pain

Sommar Time, and the Bikin’ Is Sweaty; I Heat It

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

Summer solstice was June 21, but the heat that’s normally in August arrived early to Austin and Central Texas. With multiple days over 100 F even before the official start of the sucky season, we’re sweating to the oldies two months early. Last year was the second hottest summer on record here, so pessimism for pain is high. So much for the slow descent into hell which gives us time to adjust. Mix in the urban heat island effect (thanks to so many people moving here and all the concrete from constructing more roads and houses), the El Nino weather pattern, and of course global warming, and it’s a recipe for hotness. What’s a bikin’ dude, and his trusty Fuji Finest bicycle dubbed Sommar, to do?

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Chafing: The Bicyclist’s Archenemy

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

It’s time to write my blog again, actually, a day later than usual, but I didn’t have a subject. Usually I think of something while cycling. Sometimes I just start writing until something comes to mind. I was going to write about my birthday ride, but one person who joined me hasn’t given permission to use their photo. Last night, I met a woman who is older and who had an interesting story, but we had only just met, so I don’t have many details. I’m out of town so could write about how crappy the cycling facilities are here (virtually non-existent), but I’m not very inspired by that topic. So what does that leave me with? I mean, I recently wrote a post on farting in the peloton. You can’t stink — I mean sink — much lower than that. Of course I’m not restricted to bicycling, but books, movies, TV, politics, etc. are not speaking to me. There’s always advice about cycling, repairs, brands, parts, etc. but there are plenty of those out there and nothing relevant is popping into my mind. But there is this one thing I could blog about: chafing.

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Cyclist with an Injury Problem, or Injured with a Cycling Problem?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

The body is wise. It will tell you when it needs to eat, sleep, evacuate, and stream the latest cool show. The trouble is we — our brains, minds, egos — often ignore these signals. We’ll skip breakfast, or have second helpings when we’re really just thirsty. Instead of a nap, we’ll drink caffeine to power through the afternoon lull. We stay up late looking at our blue light screens, not go to bed early. The unhealthy, too early start to the school day, working late or the swing shift, fitful sleep nights with a new baby, hospital helicopters, asshole dogs — we’re constantly bombarded by noise during what should be our restful hours. We’ll push through a workout because of the intense societal pressure to be thin and stigma against fat people — even though we’re the majority! No wonder so many people, at least in urban areas, are out of rhythm. The world keeps spinning, as do I with my legs and wheels. Inertia is not a good option, injured or not.

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Practices & Products for Painful Pedaling

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

I’ve been grousing about a body part that’s been plaguing me for a while. It was an issue in the past, but cropped up recently again toward the end of bicycling 500 days in a row (which I’ve pushed past — for now). Also, I’m no spring chicken anymore, although I often think I am. Most of the points I wanted to mention were already included in my post After the Fall: What to Do When You Come Off Your Bicycle, But that was November of 2019, so some updates are worth noting. Let’s dive right in. There’s water in the pool, so it’ll be painless, I promise!

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After the Fall: What to Do When You Come Off Your Bicycle

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Crash, wreck, accident – these words all conjure up unpleasant images. That’s because falling off your bike can really, Really, REALLY hurt. A saying in bicycling goes “It’s not a matter of if you’re going to fall, it’s when.” I’ve had one fairly serious incident, and a few minor mishaps. I’m thinking about this topic because I experienced one of the latter the other night. It was a relatively minor scrape (yes, a pun) with a weird, free-standing curb the other night. Here’s what happened and what I did that might be entertaining, educational or both. Yes, definitely both.

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Sophie’s Choice: Cold Night Bike Ride or Warm TV Watching?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Sophie is my Fairdale Weekender Archer, so this blog post is not about the 1982 movie in which Meryl Streep won the Oscar for best actor. Also unlike the movie, based on the book by William Styron, my bit of suffering is nothing like the dilemma of the character in the film. Yet I went on this bike ride despite not being fully prepared and got to thinking, “Why am I choosing this suffering when I could easily avoid it?” The short answer is “Because, goals.” The longer answer is a bit more complex.

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A Good Trip with a Natural High: My 37k LSD-Free Ride on Bicycle Day

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

April 19, 1943 was the first reported intentional use of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), the hallucinogen (which I’ve never tried and am not advocating you do either, but hey, it’s still sort of a free-ish country). Dr. Albert Hoffmann rode his bike home while tripping on acid, Marc in the high bike photos below told me. I looked up the article on Wikipedia, which is never wrong, and found it appears to have some basis in reality. (Also, Good Passover.) I got 4 PRs on this ride, too! Not bad considering knee pain, no clip-ins or kit, and not having been on a fast group ride in many months (which makes you faster). Below are more photos and highlights of my ride. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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Little Pleasures and Pains in the Life of a Bicyclist

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

If you ride your bicycle regularly, you may have noticed that lots of little stuff happens that probably doesn’t happen for people dependent on cars to get around.  Sometimes it’s big stuff, like you:  go on a long ride, compete in a race, get a new bike, set a personal best on that Strava segment.  The little stuff that goes on, while not as headline-worthy, is just as interesting, to me at least.  There is often more than meets the eye if one is willing to look deeper.  Let’s take a look at four things that happened to A Dude and find out.   

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Fast, Furious, Foothillacious Friday Forty-Miler on the Fairdale

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Bicycling is a violent sport.  I don’t mean falling off, crashing into trees or getting hit by cars.  (That stuff also happens.) I mean in the sense that, depending on how you ride, you are punishing your body in some form or fashion.  This is true of most physical activities and sports.  But when you go that extra mile, and push yourself beyond your comfort level, you are into suffering, pain and yes, violence.  The human body is quite resilient and can usually handle what an athlete (in my case, fathlete) throws at it, and it will eventually recover.  Tonight was one of those times where I was challenged quite a lot, and on a bad road, I was eventually dropped.  But the greater the challenge, the more one learns about oneself.  Tonight’s unexpected group ride (my third in about as many weeks!) was a prime example.  Come with me on this hairy, scary ride!  Continue reading at: https://wp.me/p75hY4-1JT

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Speak Up, Legs! Slowly Easing Back Into Bicycling & Houston Bike Shooter Update

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

It has been five days since I got on my Fuji Silhouette bicycle and rode it.  So this evening as I finally worked up the guts to do just that and was mulling over a title for this blog, I thought of the words, “Shut Up, Legs!” This is the catchphrase of Jens Voigt, who rode the Tour de France 17 times, a record only beaten this year by Sylvain Chavanel.  He retired in 2014 the day after his 43rd birthday and setting a new one-hour bike record — the farthest anyone had ridden a bike in one hour.  You can see my ride today on Strava here.

While I’m slowly getting back to riding (I hope) and watching the Tour, Jens has been commentating on it for NBC Sports Network.  As mentioned in my previous post, about the Tour de France, Top 5 Reasons I Love Watching Le Tour de France and You Should, Too.  You should go read my post and then come back.  It’s really good!  I’ll wait here.  Done?  Great.  Let’s continue.

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