News

Round and Round

Some of the best ways to see the world are from the seat of a bicycle

By RICK BROOKS

July 14, 2007; Page R5

As the world’s best cyclists battle in this month’s Tour de France, it’s hard to imagine exactly what it feels like to suffer on a steep climb or to pedal through cheering throngs near the finish line.

Not for 58-year-old Jonas Prince. Seven years ago, Mr. Prince was part of a group that slogged up the same mountain pass in the French Alps that Lance Armstrong blamed later the same day for “the hardest day of my life on a bike.”

Cycling enthusiast Holly Edwards talks with Paul Lin about her adventures on the open road and how the sport has brought big changes to the 60-year-old grandmother.

“The pros take 45 minutes, and it takes you 21⁄2 hours, but you make it,” says the chairman of Toronto-based real-estate and investment-management firm Realstar Group, who lives in Toronto and London.

Reaching the top of one of the Tour’s most legendary climbs made Mr. Prince forget all about the road rash he suffered in a crash near the bottom, he adds.

Since that trip, annual bicycling vacations with buddies have taken Mr. Prince to the Giro d’Italia, Dauphiné Libéré and other famous cycling races.

Cycling trips that indulge Tour de France fantasies or childhood memories of carefree pedaling to nowhere have been around for a long time. Now, though, older adults have a mushrooming variety of tours to choose from, as companies target cycling enthusiasts who might not be as fast as younger riders, but who often have a lot more money.

Bicycles are wonderfully forgiving about the predicaments of advancing age, such as bad knees and spare tires. That puts cycling adventures within reach of people who haven’t ridden in years.

“Absolutely anybody can do this,” says Wes Norman, a 78-year-old retired Georgetown University anatomy professor who last year rode a four-day, 180-mile trip along the Great Allegheny Passage between Pittsburgh and Columbia, Md.

The right trip also can take your life in a different direction. For Holly Edwards, 60, of Guilford, Conn., a 3,100-mile trek from San Diego to St. Augustine, Fla., in 1998 led to a second career as a fitness trainer. After 54 days on the road with WomanTours Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., Ms. Edwards couldn’t imagine being cooped up in an office as a bookkeeper.

• There is a bicycle trip to fit the needs of nearly every level of fitness, riding experience and interest. See details about select bike-tour operators.
• Plus, Essay: ‘Going green’ can be a surprising remedy for some of the ills of later life.
• See the complete Encore report.

“Being on your bicycle for hours at a time, you really get used to not thinking about what’s going on,” she says, though “you’re always looking for the next Dairy Queen.” Ms. Edwards has been a devoted cyclist ever since. Last month, she finished a ride with about 25 other women up the Mississippi River from New Orleans to the river’s source in Lake Itasca, Minn.

There are thousands of ways to see destinations around the world from the perch of a bicycle seat. Here are some of the best:

After buying a bike in 2001 — his first with more than one gear — Mr. Norman, who lives in Alexandria, Va., signed up for six one-day rides along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which meanders between Cumberland, Md., and the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. The 25- to 40-mile trips were run by Senior Cycling Inc., a Loudoun Heights, Va., bike-tour operator specializing in rides for older adults. (Company slogan: “Old folks on spokes.”)

The first day out, Mr. Norman could barely crawl back into the van or sit on his sore bottom, but he was hooked. To build his stamina, he started riding one mile around his neighborhood 10 times a day. “All of us talk about how this brings back memories,” says Mr. Norman, who pedaled to Boy Scout meetings while growing up in Illinois. “I think it has added years to my life.”

Since his first journey, Mr. Norman has conquered multiday trips through the Florida Keys and central Florida, plus eight days in a row along the Erie Canal in upstate New York. This spring, he bought a RANS Fusion, a hybrid between a road bike and a recumbent — on which the cyclist is nearly lying on his or her back. That’s good when riding uphill because it allows him to put more pressure on the pedals.

For riders who get pooped, there’s no shame in summoning the sag wagon.

“It is social riding. We stretch it out all day long,” says Pat Blackmon, a 70-year-old retired house painter who is president of Senior Cycling. “I’ll keep it up as long as I can get the bikes on top of the van.”

Many companies will arrange itineraries fine-tuned to a riding group’s size, pace and sightseeing tastes. Georgia Geiger, her husband, John, and eight neighbors in the Royal Highlands retirement community in Leesburg, Fla., picked Carolina Tailwinds in Winston-Salem, N.C., for a specialized five-day ride along Chesapeake Bay in September partly because of lavish pampering on previous trips. One night, co-owner Anne Fleming stayed up late making breakfast so riders could eat during a ferry ride in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Ms. Geiger says.

