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A Fellow Blogger Interviewed Me! And Where Shall I Do After 10 Years and 52,000 Miles Bicycled?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

I’m super stoked to be the latest blogger to be featured on another blog! Ortensia is the voice behind Truly Madly Ordinary, Diary of a “Not So Desperate Housewife.” I’m featured in her series Chats With Bloggers Episode 7. Lucky number seven. Check out the interview, and her other charming, relatable, funny, and interesting posts at https://trulymadlyordinary.com. Did I mention she’s an Italian who has lived for quite a while in Ireland? Or that she’s a published author, prodigious blogger, mother, among many other things. I want to thank her for her interest and graciousness. I’m not one for the limelight, but if I get a few more butts on bikes, or folks get a chuckle, then it was worth it. Meanwhile below, I’ll delve into what the road ahead holds for A Dude Abikes after my epic velocimania and reaching that milestone.

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This month I have managed to do what I set out to: reduce my bicycling. Gasp! I mean, if I didn’t take a break my body was going to make me take one sooner than later. Whereas in 2025 I had a weekly goal of 100 (5,200 for the year) which I just missed by 200, for 2026, I set my Strava goal on 7.5 hours per week. I managed one 100 mile week, but otherwise will just barely make it past 333. That will put me at 4,000 for the year.

Numerous factors have gone into this decision beyond reaching that decade-long goal. First, I’m just tired and I deserve a break today. Second, I never intended to have this 10-year goal anyway, and got to the point where there was no more point to continuing at the same pace. Third, it’s winter, even the milder ones we get here in Central Texas, is still cold and not fun to bike in. Case in point, we had a weekend ice storm that shut the streets down for several days. And fourth, I started a new full-time job, which truly sucks the life energy and time out of the day.

A sign of the times.

Overall, I’m okay with it. It’s a paradox, but less mileage = more health. I’m still keeping my streak alive, but that will end at some point. (As I’ve said before a forced break is coming.) My commute is very short, but it counts. The week I did 100 miles was by biking 10 a night on my home trainer, and then two 25-milers on the weekend. Part of me wants to keep it up, but it’s better if I don’t. I am slowly other taking steps to improve my overall health, partially because I have no choice. That means diversifying my exercise, improving my sleep, and what I eat. Biking will always be by jam, until I’m unable to do it, but there are other things in life. I mean, “Biking is life,” to paraphrase Dani Rojas said in Ted Lasso. And yet it isn’t. Scandalous and blasphemous, I know. So sue me! (Please don’t.)

Being freed from the 14.5-miles per day regimen, I have noticed my legs are less tight, my body and mind are less exhausted, and I’m sleeping more, at least some nights. Those are all positives. Getting to the gym to swim, or doing more challenging yoga and resistance bands at home, will take some effort at the end of a long work day. But one must pay the bills, so while I was rich in time, I can afford to be poor no more in terms of bills. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go for the next few months, because it’s temporary. But isn’t everything?

While my daily half hours walks and yoga practice continue, I don’t always read for 30′, and writing is less often than not. Certainly with this blog, and since losing my writing buddy, I’ve slacked off the novella. Perhaps Ortensia’s interview and example will lead me back to more frequent writing. I do journal sometimes. I volunteer on a bike-related project, so that takes time and involves some writing too, be it emails or messages to fellow volunteers, a flier or event outreach, etc. I also have the chores and errands of daily life to contend with like everyone else, and now that incudes sometimes going to protests. Somewhere in there should be time for a little enjoyment of the filmed entertainments, right? Right!

In the end, I’m getting older, slowing down, and have to do better at managing my health, which is no small task. Riding solo as I do with no wife or kids to support or to support me. (That I know about! There were a few crazy lost weekends in Las Vegas…. Just kidding!) Life goes on, and so does A Dude, at least until he doesn’t.

Hopefully you enjoyed my interview with Truly Madly Ordinary and this post, too. Adios January, here comes February! Time to reset those New Year’s Resolutions (or not).

Copyright 2026 A Dude Abikes. All rights reserved.

Early Bird v. Night Owl: Which is Better for a Bicyclist?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

There’s a poem I can’t find with a line I like that goes something like this: “The day makes promises but the night keeps secrets.” Hell, maybe I wrote that. For the last almost three years since I was liberated from a job through no fault of my own — “restructuring,” they called it — my open secret is that I’ve gravitated towards staying up late. Truth is, I’ve always been drawn toward the still, small hours. Ever since I was made to go to bed at 8 or 9 as a kid whilst the adults stayed up to play music or cards or just talk, I’ve felt like most of the cool shit in life happens after dark. Movies and television support this notion. And I’ve become something of a regular rider of bicycles at night to avoid the heat in Texas. So here are some of my thoughts on this subject.

