It’s bike month–again. Oh joy. The usual brouhaha is made over how wonderful bicycles are. How kids should bike to school and workers should bike to work. Everyone should ditch the car and bike to the grocery store, etc. Bike bike bike. There are group rides and media and sponsors and beer and fun and so on ad nauseam. And that’s all well and good. More butts on bikes means less pollution, less traffic, and less overfat people such as this dude. There’s nothing really wrong with having a month dedicated to bikes. I could have used the encouragement to do it years ago myself. I guess it just all feels a little fake. So this blog is gonna be a bit of a rant. Again. Nothing too crazy. I promise you’ll be alright.
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A Return to Be Car-Free for Me: Pros & Cons
Twenty years ago today, on January 25, 2005, my car was totaled in a crash thanks to a truck t-boning me (pulling out before I had time to stop aka they were at fault). It was a return to be car-free for me. For 15.75 years, I did not own a car. In January of 2016, weeks after starting this blog, I began a series of annual posts with 11 Years not a Slave to Cars. Then, in August of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was gifted a car, which I wrote about January of 2021 in Come to the Dark Side, Dude: Where’s My Car?.
Continue reading3/3/2024: Why I Hate E-Bikes / E-Bikes Might Also Be OK
I just wrote a post the other day, How Writing Has Helped My Bicycling, but the month and day numbers match again, so it’s already time for another post. As for a topic, I had a hard time choosing one. I was going to go with biking while sick, since I’ve been struggling with something for a few weeks now. A normal person would stop biking until they got better. But I’m in the capitol of Texas where one of our slogans is “Keep Austin Weird,” so in my case, I just have kept riding somehow. I do slower and thus fewer miles, which makes me sad not to meet my goal. There’s not much more to say on that subject, which is boring. I haven’t done an Austin Cycling News Roundup in a while, but I’ve not been very plugged into the bike scene lately, and that takes a little time to research. I considered reviewing the Reddit bicycle discussion, r/BikingATX, but also not much there. So, I landed on my hatred of electric bicycles aka e-bikes, otherwise known as motorcycles. Yeah, I said it.
Continue readingThe 2023 International Annual Ride of Silence in Austin, TX
The third Wednesday in May is designated an international commemoration of those people who lost their lives while bicycling. It began in Dallas, Texas, where A Dude was hatched, after one man’s friend was cyxling and got hit and killed by a car. It has expanded to hundreds of cities and countries (222 and 14 respectively this year). It’s called the Ride of Silence, which I wrote about in “5/5/23: 5 Things You *May* Want to Do for Bike Month.” Here’s a recap.
Continue readingA Dude Rode His Bike in Austin Today, and Car Drivers Were Nice!
Here’s a reminder about this important media release from fitness app Strava: https://wp.me/p75hY4-44K
In other headline news: A dude rode his bike in Austin today, and car drivers were nice! The cyclist pedaled downtown for an event at the local classical music station.
Continue readingAll the Road’s A-Rage, and We Are Merely Cyclists
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that riding a bicycle on urban streets is a risky proposition in most cities in America. In my city, Austin, Texas, we have a decent amount of bicycle infrastructure. Better than some, worse than others. Amsterdam it’s not, and we still have to contend with all manner of things that could drive one to drink. Number one is drunk or otherwise distracted drivers. And a lot of those people aren’t swigging booze, they’re guzzling down the rage-ahol. And sometimes when things go badly, we cyclists get plenty angry, too. To quote the original Dr. Bruce Banner to the reporter Jack: “Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
Continue readingThe Art of Taking the Lane on a Bicycle
“Get yo’ bitch ass offa the road!” yelled the guy in the truck at me. That’s because I was in the middle of the narrow car lane, since there was no room for cars to safely pass me a bike lane or alternative road, and the sidewalks suck. I was in Southeast Austin, Texas in a neighborhood called Govalle (a Swedish, not Spanish word). It’s a less wealthy part of town near the airport that billionaire Elon Musk is transforming with a huge Tesla manufacturing plant. (Teslas are still cars, and they still pollute, albeit less than a standard gas engine car. And those lithium batteries are hugely wasteful to make, even if recycled.) Anyway, it’s a car-centric neighborhood. Traffic wasn’t heavy, so I chose to take the lane — which is completely legal in Texas. Anyway, it was not a pleasant interaction and it got me thinking about how and when to take the lane.
Continue readingCome to the Dark Side, Dude: Where’s My Car?
Sixteen years ago, on January 25, 2005, the car I was driving was hit by a truck and was damaged beyond reasonable repair. In the ensuing years, I made do with taking the bus, walking, and bicycling. In fact, I had lived without a car on and off for many years. A whole decade passed before I got serious about cycling; in January of 2015, I began riding longer distances, charity rides, and the like. A year later I had a smart phone, Strava, and a better bicycle. That journey led me to travel the equivalent of around the equator, plus another 1,790 miles as of today (26,691 total). Normally in the space you would find a blog post about my 16th year being car-free, or at least car-light (because I borrowed them). For two reasons, you won’t read that post.
Continue readingSomeone Just Threw a Firecracker at Me on My Bicycle
Yes, you read that right. I was biking, and some poor, misguided soul, correction, a major assclown in a car slowed down to throw a firecracker at my head. But that wasn’t all. The firecracker throwing happened after a guy in a truck sped through the turn at a red light without yielding in front me, which could have resulted in major pain or death were I not such a defensive rider and excellent bike handler. But shortly thereafter I came upon his shop where his loose barking dogs came at me. Usually my evening bike rides aren’t as eventful. This one saved all the excitement until the last 20 minutes. Let’s go to my Strava description.
2019 World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Traffic Violence
This somber event first was commemorated in the United Kingdom in 1995, later expanding to other countries. Here in Austin, Texas, USA, those who died in the past year in cars, on bikes, or on foot, are remembered with speeches, flowers, a silent walk and exhortations to stop the epidemic of car-nage. Despite a very sore knee, I made my way downtown to join the 50 or so participants, pay my respects to the 70+ people who died since last November, and hope that I’m not on the list next year. While “only” three bicyclists died, that’s still three too many. Read their stories here: Anothony Diaz, Jessica Saathoff and Anthony Williams.
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A Dude Abikes 