biking

The Austin Bomber Got Caught and Self-Exploded; Book Writing Day Photos

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

I’m sure you can find plenty of media about the Austin serial bomber. I’m against the death penalty but sociopaths deserve life in prison or a mental hospital. Maybe we’ll find out his motives. But he was a millennial, white, male, conservative, Christian, bigoted domestic terrorist who killed two African-Americans and injured four, one of whom was Latina, so that tells us alot.  It’s a sad situation.  Maybe there is such a thing as karma.

Today and tomorrow are book writing days, so enjoy a few photos.

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10 Ways to Make the Most of South by Southwest (SXSW)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Research bands, sessions, films, etc. in advance. If you’re a middle-aged person like me, reading lists of younger music acts is like reading another language: you don’t understand a word. But unless you use the Filter by genre or Listen features on the SXSW app and also Spotify or other music streaming service, you are doomed to wander into random bars and are likely to get stuck listening to something you hate. There are also plenty of Twitter pages and websites that help you with making choices.

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Retired Pro Tour Cyclist Ted King on “We Got to Hang Out” Podcast at SXSW Day 6!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Hanging Out with Cool Cycling Celebrities

Today at the South by Southwest convention / festival / happening / big mess o’ people, I lucked into a podcast by three cyclists from Portland, Oregon.  Anna Grace Christiansen, Annalisa Fish, and Abby Watson at www.WeGotToHangOut.com (which you should totes check out) have a funny and informative podcast about bicycling.  Today’s guest was retired professional bike rider and now entrepreneur Ted King.  He raced in the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana and was a domestique for star Peter Sagan, so he’s the real deal.  So lucky for me, I got to ask a question on air and then meet and chat with all of them afterward.  That made it a pretty easy decision to feature them in today’s A Dude Abikes blog!  Readers:  you’re welcome. Continue reading →

There Will Be Blog: 77.7 Miles Last Week + SXSW Day 4 with Oscar-Nominee Vera Farmiga + SLEEP Concert

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”  Will Smith in the movie as Chris Gardner from his book The Pursuit of Happyness

The Book: Something Written This Way Will Come

I drafted some notes and put down a plan to write my book that’s been in my head for a while. I still have questions and will need to find both some information and some inspiration about it, but the main thing is to write. Walter Mosley the celebrated author told me to take a year and do it. Leonard Maltin the well-known film critic told me to just write and expand my presence on social media. Mario the marketing guy at the Fox Sports party said I have a story and I should tell it. 151 blog followers are telling me to do it, indirectly at least. Continue reading →

This Is My 100th Blog Post — The Year in Review So Far

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 16 Comments

Well, I’ve done it!  I’ve made it to the mythical 100th blog post.  It’s my 69th of 2018, and I’ve totalled over 102,000 words since I began blogging on January 1, 2016.  It’s been an interesting, fun, exhausting experiment telling my story as a bicyclist as well as exploring other topics like health, politics, culture and more.  In this post I’ll review my progress thus far this year and look at what I still need to work on.  I stayed in today and unpacked more, organized alot, and cooked, and so I’m itching to go on at least a metaphorical ride.  Got your helmet on?  Good, let’s go! Continue reading →

Intro v. Extro: What Type of Vert Are You?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Many years ago, when I was living in our nation’s cesspool, I mean capitol, I had the occasion to retake the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This personality test, based on ideas by famous Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, shows you what your tendencies and preferences are in 16 different areas. One of the main categories is whether you are internally focused or externally focused, or introverted or extroverted.

I told the person grading the test they did it wrong, because my results were always the same, and I was right. I’m pretty much in the middle, but on the introverted sign. Working as a volunteer at SXSW EDU the last four days, I’ve been reminded that I need alot of down time to recharge from interacting with other people, whereas for extroverted people, they are energized by being with other people. So I thought it an interesting topic worth exploring a bit.

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Last Day in the Holler

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

After a few weeks in the country, today it was time to head back to the city.  I’m still unpacking and will be for some time, but I really enjoyed the experience of living in a cabin in the woods with peace, quiet and a dog named Buddy.  It was generally a great time and no coyotes or bobcats ate us, so that was great.  While the reason for being there was not great at all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to have the time to write this blog and interacting with other bloggers.  Thanks to everyone who has been liking, commenting and following, but more importantly, actually reading what I write. Continue reading →