4,714 Miles Bicycled in 2017 = 10,000 in 2 Years! A Recap of My “Epic Velocimania” (Day 1)

Whole Lotta Bikin’ Goin’ On

2017 Strava stats4,714 miles in 2017 and 5,306 in 2016 total 10,020 miles — that’s what A Dude Abikes bicycled in two years.  The numbers don’t lie (if you believe my Garmin vivoactive hr, Strava and GeoPositioning Satellites, that is).  But I don’t need technology to tell you that I definitely biked 40% around the equator (all the way is 24,901 miles).  Any way you look at it, it’a alot of damn miles.  Not easy with my various challenges.  But I did it.

So what, you might ask?  Lots of people ride farther and faster.  True, but I ain’t them, and they can get their own damn blog.  I often wonder why, too.  In one sense, it’s just what I do.  Also, I’m approaching 13 years of being car-free.  (Not care-free — I wish!)  So if I want to go anywhere, biking is usually the most efficient way.  Cars are expensive and pollute.  Lastly, the only race I’m in is the human one. Continue reading

Distracted Biking: When Life Gets in the Way, Finding Ways to Just. Keep. Pedaling.

Full Catastrophe Biking

Wrecks, injury and fatigue are just some of the distractions that have kept A Dude Abikes from biking and blogging as much as he would like since his personal best doing the MS 150 back in April.  There have been devastating hurricanes and other natural disasters, the unnatural disaster of a president stoking things like possible nuclear war, elimination of health care benefits for millions of people, arrest and deportation of many immigrants who came here as children, and plenty more scandals.  The shooting in Las Vegas.  Bombings all over the place.  The never-ending parade of humanity in all its sick splendor and glory gory.  Of course good things happen all the time too.  Riding my bike with a few hundred others, in my case 65 miles, to raise almost $1,000 for breast cancer charities is a positive contribution.  You can and should make such a contribution yourself here:  http://Fundraisers.MammaJammaRide.Org/ADudeAbikes.

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My Texas Mamma Jamma jersey.  I’m not a Top Fundraiser yet!  Help me get there by donating!

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My New Custom Jerseys Are Here! Just In Time for the Mamma Jamma Breast Cancer Bike Ride. Order & Donate Today!

Here’s my link to donate.  Please give as much as you can.  Thanks!

http://Fundraisers.MammaJammaRide.Org/ADudeAbikes

Origins:  A Dude Walks Into His Doctor’s Office…

One day A Dude Abikes was sitting in a doctor’s office (ear, nose and throat Doc Slaughter, as I recall). We’re talking bikes, since he rides a bit.  Apologetically, he leans in, with a whisper, and says, “This is gonna sound a little wrong, but it’s a good thing.  It’s when you ride your bike alot, it’s called ‘Time In The Saddle.'”  I must have cocked my head to the side with a quizzical look on my face like some befuddled beagle.  He grinned conspiratorially, and said, “Think about the acronym.”  He waited a second for me to figure it out.  I must have grinned back a little, because he relaxed when I realized what it spelled and wasn’t going to nail him for being a MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig).  (Remember that phrase?) 

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Thanks to All My MS 150 Donors; Please Give NOW to My Texas Mamma Jamma Ride to Treat Breast Cancer Survivors!

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My final tally from the BP MS 150 ride from Houston to Austin – 202 miles in 2 days!

We Raised $2,167 for MS Treatment and Research!

A Dude Abikes would like to give his whole-hearted thanks to the following for their magnificent donations, large, medium or small.  It’s the act of giving as much as the actual amount that made my supreme effort of 202 miles in two days on the bike back on April 29-30 have any meaning.  With the 9,000+ other riders, we raised over $13,000,000 for the cause:  for the  National MS Society to treat people with Multiple Sclerosis and drive research into better treatments and someday, a cure.  Here are the beautiful souls:

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Do It for Doug, Who’s Living with Multiple Sclerosis:  How to Support My MS 150 Ride from Houston to Austin

Please click to donate to A Dude Abikes MS 150 page:  http://Main.NationalMSSociety.org/GoTo/ADudeAbikes

We Are the Champions, My Friend

The MS 150 bike ride is here!  It’s April 29-30, 2017, from Houston to Austin, Texas. I On a bike.  Without a motor.  Unless you count my legs.  Which I do.   Anyhoo, it’s first about the fundraising:   last year, 13,000 cyclists inspired donations of over $16 million dollars for research and treatment.  But it also promotes awareness of Multiple Sclerosis.  I first signed up for this ride as a logical next step in my amateur bicycle riding journey, and because a fellow rider Bill offered to donate since he couldn’t ride.  But I wanted to learn more about the cause, so I became connected with a Bike MS Champion.

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Doug, pointing out his  own featured Bike MS Champion bio

The Champions program aims to communicate “why we ride” by highlighting the many different faces of MS and the different ways the National MS Society meets the needs of individuals living with MS through the generous support of Bike MS participants and fundraisers.  So A Dude Abikes was connected with Doug.  Here is the first message he sent me: Continue reading