August 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Host Tom Butler returns to the microphone after taking some time away to share a mid-year progress report on his 2025 goals and ambitions.
In this candid update episode, Tom takes listeners through his cycling achievements from the first half of the year, revealing how his fitness journey has been progressing and what milestones he's reached. But the good news doesn't stop at personal cycling goals – Tom also dives into the developments happening with the podcast itself and shares updates on his efforts to build a thriving local Cycling Over Sixty community.
Whether you're just starting your fitness journey later in life or you're already pedaling toward your own goals, this episode is packed with inspiration and proof that it's never too late to pursue an active, healthy lifestyle. Tom's honest reflections on progress, setbacks, and victories offer valuable insights for anyone looking to get more fit and engaged in their community after later in life.
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Consider becoming a member of the Cycling Over Sixty Strava Club! www.strava.com/clubs/CyclingOverSixty
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Please send comments, questions and especially content suggestions to me at tom.butler@teleiomedia.com
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Show music is "Come On Out" by Dan Lebowitz. Find him here : lebomusic.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Butler (00:04):
this is the cycling over 60 podcast, season 3,
episode 35, 2025 six-monthupdate, and I'm your host, tom
butler.
I'm happy to be back in frontof a microphone and producing
(00:26):
episodes again.
I don't have a big reason whythere's been such a gap since
the last episode.
It's just been a really busysummer.
In the future, I need to figureout how to do podcasts while
traveling.
We have been gone a number ofweeks and then when we get back,
it seems like we have to catchup on a lot of things.
I did pick up a laptop and Ihope to be able to capture and
(00:46):
upload interviews whiletraveling in the future.
That would help me get somecontent up when I'm away from
home.
Another factor is that we areputting in a lot of work on our
house.
Right now, we're finallygetting to some home projects
that we've put off for a while.
An example of that is puttingon a new roof.
For a week, I helped out withthe roofing project and I also
dug out a couple of tree stumps,and for that week I felt like
(01:10):
somebody had beaten me all overwith a baseball bat.
I must have been using a bunchof muscles that I normally don't
use, but I felt sore from headto toe.
As sore as I felt I do think itwould have been even worse if I
wasn't as fit as I am now.
I think it's likely that I evenprevented injuring myself
because of a decent level offitness.
So the lifting and riding I'vebeen doing paid off, in my
(01:32):
opinion.
While we still have a lot ofwork to do on these projects,
I'm past the intense part of theprojects and I have more time
to get back to the podcast.
All that is to say that I don'tsee a disruption in producing
episodes in the near future.
Since I'm past six months into2025, I thought I would take
some time and report on howthings are going.
(01:52):
I have two goals here.
One is to give you a progressreport and the other is try to
distill from my journey lessonsthat benefit everybody else.
I should say that knowingpeople are following my progress
is massive motivation for me.
However, the biggest motivationis that my journey inspires and
informs others.
I'll try to do that here.
(02:13):
In a way, this is much about myprogress since September 2022,
as the last six months, I'vebeen steadily improving my
cycling for 33 months now andseeing some significant health
benefits, along with the fun I'mhaving on the bike.
Overall, I'm very happy with howthe first half of the year has
gone.
I continue to make improvementsin basically all areas of my
(02:36):
cycling.
The one exception might be thefact that I feel my balance
isn't getting better.
It is possible that my sense ofthis is just off.
It's hard to believe that I'mnot improving balance as I'm
riding.
So here might be one factor themore I ride, the more I push my
bike handling.
What I wouldn't have done acouple years ago I do now.
(02:56):
That could make it seem likeI'm struggling with balance when
I'm just putting myself in morechallenging situations.
It'd be great if I could findsome way to measure my balance,
because I see balance as animportant factor in staying
active and I'd like to thinkthat cycling will help me
preserve my balance later inlife.
Here's a look at how my ridinggoals are going.
(03:17):
My distance goal for the yearis 3,650 miles.
At the six-month mark I was at2,279.
That put me 389 miles ahead ofa pace to complete the goal.
Last year, at the halfway mark,I had 1,546 miles.
A factor with my distance goalis that I'm getting credit for
(03:38):
miles this year that I wouldn'thave in the past.
That is because I spent a lotof time on Zwift in the first
six months and Zwift isreporting it to Strava.
For a while now I have spenttime on a stationary bicycle,
but in the past none of that hasbeen reported to Strava.
