July 2002 issue
Don’t fear the future my friend. Your bicycling future consists of homemade kahlua chocolate cake topped with whipped cream at rest stops, and an ice-cold bottle of Bud waiting for you as you climb off your bike after an enchanting day riding with new friends. Rest stops on these rides are actually rest stops. You pull up to a fully catered table full of home made goodies …. All this enjoyed from a dozen portable lounge chairs. Not a bad set up…. This is definitely not the cold shower and camping crowd.
Welcome to Senior Cycling. Or as founder Pat Blackmon, 64, from Loudoun Heights, VA., prefers to call her business: “old folks on spokes.”
For me, on my one-day jaunt with a group of seniors along the C&O Canal, I don’t ever remember meeting so many interesting folks on a ride, and I certainly never laughed so hard in my life.
“The goal,” Blackmon explains, “is to get out, enjoy the scenery, get some exercise, and enjoy the company of the folks you’re riding with.
Figuring it would be easy to interview the participants on this Senior Cycling ride while on my bike, I never imagined that interviewing 72 –year-old Lois Czapiewski, of Fairfax VA., holding a tape recorder out to her while riding, could be so challenging. This mother of five grown children, kept turning the pedals over and over until I found myself out of breath, and praying that she’d slow down so I could finish the interview.
While the group of seniors on this day’s C&O ride was clearly fit, their abilities ran the gamut. But everyone waits for the others, and the goal is for everyone to enjoy the ride.
About 15 years ago, Blackmon had gotten into bicycling but had difficultly finding folks to ride with. “so I started convincing friends: come on out and let’s ride. They would ride 3 or 4 miles, and then the next week they’d do 7 or 8, and the next thing you knew they were going out and buying new bikes. Then I started planning trips for everyone. We did Martha’s Vineyard, and all sorts of trips around the country. Then the more serious I got, I finally did my cross country trip”.
The cross-country trip five years ago, was a fundraiser for breast cancer research, ridden by women 50 or older. The average age was 61. The group rode from 40 to 103 miles a day. The enthusiasm and abilities of these “senior” riders is what got Blackmon thinking about starting Senior Cycling.
“This is something I enjoy, something I know I can do. And something I like to do. The whole purpose behind this is to support the idea that it’s not how fast or how far you ride, it’s doing something you enjoy and having fun…..rather than the competitive nature of “I rode farther or faster than you did.”
“Everyone I speak to agrees on the need for Senior Cycling. Biking with your peers, rather than with younger people who want to focus on the speed and distance of the ride. Senior Cycling has a different attitude. Let’s go out and enjoy bike riding”
“We just need to get the word out that retirement is not just bingo and crochet. Our biggest assets are the folks who come out on our rides. Most of them are repeat customers and they spread the word for us”.
“I hate to admit it, but our biggest obstacle is probably our name: Senior Cycling. The response to that is: “Senior! I’m not a senior. I’m not old!”
In addition to its two dozen local day bike trips in the Mid Atlantic, Senior Cycling is conducting seven day tours of the Erie Canal and Katy Trail, five day tours of the Florida Keys and Central Florida Trails, four day tours of the C&O Canal, and a weekend tour of Pennsylvania’s Amish country. They will also customize trips for groups.
Senior Cycling can be reached via phone at (540-668-6307: email at pat@seniorcycling.com: or check out their website at www.seniorcycling.com
