It’s Monday’s deadline, and I still have not come up with a topic for this post. It’s rather embarrassing. Sure, I could write about the biking I did over the weekend. But it was nothing spectacular and if I have grown weary of doing that (riding and writing), I suppose readers of this blog may have, too. There’s the book I finished reading and two more movies I saw, but some say only write about your specific blog niche. I could talk about blogging itself, my book in progress, bikes in the news, my struggling job search, health updates, (another) horrific school shooting, or politics. But finally it came to me, Love to Ride! Read on to learn more.
On a balmy, grey, at first foggy, then later somewhat sunny Sunday, A Dude rousted himself from his slumber and busted out a decent distance of a bicycle ride. It was the first longer ride in a while, and it was done because that’s what he does, for fitness, fun and so on. But also it was in order to make his 50-mile goal for the week and to have something to blog about. So in a way, if you’re reading this, you’re partially responsible for making it happen! How is that for participation? And you didn’t even have to get up off your couch and bike 27 miles. Here’s the quick map / video from Relive. Continue reading →
Previous readers (but old and new are all welcome) know that in 2016 I biked5,306 miles, which was nothing short of incredible, especially to me. That’s because I’m not a young, thin, professional cyclist. (Or use PED’s [performance enhancing drugs], although I do take my share of vitamins and supplements to get me through the rides.) But more than a few people say I’ve inspired them. Like my good buddy from high school Jeff, who’s no slouch and climbs rocks, plus donates money. There’s a guy on Strava in Florida I’ve never met. My dear lunkhead brother said he began walking more on account of all my bicycling. Co-workers, friends, family, and strangers on line in the grocery store have in various ways said my efforts were, well, to paraphrase my fellow Jewish brohim Adam Sandler’sThe Hanukah Song — “not too shabby”. So when I decided to retire from long-distance cycling, especially the charity fundraising rides, I thought I would go back to my car-free life and do more walking, swimming and weight-lifting. No more 10 hours a week getting my 100 miles. Not having to ask for money.
New Jersey for the MS 150
But then Bill (there’s always a Bill in these sort of stories, isn’t there?), an inline skate marathoner (!), fellow bike rider and nice guy who helped me get through a tough patch in the Mamma Jamma Breast Cancer Ride in 2015 and then donated to both my AIDS rides, said he couldn’t do the MS 150, but if I did, he would donate. Then I won the new bike (see my previous blog post), the weather got warmer, I found myself riding more, so I said yes: I would bike from Houston to Austin April 29th and 30th to inspire people to donate to help sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with treatment and research for a cure.
A Dude Abikes 