bikes

27-Mile Brushy Creek Trail Ride + Peddler Bike Shop Stop

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Started Without Any Sun

On a balmy, grey, at first foggy, then later somewhat sunny Sunday, A Dude rousted himself from his slumber and busted out a decent distance of a bicycle ride.  It was the first longer ride in a while, and it was done because that’s what he does, for fitness, fun and so on.  But also it was in order to make his 50-mile goal for the week and to have something to blog about.  So in a way, if you’re reading this, you’re partially responsible for making it happen! How is that for participation? And you didn’t even have to get up off your couch and bike 27 miles.  Here’s the quick map / video from Relive. Continue reading →

An Aborted Ride in the Rain Due to a Flat Tire, but Buck’s Bikes Came to the Rescue!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Finally I made it out to ride my bike, but then it rained and I got a flat.  I had a jacket and was warm enough, and could have replaced the flat myself, but I had a bike date, if you can believe that, so I couldn’t be late.  Also, since I had just replaced the tube recently, I knew something was going on that required more expertise.  Luckily I was literally stopped right outside a bike shop when I noticed the flat. Before I go any further, please click on this link to see a cool short map video of my ride: Continue reading →

Another Austin Bicyclist is Killed by a Vehicle. Who Will Stop the Car-nage?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 23 Comments

Cyclist Dies, No One Goes to Jail.  Again.

The local newspaper reported yesterday, February 15, 2018, that “Bicyclist found lying injured in Southeast Austin yard was likely hit by car, police say.”  The piece quoted heavily from a statement by the Austin Police Department:

“A bicyclist who died last month was likely struck by a hit-and-run driver.”

The article in the Austin American-Statesman is by breaking news reporter Katie Hall.katie hall  It goes on to say: Continue reading →

I Rode My Bike Trainer for 60 Minutes at 17 Miles Per Hour, but Those 17 People Shot in Florida Are Still Dead

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 11 Comments

Guns Don’t Kill People, the National Rifle Association Does

A Dude Abikes does not live in a vacuum.  That would be weird, dark and gross and would literally suck.  OK, that’s a bad pun about a literal vacuum.  I don’t watch much TV news, but the heartbreaking information that 15 kids and two teachers were shot to death on Valentine’s Day by a former student at a high school in southern Florida still made it to me.  There’s not alot I can add to the debate over guns.  So I will do my thing and write about my day using a bike trainer.  But I do so with a heavy heart and deep awareness that perspective is key and believe that attention must be paid to this national disgrace.  There’s an epidemic of car violence that kills cyclists and pedestrians, too.  But it’s not as sexy when only one person dies at a time. Continue reading →

A Cabin, a Canine and a Car: A Week in the Woods to Write

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 12 Comments

A Dude learned an important lesson about posting to WordPress today:  don’t go back and forth between your cell phone and your computer.  While trying to upload photos, my whole post was deleted.  It was going to win me a blogging award, no doubt.  JK.  But now I have to try to re-create it from memory late at night.  Which isn’t going to happen for the most part.  Oy, how I suffer for my art!  Such is life.  Let’s move on. Continue reading →

Replacing My Brakes at Austin Yellow Bike Project

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Tonight I took my old Fuji bicycle to the free community shop, Austin Yellow Bike Project. The brakes were very worn, which I consider a point of pride, because it means I’ve ridden my bike a shit ton of miles.  That’s right, I used a curse word. So sue me! I’m just trying to spice things up a bit. Actually, please don’t sue me. Normally A Dude Abikes is a family friendly blog.  We still have free speech here in ‘Merrikuh, don’t we?  But biking 10,000 miles in two years was so much work, one swear word doesn’t even begin to do that justice.  Anyway, YBP is cool, so let me tell you about it. Continue reading →

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 →

City of Austin Transportation Department Community Conversation: Data Doesn’t Lie

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Bikes Came Before Cars & Will Be Here After Them, Too

Today’s post is about a meeting I attended put on by the City of Austin Active Transportation Department.  They were reporting back on improvements to two streets in East Austin.  The headline for me was that adding bike lanes and reducing car lanes from four to three did not increase travel time. In fact, travel time was decreased, because traffic signals were synchronized and optimized. This was measured with Bluetooth technology so it is not subjective.

Still, naysayers and disbelievers will convince themselves or anything to reinforce their narrow paradigm that only cars deserve to be on the roads.  To me that’s just illegal, wrong and backwards.  Such is politics.  It didn’t matter to me when I just tooled around for short periods.  Now that I’ve been out there biking over 13,000 in three years, saving my life and the lives of other people on bikes is more important. Continue reading →

Glassholes! Bike Lane Parkers! Disappearing Sidewalks! Oh My!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Cycling Is Great for Your Health but Hazardous to Bikes

The sun is shining, there’s little wind on a crisp but warming winter’s day.  I mount up my bike and my feet start pushing the pedals like a thousand times before.  The legs are pumping as if through jello.  My lungs are lit on fire; every breath burns.  I’m going as fast as I can, but it feels like I’m barely moving.  Looking around, none of my fellow riders are with me.  But this time is different.   I’m not in a race, leading or last place.  I just have cedar fever.  And I’m only on my way to a community clinic to sign up for health care, since Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) health insurance is prohibitively costly.  And as if today’s natural air pollution wasn’t hard enough, I encountered another of bicyclists’ worst enemies:  people who throw their glass bottles on the ground.  A Dude Abikes calls them “glassholes.” Continue reading →

The Next Door App: Lost Pets, Stuff for Sale and Hatred of People on Bikes

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

People on Bikes and Lanes for Them Are Here to Stay

Today I was going to post about a Safe City Cycling Class, but due to cedar fever, my body was devoid of most energy.  So I posted up in my bed to take an extended siesta.  I’m still feeling as if I were run over by a truck, so bear with me.  I hope to attend the next class on Saturday and report on that then.  Looking around for a topic, I realized the Next Door War on Cyclists going on today would be a “fun” one.  Not being sure about permissions and copyrights, I will just quote from there instead of put whole posts.  When someone brings out the word “douche” and they’re not French or talking about a shower or feminine hygiene, let’s just say it gets pretty heated.

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