For Herb Masters, 55, of San Carlos, Calif., the inspiration to go on seven African bicycling trips through the Seattle-based International Bicycle Fund came in 1985. That’s when he decided to start tackling a list of sights he wanted to experience before dying.

Near the top of his list were two sights that he would cross off at the same time: Halley’s Comet and Machu Picchu, the famed Andes Mountain ruin. He bought a mountain bike and went to Peru alone. The monthlong trip was thrilling, he says, but the comet was a dud and the language barrier frustrating. Then he tried a trip to Costa Rica, but didn’t like the tour group’s style of self-contained cooking and camping because it made him feel detached from the local culture.

IBF’s bare-bones approach for its two-week rides is heavy on serendipity, with visits to villages and rides on back roads aimed at creating enriching, real-life encounters. Last year, riders in Vietnam were briefly detained after taking a shortcut down a road that apparently was closed to foreigners. While being held, they ate a delicious lunch and gulped shots of rice wine, toasting one another with a Vietnamese version of “cheers,” says Doug Sovern, a radio reporter in San Francisco who was there.

Such trips are “an amazing reality check,” says Mr. Masters, who retired as a firefighter in 2005 and has been to Ghana, Mali, Togo and Tunisia. “It validated my worldview was warped. I knew I didn’t get it, but I didn’t know how much I didn’t get it.”

In August 2008, Dick Michaux and longtime friend Jim Burger will dip the back tires of their bikes into the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Ore., to start a 3,500-mile cross-country ride that they hope will end eight weeks later with a front-tire dip in the Atlantic Ocean in Kittery Point, Maine.

“Life at 15 miles an hour is wonderful,” says Mr. Michaux, 63, who rode for 10 days with his wife in France’s Loire Valley in 1984 but otherwise did little riding before retiring five years ago from apartment developer AvalonBay Communities Inc., Alexandria, Va., where he was chairman, president and chief executive.

Do-it-yourself trips maximize freedom but can be a logistical nightmare. In the Western U.S., the two men plan to follow bicycle maps produced by Adventure Cycling Association in Missoula, Mont., which include turn-by-turn directions, elevation profiles and repair-shop locations. Because they want to choose their own route after that, they are calling around to figure out which roads are safe. They also hired a support-van driver who will double as a mechanic and masseur.

The journey partly is a fund-raising venture to advance research on phenylketonuria, a metabolic disorder occurring in about one in 10,000 births, including Mr. Michaux’s 41⁄2-year-old granddaughter, Tia. Mr. Michaux hoped to make the trip this August but was sidelined by a blood clot in his leg. He hopes to resume training this month. “I am disappointed, just because the ride will be off for a year, but I’m totally committed to it,” he says. Daily updates and photos from the road will be posted on their Web site, pkucycleamerica.com.

You don’t have to look like Lance Armstrong to pretend you’re racing through France to win the maillot jaune, the yellow jersey worn by the race’s leader. Still, bicycle trips on the same roads used by the Tour de France are really only for serious riders who want to test their legs and grit on some of cycling’s storied battlegrounds.

“Challenging is a poor choice of words” to describe some routes, says Bruno Toutain, whose tour company, Cyclomundo of Gaillard, France, will take riders up two major climbs in the Pyrenees early on July 23, just ahead of Stage 15 in the 2,206-mile race.

Part of the thrill comes from being in the middle of a moving circus. Mr. Prince, the cyclist who seven years ago shared an Alpine pass with Mr. Armstrong, recalls taking a similar trip to Italy with the same company, Steve Bauer Bike Tours Inc., St. Catharines, Ontario. Mr. Bauer, 48, is a retired professional cyclist who wore the maillot jaune for 14 days altogether — five days in the 1988 Tour, and nine in 1990.

Mr. Prince was in the Italian Alps, he says, hopping back on his bicycle after watching riders in the Giro d’Italia pass by, when suddenly helicopters started buzzing overhead.

“The rest of the race wasn’t by us yet,” says Mr. Prince. “We realized we were in the Giro.”

His group zipped down a steep descent, veering off the race course right before the finish line.

–Mr. Brooks is deputy bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal in Atlanta. He can be reached at encore@wsj.com.

