer… it’s all connected into part of what we tend to call “the bike community.”  And by “we” I mean people, usually white ones, with the privilege to go to happy hours.  (You could say opposing racism and xenophobia are also one of my sub-themes.)

But hey, don’t even white people who happen to bike deserve to live in a bikeable, walkable city that works well, and not get killed in the process?  Yes! So when I heard that the advocacy and membership group A Dude is part of, Bike Austin, partnered with the Congress for the New Urbanism Central Texas Chapter (CNU-CTX) for their monthly gathering, I got myself down there to check it out.  What follows is my short report, with plenty of pictures. Continue reading →

Bicycle Sport Shop / Bike Austin Ride Leader Training (Part 1)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Tonight I jetted over to a nice but sorta weird place for a bike meeting — a neighborhood emergency center — to learn how to lead group and bike shop rides.  It was organized by the active transportation (bike and walking) advocacy and membership non-profit organization for which I occasionally pitch in to volunteer, Bike Austin, led by new director Katie.  The training was given by Bicycle Sport Shop Road Captains Daniel, Laura Jane (LJ), and Stephanie and with some of the dozen of attendees contributing some amusing stories of what people do on their bikes.  So listen up kids, class is in session!  Professor A Dude Abikes is on the mic, talkin’ trikes, and safety things he likes… Continue reading →

Thursday Night Social Ride: Keep Austin Weird!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment
Check out my ride on Strava.

Since I’ve been feeling a good deal of discomfort and sometimes pain in a certain area on and off, and I am sick of the heat and thus waiting til evenings to ride (not to mention still watching tons of World Cup football matches on delay as well as the Tour de France), I’ve been biking about 12 miles every night this week.

For last night’s ride, I had it in mind to ride downtown to Town Lake and maybe join up with yjr Thursday Night Social Ride (TNSR),the weekly main event of Social Cycling Austin (SCA).  It’s a combination of anarchy / organized chaos, like a Critical Mass ride, and also in some ways it’s pretty relaxed if you just go with the flow.  I got a late start so figured I’d miss it.  I’m generally always happy to do my own ride, but wouldn’t you know it?  I crossed paths with the 300-strong group, so naturally I decided to join in the scary fun.

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Oh Yeah, It’s a Blog Post Day: On Writing Anyway, Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Writing a blog three times a week may not seem like much work, but sometimes it is. Today is one of those days where I’m tempted to skip it, except so far this year I haven’t done that. I either write this blog or in my book for 30 minutes or 500 words, and it’s usually for an hour and over 1,000 words.  Or more time and words, depending how much looking up stuff, dealing with photos, and going down rabbit holes.  I just keep on doing my best to #Don’tBreakTheChain.  After six months and 11 days, I ain’t about to quit.  Or better put in tee shirt format:

Too Legit
LL Cool J rap song translated to white.

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Texan Lawson Craddock Breaks Scapula on Day 1 of Tour de France, Just Keeps Riding. Quelle Courage!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 10 Comments

The first Texan to ride in the Tour de France since 2005, Gregory “Lawson” Craddock (Twitter,  Strava) who is from Houston but lives here in Austin, Texas first appeared in the TDF in 2016.  Returning after a not great 2017, on Saturday during on Stage 1, he crashed due to a water bottle in the road.  Diagnosed with a fractured scapula and gashes on his forehead and elbow, he received treatment en route and finished the ride.  After recovering some on Saturday and a tearful interview declaring he had come too far to give up so easily, he rode again Sunday and again today.  He’s using his misfortune to inspire others and for charity, too.  A Dude Abikes salutes his grit and gumption, so I had to give him a shout out from my little speck of the internet.  Go Lawson!

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The Little Blog That Could: Statistics from January – July 2018

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

This post is about the statistics of my blog, mostly over the last half a year.  Ironically, screen shots paint a better picture without too many words.  It comes as promised before my little rant about the U.S not living up to its ideals as a government or nation regarding its horrible, immoral immigration policy of separating children from their parents at the Texas border.   Agree or disagree, but I believe I’m on the right side of the law, history and human decency on this one.

While some may appreciate my view and others may not, fortunately we do still mostly have freedom of speech in the U.S.  And this blog is primarily an attempt to document my bicycle journey and to inspire others to do the same.  It’s also an experiment in writing that I started January of 2016 but have not worked on intensively until 2018.  That said, let me show you a look under the hood of http://www.ADudeAbikes.com (aka http://ADudeAbikes.WordPress.com)!

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We Are the World, Not Narrow-Minded, Nationalistic Neo-Nazis!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

It’s Independence Day, or July 4th, in the United States of America.  A day when we are supposed to pause as a nation to reflect upon our history, throwing off our British oppressors, and founding a new nation that cherished the ideals of freedom, democracy, equality and much more.  But usually people set off fireworks, cook alot of meat, drink alot of beer, and don’t think anything of it.  And woe be to anyone like A Dude who declares himself a citizen of the world.  After all, the location of my birthplace was a completely random event.  I could be Swedish, Afghani, Congolese, Inuit, or even from New Jersey.  The horror!

Today’s blog was going to be a review of my statistics about my blog.  And that just seemed frivolous, as things do when you’re having deep thoughts.  So as I went on my 25-mile ride, with people setting off fireworks all around me, I couldn’t help but think about the dichotomy, contradiction even, between those historic ideals and present, very ugly realities.  With the backdrop of the World Cup on my mind, and given how few people still actually read my words, I decided to throw in my two cents about how wrong it is to treat immigrants like second-class citizens, and the dangerous path toward neo-fascism the U.S. appears to be on.

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Goooooollllll! Alcanze a Mi Objetivo: 2,000 Millas por Bici en 6 Meses. Ahora, Que?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

NOTE:  Occasionally, I write in Spanish, although not perfectly.  To translate this blog, look for a program on the internet that will do it for you.  Apologies for already not having this installed.

NOTICIA:  De vez en cuando, escribo en espanol, pero no perfectament.  Para traducir este blog, busca en programa en el internet lo que puede hacerla para usted.  Desculpe que ya no tengo este disponible ahorita.

Despues de tantas millas, mucho eferto, sangre, sudor y lagrimas, lo hice!  Monte mi bicicleta por 2,000 millas, o 3218 kilometros en los primeros seis meses del ano 2018.  Fue dificil, pero vale la pena hacerlo.  Especialmente porque mi objetivo original era 1,500 millas.  En este momento, no me siento diferente que ayer, ni sentire muy diferente manana, imagino.  Pero es en hecho en mi viaje como biciclista, otro premio que me da a mi mismo.  Quisiera agradecer a la Academia, como se dicen en los Oscars.  Ahora es un buen tiempo revisar mi trabajo en las dos ruedas, y refleccionar a donde voy las seis meses que vienen.

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