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SOPHIE STOLEN! Beloved Bicycle Boosted by Brazen Burglar! (+ How You Can Help!)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 14 Comments

The evening of Saturday, January 8, 2022, I was inside a big box store talking to a clerk about replacing my over four-year-old cell phone. I had parked Sophie, the Fairdale Weekender Archer, a bicycle who has been my trusty sidekick since I won her in a Bike Austin raffle in 2017, a mere 10 feet away in the small vestibule for shopping carts. Since I was so close and regularly looking right at her, I did not use my u-lock and cable lock — a fatal mistake I’ll never make again. At 6:30 pm, a brazen thief walked into the little lobby, stood there for 20 seconds, then walked out with my bicycle while I wasn’t looking. The next time I looked up, Sophie was gone, and with her, a piece of my soul.

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“Wassup, Killah?” and Other Random $hit People Say to Me on My Bicycle

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 16 Comments

Last night I was putting in some late night miles — 16.5 to be exact — to beat the heat and keep my stats up, you know, like I do. I approached a red light and came to a stop. Here’s what I wrote in my Strava ride summary: “Wassup, Killah?” Said the man at the bus stop, a descendant of Africa, pleasantly and with no malice, to the dude on the bicycle who is of the Caucasian persuasion. “I’m good, thanks. How ’bout you?” Also good. They then discussed how the weather wasn’t as hot as last night. The light changed, adieus were bid, and the dude rode on, an otherwise lackluster day made. “Huh, I guess I am kinda a killah on a bike!” He pedaled a little harder, his mph a bit faster. So yeah, that happened.

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Which Austin, Texas Bike Shops Are Open During the COVID-19 Shelter in Place?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 10 Comments

During my ongoing spins around town, at least my neck of the woods, I’ve passed by a few local bike shops (LBS). Given the government shut-down of all non-essential business, it seemed most of the LBS’s were forced to close. Many operate on thin margins, so it’s not good news. But I began thinking: If auto dealers, car repair and auto parts shops are open, isn’t it discriminatory against the car-less and poor to close down the LBS’s?

However, bicycling is an exempt activity from the health department order to stay home. And if you ride a bike, you know you will eventually need new tubes or a professional repair. A reputable source told me that LBS’s are now being considered as important enough to be allowed to stay open, thanks to some advocacy. So I was curious who was open. This is not an exhaustive or authoritative list, and it’s subject to frequent changes. Your mileage may vary — quite literally. Check their websites, social media or call first before biking there.

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Help Enter a Dude Into the Writers League of Texas Manuscript Contest & Conference!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

I’m putting this out into the blogosphere and universe to see what happens. Could be nothing, could be something, could be everything. The thing is this: your humble, currently unemployed (I prefer sans portfolio) blogger, bicyclist, book writer and other b-words cannot currently conjur the coins to enter himself into this contest. So, I’m thinking that perhaps perfectly pleasant people perusing these pages permutate into patrons.

That is, they (YOU) sponsor me to join the Texas Writers League and their Manuscript Contest – TODAY! (3/20/20) The benefis for me are having a snippet of my book reviewed professionally and even better, a shot at an awesome prize: free admittance to WLT’s Agents and Editors Conference. So if you want to learn about this and might want to pitch in, keep on reading.

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Texas Mamma Jamma Breast Cancer Charity Training Ride #2: Bipping and Bonking Over 45 Miles

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

On Wednesday, I formed a neighborhood bike gang.  On Friday, one of my intrepid new bike friends said that she might want to join me on this training ride the next morning.  Romy offered to pick me up in her bitchin’ mini-van.  This was good news: The start time was an hour earlier due to the Austin, Texas heat, so I wouldn’t have to bike the extra six miles to the start.  

A Dude is trying to become an early riser again, but it’s a struggle when people around you are so often making noise.  But it’s always good to have new people to ride with, and maybe she’ll even join my official Team T.ime I.n T.he S.addle.  She said she’d call me at 6 am to decide, so I was going to be kept in suspense. Just like you’ll be unless you click the Continue Reading thing-a-ma-jig!

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Send A Dude to the Writers League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

The Getting Published Blues

I attended my fifth Writers League of Texas panel event in as many months on Thursday evening.  This was held a week before their 38th Annual Agents & Editors Conference.  Although I signed up to volunteer and attend some sessions, currently I am on a wait list.  Regular readers know I’m a struggling unpaid blogger and author of a memoir about two years of biking 10,000 miles.  But it’s a book in progress with no advance from a publisher.  I’d sure like to go, so keep reading and learn how you can help!

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A Mellow Evening at Austin’s Cool Community Yellow Bike Project

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

A friend who did me a big solid (aka favor) the other day has had a bike in a shed collecting cobwebs for a while. He’s been wanting to fix it up but was a little intimidated by going to the community shop, Austin’s own Yellow Bike Project. So I figured I’d help him out by assessing the situation and then get him going on repairs while I paid some attention to the neglected brakes of Sophie, my Fairdale. He’s shy and didn’t want his photograph or name mentioned, but I can still talk about the evening.

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Buddhism & Bicycling: An Asshole, a Glasshole, a Good Samaritan, and a Randy Fellow

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes it happens that people do mean things.  At a new temporary work gig, I met the new boss (same as the old boss). He had a hissy fit about something where he assumed one thing but reality was another, and then stormed off. Not my prob, so whatevs.  Merry Fucking Christmas to you, too, Scrooge!

After a quick change of clothes (and attitude) at home, I was about 1/3 of the way into my bike ride when Sophie’s rear wheel punctured from a tiny piece of glass in the road somewhere. Probably from somebody who threw a beer bottle into the bike lane. It had worked it’s way deep into the rubber.  Boo hoo for me!  Just bad luck, or karma? Continue reading →

Mamma Jamma Ride Wrap-up and Huge Thanks to My Donors of $2,502!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

On September 22nd, I biked 40 miles for a good cause. (40-Mile Charity Ride for Breast Cancer: No Need to SAG). Tonight, I cycled down to the Livestrong building. Yep, it’s the one named for the cancer foundation started by an Austin cyclist and former seven-time winner* of the Tour de France. That group still exists, a shadow of its former self, and does good work for all canver survivors. Relevant to A Dude, it’s where the Mamma Jamma Ride to Beat Breast Cancer rents office space. This year, it hosted the Bucks to Beneficiaries — the annual awarding of the monies raised for the bike ride held back on September 22nd. A few dozen riders, sponsors, board members and supporters were in attendance. Over $300,000 was given to the seven non-profits helping women and their families with breast cancer. A Dude Abikes was part of that, coming in 9th place as individual fundraiser at $2,502. So this blog post is to wrap it all up, and to especially thank everyone who donated.

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Mamma Jamma Ride to Beat Breast Cancer Happy Hour

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Last night I biked out to one of Austin, Texas’s brew pubs, where they make their own beer.  Cold but dry after rain early in the day, it was not long but I had the bike rack all to myself.  Riders from the recent Mamma Jamma Ride which I was part of on September 22, 2018 were invited to have a free cold one, socialize with others, and pick up their gift bags or some extra goodies.  I decided to ride over and join in.  And you can join me for this little night cap.  I mean recap.  Tee many martoonis, sorry!  Just kidding.

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