#everysingleaustinstreet

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Hey y’all. Been awhile. I’ve been busy riding. Well, mostly. This month was on track to be a banner month for the project, but my dear sister-in-law gave birth to her latest creation and Sofia bolted for Brownsville to cuddle the fresh babe. She left on Sunday, with the dog thankfully, and I’ve been dadding it this week. Because of the timing of dropping/picking up kids and other duties, I have not had time to ride so far this week. We are headed for Brownsville for the long weekend, so there is another four more days of no streets. Fear not, when I return next Tuesday I will be solo for about a week. I plan to make up for this week with hours of riding next week. 

Over the weekend we will be hitting the 27th, which is the date each month I release my monthly full-map progress check in. Keep your eye out for that. I’m sure it will make your Memorial Day weekend that much better.

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Honestly, this week is gonna suck. But I feel really behind, so just gotta push on through the crap weather. This weekend would have been great to get a couple long rides in, but the timing just did not work out. Trying to pump myself up by watching bike videos and planing some routes. Tomorrow’s looks exceptionally annoying.

As you can see (maybe) above, there’s really no way to ride in and around, then out of this zone. There will be a lot of backtracking, especially down south. 

This is that southern bit zoomed in. Two long sections of street that I will have to ride down and back again. Riding towards a dead end sucks, but riding up hill into a dead end is worse. And what may greet me at the end of one of those roads (Harold Ct.)?

Hopefully these sketchers have moved on since the Google car came by last...

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Weekly Update #1

Hey ya. A couple years ago, I was really into reading/watching rider’s accounts of their long-haul bike tours. I started researching possible routes to Orlando and Brownsville. I ordered literature in the mail (which I eventually threw away). I signed up for warmshowers.org. But having a family and a full time job made these bike tours somewhat impractical. So I pushed the idea to the way back burner. When I saw Rickey’s #eversinglestreet project, I realized I could do a long-haul tour right here in Austin, broke up over many months. Let’s call it a Staybiketour. Doesn't quite have the same ring as “staycation,” does it?

This week I rode through some of South Congress, Brentwood, Allandale, Crestview, and a few bits and bobs. It was not the most productive week. It rained a fair amount in the last two days. I still ride in the rain, but you know, it’s not fun. Next week looks like more rain. Suck it up, I guess.

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Remember, if you want to support this project, you’re a cool dude/dudette. Learn how here.

Current progress:

[everysingleaustinstreet-blog]

The Bike

Don’t expect this many posts going forward. This all just laying the groundwork. Once past that, I am thinking maybe weekly updates, but who knows... Maybe this is my calling as a full time tumblr bloggr.

Let’s talk bikes, well bike, my bike. The photo above is my Masi fixed gear steed. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done. I bought it new in 2012. Since then I’ve broken a saddle and replaced it, took off the brakes and added a single front break, went through several sets of tires, and broke one chain. The handle bars need rewrapping and the pedal/straps are almost on their last legs (more expenses!) I ride it practically everyday, mostly commuting from Mueller to downtown and back again.

Like I said in my last post, I’m not really a cyclist. I ride a lot, follow a bunch of cyclists on Instagram, watch a ton of bike videos, and can perform basic bike maintenance. I can do a pretty long track stand, but can’t wheelie (is that even what it’s called). I mostly ride alone, except when pub crawling. But I do still have a snobby attitude towards Lycra-wearing weekend warriors, even if they could totally smoke me. I am not fast. Outside of this bike, I don’t really know much about bikes, especially geared bicycles.

A big part of this project was completing it on this bike alone. Obviously hills suck, and I have not even begun the big ones yet. Going down and especially up large hills can be a challenge on a fixed gear. A challenge is what I am here for though. So I guess... bring it on.

To quote Josh Spradling, “Less blogging, more riding.”

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I am not a cyclist, I just ride my bike a lot. The #everysingleaustinstreet won’t be finished quickly. Most of it is happening with a combination of commutes, lunch breaks, and two-hour jaunts on the weekends.

I am running out of streets to hit on my way to and from work. An idea I had last night is to hitch a ride with Sofia when she drops kids off at school downtown (around 730am) and hop down to zip down south of the river. This gives me a good hour and a half each work morning to tick away at south Austin neighborhoods. Weekends are a bit easier as I can jump in the car solo and drive to a far flung zone for a comprehensive thrashing.

I’ve almost completed a large chunk of the city, consisting of areas south and west of 183, north of the river/lake, and east of Mopac. Just have a few hoods in the northwest (Allandale, Brentwood, Crestview) to complete this task. With that large section of the city done I will have a great sense of accomplishment, I hope. But I’ll be far from done. The City of Austin is so damn big and awkwardly shaped.

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You can stop reading now if you would like. This is just a reiteration of my donation request. If you want to contribute to this effort, awesome. You can send me donations via Venmo. Search for elmachuca to find me. If you do, I have these amazing rewards to offer:

$0-10 - Shoutout on this blog and instagram

$11-25 - Above, plus twitter shoutout

$26-50 - All above, plus instagram story shoutout

$51-75 - All above, plus shoutout on youtube

$76-100 - All above, plus ... I don’t know, I’ll send you some beer.

This is all silly of course, but if you do want to help me accomplish this I would be very grateful. 

Thanks for asking. Below is some stuff I need and want (to make project more complete):

- Tuneup(s) for bike

- Tubes

- Bike chain

- Gloves

- GoPro camera - I’d like to start recording my rides for posterity and possible evidence in case I ever get run down

This is just a sample of possible expenses that come with the project. There are/will be more. 

[everysingleaustinstreet-blog]

Every Single Austin Street, 5 Months in

It’s been five months since I started my quest to ride every single street in Austin. This project began with inspiration from Rickey Gates running every street in SF last fall. I followed his progress as he conquered the city in a few (couple?) short months. I was going to wait till the new year to start my journey, but got anxious to begin, so I started tracking my rides starting on November 27.

Unlike Rickey, I am not a pro athlete. I’m just a bike commuting dad. I did not set any real time restrictions for myself. It would be nice if I can finish the entire project in 2019, but no promises. But I will finish it. The best place to follow this project (besides here) is on instagram (@elmachuca). If you like details and want to follow every second of my rides, check me out on Strava.

The Ask

Also, unlike Rickey, this project has no sponsorships behind it. I would love some. If you have any bike shop hookups, lemmmmmme know. In the meantime, if you want to contribute to this effort, please do. You can send me donations via Venmo. Search for elmachuca to find me. If you do, I have these amazing rewards to offer:

$0-10 - Shoutout on this blog and instagram $11-25 - Above, plus twitter shoutout $26-50 - All above, plus instagram story shoutout $51-75 - All above, plus shoutout on youtube $76-100 - All above, plus ... I don’t know, I’ll send you some beer.

This is all silly of course, but if you do want to help me accomplish this I would be very grateful. 

“But what will this money be used for, you filthy freeloader?”

Thanks for asking. Below is some stuff I need and want (to make project more complete):

- Tuneup(s) for bike - Tubes - Bike chain - Gloves - GoPro camera - I’d like to start recording my rides for posterity and possible evidence in case I ever get run down

This is just a sample of possible expenses that come with the project. There are/will be more. 

I plan to give, at least, weekly updates on here. Not sure what it will become. I’m just happy to have a blog again.