fathlete

8 Years of Consecutive Daily Yoga Practice

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

This past Saturday was a cause for celebration. Not because of that Jewish carpenter who, if he ever really lived at all, died over 20 centuries ago. It’s something else, of far less momentous import, than those old stories, if they are to be believed. This thing I’m talking about I did — every day, for eight years. That’s 2,922 days including two leap years, if you’re counting, as I obviously have been. This thing lasted for 30 minutes or more. More math:  that’s 87,660 minutes. Or the equivalent of 60.875 days. But while the numbers and math have surely have strong significance, what’s as if not more important is something Yoga with Adriene says: “Keep showing up for yourself on the mat.”

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A Chat with Sophie the Fairdale at 20,000 Miles + 800 Consecutive Days of Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

It’s a pair of milestones this time for A Dude Abikes and his trusty steed, Sophie, the Fairdale Weekender Archer. I won her in a raffle from Bike Austin back in 2017, though I didn’t start riding her exclusively until January of 2018. On Sunday, we passed 20,000 miles, according to the Gear setting on Strava, the fitness app (which means “to strive” in Swedish.) As it turned out, it happened the day after 800 days I bicycled in a row. Two years, two months and 10 days if you’re wondering.

There was some major effort involved, and with that some pain and suffering, that’s for sure. They’re all part of attaining these big numbers and worth commemorating. I’m not really tooting my horn here as much as I’m just reporting the facts. It’s another step on my journeys both on the bike and here in the pages of this blog.

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November 2021 Strava Stats; One Month to Go

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

December is here in all its tawdry commercial tinsel and glitter, saying “Hey everybody, look at me, I’ve got Bodhi Day, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve!” To that I say, “Curb your enthusiasm, December.” But for this dude, it’s just that same time of month, i.e., the first, in which I sometimes recount what I did the previous month on bike, foot, and yoga mat. So let’s see how I did.

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Herculean Habits: Regular Routines or the Struggle of Streaks?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

This is one of those nights when a sensible blogger who is not feeling well skips writing; instead, she/he/they takes a bath, drinks some sleepy tea and reads, or gets under the covers early. Lucky for you, I never claimed to be sensible. (I also didn’t say whether that is good or bad luck. It’s your call if you’re feeling lucky, punk. Well, are you?) Anyway, I’ve been writing daily since January 1, 2018, either in this blog, a journal, or my memoir. It would be easy, but not at all simple, for me to just skip a night. But so far, no matter how badly I might feel, I write. So, here goes un poquito blogito.

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Cold Weather Bike Riding Tips: Don’t Be Silly With the Chilly

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

It’s been almost a year since my post The Winter of Our Discontent; Cool Bikings. There were some good ideas in there (of course) but not quite enough tips. And since we’ve had a few low temperatures approaching 40 F, which is the high in some places, I figure it’s time to stop turning a cold shoulder to this topic. I shouldn’t complain; 40 F is warm for many people in northern climes. WINTER IS COMING, so I’m trying to acclimate, that way I won’t be overdressed when the temperature does plummet.

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Writing a Book Is Like, Hard, and Stuff; A Partner Helps

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

My bicycle memoir, a book that’s been in process for several years now, is going like my bike rides — ever so slowly, relatively speaking. I like to blame the Writers League of Texas revision class teacher’s fault for blowing up my structure. It was 24 chapters over two years; she said ditch that for hanging things on half a dozen or so major events. The League director pretty much said the same. So not only did I write it, go back and revise it, then try to have some beta readers look at it, now I have to go back and re-re-re-do it? Apparently, yes. But I may have found a shovel to start digging myself out of this hole. That shovel is actually a person. I’ll explain.

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October 2021 Strava Stats

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Somehow, summarizing September Strava statistics seems skipped since… Sorry! I just ran out of “s” words. But I bet you haven’t seen a whole sentence, fragmented as it was, starting with the same letter lately. So, points to me. I guess I get a little tired of reporting my fitness activity numbers, and more than one reader does, too. Yet, this is (predominantly) a blog about bicycling, so producing posts pertinent to that topic is important, I suppose. Some people claim that if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen. And since Strava’s colors are black and orange, just like Halloween, it seems like a good time to start doing this report again. So, posthaste and forthwith is all the data you’re dying to digest about how much I walked, yoga-ed, and bicycled last month. Shall seeing said stats satisfy some subconscious salaciousness ?

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Will Starting New Habits on the First of the Month Help Them Stick?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

The short answer from my experience is… maybe. But keep reading! As usual, there’s more nuance to it. As many people in hte West know, we make New Years resolutions on January 1. But why is that? Well, the social pressure and fresh start of a new calendar are powerful motivators. But according to the an article in Womens’ Running, the fitness application I use, Strava, “…analyzed more than 31.5 million fitness records from its users. [It] found that the second Friday in January is the fateful day when most of our annual commitments start to crumble.” That’s not so great. Taking the excellent suggestion of “10,000 steps a day” Sorryless, on March 1 I re-started some habits that didn’t last into February. And since they didn’t make it the full year, I’m doing it again as of November 1. Move over, January 1, we’ve got 11 other months with a nice simple number for a fresh start.

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