After some thinking about it,I'm comfortable lumping in Zwift
(03:58):
miles with my road miles fornow.
Of the 2,279 miles this year,road miles for now Of the 2,279
miles this year, 1,166 mileshave been virtual.
Obviously, that is a huge chunk.
In the month of June, I did36.5 miles on Zwift of a total
of 433 miles.
What this shows is that I wasobviously wimping out when the
(04:20):
weather was bad, and now thatit's better I'm spending more
time outside.
Some of my rides have beenrelatively short rides, but the
one thing I want to stress isdon't dismiss shorter rides or
lighter efforts, because theyform the crucial building blocks
of any successful cyclingjourney.
Every pedal stroke counts,whether you're cruising around
(04:40):
the block for 15 minutes ormaybe embarking on a mellow ride
through the neighborhood park.
There's real value in theseseemingly modest outings that
sometimes cyclists overlook.
Sometimes we put more value inmore ambitious rides, but
especially if you're juststarting out.
Shorter rides are where youdevelop proper bike handling
(05:03):
skills.
Shorter rides are where youdevelop proper bike handling
skills.
You also build confidence intraffic and, most importantly,
comfortable rides develop agenuine love for cycling.
One thing that can killenjoyment of cycling is being
overwhelmed on a long ride.
Anytime you're on a bike, yourcardiovascular system is
strengthening, your leg musclesare developing cycling-specific
(05:25):
endurance and your core islearning to support you
efficiently in the saddle.
Every ride is building thefoundation for longer or harder
rides, creating neural pathwaysthat will serve you well when
you're ready to push further.
Consider each ride as aninvestment in your future
cycling adventures, laying downlayers of fitness and experience
(05:46):
that will compound over time.
I think a cyclist whoconsistently enjoys short,
pleasant rides will justnaturally progress further and
stay cycling longer than someonewho burns out trying to do too
much too soon.
In addition to the miles goal, Iset a climbing goal of 110,000
feet of elevation.
My progress at six months was80,435 feet.
(06:09):
That was above the pace by23,476 feet.
The elevation I did on Zwiftwas 42,385 feet.
Unlike the miles done on Zwift,the elevation is not the same
In real life if I'm pedaling upanything above 6% grade for any
length of time.
I have to be in my lowest gearand I have to pedal really slow
(06:32):
not to get above my heart ratetarget.
But on Zwift I can gear downand keep my RPMs high.
It just isn't the samedifficulty at all and doesn't
even feel anywhere like climbingin real life.
I think that climbing in Zwifthas benefits, but I don't want
to count all the elevationtowards my goal, so I think I'll
only count half the Zwiftelevation.
(06:52):
Making that adjustment, I'm at59,243 feet and that means I'm
just about right on track tomeet the 110,000 feet goal.
There's a lot of time that I'mcycling at a fairly low
intensity.
For example, many of the shortrides I do after breakfast to
burn up blood glucose are lowintensity, but I believe that it
is valuable anytime I'm puttingout energy.
(07:14):
I didn't set a time goal thisyear, but I think I'll do that
next year.
My time spent pedaling at thesix month point was 164 hours
and two minutes.
That compares to 116 hours and28 minutes for the first six
months of 2024.
I was looking for a way tojudge that amount of time.
One option is to look at whatis recommended for people to be
(07:38):
healthy.
As far as moderate activity isconcerned, that recommendation
is 150 minutes every week.
To meet that requirement wouldmean I would have done 65 hours
of moderate activity so far thisyear.
I did close to two and a halftimes the recommended.
I think everybody could agreethat the recommended is a
minimum.
(07:58):
I think the recommendations arethere because public health
officials are constantly tryingto get such a sedentary
population moving.
For me, there's no questionthat I want to exceed.
What Of the 164 hours ofcycling I did in the first six
months, I spent 79 hours andfour minutes on Zwift.
This is an area that I'm happy,counting what I've done on
Zwift toward a goal.
(08:18):
Thinking about it, I think I'lladd a time goal for this year
and shoot for 320 minutes ofactivity by the end of the year.
Zwift is different for me thanbeing out on the road on the
bike.
The biggest thing for me isthat time just drags on when I'm
on Zwift.
The exception to this is theCycle Number 60 Zwift Tuesday
rides, as Kelly has talked aboutbefore.
(08:39):
Cycling indoors is just not ashealthy as being out in the
fresh air.
