Bike Austin

Hottest Day of the Year Bike Austin Group Ride + Half a Metric Century (50 km) Solo

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Saturday I got myself down to Bicycle Sport Shop on South Lamar for Bike Austin’s 9th Annual Hottest Day of the Year Ride.  About 40 folks from a young age to not so young arrived to sample the mocktails, peruse Bike Austin t-shirts and brave the heat.  The good part was that the route was a short 10-miles and took us to two splash pads and two pools.  While technically not the hottest day, it was warm enough, 99 F heat index.  A Dude was serving as one of the ride leaders, and it was an eventful afternoon.  The next night I put in the first longer ride in a while, 31 miles total.  So let’s check them out. Continue reading →

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)

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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 →

Bike Austin Group Ride + 80’s Movie Quicksilver = Cheese & (Kevin) Bacon

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After 1984’s Footloose, which your blogger certainly saw at the time but doesn’t recall his reaction to, Kevin Bacon was very popular. He chose to follow up a decent movie with one about a broker who loses his shirt in the stock market and becomes, quite logically, a bike messenger! There’s drama, action, love interests, an 80’s cheestastic soundtrack, and lots of bikes. The Alamo Drafthouse, which is known for showing all kinds of wacky movies, hosted, and Bike Austin Education Fund was the beneficiary. A Dude loves cheese a bit too much and also bacon, though I have mostly low-sodium turkey variety in my fruitless quest for health. (Well, I eat a lot of fruit, actually.) So bikes, cheese and a big helpin’ o’ Bacon (Kevin, that is)? Sign me up!

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One Fine Day: Free Massage, Bike to Work Day, Deadpool 2

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Today was one of those days that in retrospect was pretty fine. Not a totally perfect day by all means. Nor just one perfect moment like Anthony’s blog, Today’s Perfect Moment, which you could check out. It was a collection of moments, feelings, experiences, thoughts and more that together were really quite nice. Any day that includes a beautiful stranger rubbing oil on your sore muscles, a hilarious movie, and bikes, well, that’s one fine day. Do you want me to tell you about it? OK, since you insist.

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Bike Austin City Cycling Class at REI

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Roads:  They’re Not Just for Cars Anymore.

Who knew that the Texas Department of Transportation, the highway and toll road people sponsored classes for bicyclists?  They’re also for car drivers to learn how to respect the rules of the road and vulnerable road users, i.e., dudes and dudettes on bikes. So on Saturday I saddled up and sauntered slowly downtown despite my ongoing allergies or whatever they are to get a little knowledge dropped into my mountain cedar-induced feverish brain.  And I may have learned a thing or two.  It turns out that you can teach an old dude new tricks.  Not like, magic, or BMX, but you know, tricks. Continue reading →

Read All About It! A Dude Abikes Featured in the Austin American-Statesman for Biking 10,000 Miles in Two Years!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 36 Comments

I Am Ready for My Close-Up

Awesome news! After two years and 10,000 miles of bicycle-riding documented on Strava (and before that, many thousands more), your friendly neighborhood A Dude Abikes has been featured in a story mentioned on the front page and then appearing on D1 of the Lifestyles section. It is titled “Can a Regular Guy Pedal 10,000 Miles in Two Years? This Dude Did.” Read the full story in the Austin American-Statesman.

img_20180115_112245863872301086.jpgThe article is alot longer than I expected, with photos too. Cool!

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The Fairdale Weekender Archer: A Review of My New Bicycle I Won in a Raffle!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 22 Comments


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Fortune Favors the Bold

This super-exciting event started with a routine administrative procedure.  Last November I renewed my membership to Austin’s biggest advocacy and educational bicycle organization, Bike Austin.  A merger of the former League of Bicycling Voters and Austin Cycling Association, BA came to my attention due to a past landlord (who shall remain nameless and faceless, at least until I can unearth a photo he okays).  I finally joined, began volunteering, entered a raffle and voila!  I won a BRAND… NEW… BIKE! Continue reading →