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Je Suis Fatigué: When You’re Stuck in the Spin Cycle

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

Possible titles for this post included (the humorless should skip the intro):

  • Biking Is Good for Getting In Shape to Escape the Zombie Hordes
  • Coronavirus; Things Will Get Worse Before They Get Worse (Lily Tomlin)
  • Can My Bicycle Get Coronavirus?
  • Rome Is Burning — Like Literally, People Have Fevers
  • COVID-19 – The Movie: Will Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Finally Portray the President?
  • We’re All Gonna Die, So May As Well Ride Your Bike
  • Anyone Know How “The Walking Dead” Ends?
  • Coronavirus, Some Coronavirus, and Also More Coronavirus

I’ve decided to go in another direction, though, and write about something related, still health-related and less apocalyptic.

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Como Usar el Arte de la Siesta para Mejorar Tu Ciclismo

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

El sueño es algo universal que comparten todos los animales, al menos los mamíferos. Muchos mamíferos toman siestas, incluidos los humanos, pero tenemos la capacidad de elegir dormir en cualquier momento que queramos. En este detalle, tenemos mucha suerte de tener esta habilidad. En estos días de una epidemia de falta de sueño, la siesta es la respuesta perfecta para restablecer su estado de salud. Claro, con mas descanso, puedes viajar por bici mas fuerte y rapido. ¿Y quien no quiere eso? Exactamente nadie.

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Brahmacharya: The Yogic Practice of Moderation

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

The philosophy of yoga as handed down over thousands of years continues to be valuable and available to those who wish to study it. It may be lost on some if not most modern-day, lycra-clad, booty-tightening students and teachers alike. Yours truly does not often crack open the ancient texts for some light reading. But I did spend a summer at a yoga center, and after over five years of daily (well, nightly) practice, I still consider myself essentially a beginner. Lately, I find myself struggling with one of the branches of the practice in particular. Surely I’m not alone, so here’s a little post about brahmacharya.

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Give Yourself Permission to Just Do Nothing!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk born in France who moved to Kentucky. He wrote over 60 books, encouraged inter-religious dialog with the likes of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and others and advocated for pacifism and social justice. He died in 1968 in his early 50’s when he accidentally was electrocuted stepping out of his shower where a running fan had fallen over. (Some say he was assassinated by the CIA.) While I’ve not read his work, I’ve seen this quote below before. And it seems more relevant than ever in 2019.

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Wandering, Wishing and Wondering on a Dreamy, Drowsy Day

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

He awoke early with the sun for a change. Groggily, from a late night when sleep did not come, as it often did not. He waited for slumber to arrive like a spouse waiting on the partner who had to work late: restlessly. To pass the time before her return, he watched a digital video recording of thin, super strong young men riding their bikes across Spain. A place he’d been many years ago and found himself pining for. He pined a fair bit these days, to anyone who would listen. About his underappreciated, unpaid blog and book writing. Or the aches and pains of an aging cyclist. And his unwillingness to settle for another low-paying job with a boss and all that jazz, while he struggled to start being an self-employed contractor. He couldn’t figure out how to do the job without a car but paradoxically he needed money from a job to get a car. After 13 years since his vehicle was smashed by a reckless driver, a car seemed like it would be nice. Yet it could also mean certain death to whatever modicum of fitness he had, he thought, because biking is sweaty, hard and uncomfortable, and driving a car is easy. And easy is boring. Which rhymes with snoring, which is what he should be doing, he mused.

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I Exercise and Write 24+ Hours Every Week: An A Dude Abikes Round-Up

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

Today in Austin, Texas, there was some rain, so it was a good day to relax and reflect.  This blog post is one of my occasional round-ups of thoughts and things about your sometimes somewhat humble blogger.  Although in 10 days we’ll be at the mid-point of 2018, and I’ll be taking a closer look at my data from the walking, writing (blog and book), yoga and of course, bicycling, I wanted to update faithful readers, family and friends of just what is up with A Dude Abikes. Continue reading →

Rainy Friday Blahg Post: The Value of Sleep and Rest Days for Cyclists

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 14 Comments

workintexas rain ride.pngI think the title sums it up pretty well.  It rained.  Alot.  I had to go to a job search class and didn’t have the time or patience for the bus.  It was only a mile and a half so I rode, but the rains picked up.  The skies were thundering and lightning, and I almost had to stop.  It is Star Wars Day — May the Fourth Be With You — but gale force winds gusting over 25 mph were against me.  It was a blah day, and I was tired as usual, but I pressed on, as I tend to do, for worse or for better. Continue reading →

Dreaming in Daylight, Riding on a Rainy Night

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 9 Comments

“I awoke last night to the sound of thunder

How far off I sat and wondered

Started humming a song from 1962

Ain’t it funny how the night moves

When you just don’t seem to have as much to lose

Strange how the night moves….”

— Night Moves by Bob Seger

He awoke this morning from a deep slumber, face down, lines engraved on his face from the pillow. The unemployed, aging cyclist trudged to the bathroom then back to bed for a much-needed snooze after another late night staring at screens. Before the alarm went off, something outside the drafty casita woke him for good this time, and gingerly, he rolled out of bed. Not ready to face the wind and likely rain on his bicycle, he texted a fellow attender of the weekly job club, pleading for a ride. The gangly and kindly grad student (who may or may not have been spying on him for his thesis) agreed.

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