There's a lot of reasons why Iwant to spend as much time as
possible outside.
However, I certainly benefitedfrom embracing Zwift as a
training tool.
In particular, I love seeingthe power data and that helps to
motivate me.
While the weather isn'tterrible here in the Northwest,
(09:05):
I did appreciate this yearhaving the indoor training
option for cold, rainy days.
Being able to be comfortable onreally bad weather days by
riding indoors is no doubtpartially responsible for me
increasing the amount of time Iwas active.
In the first six months of theyear I didn't think about
setting goals as far as settingpersonal best times, but I know
I was expecting to set some.
In the first six months Ihaven't really done a lot of
(09:27):
that.
I did set PRs for 10 miles, 20k, 30k and 50k, but it's like in
one ride.
I didn't beat PRs over and overagain as the year progressed.
But next year I think I'llchange that by looking at a way
of breaking some personal bests.
I think maybe I'll target 10miles, 40k and 50 miles and see
(09:49):
if throughout the year, I can'tbest those times.
Personally, I find thatachieving PRs really motivates
me to push it, but it's reallytrue that I benefit more from
focusing on consistency than onspeed.
Prs can naturally emerge fromjust simply getting more fit.
Like I said, I set several PRson one ride.
That's because I was ridingwith people who are stronger
(10:11):
than me, so I pushed myself andI think I need to regularly ride
with stronger people here whoare stronger than me.
So I pushed myself and I thinkI need to regularly ride with
stronger people.
Here's the problem for me.
If I ride with stronger people,I need to let the group know
that it's okay to leave me.
One problem I have is that Ihate to slow a group down.
I simply would enjoy myself alot more if I knew the group was
willing to drop me instead ofwaiting for me.
(10:33):
That takes getting to know agroup of people really well.
I think that they feelcomfortable, that I won't feel
neglected if they leave mebehind, so they can go harder by
themselves.
One question I'd like to getpeople to comment on is how are
you balancing the occasionalride that is a real challenge
(10:53):
with riding in a way that iscomfortable enough and develops
consistency.
One of the biggest goals I setthis year was to do 25
consecutive weeks of upper bodystrength training and I'm really
happy to report that Iaccomplished that goal.
I want to stress two thingsabout that 25 weeks.
First and most importantly, Idefinitely saw a transformation
(11:14):
in my upper body and I see thatas excellent news, not only for
me but for anybody in their 60s.
I didn't significantly increasethe amount of weight I could
lift and someone suggested thatI connect with a personal
trainer and that mightaccelerate my progress in that
realm.
I think that might be a goodidea.
I would like to do that andthen get permission to have my
(11:36):
first session with the trainerrecorded for the podcast.
The person who suggested apersonal trainer is 70 years old
.
He found that it made a bigdifference for his progress and,
of course, the personal trainerappreciated the fact that he
was interested in buildingstrength at his age.
In some ways, I think thatpersonal training when you get
older might be more importantthan any other time in life.
(11:59):
I wish I knew how to bestmeasure the changes that I saw
over the 25 weeks.
I could get a new bodycomposition test done.
However, I don't think it wouldmeasure specifically enough for
me to see just whattransformation there has been in
my upper body muscle groups.
I guess that might be somethingthat I would talk to a personal
trainer about.
(12:19):
I wish everyone could feel whatI feel after doing these
workouts.
I know that a lot of people wholisten to this podcast have had
this experience.
I'd like for people who aren'tlifting to experience what I've
experienced.
My upper body literally feelsdifferent.
When I cross my arms, I canfeel the different.
Carrying things feels different.
I would like everyone to knowthat if they haven't been doing
(12:41):
anything to stay strong for 30years, in six months you can see
a huge difference.
Again, I didn't see a lot ofchanges in the amount of weight
I was moving, but my functionalcapacity changed significantly.
So I would say start small ifneeded, but start now, which
everybody says.
I avoided upper body workoutsfor a while when I started
cycling, and I think that wasthe right move for me.
(13:03):
I think I needed to just focuson doing something that I really
enjoy, like cycling.
I don't enjoy lifting weightsand I don't know that I ever
will, but there is no denyingthat adding upper body workouts
has really contributed to ahigher level of overall fitness
that cycling alone doesn'tprovide.
Truth is, I would love to beable to stop lifting, but that
(13:25):
just is not an option.
Now here's the bad news Despite25 weeks of upper body workouts
, it never moved into the realmof a new habit.