• Cyclists’ Yellow Pages adv-cycling.org/cyp/index.cfm
• Senior Cycling Inc. seniorcycling.com
• WomanTours Inc. womantours.com
• Carolina Tailwinds carolinatailwinds.com
• International Bicycle Fund ibike.org
• Steve Bauer Bike Tours Inc. stevebauer.com
• Cyclomundo cyclomundo.com

December 15, 2002

By SUSAN CATTO

As a young woman, Joan Cain never dreamed that she would go to Antarctica, Alaska and Russia – much less all three in one year. “I only started traveling about 10 years ago,” she said recently, now 59, a paralegal and living in Atlanta. She is planning to take all three trips with the adventure company ElderTreks in 2003. “After my husband died I discovered that traveling was my passion,” said Ms. Cain.

Mature travelers – usually defined as 50 or 55 and over – are the fastest-growing group of consumers in the industry. Dozens of tour companies now cater exclusively to older travelers, promising greater attention to health and mobility concerns, as well emphasizing stress-free travel and comfortable accommodations.

For many older travelers, the companionship is as important as the destination. A 2001 study by the Travel Industry Association found travelers 55 and over nearly twice as likely to participate in group tours as those in other age groups.

Now in her late 60’s, Diana Hage, who works in a latchkey program in Westland, Mich., has been on 20 Elderhostel trips since 1989. “It’s the stimulation of the mind and the interesting people that attract me,” said. Ms. Hage, who often attends new sessions with friends she’s made in the program. Gone are the days when mature travelers were relegated to cruise ships, tour buses and shuffleboard courts, said Ward Luthi, founder of the Colorado travel company Walking the World, which is geared to those “50 and better.”

“Seniors nowadays are not the rocking-chair kind – most of us are in pretty good shape,” said Pat Blackmon of Senior Cycling. Like most such companies, Senior Cycling classifies trips by fitness level; all tours are accompanied by a “sag wagon” that relieves tired riders.

It’s in the interest of both tour operators and passengers to make clear how much exertion will be required, said Gary Murtagh, president of ElderTreks, based in Toronto. No matter how active the days, tours for mature travelers tend to emphasize comfortable nights. Older travelers are less interested in roughing it, said Mr. Murtagh. “Most of them like their own bathroom and something comfortable at the end of the day instead of staying in tents.”

Here is a selection of companies that cater to senior travelers, with a sampling of their offerings. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and include meals, but not transportation to the point of departure unless stated. Policies on single supplements vary; if you’re willing to share, most companies will try to match you with a roommate.

Now in its 17th year, ElderTreks offers land and marine adventures on five continents. Tours are limited to 16 people (some of the boat trips are larger or smaller). “There’s a very strong emphasis on cultural interaction, meeting people in off-the-beaten-path villages or going to their homes,” said Gary Murtagh, the president. The 21-day Cultural West Africa trip loops through Mali and Burkina Faso, with a safari on the Niger River and a trip to Timbuktu ($3,995, Feb. 10 to March 2; Nov. 3 to 23). (800) 741-7956, www.eldertreks.com. The lower age limit is 50, but the rule is flexible.

Based in Loudoun Heights, Virginia, Senior Cycling offers 2- to 10-day programs through the United States, as well as day trips in the Washington region. “We’re not concerned with how far and how fast,” said Pat Blackmon, who founded the company three years ago. “We’ve done that. Now we’re concerned with enjoying ourselves.” A two-day tour of the Northern Neck of Virginia ($215, April 20-21) is suitable for beginners, while a weeklong intermediate-level trip along the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany ($1,260, May 16 to 22 and Sept. 27 to Oct. 3) involves about 55 miles of pedaling each day. Bike rental is extra. (540) 668-6307; www.seniorcycling.com. Age minimum, 50.

SUSAN CATTO contributes to The Times from Toronto.

Copyright The New York Times Company

By Christine B. Whelan

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, August 6, 2000; Page V01

Eight women clad in baggy shorts and sensible shoes and with mud-splattered legs rolled in to a rest stop along the C&O Canal Tuesday morning, huffing, puffing and laughing. The women–of varying shapes, sizes and athletic abilities–had two things in common: None would see 50 again, and all would just as soon ride into the sunset at something less than breakneck speed.

The golden girls had just completed the first quarter of their 12-mile beginners tour, led by Pat Blackmon, 61, a retired Loudoun Heights house painter who still laughs when she remembers what inspired her to start Senior Cycling Inc.–otherwise known as “Old Folks on Spokes.”

Blackmon was on a cross-country trip two years ago with her friend Donna Packard, now 66, of Vienna. After a long day’s journey, they stopped at an ice cream parlor in Louisiana, clutching water bottles and wiping sweat from under their helmets.

