I begin this blog like I did my journey on December 19, 2015: One step / pedal / word at a time. It took nine years, six months, and eight days, but I did it! I rode bicycles for 50,000 miles. That means I have now traveled the distance of the equator TWICE. (You may recall my October 23, 2020 blog, AROUND THE WORLD IN 1,770 DAYS (24,901 MILES): 5-YEAR GOAL ACCOMPLISHED !!!) When I reached that goal, I titled my Strava ride “Planet Earth: Lap 2, Day 1?” Similarly, I titled my first ride after the goal, “The Start of Another 50,000 Miles? Just Be Here Now, A Dude. One Pedal Crank at a Time.” That’s all to say that there’s a lot to say about this. I’ll try to be brief.
In my recent post about my first charity ride a decade ago, I mentioned Sonnie the GT Arette. She was a gift to me from my former reflexologist sometime in 2014. Richard the Lionhearted, I called him. He took pity on me because of the 2013 Christmas morning theft of the first bike I bought for myself, a smoke grey KHS Urban Xpress (with no name) which I had unmindfully left locked with only a cable on the front porch. (What I rode in the interim, I don’t recall. Probably, I just walked and bused.) Sonnie became my main squeeze for a while, but she’s still here as a trusty backup. Today she gets the spotlight she deserves.
Way back in the autumn of 2014, two things that happened that led to me signing up for my first torture I mean fun fest also known as a charity bike ride. First, I was gifted a bike which would come to be known as Sonnie, my 25-pound steel triple triangle GT Arette. Second, I was working for a beneficiary agency of the event when and somebody said, “Hey dude, you ride your bike everywhere, why don’t you do this charity ride?” They tempted me with a shorter distance than when I was riding on the day we spoke. In previous years I had always said “The first word is hill, so no thank you.” As a fat yet somewhat fit middle-aged dude, I didn’t think I would survive the distance or elevation. I figured I could just back out, but for some reason, this year I didn’t. So, after struggling and suffering on numerous training rides, on April 28, 2015, I joined hundreds of other riders out in the beautiful and terrible Hill Country west of Austin, Texas, and rode my bike half a hundred miles. Which ain’t nuthin’. And as they say, the rest is history. Here’s how it went down.
“Everybody’s “got something.” That’s the title that Good Morning America host Robin Roberts gave to her book about fighting then recovering from cancer–twice. I’ve mentioned–okay, complained–about the various things that my body’s got plenty of times. I guess this is another one of those times. Because despite the milestone of daily riding my bicycle, my mileage is miserable, my Strava stats simply suck, and this dude’s definitely dealing with downright dullness. But for some perspective, the moon and sun achieved totality in eclipse the other day here in Central Texas. It was pretty cloudy and anticlimatic especialy for all of those who plunked down thousands to come see it. This dude, and the Earth, spin on.
The day after my last post, I hit this milestone of 1,461 days of biking in a row*. That blog was a pretty good one if you missed it: 10/10/2023: What to Do Before a Big Bike Ride. It was prompted by my annual long ride, which I did the next day. The weather was cool and overcast with a little breeze and mist. Then it warmed and cleared up a bit; an almost perfect day for riding. I stuck to my favorite Southern Walnut Creek Trail again like last year’s ride, which was delayed a few weeks due to illness. Though the trail was not totally empty of the humans, it often felt that way. Because I had followed (most of) my own advice in the above post, it was a good ride, and I could have kept riding another 15-20 miles, but I stuck to my goal of 58. Naturally, I was kinda bushed, but I had managed it again for the eighth year. One small step for humans, one giant ride for moi.
Over the next few days I took it easy, and over a week later, I’m back to my usual around 15-20 miles a day. Four years every day is a pretty big deal, but it went by with no fanfare. By now, the daily riding is an habit. Unless illness, injury, or death happen, I figure I may as well keep the streak going. Especially since the media and sometimes people constantly remind me that I don’t match their ideal or preferred shape and body weight. Doing less over the summer plus stress added pounds. Slowing down, riding less, and doing other things more, especially making the filthy lucre needed to survive unafforable Austin, make sense. But as David Byrne and Talking Heads told us, “We’ve got to stop, stop making sense.” It sure seeems like there’s more senselessness out there in the real world, e.g. the US Congress and the MidEast.
So, news flash: Rome is burning (has it ever not been aflame?). Meanwhile, A Dude is biking, entering year five of this daily pedal, from one mile in the snow and ice or when sick, to 58. Every ride is the same, and it’s also different. A road less traveled, a new street taken for the first time, changing seasons, sights, sounds and smells. A pack of Volkswagen Beetles meeting up at the Top Notch Burgers passed me the other day; today I saw a dog with blue ski glasses on (the owner said it was to protect her eyes which just had drops put in them). The friend with the titanium freshly installed in his shoulder told me, “Every ride could be your last in Austin.” He’s got a newfound apprecation for life, thanks to the hit and run he survived with some scratches and a new collarbone. But he’s going to get back on the horse to bike to and from work soon as his doctor approves. Like the old Timex watch commercials, we “take a licking but keep on ticking.”
I finished the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth recently. Even star athletes and others at the top of their game got their not by some mystical gift called talent. They found methods to do their best. We can do the same in our chosen (or even unchosen) arenas. They put in the work. They–and we–may also embody the notion: “Live every day like your hair is on fire.” It’s a quote that comes from several different Buddhist sources. Sounds painful. To simultaneously have urgency and equanimity seems difficult. (Especially if you don’t meditate regularly; I wish I could.) But if you have passion and perseverance, they will take you far. In some cases, literally. Like 4,000 miles this year for me.