What I mean by that is that itnever became automatic.
I always had to think reallyhard about when I was going to
work out.
There were several weeks whereI needed to work out late on
(13:47):
Saturday night just to make sureand get my second session in
for the week, and on oneoccasion I flexed to Sunday my
second session in for the week,and on one occasion I flexed to
Sunday.
The rest of this year will bespent trying to change it so
that upper body workouts aremore automatic.
I know that I only made the25-week goal because I had
family and friends cheering meon when it was Saturday and I
(14:08):
hadn't done a second workout yet.
I was highly motivated to getit in so that I could share that
.
I was one week closer to mygoal.
I would send a text message outto people that were watching my
progress and I would getawesome support messages back.
That kind of externalaccountability is essential for
me.
In addition to physicalperformance goals, I also set a
(14:28):
goal to do seven group ridesthis year, and I wanted two of
them to be outside the state ofWashington.
I did two rides in the firstsix months.
They were both in-state.
I'm finding that doing sevenrides is a pretty high goal for
me, but I do believe that I canget them all.
In this year I have been able totake my bike along on some
trips and did some great riding.
(14:49):
In Eugene, oregon, I connectedwith GEARS, the Greater Eugene
Area Riders, for two rides.
I really enjoyed the company ofthe good people at GEARS.
I also took my bike on a tripto Coeur d'Alene, idaho, and
rode by myself on the CentennialTrail there.
That was an example of how I'mreally benefiting from taking my
bike on trips.
Coeur d'Alene is such abeautiful area and the
(15:12):
Centennial Trail is a reallynice trail.
Another trip where I loaded thebike up and took it with us was
to a friend's wedding.
We stayed in Enterprise, oregon.
I pulled up a route on Ride withGPS that looked great and
headed out on a Sunday morning.
That ride ended up being verydifferent for a couple reasons.
First, the scenery in that partof Oregon is fantastic and
(15:35):
different from where I ridearound my home here.
But the biggest difference wasthe ride with GPS.
Information didn't really matchthe route Ride with GPS showed
that a small amount of the ridewas on gravel roads.
However, probably threequarters of the ride was on
gravel.
I did have a really fun time onthe ride and my Specialized
Roubaix did really well on thegravel, but I really wish I'd
(15:58):
had known about the gravel andput different tires on.
The biggest issue was comingdown some pretty steep hills and
having to go slow to preventover braking and have the tires
slide out.
I mention these rides here inthis six-month report because
they represent something Iwanted to do more of this year.
I wanted to ride in new placesand have new experiences.
(16:18):
The rides in Idaho and Oregondid provide new experiences and
that was especially true forriding on the gravel roads
around Enterprise.
A big part of cycling for me isalways going to be the journey
of discovery and again I want tobe specifically planning and
setting specific goals to makethat happen every year.
(16:39):
I wanted to specifically focuson doing more gravel rides this
year and I did start that byexploring the Cascade to Blues
Trail.
I have more work to do to figureout kind of what setup I need
to do more gravel and that mightinclude looking in to get some
new equipment.
I definitely want to get Kellya different setup that will
(16:59):
handle gravel well.
So I'm just beginning theprocess of making gravel riding
a regular thing.
The target is having it allfigured out before the end of
the year.
I haven't gone on any bikepacking trips this year and this
again is something that Ireally wanted to get figured out
before the end of the year anddo some really nice trips.
I do want to get that figuredout before the weather gets bad.
(17:20):
Last year the bikepacking tripI did was on the road and I
might have to do that again.
I was hoping to do gravelbikepacking and again there's
some work I need to do to figureout my gravel setup first.
For now I'll look for somethingaccessible by road or paved
trail.
I really enjoyed the OlympicDiscovery Trail, so I think I'll
look for something along thattrail.
(17:41):
I do feel pretty good about mybikepacking setup if I'm on the
road and I'm really excited touse it more.
Here's something that I'mhoping will unlock some
adventures in the future.
Now that I'm 62, I've investedin the America the Beautiful
Senior Pass for $80.
I'll have to start a list ofbike camping locations that the
(18:03):
Senior Pass provides a discountto.
It just seems like among thesites under the Senior Pass are
some good bike camping options.
These sites are managed by theBureau of Land Management,
bureau of Reclamation, fish andWildlife Services, usda Forest
Service, national Park Serviceand the US Army Corps of
Engineers.
