TimeInTheSaddle (TITS)

I Bicycled Every Day for an Entire Year: Lessons Learned

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 12 Comments

Here’s the thing:  I didn’t set out to bike 366 days in a row. If you had a crystal ball and told me my future a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed you. I just went on my birthday ride, a mile per year of life, as I have done the last several years. But instead of taking the next day or more off to rest like a normal person, I became more like Forrest Gump:  I just kept bike-ing and bike-ing and bike-ing… Except there was no Robin Wright as Jenny yelling, “Bike, A Dude, bike!”

The Energizer bunny I’m not. I’m just a middle-aged, slightly overweight (aka fathlete), regular guy who chose the bicycle as his vehicle for his mid-life crisis mobile. I can’t tell you why I did this, except at some point it was simply to see if I could do it. And now I have. Don’t believe me? Check my Strava activity log – it’s all there. But this isn’t really about me. Here’s the main thing I want to tell you: If I can do it, most of you can, too.

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Write What You Know, In My Case, Bike Stuff

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Teaser: This was going to be a book review. But I haven’t finished it yet. It’s a good one, too. When I do, I’m sure it will be awesome. Or adequate, or astute, or any number of other adjectives commencing with an “a.” One of those. I think; I don’t know this. But today, it’s not about a book, it’s about what I know. Whatever the hell that is. These days, it’s hard to really know what one knows. Ya’ know? I guess after a few years of biking my butt off, I do know a few things about bicycles, cyclists, biking, and the like.

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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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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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Hey WordPress & Internet, Do You Want Me to Ride the Mamma Jamma for Breast Cancer Charities This Saturday?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 11 Comments

As I alluded to Monday, I have the opportunity to participate in my third Mamma Jamma Ride to Beat Breast Cancer this Saturday, September 22. Previously I have ridden 57 miles in 2015 and 65 miles in 2017, raising over $2,500. But this time I have waited to the last minute to decide, so I need your help. What do you think? The important thing is that if you are interested in pledging your support to let me know that, and how much, ASAP, today, because I can’t do the ride without raising a minimum of $300 by Friday. Leave a comment [which provides your email], or send me an email, which is on the About page. Thanks for your interest. More information is included below, so I hope you’ll read on.

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Thanks to All My MS 150 Donors; Please Give NOW to My Texas Mamma Jamma Ride to Treat Breast Cancer Survivors!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

MS150 progress final
My final tally from the BP MS 150 ride from Houston to Austin – 202 miles in 2 days!

We Raised $2,167 for MS Treatment and Research!

A Dude Abikes would like to give his whole-hearted thanks to the following for their magnificent donations, large, medium or small.  It’s the act of giving as much as the actual amount that made my supreme effort of 202 miles in two days on the bike back on April 29-30 have any meaning.  With the 9,000+ other riders, we raised over $13,000,000 for the cause:  for the  National MS Society to treat people with Multiple Sclerosis and drive research into better treatments and someday, a cure.  Here are the beautiful souls:

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