Is that enough? I try to imagine not biking and cannot. Why would I quit? Trying to imagine it produces a different kind of emotion, something that would baffle me and at least feel like it hurt psychically, a subtle form of torture even. Not bike? It does not compute. Or is it too much? I’ve asked several doctors of late if they think I’m overexercising; none have said yes. Instead, they all encourage me to keep doing it. One may have said “If you get tired, ride less.” If I did’t exercise when I’m tired I would never do it. I do rest, just not enough, even though I try. Sometimes the body and brain simply require me to do lower mileage days, so I comply. “Ride less” seems logical to a point, but to this overweight an aging dude, mostly it sounds ridiculous. I recently read William Shatner’s book Leonard. Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy, would not approve. It’s a conudrum to which he would say: “Fascinating!”
What are the positives of all this riding? Well, I’m so glad you asked! I’ll tell you. A daily ride takes the guesswork out of knowing if I’m exercising (on top of my daily walk and much longer streak of practicing yoga every day). My resting heart rate is lower than my age… and it’s been going down even more lately. That’s just one of the health benefits of exercise. There’s also: Vitamin D (when I am out in the sun–with hat and sunscreen), the feel good hormones, weight loss or at least maintenance, building muscles and lung capacity, being out in nature, seeing cool shit, meeting interesting people, being part of the community (what are called the social determinants of health), improved balance and coordination, increased brain stimulation, more self-confidence, having fun. The list certainly goes on.
Maybe my streak will end tomorrow. I would be pissed but probably also feel a little relieved. Besides, it has *not been verified by the Guiness Book of World Records (or anyone else, for that matter). But hey, check my Strava statistics. So I’ll do me, and you do you. Ride your damn bike, or not. Do whatever it is that you do to keep your mind and body somewhat healthy in this often very unhealthy world. As former folk singer and Unitarian Universalist minister Fred Small once sang, “We’re all just temporarily able-bodied.” Death comes as the end for us all. Let’s just hope it’s not today.
Take it from me: If the day ends in “y,” it’s a good day for a bike ride.
Copyright 2023 A Dude Abikes. All rights reserved. Shortlink to this post.
Today I hit 4,555.5 miles on my Strava statistics. (Yes, I planned it that way.) Since I’ve been bicycling about 15 miles a day all this year of 2021, my 14.7-mile ride was right in my wheelhouse, so to speak. I took Sonnie the GT Arette back-up bike, since Sophiethe Fairdale Weekender Archer apparently has yet another leaky tire. So she got another night off, the slacker. The point is that I’m on track for my second best (by that I mean longest) year on a bicycle. I’m not bragging as much as just telling it like it is. But as usual I have thoughts about it. Hope you’ll read them! Reading is a lot easier than biking 100+ miles a week, that much I know to be true.
Flavor Flav was and is the hype man for seminal rap group Public Enemy. Even if you don’t know their music or who Flav is, if you paid attention during the 80’s and 90’s or saw Spike Lee’sDo the Right Thing with their hit, “Fight the Power,” there’s a good chance you heard of the guy wearing a big clock around his neck saying, “Yeah, boyeeeee!” and “Flav-or Flaaaaaav!” (By mentioning Flav, I’m pointing out an example of successful marketing; I’m definitely not condoning his run-ins with the law.) Chuck D was and still is the main voice of serious political rap, but FF keeps it fun. Professional athletes, celebrities, and politicians also have paid hype people — publicists to trumpet their successes and explain away their losses or mistakes. This dude just has this little blog, and Strava the fitness app, through which to toot my own horn. So, it’s tootin’ time. And yeah, I just reached 30,000 miles of bicycling in five years, eight months, and 10 days. Not too shabby for a dude who’s old and flabby. It brings up some questions: How did it begin? How did I get here? What does this milestone mean? And what’s for dinner?
Penultimate. I used to think that meant a really great writing instrument. (Actually, I didn’t; I just made up that pun right now.) Anyway, November has ended, and December has begun. Eleven months down, one to go. I’ve already surpassed the number of miles from my second longest year, the first one I kept records. That was 5,306 miles in 2016, and now I’m on the cusp of 6,000 miles for 2020. Since I’ve already achieved my huge goal of the equivalent of once around the equator (24,901 miles), anything else is gravy. Yummmm…. gravy. Anyway, here’s a short review of my statistics from last month.
Back on June 18, 2018, I wrote a post I called “An Imagined Chat with Sophie, My Fairdale Weekender Archer Bicycle.” Over the last three years, she and I have traveled a fair piece — to put it mildly and modestly. Now that it’s reflected in the Strava statistics of 10,000 miles, though, it is official. To commemorate and celebrate this major milestone in our journey, I asked Ms. S. if she’d fancy another chat, and she said sure. Weird, right? Well, things are pretty strange, these days. But I think you’ll enjoy this (imaginary? real? does it matter?) chat with Sophie.
After the positive reception to my last post, The Bike Rider and the Farmer, it’s a little bit of a let-down to return to form. Little things, like that story inspired them to try a short story. Or by inviting someone to the Bike Curious social ride (in which I participated once again), they had to get their bike rack and bike in shape. Organizing a new bike gang is bringing in new people, too. But, writing about my biking, blogging, and book-writing, plus other random stuff, is mostly what I do (well, there’s a fair bit of complaining, too). So this is another brief collection of what’s up with A Dude Abikes (cue that SNL song “What Up With That?”)
A Dude Abikes 