bicycle

Lawson Craddock in Time Trial and Road Race at Tokyo Olympics

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Houston, Texas native and Austin transplant pro cyclist Lawson Craddock (who lives nearby me in Austin when he’s here but mostly in Girona, Spain) is headed for Japan. After winning the US men’s time trial with others on Team EF Education Nippo in third and fifth places) in Knoxville, Tennessee in June, and coming in fifth in the road race, he’ll feature in both disciplines in Tokyo next week. You can see my previous blogs about him by typing Lawson into the Search box on my home page.

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Thieves Drive Truck Through Front Door of The Peddler Bike Shop in Austin, Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

There’s been a lot of bicycle theft showing up in my Next Door feed over the last year. Global pandemics with their concomitant economic hardships have put all kinds of strain on people. But this brazen act takes the cake. Robbers literally broke through the front door of The Peddler Bike Shop in Hyde Park area of Austin, Texas with a probably stolen truck. I happened to see it on the website for the news station where I get my weather, and I was aghast. It is the closet shop to me, and I’ve been going there longer than any shops here. I also know the owner a bit. (Ironically, my first real bike that I ever bought myself I got from here, was stolen on Xmas Eve maybe 10 years ago.) This was very sad news so on my daily ride I stopped by to pay my condolences.

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6 Reasons Why You Should Use Bike Index (My 600th Blog Post!)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

There’s a specific feeling that goes with being robbed that’s like a punch in the gut: it’s infuriating, nauseating, and saddening all at once. What’s worse is there’s little you can do about it. Sure, you can (and should) report it to the police (who frankly don’t care or have the resources to investigate), search online and at pawn shops, but more often than not once it’s gone, it’s gone. What’s a bicycle rider to do? Well, I’m here to tell ya’: BikeIndex.org to the rescue (sometimes literally)!

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A Fool, A Weirdo, and an Idiot on My Bike Ride: Really!?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

“Keep It Weird” has been one of Austin’s slogans for a while now. I’d like to report to you that the tradition is alive and well. Except these three interactions weren’t with Leslie, the former bearded and homeless celebrity drag queen who was famous for wearing a g-string around town. Once I was behind him walking downtown on Sixth Street. Burned into my brain that I can’t ever unsee were his ass cheeks adorned with the words “APD (Austin Police Department) Kiss My Ass.” Pretty weird, but also pretty harmless.

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A Blog Post About Something, but First…

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

… lemme tell you about my day. A Tuesday, it ’twas. And boy, what a doozy! Actually, it really wasn’t that much of a doozy. I just enjoy using the word doozy. Which makes me think about whoopsie daisy. Can you have a doozy of a whoospie daisy? Or a whoopsie daisy doozy? wonder if anyone has ever written those two sentences. Probably, there’s nothing new under the sun. Oh, yeah, you’re right: tell you about my day. Speaking of the sun, it was hot. It only got to 98 degrees, so that wasn’t a doozy, but I did get dizzy on my walk. I went over to the Orifice Despot to make some copies. I was standing at the copy machine, makin copies. And I printed some things, too. Well, the copy machine did. It’s like a transformer, it turned into a printer, though I noticed no changes. And then I walked home. Even hotter. And then…

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Austin, Texas Bike Lanes and Sidewalks: A Few Updates

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 14 Comments

This makes my 10th post with a title including the words “bike lanes.” I’m generally a fan of anything that will separate cars from bikes and pedestrians, or in other words, will save my tuchus and that of other riders from being maimed or killed by cars. As a walker (not of The Walking Dead zombie variety — so far), I often use sidewalks when there are any. I also used them instead of biking on high traffic roads, so I don’t, you know, like, die. Several emails from the City about mobility improvement projects are clogging my email inbox, and with two personal examples, I figure it’s time for an update. Here are just a few of the many projects for intersections, bike lanes and sidewalks going on in Austin, Texas.

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I’ll Tell Ya What I’m Watchin’ on My Telly (Part 4)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 12 Comments

It’s been a hot minute, which translates from slang into English as meaning a good long while, since I wrote about my television viewing. Originally it began last spring because, well, the pandemic. After a few installments, I felt like I should focus on my main issues and on more important topics, like Black Lives Matter. Every day I’m out there biking, walking, and in here reading, writing and doing yoga. But when I can, which is most days, I do like to enjoy some of what my grandmother used to call “your programs” to my brother and me. Write what you know, you know? So here we go with a trio of shows from HBO, which used to have this as their tag line: “It’s not television, it’s HBO.” Now it comes with new and improved HBO Max. I’ve also included one from NBC for good measure. Pop the corn and hand me the remote, will ya?

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600 Days in a Row of Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Back on February 23 I wrote 10 Techniques I Used to Bicycle 500 Days in a Row. With today’s ride I’ve added 100 more to that. Quite by accident, coincidence or kismet, the screen shot of the dates (below) was taken with 66% of my phone battery left at 6:00 pm. How cool is that? So yeah, every day for a whole year, seven months and 22 days, I’ve swung a leg over the top tube of Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer (and occasionally Sonnie the GT Arette) and pedaled away. But here’s the thing: I don’t recommend it, unless you enjoy a challenge like the one attributed to Jerry Seinfeld which he didn’t actually make up, called #DontBreakTheChain. It started on a lark accidentally, and I just kept going from there. Still a fathlete, so I’ve got to do something. And like George Costanza claiming to design the new addition to the Guggenheim, “Yeah, and It didn’t take that long, either.” Because as we all know, you can only live one day — and bike one pedal stroke — at a time.

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When Things Fall Apart: Fitness Goals and Life

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 13 Comments

Lately I’ve been slipping a bit with my exercise and health practices, and even writing this blog. It reminded me of When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, a book by American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron. I can’t recommend it because I’ve never read it; it’s sitting in a box in storage. At one point I may have even owned two copies. But the title speaks to me now after a mostly pretty shitty day and last few weeks. Even within the Tibetan Shambhala community, things fall apart. As with many religious, business, and entertainment leaders with unchecked power, last year their figurehead was accused of and apologized for sexual misconduct. It went on a while, but he’s still there.

However, reports suggest that Chodron as a senior leader and teacher may have enabled or ignored it. She even told a woman reporting abuse years ago that she didn’t believe her. So she’s not perfect, and she has resigned in protest but maybe also as an act of contrition although she wasn’t the abusive male with all the power. Point is, life doesn’t always or even often go the way we want it to. Defecation passes. We’re all humans here, right? Certainly there are more important things than fitness goals, but like the saying goes, “At least you have your health.” Well, what if you don’t, despite your best efforts? I guess you do your best.

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Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month… and Bicycles

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and coincidentally it’s Bike Month. Having written a number of times about racism in general, attending two Black Lives Matter movement bike rides / protests, and also about Native Americans, I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on this community. As a white person, I certainly have no right to speak for them (and I’m not). But I can certainly show a few faces and amplify their voices one tiny bit. It’s always worth being curious, seeking understanding, and being part of the wider world by doing more than just eating ethnic cuisine if and when the opportunity arises. Here are a few things I learned, and let’s meet a few great cyclists as well.

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