As I sat down to write this post, I’ve enjoyed reflecting on my life with bicycles. What a long, strange, trip it’s been!

The Dark Ages

I was sedentary for 25 years through and beyond college, other than brief stints to the gym. I was overweight, and I was never going to run a marathon or ride a bike from one county to the next. Here’s the story of my re-entry to cycling and middle-age athleticism. Coming soon: a brief history of my earliest days as a cyclist.

Renaissance

Now I ride long (when I’m not riding to breakfast or lunch and back).

Last weekend (April 14-16) I completed the 2017 Easter Hill Country Tour. 110 miles on hilly and sometimes windy roads, over 3 days. I’ve done this tour 5 years in a row, with my Honey Bunny, Lori T. Brown. Now we ride tandem.

I’m inspired by the things we do.  Some people think we’re crazy.

We meet interesting and inspiring people. This year I met a man who rode 106 miles — on just one of the three days. He rode long every day, for a total of around 200 miles. He’s also completed the 100 mile and notorious Leadville 100. This guy is a complete and total inspiration. He’s 86 years old. He retired at 72. He says he doesn’t always want to train every day, but he’s afraid what might happen if he doesn’t!

We also ride in Tandem Rallies. 3 to 6 days with 15 to 100 other couples on tandem bikes. We are a spectacle! It’s really a fun group of people. Soon I’ll write about what makes tandem cycling special.

We’ve ridden 7 and 8 day tours through and around Big Bend National Park and the Texas Hill Country.

Soon, we’ll ride across states, countries, and continents. Stay tuned!

On long trips, everyone’s fit, motivated, and having fun, like they don’t have jobs or mortgages, or relationship or health issues. We’ve met double cancer survivors and corporate executives and school custodians and retirees and young couples and marathon runners and Ironman triathletes. They have lives just like us and everyone else, and they still have fun and let it all hang out. Then they enjoy a drink and a big meal at the end of a long ride, sleep great, and get up to do it all over again!

Truly, it’s one of the best things in the world.

8 Ways To Get Started

1. 1. Join us sometime!
   2. Choose: Select an audacious goal. Anything less isn’t inspiring or motivational.
   3. Believe in yourself and your ability to solve the small problems that come up every day on your path forward.
   4. Keep Going: Do something every day that you know will move you in the direction you’ve chosen.
   5. Get help. Join a program or get a coach. Contact me below if you need advice or encouragement or more information.
   6. Get social. Join a meetup group or a club, get a partner, or meet the people in your program and take part.
   7. Share your advice, information, and referrals below. I appreciate your contribution, and you’ll help others!
   8. Connect: Learn more about me and this blog

Purpose Of This Post

• Illustrate: Readers will see the joy of cycling.
• Inspire: Readers will see they can do it too, and they’ll be inspired to consider the possibility for themselves.