humanity

Bicycling While Rome Is Burning

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

For a while now I’ve been sitting down at the computer on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings to write a blog post. Often I have a topic in mind, usually something that’s come to me from my daily bicycle ride, walk or yoga practice. Sometimes I think of it afterward. Then I publish it so that a few readers in Europe can see it first thing, and maybe some night owls in the US see it, too. I try to get it done quickly, in the 30-minute time-frame that I’ve come to break many things down into. But a decently written blog with photos and links can sometimes take me hours. Especially if I start late, and the later it gets, the fuzzier the brain. Clarity on a national scale seems a bit more hopeful. After the American horror story that was the last four years under the raging, narcissistic, assholian tyranny of POTUS #45, it seems like maybe things are sorta kinda starting to get back to normal. Except the problems #46, good ol’ Scranton Joe, has inherited are serious: the economy tanking due to the still raging coronavirus pandemic, with no quick end in sight to either. It feels to me as if I’m bicycling while Rome is burning.

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Buddhism & Bicycling: An Asshole, a Glasshole, a Good Samaritan, and a Randy Fellow

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes it happens that people do mean things.  At a new temporary work gig, I met the new boss (same as the old boss). He had a hissy fit about something where he assumed one thing but reality was another, and then stormed off. Not my prob, so whatevs.  Merry Fucking Christmas to you, too, Scrooge!

After a quick change of clothes (and attitude) at home, I was about 1/3 of the way into my bike ride when Sophie’s rear wheel punctured from a tiny piece of glass in the road somewhere. Probably from somebody who threw a beer bottle into the bike lane. It had worked it’s way deep into the rubber.  Boo hoo for me!  Just bad luck, or karma? Continue reading →

We Are the World, Not Narrow-Minded, Nationalistic Neo-Nazis!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

It’s Independence Day, or July 4th, in the United States of America.  A day when we are supposed to pause as a nation to reflect upon our history, throwing off our British oppressors, and founding a new nation that cherished the ideals of freedom, democracy, equality and much more.  But usually people set off fireworks, cook alot of meat, drink alot of beer, and don’t think anything of it.  And woe be to anyone like A Dude who declares himself a citizen of the world.  After all, the location of my birthplace was a completely random event.  I could be Swedish, Afghani, Congolese, Inuit, or even from New Jersey.  The horror!

Today’s blog was going to be a review of my statistics about my blog.  And that just seemed frivolous, as things do when you’re having deep thoughts.  So as I went on my 25-mile ride, with people setting off fireworks all around me, I couldn’t help but think about the dichotomy, contradiction even, between those historic ideals and present, very ugly realities.  With the backdrop of the World Cup on my mind, and given how few people still actually read my words, I decided to throw in my two cents about how wrong it is to treat immigrants like second-class citizens, and the dangerous path toward neo-fascism the U.S. appears to be on.

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O Jogo Bonito: The Beautiful Game of Soccer (aka Football) and Yes, Bicycling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Back on February 5, I wrote a post titled “What the Super Bowl Can Teach Us About Sports Cycle-ology”.  The quadrennial soccer / football spectacle that is the month-long World Cup began June 14th, which very many people who are not living in a cave know.  After watching all 14 games over the last five days, I’ve been thinking about the lessons soccer aka football can teach bicyclists.  (I’m from the US, so I’ll call it soccer.)

THIS POST IS SPOILER FREE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE FIRST 15 GAMES! 

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