“The woman serving us ice cream stops and says, ‘Folks inside are wondering how old you are.’ We were wearing all our bike gear and leaning against the outside wall of the shop. We told her,” Blackmon said. “The teenaged waitress looks at us and says, ‘And you’re still riding bicycles?’ ”

Blackmon’s biking tours for men and women older than 50 offer adventure relatively risk-free, with a van driving alongside riders for those who want to take a break and still keep up with the pack. A trailer full of gourmet foodstuffs, first-aid supplies, water and bug spray is never far away.

Nonetheless, the 10 women who had mounted their bikes at White’s Ferry that morning faced the trip with a little trepidation. Several hadn’t been on a bike in years, but their fears were allayed as they set off down the shaded canal path at a leisurely 8 miles per hour.

After a break for chilled melon and lemonade, they put another few miles behind them on the wet towpath and then camped again for a three-course lunch of salad, sandwiches and cakes.

During the rest, Blackmon lectured on the fundamentals of cycling and offered advice on choosing the right equipment, laughing as the women complained of sore tailbones. “Just do it a few more times, and you’ll be hard as rock,” she said.

For riders of all ages, the idea is to build endurance. Blackmon gives older riders the chance to do it at slower speeds, taking time to enjoy the journey. For those who want more than a day trip, there is a longer, intermediate journey–more miles and even more food. A two-day, 50-mile “Gourmet Biking” trip along the Lost River Valley paths of West Virginia includes an overnight stop at a bed-and-breakfast, with hot tubs for aching muscles.

For more accomplished riders, Senior Cycling offers a seven-day, 380-mile Erie Canal trip from Buffalo to Albany, N.Y., in early October and more than a dozen other trips of varying intensity throughout the year. Although women make up most of the pack on beginner rides, Blackmon said men are more likely to join the longer treks.

“Seniors want to ride, to enjoy, to see what they see,” Blackmon said. “And at the same time, you get exercise. Isn’t that nice?”

Packard, a regular on Senior Cycling trips, said she is the usually oldest rider. On Tuesday, she brought along two underage riders–her daughter, Jackie Prevenas, 42, and her granddaughter, Erin Kelly, 16–and still outrode them. “I think I’m just going to die,” Prevenas said as she finished the trip 10 minutes behind her mother. “Mom’s an amazing woman.”

For Ellyn Mulrenin, 51, a government auditor from Falls Church, Tuesday’s trip was her first. After a visit to her doctor, she said she decided to lose some inches to improve her health, and though she isn’t quite ready to think of herself as a “senior,” she signed up for a trip. Although she spent as much time riding in the support van as she did on the trail, she declared her first attempt a success.

“We don’t want to be in the Tour de France,” Mulrenin said, after polishing off a slice of chocolate pound cake at the lunch break. “We want to have fun, and this moderate exercise is great for us.”

Blackmon may preach moderation, but she hasn’t practiced it religiously. Eleven years ago, she helped found the Vienna-based Golden Girls senior women’s softball team, now ranked number one in the country. As both coach and player, she will be the first woman to be inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame later this month at a ceremony at Prince William Stadium.

She said she retired from house painting several years ago after climbing ladders became more challenging. Climbing onto a road bike is fun, she said, and keeps her with active, like-minded people.

“Biking is a love, and I really enjoy turning seniors on to new, healthy activities,” she said.

With a $42,000 initial investment in a van, trailer and rental bikes, Blackmon enlisted her family’s help to create a Web site and come up with a slogan for the group. “Old Folks on Spokes” was the invention of her daughter-in-law, Sue Milan Blackmon.

From the beginning, Blackmon has also had help from her friends Marie Phipps, 64, and Vera Mitchell, 63. Both women are cyclists, and they also take charge of driving the van, preparing the lunch and mothering new riders. Mitchell, who has lived in Loudoun County for 30 years, said the Washington area has much to offer bikers. She chimed in as Blackmon led the battle cry for more respect and facilities for cyclers.

“It’s absurd that the C&O Canal path and the Washington & Old Dominion path don’t connect with a trail,” Blackmon said. “We’ve been complaining about this for years.”

Martha Irish, 53, said she joined Tuesday’s tour after being left in the dust by Potomac Pedalers, a Washington recreational biking club geared toward younger, more experienced riders. “I didn’t become an athlete until 40,” Irish said. “This is more my speed.”

To join a Senior Cycling trip, call 540-668-6307 or visit www.seniorcycling.com.

© 2000 The Washington Post Company