fathlete

I Bicycled Every Day for an Entire Year: Lessons Learned

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 12 Comments

Here’s the thing:  I didn’t set out to bike 366 days in a row. If you had a crystal ball and told me my future a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed you. I just went on my birthday ride, a mile per year of life, as I have done the last several years. But instead of taking the next day or more off to rest like a normal person, I became more like Forrest Gump:  I just kept bike-ing and bike-ing and bike-ing… Except there was no Robin Wright as Jenny yelling, “Bike, A Dude, bike!”

The Energizer bunny I’m not. I’m just a middle-aged, slightly overweight (aka fathlete), regular guy who chose the bicycle as his vehicle for his mid-life crisis mobile. I can’t tell you why I did this, except at some point it was simply to see if I could do it. And now I have. Don’t believe me? Check my Strava activity log – it’s all there. But this isn’t really about me. Here’s the main thing I want to tell you: If I can do it, most of you can, too.

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Arbitrary Assortment of Aspects About A Dude Abikes

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Sometimes no clear theme comes to mind, so I cobble together some random thoughts and hope they’re interesting. This is one of those times. Here are the previous similar entries to get you good and warmed up. Or to come back to after reading this one:

Interspersed are some photos from a 30-miler I did this weekend, most of it with good old pal Rhodney.

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September 2020 Stats: And I Did Walk (& Bike) 501 Miles

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Last September set records for being hotter than July even here in Central Texas. This year, wonderfully cool weather arrived on the 4th, cancelling out 29 days of 100+ degree F days in August. But I still had to do less biking because of my dumb J-O-B. So it was all I could do to make my 100 bike miles and 10.5 or more walking miles for the week. But together, 501 is still pretty respectable. Life goes on, even during a pandemic. You do your best. Let’s go to the numbers.

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30 Thoughts I Thunk on My Bicycle Ride, I Think

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

Biking is a great way to clear your mind, focus on solving a problem, just allow it to wander, or as a kind of moving meditation. Of course you need to concentrate on the task at hand, especially with road hazards and when interacting with other traffic. But if you’re like me, biking is a time to ruminate. The thoughts one thinks can be serious and sometimes, they can be a little silly. Herewith are some that I had this evening.

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Turn It Up to 11… Months of Daily Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Oops, I did it again. I rode my bike every day over the last month. That makes it 11, and as everyone who has ever seen This Is Spinal Tap knows, 11 is just louder than 10. One month from now, assuming I am able to complete this self-created challenge, I’ll have a full year of biking every day. My average has been around 17 miles or so. Some days was just a bit, but sometimes it was quite a bit more. No matter how you slice it, homey, it’s an accomplishment to be sure. What it means, if anything, is debatable these days. But the fact is I did it so it means something to me. So I blog about it. I know, some people are bored by stats. But they represent effort, will power, discipline, motivation — all the sports psychology that ideally should be motivating you to hop on your bike or take a walk or something. Right? So read on and get inspired already!

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600 Miles Biked in August and 4,325 So Far in 2020

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Another month, another 600 miles. I eked out the last 20 or so late on the last night of the month, after being forced to slow down due to the heat — 29 days of 100 degrees F or more! — and the accumulated tiredness. But I got ‘er done, somehow. And that’s the thing, when it comes to goals, you either meet them or you don’t. Or put another way by famed peacemaker and Nobel Prize winner and President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, “I never lose. I either win, or I learn.” winner Of course, they’re arbitrary and frivolous, we can all agree on that during the global pandemic. But biking is still legal here in Central Texas, and it helps A Dude to keep moving. If exercise is like a drug, then cycling is my medicine of choice. So herewith, posthaste, and without further ado are my August and 2020 statistics on the bicycle.

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You’ve Got a Friend in Cheeses!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

The former improv comic at Esther’s Follies said this to me without missing a beat. It was right after I had gone on and on about how much I loved cheese. Here in the Southern, predominantly Christian area of the US, that joke is extry hee-larry-us. Because, Jesus. Chees-us. Get it? Got it? Good. The same jokester once handed me a small piece of wood and said, “Feeling a little bored?” Which is also a great pun, but only relates to this post because cheese is often served on one. Anywho, I’ve had a lifelong love of the creamy stuff. And now cheese gets its own blog. Hey bicycles! If you don’t like it, you can suck it!

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Write What You Know, In My Case, Bike Stuff

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Teaser: This was going to be a book review. But I haven’t finished it yet. It’s a good one, too. When I do, I’m sure it will be awesome. Or adequate, or astute, or any number of other adjectives commencing with an “a.” One of those. I think; I don’t know this. But today, it’s not about a book, it’s about what I know. Whatever the hell that is. These days, it’s hard to really know what one knows. Ya’ know? I guess after a few years of biking my butt off, I do know a few things about bicycles, cyclists, biking, and the like.

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Stepping Up My Walking Practice (Sort Of)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

For many years, the magic number of walking for health, fitness and weight loss was 10,000 steps per day. But it was just marketing, not science, courtesy of a Japanese pedometer company’s promotional campaign that started back in the mid-60’s. A Canadian study shows that it’s just not one size fits all. But obviously if you’re overweight, have health conditions, are used to sitting down all day for work staring at a computer screen, starting with whatever you can do is the best course of action.

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Do You Have Fitness Goals? Or Do They Have You?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

First time readers, welcome. Repeat offenders, thanks. Today’s blawg is about overdoing it, aka overexercising. Which is a bizarre concept in today’s world, populated as it is with overweight people. I’m a member of that tribe, the people of girth. Or as I call it, fathlete. So when the idea of doing less exercise pops into my head, usually because some body part, brain or the whole thing protests, I tend to ignore it and push through. The result of that and all the biking, walking and yoga I do every day gets to be exhausting, especially if it’s a day without enough sleep. So as I sit here eating a bowl of kale, squash, other mystery vegetables to which I added ground beef, brown rice and quinoa, I’m pondering if it’s time to revise the plans. Maybe my questioning my fitness goals will shed some light on the subject for you. And as always, I enjoy reading comments.

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