safety

Smart Cycling Complete Class in Austin, Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Early on Saturday I attended a 4-hour League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling Complete Class.  Four other students and I assembled in a parking garage to learn how to teach people new to bicycling how to complete some standard drills.  But even an old dog like A Dude Abikes can learn new tricks.  And some of what we learned is stuff that we’d been doing unconsciously and, in some cases, incorrectly.  So here’s a little overview of the experience. Continue reading →

More Pucking Functures! Five Fixes for Frequent Flats Free From Frustration

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

Lately I’ve had a string of bad luck with holes in my tires. It’s like Jack Alehurst of Life Behind Bars said, if he were Jerry Seinfeld: “Doncha hate it when you’ve been off your bike for a while and finally decide to go for a ride, only to find it has a flat tire?” Or maybe Robin would say to the caped crusader: “Holy holes, Batman!” Well that’s been a factor for me this last week. Some mysterious, one my fault, and well, it gets frustrating and expensive. So here’s a little recap and then a little advice.

Continue reading →

How to Safely Ride Your Bike in the Rain

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

The Carolinas are getting pummeled with Hurricane Florence, and clearly no sane person is biking in that.  There’s not much to do from here about it except to watch the news and just hope that people, pets and stuff make it through.  Perhaps donate if you’re a person of means.  Meanwhile, although it’s nothing like Hurricane Harvey that hit Houston and the Gulf of Mexico coast last year, we’ve been having a wet September here in Central Texas.  I am grateful because of the lower temperatures and the relief to drought-stricken lakes, rivers, plants, pets and people.  Biking is delicious when it’s not 100 degrees!

But rain does make riding a bike tricky, if not actually more dangerous than it already is.  Some people won’t do it at all.  A Dude Abikes however loves to ride in the rain on his Fairdale Weekender Archer named Sophie, because she’s got wider wheels and a heavy steel frame that make her more stable.  I thought it might interest all tens of my readers to hear what I do to keep the rubber side down.  Hop on!  (Actually, don’t.  I have enough weight to carry already.) Continue reading →

Vision Zero ATX Wants to Stop Traffic Violence — But How?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Vision Zero ATX (www.VisionZeroATX.org) is based on an idea that came from Sweden:

Vision zero is the simple idea that every death and serious injury in traffic is preventable. People will make mistakes, but those mistakes should not lead to anyone losing their life or being severely hurt.

Simple, but not easy.  So far this year (as of August 1st), 40 people have died on roads in Austin, Texas — the US’s 11th biggest city.  Most are vehicles versus other vehicles.  More than a few involve pedestrians.  Just a few involve bicyclists.  Compared to many cities, that’s not alot, but according to Vision Zero ATX, we can do better.

Continue reading →

Bikeable + Walkable Cities = Cool! Bike Austin & Center for New Urbanism Happy Hour

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

One of the themes of this blog is that bicycling is both a solo sport and then again, it’s not.  You pedal your own bike, unless you’re chilling out on the back of a tandem.  But from the people that made your bike, all the gear and accessories, the roads, the food, the beer… it’s all connected into part of what we tend to call “the bike community.”  And by “we” I mean people, usually white ones, with the privilege to go to happy hours.  (You could say opposing racism and xenophobia are also one of my sub-themes.)

But hey, don’t even white people who happen to bike deserve to live in a bikeable, walkable city that works well, and not get killed in the process?  Yes! So when I heard that the advocacy and membership group A Dude is part of, Bike Austin, partnered with the Congress for the New Urbanism Central Texas Chapter (CNU-CTX) for their monthly gathering, I got myself down there to check it out.  What follows is my short report, with plenty of pictures. Continue reading →

Bicycle Sport Shop / Bike Austin Ride Leader Training (Part 1)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Tonight I jetted over to a nice but sorta weird place for a bike meeting — a neighborhood emergency center — to learn how to lead group and bike shop rides.  It was organized by the active transportation (bike and walking) advocacy and membership non-profit organization for which I occasionally pitch in to volunteer, Bike Austin, led by new director Katie.  The training was given by Bicycle Sport Shop Road Captains Daniel, Laura Jane (LJ), and Stephanie and with some of the dozen of attendees contributing some amusing stories of what people do on their bikes.  So listen up kids, class is in session!  Professor A Dude Abikes is on the mic, talkin’ trikes, and safety things he likes… Continue reading →

The Horror! Dockless Scooters Dumped in Austin

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Today’s University of Texas at Austin publication, The Daily Texan, has a front-page story about the scourge of rentable so-called “disruptive” technology being dumped on our streets and the campus. See “Dockless scooters temporarily removed: New city ordinance suspends dockless scooters until companies obtain proper permits.” Basically these companies came in like Uber and Lyft and started operating illegally (or quasi-legally at best), and then the City of Austin had to play catch up and regulate them. We the citizens of Austin chased the ride-share companies out of town after an election, even though they cynically spent over $8 million.

As for rent-a-bikes, I don’t have as many problems with them, because that’s a big part of the point of this blog: more people can and should use bikes. But when they or scooters are clogging up the place, people dump them, vandalize them, or they obstruct lawful bike commuters and pedestrians, they’re a safety hazard to the operators and to others. So I have a few words about this. I’m like an antibiotic ointment: I’m topical!

Continue reading →

A Dude Abikes in the News, 100-Mile Week & Photo Recap

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Today the Austin American-Statesman ran a story asking the question What’s the most dangerous stretch of road for bicyclists in Austin?  It talks about the recurrent theme I’ve been covering, bicycle safety.  Hint:  the road is Guadalupe, and I can assure you it’s scary.  Even the parts with a protected bike lane have University of Texas students standing in it idly, without a clue, listening to their headphones.  Other parts have no bike lane, or lots of bumps in the road, and in general it’s narrow with buses and cars passing within inches.

Source:  Stephen Spillman for the Austin American-Statesman

While it seems like it’s horrible carnage out there, the fact is, it’s safer to bike and walk than drive a car.  However, it is very dangerous.  Anyway, the article is by Pam LeBlanc, whose blog Fit City also appears on WordPress.  It has a photograph of yours truly.  It was one of several that ran in a profile the paper did on A Dude back on January 15 called “Can a regular guy pedal 10,000 miles in two Years? This dude did.”  You can go read that after you finish this.   Or finish this first.  Whatevs, thanks for reading!

Continue reading →

Safe Routes to School & The Dog That Nearly Ate Me. Oh, The Things I See Bicycling in Austin!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 16 Comments

A friend admitted the other day that she was enjoying walking more than bicycling around Austin lately.  That’s because she notices more things going slower on two feet than on two wheels.  I agreed that’s mostly true, but also said you still see some pretty cool stuff biking that you’d never notice whizzing by in a car.  Today was no exception, and a beautiful spring day to boot.  Please continue reading where it says Continue Reading!  (Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom — WordPress inserts extra white space I can’t get rid of sometimes.) Continue reading →

Please Be Kind to Cyclists:  Saving Lives One Bumper Sticker at a Time

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 11 Comments

On a Saturday in 2002, Al Bastidas was on his way to join an Austin Tri-Cyclists group bicycle ride.  A car hit him, knocking him off his bike into the air.  The wreck put him in the hospital where he was in a coma.  It changed his life forever.  Al, who is from the great cycling nation of Colombia but has lived in Austin, Texas for many years, had to go through surgeries and a very difficult rehabilitation.  You can learn more about Al’s story here.  But out of his tragedy, he created an Austin-based non-profit organization, Please Be Kind to Cyclists. Today I had a conversation with PBKTC board chair Garret.  Click to read more! Continue reading →