One interesting aspect is thatgenerally a pass holder and
(18:26):
three other bicyclists can enterfor free into sites managed by
these entities.
There is some gear that I wouldlike to get, based on riding so
far this year.
One is a new cycling computer.
I currently use a Kuzpo CS500.
I chose that because it'sreally cheap.
(18:46):
It's a navigation computer thatyou can find for under $100.
The problem is that thenavigation is a little too basic
.
There is only a single pathdisplayed, but complicated road
systems can make it difficult toconfirm that you are on route.
On a recent ride I followed theroute to a bike trail and
(19:07):
noticed that I seemed to be justa little off the trail.
Come to find out I was on thewrong trail.
The trail that I was supposedto be on was on the other side
of an interstate.
This was an area that had twotrails, one on each side of the
interstate.
The display didn't show theinterstate, so it wasn't
completely obvious where I wassupposed to be.
(19:28):
So I've begun the process oflooking at Garmin computers or
something else.
That would be an upgrade.
The other change in equipmentthat I'm considering is putting
smaller chainrings on.
I currently have a 34-toothlower chainring, but it doesn't
take much grade before I'mpedaling really slow.
For higher grades I'm pedalingat 40-45 RPMs.
(19:49):
If I'm going to continue tochallenge myself on rides with a
lot of elevation, I think itmakes sense for me to consider
putting on a 32-tooth smallchainring.
I'm a little nervous aboutleaving my 50-tooth large
chainring on.
I'll have to find out ifshifting from 50 to 32 would
cause any problems.
I could also look at maybechanging my cassette instead,
(20:10):
but I think that could bring inmore problems.
I love my Specialized Roubaixon a lot of levels, but I do
think I might have to consideroptions to make it support my
limitations or even considerlooking at other bikes.
One of the things that I hopecomes out of cycling over 60 is
a deep understanding of how toaccommodate physiological
(20:31):
changes that happen for olderriders.
I've obviously learned over thelast two years that I can be
stronger than I thought, but thetruth is that someday I will
slow down, someday I will evenswitch over to an e-bike to keep
going, but I want to understandmore about what is in between
my current Real Bay, which isdesigned for all riders, and a
(20:52):
bike with pedal assist.
I want to know how bikeswithout motors can be designed
to meet the needs of cyclistslater in life.
I don't think there's a lot ofdesigners asking this question,
which is strange to me, becausewhen I go out on a big group
ride, there are a lot of olderriders who aren't on e-bikes.
Maybe we need to see a movementwhere we have regular bikes
(21:12):
being designed by older ridersfor older riders and seeing the
difference that can make.
The bottom line of my ridingover the first six months of
this year is this At 62, I'mstill getting stronger.
I would be happy to just beholding steady.
However, I'm improving and thatshould be exciting to everyone,
and I'm doing it withoutperfect physiology.
(21:34):
I have energy utilizationissues that I believe are
interfering with me achievingeven more.
I think it's true that, nomatter what someone is dealing
with, that I'm a testament tothe power of being active.
So I would say to everyone dowhatever activity you can do.
I also want to report on mygoals for the podcast over the
(21:55):
first half of the year.
I had a couple directions that Iwanted to go with the podcast
at the beginning of the season.
The first is that I wanted tointerview more authors.
I'm happy that I've been ableto do that with people who have
done some great writing abouttheir cycling adventures.
Now I would also like toinclude more people who write
about health.
One thing that hasn't been asmuch of a focus as I've wanted
(22:15):
is the topic of individualizedmedicine.
There's a reason for that.
I've been working to getconnected to more local health
experts.
I believe that thoseconnections can open the door to
guests who are experts indifferent areas of the
individualized medicinelandscape.
Local connections have taken alittle more time than I expected
because I've been developingmaterials to share with the
(22:36):
healthcare system here locallythat help to tell the Cycling
Over 60 story, but I expect myefforts will yield some good
results soon.
Trying new things is reallyimportant to me and I want to do
more of that in the next fewmonths.
Along for the Ride episodes arean example of trying to
innovate, I believe, if I canget it perfected Along for the
Ride is going to be a funaddition to my regular
interviews.
(22:56):
Maybe the most important thingI'm working on is to have more
of a local community aspect toCycling Over 60.
Expanding the podcast to alsoinclude real-life support is
taking a lot of energy.
That's typical of launchingsomething new.
