biking

How It’s Going So Far in 2018 with the Biking, Blogging, Walking and Eating

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

So Far, So Good, But a Long Way to Go

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A Buddha statues at Aveda. But is that a chocolate glazed donut in front of him?

After a number of posts heavy with images, information and links, I think I’ll just write about how I’m doing with everything.  But first, a picture of a Buddha from Aveda Institute.  I got my second ever face treatment for only $21 for an hour.  Self-care is allowed whether you’re a cyclist like me or unable to do much if any physical exercise at all due to a chronic situation.  The massage and various products did make it feel better.  Whether it looks better is a matter of opinion. Continue reading →

Bike Austin Wants YOU to Help Save Lives by Becoming an Individual or Business Member TODAY!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Volunteering to Make Austin’s Streets Safer for All

Bike Austrin logoToday A Dude visited the downtown Austin, Texas office of Central Texas’s leading bicycling and pedestrian advocacy and education non-profit organization, Bike Austin.   My goal?  To get trained by amazing Community Development Planner Shavone Otero on how to engage Austin businesses to become members to keep the group alive.  That’s her pointing at me in the photograph.  Together with the Bike Austin Education Fund, their mission is to:

“…improve quality of life for all of Austin and Central Texas by growing bicycling as a form of transportation, exercise, and recreation.”

Pretty simple, but not so easy to implement.  Austin traffic continues to worsen, with projected population growth.  Amazon is considering us for another headquarters, which would add 50,000 employees and their families to the roadways.  According to the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard, Austin ranked 42nd worst traffic in the world.  Drivers spent almost two full days per year in their car.  That’s up 24 slots from 66th worst in 2016.  So bicycling is going to play a vital role in that whole… let’s just call it a mess. Continue reading →

The Germination of an Idea: Coaching People on How to Ride Their Bikes

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

Put Me In Coach, I’m Ready to Teach

My Fairdale Weekender Archer outside a spin place

As you may know, Dude Abikes has been happily unemployed since November 1st.  He stays busy biking, walking, yoga-ing and of course blogging.  To keep the gummint offa his back, he does job search activities.  Today there were three, the most interesting of which was a “speed coaching session.”  I biked 8 miles to the Domain, a collection of pricey apartments and even pricier shops.  A Dude ain’t fancy, but doesn’t mind if others are.

A handful of people gathered in to WeWork, a co-working and meeting space. to hear a presentation, meet the coaches, and then spend some time with one discussing our goals, hopes, dreams, obstacles and the like.  It was free, there was fruit, cheese, nuts and such, and we each got a free book.  Mine was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, an antiquated but still classic self-help guide that I’ve never read but will now.  Pretty cool stuff for a cold Thursday afternoon. Continue reading →

Did You Know You Can Get a Free Health Coaching Session at Natural Grocers?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 10 Comments

Still Cold Out, but A Dude Must Ride

It was down to 18 F last night with still some icy patches on the ground, so today was not a great day to get out.  But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it warmed up a bit so I put on 20 articles of clothing and headed out.  Unless this is the first post you’ve read (and if it is, Yay! Welcome!), or if you’ve read the article about me in MLK Day’s Statesman, you know that some ongoing topics of this blog are food, diet, and weight loss.  About six weeks ago, I signed up for a free health coaching session at Natural Grocers, the Boulder-based health food store.  I figured I’d tell you about this useful tool you may not know about.  (NOTE:  This is not a sponsored post, but if anyone from Natural Grocers wants to pay me for it, please get in touch!)

Continue reading →

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Rumi-nating on Where the Journey Leads

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day

— “California Dreamin'” by The Mamas & The Papas

Baby, It’s Cold Outside. So What? Go Exercise, Dude.

