discipline

5,143 Miles in 2018: 4,554 Biking + 589 Walking. Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good for A Dude!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 13 Comments

The headline is this:  I beat 2017 by 429 miles!  (4,714 Miles Bicycled in 2017 = 10,000 in 2 Years! A Recap of My “Epic Velocimania” (Day 1) 

Of course that’s not proof, for that, see below.  But I can assure you it’s accurate.  Except that maybe it’s not, because the annual strava video shows I rode an extra 100+ miles.  The point is that I biked my butt off (well, it’s still there) and added the daily walking.  So even though I biked 250 miles less, I walked 500+ miles more than last year, when I barely did any.  In addition to my daily yoga practice of 5+ years now, and writing this blog or in my book-in-progress, I had a very busy year.

The effort took me 427 hours, which is about 18 full days of biking.  The elevation was 122,700 feet, which is less than last year, but not by much.  And I definitely didn’t seek out hills this year.  I didn’t go on many group rides, either.  But still, somehow I was able to GIT ‘ER DONE!

Keep reading for more…

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Sookie’s Last Ride (Ever!) & Sophie’s Last Ride of 2018 on New Year’s Eve in Austin

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Today was my last chance to add to my mileage and extend my goal of bike-riding x number of miles for 2018.  So I took the opportunity of a decently mild Central Texas winter day and did just that.  First, I took Sookie to Performance Bikes, since they’re a Fuji dealer, to see if they could do anything about her cracked frame.  However, they couldn’t, because their parent company is going out of business.  But at least I got yet another confirmation (the fifth?) that she is no longer rideable.  While not unexpected, it reminded me of how much I’ll miss this bike.  After that… Continue reading →

How I Bicycled 22 Miles in a Thunderstorm and Tornado Watch (Shark-Free)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

After two days out of town and off the bike for the holidays with family, I returned to Austin ready to get back to bidness.  I needed to take my computer into the shop and to retrieve my mail, so I had two destinations.  There was some light rain but the temperature was in the high 60’s, not much wind.  A little rain never hurt anybody (except the Wicked Witch of the West), so I suited up and headed out.  So it was not all storm all the time.  But soon after errand number one, I had to put on my poncho and shoe covers.  For a while it was fine.  And then, it wasn’t.  I felt the wind pick up from the north and with it, the temperatures dropped and gusts increased.  There was also that part about a tornado watch.  Did I wisely throw in the towel and head straight home?  No.  Here’s why and how. Continue reading →

1,826 Days (5 Years) of Daily Yoga: A Demi-Decade of A Downward A Dude

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

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 →

My November Strava Stats; One Month to Go on My 2018 Goals

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

The eleventh month of 2018 is in the bag, and I thought I’d do a little recap for loyal readers and newcomers alike.  It wasn’t the best or worst month ever.  It’s a bit better when compared to last November, the first month after I was laid off my job (that ironically I had for 11 years).  There have been four elements challenging my progress:  1) the loss of Sookie the Fuji; 2) what feels like less sleep and more fatigue than usual; 3) cooler temperatures coupled with sometimes intense cold intolerance for some reason; and 4) going back to work part-time has shrunk the available hours to be out there doing activities.  Even with these things slowing me down, I still put in a pretty respectable month on bike and foot.  For the number nerds, the data dweebs, git ‘er done geeks and so on, click on through to learn more of what A Dude Abikes has been up to.

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Finding Inspiration from Local Authors at One Page Salon in Austin, Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

I’ve written about One Page Salon before, where local authors read from a work in progress.  But after missing one or two in recent months, I biked downtown to be sure I attended tonight.  Once again rewarded by being inspired by fellow writers, having interesting conversations with musicians and other creative people, and in general enjoyed being part of a community of like-minded folks.  Sure, I could write about the election again, but you can read about that elsewhere.  So I’m going to write about writing, and since I rode my bike there, it’s relevant.  Protocol be damned!

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My August 2018 Biking and Walking Stats on Strava

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

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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Jake Johannsen:  I Meet the Professional Comedian, Sex Robot and LA Bicyclist!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Former cyclist Saurabh (“Do you even bike, bro?” No.) and I hit Cap City Comedy Club for a sweet Wednesday night delicious yuk-fest.  (Do you see what I did there?)  The opening act from Austin, who just moved to Atlanta, was named Austin.  The second act was from St. Louis and drats if I can’t find his name.  Both are funny gentlemen.  But the headliner was a familiar face, a comedy stalwart (who has no actual warts) and was on the Late Show with David Letterman a whopping 46 times, has HBO and other TV specials, podcaster and nice guy who had us laughing uncontrollably.  He’s also a sex robot and rides a bicycle… in LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!  Here’s a little post about Jake Johannsen.  You might also enjoy… Jake Johanssen*.  You can’t win them all, but I felt like a winner tonight!  (*The title of one of his comedy specials.) Continue reading →

I Just Passed 10,000 Miles Riding My Fuji Bicycle in 2.5 Years. That’s Awesome!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Fuji 10,100.7 miles
Strava doesn’t lie.

The other day I checked my Strava stats and found that I had biked 10,100.7 miles on my Fuji Silhouette since Janurary 1, 2016.   I knew that I was honing in on this milestone but was surprised that it snuck up on me.  It’s a pretty awesome achievement — another notch in the belt of my amateur bicycling story.  Not too shabby!  In fact, that’s awesome!  So in this blog I’ll cover some of the thoughts I’ve had after reaching this pretty incredible achievement. Continue reading →

Speak Up, Legs! Slowly Easing Back Into Bicycling & Houston Bike Shooter Update

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

It has been five days since I got on my Fuji Silhouette bicycle and rode it.  So this evening as I finally worked up the guts to do just that and was mulling over a title for this blog, I thought of the words, “Shut Up, Legs!” This is the catchphrase of Jens Voigt, who rode the Tour de France 17 times, a record only beaten this year by Sylvain Chavanel.  He retired in 2014 the day after his 43rd birthday and setting a new one-hour bike record — the farthest anyone had ridden a bike in one hour.  You can see my ride today on Strava here.

While I’m slowly getting back to riding (I hope) and watching the Tour, Jens has been commentating on it for NBC Sports Network.  As mentioned in my previous post, about the Tour de France, Top 5 Reasons I Love Watching Le Tour de France and You Should, Too.  You should go read my post and then come back.  It’s really good!  I’ll wait here.  Done?  Great.  Let’s continue.

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