It takes a lot of energy in thebeginning, and that is the case
with the new initiative to havea local Cycling Over 60 group
(23:17):
in Tacoma, but I'm reallyexcited for what I'm seeing.
I'm consistently seeing how apackage of local resources can
help to encourage cyclists tostay on the bike later in life,
and I'm only seeing thebeginning.
One of the things that I feltwas important was to have a new
website for Cycling Over 60.
Something that would capturethe move from more than a
podcast.
If you go over tocyclingovers60.com, you will see
(23:39):
the first iteration of a sitethat I hope will someday be a
hub for anybody wanting topursue cycling as they age.
The function of launching thefirst local Cycling Over 60
community in Tacoma is, ofcourse, to impact the local
community, but the launch isincredibly valuable for
determining what components willbe important to support a local
(23:59):
community of older cyclists.
I really want to understandwhat that package of support
looks like.
Now.
There are a lot of oldercyclists who are like me and
don't really need much support,but the most valuable thing
Cycling Over 60 can do is toencourage people to get on the
bike for the first time or toget back on the bike after being
off for a long time.
(24:24):
So far, I developed somecomponents that I think are
really vital to be in place.
First is a local bike club thathas a focus on accepting
inexperienced riders to grouprides.
Second is an entity that isfocused on getting access to
bikes for people that havelimited financial resources.
Another element is a localmedical system that embraces
exercise and medicine and thebicycle as a medical device.
I didn't have a lot ofopportunities in the first half
(24:46):
of the year to have theconversations with health
professionals about the conceptof the bicycle as a medical
device.
I'm expecting theseconversations to be very
interesting.
One thing that I believe forsure is getting connected with
as many healthcare people aspossible who are passionate
about cycling will help reallymove things forward.
Another aspect that I think issuper important for the overall
(25:09):
support of a local Cycling with60 community is organizations
like non-motorizedtransportation advocacy groups
and local transportationagencies.
The first half of this year hasbeen spent gathering
information about whatorganizations like this are in
the Tacoma area.
For the second half, my goal isto have good connections with
as many organizations aspossible.
(25:31):
One exciting development thisyear is that I volunteered to be
the community and governmentrelations director for the
Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club.
To be the community andgovernment relations director
for the Tacoma WashingtonBicycle Club, an aspect of the
role is that it will allow me togive back to the community.
I benefit from TacomaWashington Bicycle Club and I'm
glad to participate in makingthe club as strong as it can be.
I plan to learn as much as Ican about how an organization
(25:54):
like Tacoma Washington BicycleClub can contribute in a
meaningful way to efforts tocreate safer spaces for cyclists
to ride.
I'm very fortunate because thepresident of TWBC, bob Myrick,
has decades of experience incommunity and government
relations.
It gives me the opportunity toget educated from someone who
really knows how to make theright connections.
(26:14):
The rest of the year will bespent having Bob get me up to
speed and meeting otheradvocates in the area.
I find the aspect of communityand government relations
fascinating.
I think I'm really going toenjoy doing this work.
While I love that I'm gettingmore involved in the local
community, I also want to getmore plugged into the community
of podcast listeners.
I started doing Zwift grouprides to create an opportunity
(26:36):
to ride with people who aren'tnearby.
These virtual rides had only afew participants but I always
enjoyed them and I really likeit when people would join me on
the Zoom call.
I would have Zoom chat up atthe same time as the ride.
It really doesn't matter to meif someone is riding or not.
The Zoom call is a way for usto meet.
The rides are on pause for thesummer, but look for Cycling
(27:00):
Over 60 Zwift Tuesdays to startup again in Lake Fall.
My plan is to start it up againon Tuesdays, but if there's a
lot of people who want to do itat a certain time, I'll try to
make that time happen.
One element of a local CyclingOver 60 community that I think
provides an opportunity tocreate a real heart connection
is Cycling Without Age.
Cycling Over 60 is now anaffiliate with Cycling Without
(27:21):
Age.
If you'd like to know moreabout this program, I would
recommend watching the seriescalled Joyride on PBS.
We started working with Alessio, an organization in Tacoma, to
use their bike rickshaws to giveresidents with limited mobility
rides.
It has been as rewarding as youcan imagine.
I see opportunities like thisas really vital to make Cycling
(27:43):
Over 60 a true community.
As you might know from listeningto the podcast, I like asking
people questions and I do thinkthis helps with a program like
Cycling Without Age.
