exercise

Wowza! A 40-Mile Ride Makes My 4th 100-Mile Week in a Row

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

It was a very lazy Sunday.  I hadn’t done anything much save read Sue Grafton’s penultimate novel, X, and lounge around listening to classical music.  I wanted to see a movie, but it was a hot 18-mile round trip, and I could just stay home in the safety and comfort of my little rented casita.  Pages were read and turned, the phrases “page-turner” and “couldn’t put it down,” both applied.  Meals were eaten.  Time ticked by.   “What was I going to have to blog about Monday?” crossed my mind more than once.  It was 6:00 pm.  The temperature had gone down, and the light was turning softer.  I was 10 hours too late for the group rides.  But like a cat starved for food or affection or both…  Continue reading →

Sitting Is the New Cancer — Unless You’re On a Bicycle Seat

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 16 Comments

Good news! I just saved a bunch of money on car insurance! That’s because I don’t have a car! There is more in the good news department, according an article on Gizmodo, “A Lifetime of Cycling Keeps the Immune System Young, Study Finds.” First published in Aging Cell, the study tested older people who were active and inactive, as well as inactive young people. The immune systems of what the scientists called “non-elite older individuals (master cyclists)” and the younger sedentary ones were similar. Hey I like the sound of that, “master cyclist!”

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There Will Be Blog: 77.7 Miles Last Week + SXSW Day 4 with Oscar-Nominee Vera Farmiga + SLEEP Concert

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”  Will Smith in the movie as Chris Gardner from his book The Pursuit of Happyness

The Book: Something Written This Way Will Come

I drafted some notes and put down a plan to write my book that’s been in my head for a while. I still have questions and will need to find both some information and some inspiration about it, but the main thing is to write. Walter Mosley the celebrated author told me to take a year and do it. Leonard Maltin the well-known film critic told me to just write and expand my presence on social media. Mario the marketing guy at the Fox Sports party said I have a story and I should tell it. 151 blog followers are telling me to do it, indirectly at least. Continue reading →

27-Mile Brushy Creek Trail Ride + Peddler Bike Shop Stop

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Started Without Any Sun

On a balmy, grey, at first foggy, then later somewhat sunny Sunday, A Dude rousted himself from his slumber and busted out a decent distance of a bicycle ride.  It was the first longer ride in a while, and it was done because that’s what he does, for fitness, fun and so on.  But also it was in order to make his 50-mile goal for the week and to have something to blog about.  So in a way, if you’re reading this, you’re partially responsible for making it happen! How is that for participation? And you didn’t even have to get up off your couch and bike 27 miles.  Here’s the quick map / video from Relive. Continue reading →

Lessons from My First Ride on the Mag Ascent Home Trainer

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Overview

I finally fixed my flat and put the old Fuji Silhouette on the heavy Mag Ascent home trainer. Below is a shot of my GPS data on Strava. I went for 15.2 miles per hour for half an hour, which isn’t great but it is a ilttle faster than usual. I had it set on the lowest of three resistance levels, and usee the gears to get a slightly harder workout. The trainer is heavy steel so is not going anywhere. All you need is to fit the rear wheel correctly into slots, which is very intuitive at least with my bike, then prop up the front wheel; I used books. Overall it was sturdy, easy to get started on, and it doesn’t take up alot of room. Continue reading →

13 Years (Not) a Slave to Cars

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

Sick As a Dog, Happy As a Clam to Be Car-Free

Today was to have been one of celebration.  It’s been a baker’s dozen years since my 1991 Little Red Civic got smashed on Bee Caves Road by a guy in a truck.  We “t-boned” because he pulled in front of me; his fault.  I survived mostly ok, but the car didn’t.  The rest is as they say, history.  The first decade of my biking lifestyle was not recorded.  I biked for utility and in the process got some exercise, but never very much.  Continue reading →

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

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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 →

What Jerry Seinfeld & The Juiceman Can Teach Us About Making Healthy Choices (Day 2)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

If you can walk to work or take your bike on a daily basis, I think that’s just about the coolest thing that there is. 

                   -Jerry Seinfeld, on a 2015 Reddit Ask Me Anything thread

Such is the Winter of Our… Bad Habits

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Bicycles make even Jerry Seinfeld smile

About 11 years ago, comedian Jerry Seinfeld (if you didn’t know it already, A Dude loves the Sein!) was said to have revealed the secret of his success.  It was four words (five if you don’t count the contraction):  Don’t Break The Chain (DBTC).  By that he meant writing jokes for 10 minutes a day, no matter what.  Seeing the red x’s accumulate on the big all-year wall calendar would supposedly motivate him to keep going.  Eventually the jokes would get better.  Turns out that was bogus; he didn’t invent it or really do it.  But he sure did work hard and continuously to become one of the most successful comedians ever.  Plus, he walks and bikes to work, how cool is that?!  If you haven’t already, check out his documentary, Jerry Before Seinfeld, on Netflix.

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12 Years (NOT) a Slave to Cars

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

One year ago I wrote about my anniversary of not owning a car when my car was hit on January 25, 2005.  So now it’s another year, and I suppose A Dude Abikes is a little bit proud about that accomplishment.  In last year’s post, I referenced Trump’s hair, Star Wars, real war, the environment, love and of course, bicycling.  Well, what a year it’s been!  Yes, the nightmare of a proto-fascist becoming president has come true.  But so has resistance come alive; A Dude Abikes attended the March on Austin with 50,000 friends, where he experienced a great deal of hope.  We’ve had another Star Wars movie, Rogue One, which if you think about it was about suicide bombers.  War in Syria and other places, probably some love somewhere, the hottest year on record, threats to re-open pipelines, etc. ad nauseam.  But most interesting to me, the biking.  So much biking.  ALL THE BIKING!  Did I mention I biked 5,306 miles in 2016?  I’m STILL sore!

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A Dude Abikes attended the March on Austin with up to 50,000 people, including that guy with his bike in the photo

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