cars

Please Be Kind to Cyclists:  Saving Lives One Bumper Sticker at a Time

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 11 Comments

On a Saturday in 2002, Al Bastidas was on his way to join an Austin Tri-Cyclists group bicycle ride.  A car hit him, knocking him off his bike into the air.  The wreck put him in the hospital where he was in a coma.  It changed his life forever.  Al, who is from the great cycling nation of Colombia but has lived in Austin, Texas for many years, had to go through surgeries and a very difficult rehabilitation.  You can learn more about Al’s story here.  But out of his tragedy, he created an Austin-based non-profit organization, Please Be Kind to Cyclists. Today I had a conversation with PBKTC board chair Garret.  Click to read more! Continue reading →

In Bike I Trust: The Faith of an Agnostic Athiest Cyclist

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 20 Comments

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

– The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith, Schmaith

A Dude attended a presentation sponsored by his weekly job search group today.  It was about how to make brain science work for, not against us.  The presenter asked an attender if she had faith.  She paused and said, “Well, if you mean like in organized religion, no.”  The presenter said something like, “Well, do you have faith the sun is going to come up tomorrow?”  “Of course,” she answered.  And that got me thinking.  (I have a thinking problem, actually.  I’m trying to cut back.  Ha ha!)  Thinking usually leads to writing, and lately not journaling as much as weblogging.  So in what do I have faith? Continue reading →

Car Hits Truck, Which Kills Austin Cyclist, Racer, Author & Dad on a Group Ride Saturday

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 14 Comments

NOTE:  Many folks may not have seen my Sunday, February 18th post, which I had inexcplicably moved to the trash and didn’t notice all day.  I restored it and would love for you to read it, so here is the link for “27-Mile Brushy Creek Trail Ride + Peddler Bike Shop Stop.”  After all, a blog mostly about bikes needs some ride reports sometimes!

Andrew Tilin:  Rest In Peace

Andrew Tilin
Source:  Mark Matson for the Austin American-Statesman

Today’s post is more bad news, I’m very sorry to report.  Yet another Austin cyclist, Andrew Tilin, was killed on Saturday, February 17, the same day I wrote about Leonel Hernandez, who was killed under mysterious circumstances back on January 29.  There isn’t even a picture of Hernandez available yet that I can find.  There are photos of Tilin, still young and in the prime of his life in his 40’s.  I didn’t know him but I’m heartbroken for those who did. Continue reading →

A Year On, A Bicyclist’s Murderer Only Gets Two Years in Jail.  Justice or a Slap on the Wrist?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Casting about for story ideas, I found myself at Michael Bluejay’s long-time and dense website, www.bicyclingaustin.info.  Thanks to him and a poster there, Owlman, and also KXAN TV for posting the story which you can read at this link.  I didn’t know Tommy Ketterhagen, but when I heard the news a young bicyclist had been killed, I swallowed my heart hard.  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 →

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.

nextdoor logo
All rights reserved Nextdoor
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 →