A Dude Abikes does not think of himself as a quitter but he has let go of many things over time, some by choice, others not (car, job, a really nice pair of Ray Bans). Some wisely, like trying to be a vegan. Others, maybe not so skillful, like eating frozen pizza (haven’t had one of nature’s most perfect foods this year so far). Today I kept my walking every day for a month practice going. If I Don’t Break The Chain and make it all year, I’ll have walked over 400 miles — on purpose! Someday maybe I’ll be at a weight where I’ll feel it’s safe to run again without damaging my feet and joints. For now, I’m just getting out there and putting one foot in front of the other for half an hour, even if it’s 28 degrees F like today. That quality of doing it no matter what that I’ve tapped into with the yoga, biking and no-car-having is not really something you can teach. But I think everyone has the capacity for being resolute, stubborn, determined or committed. I also put on 19 articles of clothing, so I was prepared like a good Boy Scout. Yes, A Dude really was an Eagle Scout.

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!

Continue reading →

My 1,500 Consecutive Days of Yoga: Everyone Knows It’s Bendy

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Still Stretchy After All These Years (4+)

Early readers of this blog or those new ones perusing the archives (welcome!) know that I have a daily yoga practice of 30′ (or more) going back to December 4, 2013.  (I count the anniversary as December 6th, because I lost two days to having been on anesthesia for an exam.)  When I counted up the days, the 1,500 benchmark seemed impressive enough to revisit.  I actually reach that day Monday but becoming a D-list celebrity steals that fire.  (I’m writing this Tuesday about this blog I forgot to finish on Saturday.) That’s OK, I’ll just do more yoga and it will calm the jangled nerves from all the paparazzi camped outside, clamoring for a few bon mots or a candid picture of A Dude Abikes. Continue reading →

Healthier Choices; Getting Out into the Community & Meeting Cool People (Day 4)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Wednesday’s 16 miles on the bike began with a ride to a downtown coffee shop to talk with a very interesting person.  I can’t reveal their identity or the purpose of the talk just yet, but it was a good experience for me, and I hope for them.  So we’ll see how that goes.  You’ll read about it here, assuming you keep coming back to read A Dude.

While I was there, I spotted someone else of note.  That person was Jim Hightower, the populist former Agricultural Commissioner of Texas who has gone on to be a voice for progressive politics in Texas and beyond.  My second favorite thing he ever said was at a Ralph Nader for President rally where he was a warm-up speaker.  The crowd was rambunctious, so he said, with a Texas inflection, “This rally is hotter than high school love.”  Hilarious!  My favorite thing he said was, “I was born recently, just not yesterday.”  I said hello, he was pleasant and polite but he didn’t remember me from Adam.  Funny thing, years ago he considered me to be too radical for his radio show.  Instead he got my friend on the air, largely because he was an Army veteran.  True story. Continue reading →

Equanimity & 499 More Words in 30 Minutes (Day 3)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment
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A statue epitomizing equanimity during a rare recent snow

Today’s blog is a writing exercise.  A Dude wants to see if he can write 500 words in 30 minutes.  He can tend to be long-winded, and while that may appeal to some readers, it may dissuade others.  Since I intend to write daily for some period, perhaps even the whole of January, it behooves me to be brief.

It’s refreshing to hear from people who read my blog recently.  One is a fellow cyclist who bikes in the winter — in Finland!  Thank you all!  This blog was intended to be an experiment, and I have a lot to learn about doing it well.  New Year resolutions being what they are – much sound and fury signifying nothing – I’m not making many hard and fast rules for myself right now. Continue reading →

4,714 Miles Bicycled in 2017 = 10,000 in 2 Years! A Recap of My “Epic Velocimania” (Day 1)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 23 Comments

Whole Lotta Bikin’ Goin’ On

2017 Strava stats4,714 miles in 2017 and 5,306 in 2016 total 10,020 miles — that’s what A Dude Abikes bicycled in two years.  The numbers don’t lie (if you believe my Garmin vivoactive hr, Strava and GeoPositioning Satellites, that is).  But I don’t need technology to tell you that I definitely biked 40% around the equator (all the way is 24,901 miles).  Any way you look at it, it’a alot of damn miles.  Not easy with my various challenges.  But I did it.

So what, you might ask?  Lots of people ride farther and faster.  True, but I ain’t them, and they can get their own damn blog.  I often wonder why, too.  In one sense, it’s just what I do.  Also, I’m approaching 13 years of being car-free.  (Not care-free — I wish!)  So if I want to go anywhere, biking is usually the most efficient way.  Cars are expensive and pollute.  Lastly, the only race I’m in is the human one. Continue reading →