It began October 19, 2019 for no particular reason. The thousandth day was yesterday, July 6, 2022. Why I did it is still a mystery. How isn’t that hard to explain. I just kept at it every day for a few months shy of three years. What does it all mean? I really have no clue. I just ride, man.
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A Dude hasn’t biked as far as he has, mostly here in Austin, Texas, and remained above ground without taking safe cycling seriously. Some people don’t do that, so they pay the price with injury or worse. Others do play by all the rules but drivers of cars don’t. The smart money is on doing everything you can to be “oh, oh, oh stayin’ alive” so you can “live to ride another day,” as Sam says. I know what I’m talking about because I am currently still alive after almost 30,000 verified Strava miles. I also took the League Cycling Instructors course (I’m short a few exercises of being a full-fledged LCI). Here are 10 tips off the top of my — what word for brain starts with t.
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Since starting ADudeAbikes.com on WordPress January 1, 2016, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. At the end of 2015 I had just obtained a cell phone and biked about 3,000 miles. It began as a way to document my journey — both figurative and literal. And I suppose I’ve accomplished a few things. Sometimes I like to look at those statistics and reflect upon it all.
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It’s another awesome milestone for A Dude Abikes, five years of consecutive bendy-ness! Simultaneously remarkable and by now, just another day on the mat, it’s too momentous on occasion to not write about, even though this is predominantly a blog about bicycling. It’s also about my health journey, and yoga is an important part of that. A new blogger and follower who is curiously named uptightprettygirl said she found me by searching for blogs about yoga. That and my yogaversary made me realize that one reason I keep writing about my practice is to keep inspiring myself. Another is to inspire people who also do not fit the mold of a skinny, muscled, super-bendy young man or woman (aka fathlete) but whose bodies can definitely benefit from yoga. Inside this post you will find a few pearls of wisdom about yoga and how it can help you Or maybe those are crumbs. Yes, definitely crumbs of some useful information. Continue reading
I found a picture of both Sookie and Sophie, my two bikes. (A third bike is elsewhere; that one was ridden pre-blog/Strava.) The photograph was taken at a community event sponsored by Bike Austin that I helped with. It was attended by several dozen people concerned about bike lanes and sidewalks on two busy and dangerous roads and Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar in April of 2017. Why on earth did I have two bikes at the same event? Well, former BA Campaigns Manager Miller Nuttle forgot his bike, so needed to borrow mine. Something inspired me to snap this shot, and I really like it alot. With the recent news about Sookie, the Fuji Silhouette (left) having a fatal crack in her frame, causing me to have to ride Sophie, the Fairdale Weekender Archer all the time, it got me thinking more about my journey. Keep reading to hear more about this passing of the torch.
After riding my bicyle to three different locations over the last seven days in a row to work as a clerk for the county elections office during early voting, I have some observations. Chief among them is that having a job again is both gratifying and exhausting, kind of fun but kind of annoying. Another is that Austin is still a place that still has a whole lot of white people in it, especially due the high rents of downtown, which limits some people of color. But where there is diversity, it is quite varied. Third, for the most part Austinites are a very well-behaved, clever and mellow bunch.
Fourth, voting is one of few times where people of all political stripes come together to exercise their right to participate in democracy, and that’s a beautiful thing whether you agree with voting or not. And a fifth is that while voting is something that some people deride, some ignore, and others celebrate, it’s still a fascinating experience to be part of the process. There are more things you might learn as I did if you just click on that little Continue Reading button. It’s like voting! Please vote to read the rest of this blog! Vote for A Dude Abikes! Continue reading
This post is a brief review of my walking and biking in August through pictures, courtesy of the fitness tracking application, Strava. Check ’em out, and enjoy all my sweaty efforts! I’ve added alot of additional fun facts about my riding for those of you who geek out on numbers, or are just curious what a month of disciplined, diligent bike riding looks like. Hopefully you had a few accomplishments too, and feel free to share them in the comments. All images are Copyright Strava 2018.
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One of the themes of this blog is that bicycling is both a solo sport and then again, it’s not. You pedal your own bike, unless you’re chilling out on the back of a tandem. But from the people that made your bike, all the gear and accessories, the roads, the food, the beer… it’s all connected into part of what we tend to call “the bike community.” And by “we” I mean people, usually white ones, with the privilege to go to happy hours. (You could say opposing racism and xenophobia are also one of my sub-themes.)
But hey, don’t even white people who happen to bike deserve to live in a bikeable, walkable city that works well, and not get killed in the process? Yes! So when I heard that the advocacy and membership group A Dude is part of, Bike Austin, partnered with the Congress for the New Urbanism Central Texas Chapter (CNU-CTX) for their monthly gathering, I got myself down there to check it out. What follows is my short report, with plenty of pictures. Continue reading
Hello?
What? Hi, who’s talking?
It is I, your Fairdale Weekender Archer bicycle sitting next to you, leaning on this pile of boxes.
Oh, really? I had no idea you – or any bicycle – could speak!
Well, I can’t. It’s really all just in your head.
Am I going crazy?
No, not at all.
Then what’s happening? What’s this about?
Well, I’ve been sitting here for a while, very patiently I might add, and I just evolved into having consciousness and telepathic ability. And I guess I’m just wondering something.
Yeah, what’s that?
Back on February 5, I wrote a post titled “What the Super Bowl Can Teach Us About Sports Cycle-ology”. The quadrennial soccer / football spectacle that is the month-long World Cup began June 14th, which very many people who are not living in a cave know. After watching all 14 games over the last five days, I’ve been thinking about the lessons soccer aka football can teach bicyclists. (I’m from the US, so I’ll call it soccer.)
THIS POST IS SPOILER FREE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE FIRST 15 GAMES!
A Dude Abikes 