fear

On Resilience: Bicycling Through Life and the Pandemapocalypse

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 12 Comments

It’s hard to not write about the elephant in the room when it’s far, Far FAR! bigger than that. Coronavirus is like sunlight, or water — except that it’s poisonous for many, and deadly for some. There are I’m sure much more eloquent attempts to explain and interpret what’s going on. After all, I’m just A Dude who rides a bicycle and blogs about it. My tiny corner of the internet is just one example of something a few humans think is kinda cool, or interesting, or important, but in reality is not. It’s frivolous, navel-gazing distraction.

And yet, we each do what we can to cope, to survive, and maybe again even to thrive. So I’m writing this blog. And it occurred to me that maybe I’ve learned a few lessons from biking 100-175 miles a week for 22 weeks in a row that might help me and you get through this. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. (I’m not really suggesting you do that; please don’t.)

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Nostalgia for My Grandmother on Winter Solstice, the Longest Night of the Year

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

It’s winter solstice here in Austin, Texas, United States of America, and I’m feeling nostalgic. Not only because of the holidays, or working in a place with a long history here in town and in the country that’s closing down, or because a year ago I had ridden my bike alot more, and the year before that, even more. It’s mostly because my maternal grandmother died 20 years ago on December 22, 1998. This post is dedicated to her memory. (Check back after the holidays for more photos.)

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Who Will Be Our Role Models, Now That Our Role Models Are Gone? Deep Thoughts on My 25-Mile Bike Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Although this is predominantly a blog about biking, it’s also about anything excellent (raves) as well as things I think suck (rants).   Sometimes it’s chocolate, movies, or soccer.  Sometimes it’s racism, jerks in cars, and politicians.  Definitely in the rave column, a while ago, I went to see Paul Simon on his farewell tour, naturally called Homeward Bound, which I blogged about here.   In thinking about what to write for this blog while on tonight’s 25-mile bike ride, I used title of a song from “Rhymin’ Simon’s” highly influential world music-infused album Graceland.   If you guessed that this post is a rant, you win!  (Your prize is continuing to read this post.)  Let’s dig into the mind of A Dude, shall we? Continue reading →

Doubt, Embarrassment and Fear: How to Manage the 3 Frenemies

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

The Needle Keeps Skipping on My DEF Jam Records

(Doubt, Embarrassment Fear = DEF) I’ve had a lot of DOUBT about my abilities to bicycle very far or fast, and especially on this hilly road. This has been a source of EMBARRASSMENT to me as someone who was featured in the paper for riding his bike a long way, not to mention being a blogger about bicycling. And due to two recent deaths of people on bikes, I’ve had alot of FEAR. After yesterday’s post about faith, both religious and secular, I felt a parting in the metaphysical clouds, which mirrored those in the sky letting in enough sun to dry the road sufficiently as it also warmed the earth. So I got on my bicycle, and being A friendly Dude, I brought my friends along for the ride. You can come along too as I describe it.

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