Monday was the first day of spring, in the northern hemisphere, that is. How do I know this? Well, I have a goatee again. But I have the goatee because it’s the first day of spring. The seasonal facial hair regimen has been going on for a long time. Which is neither hair nor thair, but it does make me think about the changing of the seasons. Turn, turn, turn. Winter is leaving, spring is here. “Like sands through the hour glass so are the Days of our Lives,” went the tag line for an old soap opera. As mentioned in an earlier post, with better weather comes better bike riding and any number of outdoor activities. Maybe you didn’t come here to here my talk about the weather. Except I’m going to for a bit more.

After last month’s crippling ice storm, and some 90 degree days, winter has reasserted itself in Central Texas. After a cold front with some rain, it’s cooled off a fair bit, is sunny, with little wind. In other words, it’s just about perfect for biking and all manner of outdoor activities. Things are already starting to bloom, spring break is coming and with it the South by Southwest juggernaut, March madness basketball if you’re into that sort of thing, and just lots of stuff going on outside before it gets too hot and humid and then just hot. For A Dude, that means ditching the home trainer and getting out there more on Sommar the Fuji Finest bike.

As I wrote in the post 1/1/23: 5,008 Bicycled + 536 Walked = 5,544 Miles in 2022, I did some those miles on my bicycle and walking. But what about the rest of my activities? Today is 2/23/23, serendipitously. Let us review, but not vigorously. For I am weary, you see. What will A Dude’s next rhyme be? Well, now I’m out, fortuitously. To the next paragraph, shall we? Oops, he spoke (wrote) prematurely. One may make the letter e sound go with most English words. Obviously.

The worst ice storm to hit Austin since 2007 has plunged a third of the city’s utility customers into darkness. Sure, it’s an act of nature, and 2/3 of an inch of ice weighs hundreds of pounds, crews are working as fast as they can, yada yada. Thanks to an inept City government that cannot keep the trees trimmed and the lights on, we have days if not many days more to go. Yeah, life without cold showers, lights, refrigeration, heating, cooking, the internet, or streaming, is not exactly suffering–that’s what hundreds of millions if not a few billion on earth endure daily–and worse.

Wales. Besides the large sea mammals, what comes to mind when I hear the word Wales are three things:  Welsh rarebit, Welsh cyclist and one-time Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, and Welsh Corgi dogs. I’ve never had the first one, I’ve never met the second, but I’m looking at one of the third. I’m pet and housesitting while the owner is away. And what comes to mind from that is the Talking Heads song, “Once in a Lifetime”:  “This is not my beautiful house.” Maybe you know the song, which was a big hit on the radio, and it was on first day MTV appeared on the airwaves back in 1981. It makes me think of that time, Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, Wall Street excess (“greed is good”), the American Dream of owning a home, among other things. So, behold a brief blog ’bout… all that jazz.

A year and a day ago, on January 8, 2021, Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer was shockingly stolen. Sad times for sure. Read that sob story here… (and weep.) After a few months of test cycling, some adjustments with seats and stems and such, hemming and hawing, and typical Libran weighing of the pros and cons, I have a new (to me) bicycle, a Fuji Finest. I’m calling her Sommar (some MAHL), which is Swedish for “summer’. That’s because she’s a lightweight cro-moly steel vintage racing bike with skinny tires that just feels like you must go riding on a warm day, wind in your face, sun on your skin… Toes in the sand, drink in your hand. All you need… is the woman,” as Van Halen sang. But it’s a bike.

Well, another year is in the books; 2022 is history (or herstory), and here it is 2023. The changing of the calendar is always a shock to the system, but also has the hope of doing better. Before we can move forward with resolutions, goals, and the like, it’s helpful to look back. While in many ways it was not a good year for A Dude Abikes due to illness, work, and life conspiring against me, I still managed to get out there* every single day, still streaking, and string together some solid Strava stats. Let’s go to the numbers.