A long time ago, in a decade far away, on city streets, mountain roads, park and river routes, a man in his 30's discovered the joys of recreational cycling and photography, eventually rediscovering a talent for creative and journalistic writing as he entered his 40's.
His youngest sister was to blame for the former, encouraging him to do more than commute to and from work on the streets of Pomona, Ca. and see the world around him from someplace other than a seat on a bus.
A new computer and new found friends online were responsible for the latter.
The man soon found himself riding paved roads and trails around and in Bonelli Park and Puddingstone Reservoir, then challenging himself on the winding 4 mile Turnbull Canyon Road between Whittier and Hacienda Heights, as well as the 11 1/2 miles of Carbon Canyon Rd., from Chino Hills to Brea, and taking San Dimas Canyon Rd. up to Golden Hills Rd. and across to Esperanza Dr., just so he could coast down that very steep road to Baseline at 30-35 mph.
All this was on a Mountain Bike.
Then, in 1998, he discovered Hybrid bikes, the smoother, faster, more comfortable alternative, in between the MB and more expensive racing bikes.
He eventually named her Cleopatra, but in the meantime they went on rides together, alone, or on various annual group rides, even almost getting arrested during a group ride that went wrong at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
When he took up blogging, in 2001, his cycling activism and writing skills led him to begin what was one of the first bike blogs on the internet.
(NOTE: the rest of this essay has links to other works, from my days in SoCal, to more recent times in H-Town. I encourage those interested to explore at your leisure, share, and even comment, especially on the safe cycling and CM themed entries. Comments don't appear immediately, but are approved as soon as I am able.)
The Cycling Dude, though little known, was proud to have been one of the BEST bike blogs in the USA, and the world from Jan. 2003 -Aug. 2010, with a few later, unexpected, additions, and was familiar to a small, but passionate, collection of cyclists around the world, for the journalism, poetry, humor, travelogues, photography and more of its writer.
His writing made friends, influenced the birth of numerous new bike blogs, led to a pair of speaking engagements on bike commuting (REI and the century+ old Riverside Cycling Club), being quoted in a book, praised by The Daily Peloton, and pissed off more than a few people, from a parent of a cyclist killed on the road, to the founder of Critical Mass (2 years of writing on the subject, from 2003-2005, culminated in a series of correspondences with him, and with a collection of well known activists and journalists (the whole archive)).
His poetry was praised by many, including a writer of one very famous song he parodied (Alan Merrill), and his extensive resource page was useful to many.
When he retired his bike blog he continued his bike blogging on his personal blog, and moved his resources there as well.
It was not a decision taken lightly, but one based on the reality that few knew of his blog, read his work, shared it, or left comments and he did not have the knowledge, time, connections and resources to try and build upon what he had.
In November 2014 he took Cleopatra for one last ride as they said their final good-byes.
After a brief fling with a cheap Schwinn, from the Walmart where he worked, from April to July 2015, and a lonesome Summer, he was donated a refurbished 1991 Specialized Crossroads by a Houston cyclist who got wind of his situation when he discovered his bike blogging.
While he never gave it a name, the pair got along reasonably well, mostly commuting to and from where he worked.
Their one moment of fame came when Monica Russo of the Metro Transit Press Office asked for an interview for their Rep My Route series of videos in April 2017:
Houston Metro and Me: The Cycling Dude's 1st Houston Interview
The most recent entries on this blog, by The Cycling Dude, were about the Ride of Silence, and the Bike to Work Day Ride, in May 2017.
As 2018 got under way he realized that, due to various financial windfalls, from a donation by family, and work bonuses to a huge tax refund, opportunities to move forward were open to him and so a decision was made in February and he parted ways with the old, valiant Crossroads, finally on its last legs as a travelling companion...
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