I'm having such a fun timegetting to know the people who
hop on for a ride.
Hopefully I will be able toshare some audio from my rides
on a podcast someday.
(28:03):
It's great to be able topartner with Alessio, but I also
want to figure out how theTacoma Parks Department can have
some bike rickshaws that can beused for anyone in the city.
I've connected with the rightpeople at the Parks Department,
but it'd be really helpful tofind a similar program someplace
else.
As you can imagine, there are alot of questions that need to
(28:29):
be answered before the ParksDepartment would embrace a
program.
It would be helpful to find aplace that has answered those
questions already someplace else.
The final update I want to giveis concerning the first annual
Psych over 60 celebration, anevent I'm genuinely excited to
launch, despite some initialconstraints.
It is scheduled for Sunday,september 14th, and I'm hoping
to have a wonderful turnout ofcyclists who share a passion for
(28:52):
staying active and adventurousat any age.
This first event is going to bepretty laid back, with a relaxed
atmosphere where we can simplyenjoy each other's company.
I hope it's an opportunity toshare stories from the road and
to celebrate the joy of cyclingwithout any pressure or
competition.
I just don't have the resourcesto pull off something big this
year, but I believe there's realbeauty in starting small and
(29:14):
building something meaningfultogether as a community In the
future.
I want this to be a realcelebration of cycling later in
life, featuring group rides ofvarying distances, guest
speakers who inspire us withtheir cycling journeys, vendors,
booths showcasing gear designedto the needs of older cyclists
and maybe even awardsrecognizing the spirit and
dedication of our cyclingcommunity.
(29:36):
My vision is for this annualevent to become a cornerstone
gathering that proves that atany age, you can pursue your
cycling passions.
Well, there you have it.
I'm pretty happy with the startof this year and I'm looking to
have the second half be just asgreat, and I hope that you saw
some great progress in yourcycling and in your overall
(29:57):
fitness so far this year.
And remember, age is just agear change.
this is the cycling over 60 podcast, season 3,
episode 35, 2025 six-monthupdate, and I'm your host, tom
butler.
I'm happy to be back in frontof a microphone and producing
(00:26):
episodes again.
I don't have a big reason whythere's been such a gap since
the last episode.
It's just been a really busysummer.
In the future, I need to figureout how to do podcasts while
traveling.
We have been gone a number ofweeks and then when we get back,
it seems like we have to catchup on a lot of things.
I did pick up a laptop and Ihope to be able to capture and
(00:46):
upload interviews whiletraveling in the future.
That would help me get somecontent up when I'm away from
home.
Another factor is that we areputting in a lot of work on our
house.
Right now, we're finallygetting to some home projects
that we've put off for a while.
An example of that is puttingon a new roof.
For a week, I helped out withthe roofing project and I also
dug out a couple of tree stumps,and for that week I felt like
(01:10):
somebody had beaten me all overwith a baseball bat.
I must have been using a bunchof muscles that I normally don't
use, but I felt sore from headto toe.
As sore as I felt I do think itwould have been even worse if I
wasn't as fit as I am now.
I think it's likely that I evenprevented injuring myself
because of a decent level offitness.
So the lifting and riding I'vebeen doing paid off, in my
(01:32):
opinion.
While we still have a lot ofwork to do on these projects,
I'm past the intense part of theprojects and I have more time
to get back to the podcast.
All that is to say that I don'tsee a disruption in producing
episodes in the near future.
Since I'm past six months into2025, I thought I would take
some time and report on howthings are going.
(01:52):
I have two goals here.
One is to give you a progressreport and the other is try to
distill from my journey lessonsthat benefit everybody else.
I should say that knowingpeople are following my progress
is massive motivation for me.
However, the biggest motivationis that my journey inspires and
informs others.
I'll try to do that here.
(02:13):
In a way, this is much about myprogress since September 2022,
as the last six months, I'vebeen steadily improving my
cycling for 33 months now andseeing some significant health
benefits, along with the fun I'mhaving on the bike.
Overall, I'm very happy with howthe first half of the year has
gone.
I continue to make improvementsin basically all areas of my
(02:36):
cycling.
The one exception might be thefact that I feel my balance
isn't getting better.
It is possible that my sense ofthis is just off.
It's hard to believe that I'mnot improving balance as I'm
riding.
So here might be one factor themore I ride, the more I push my
bike handling.
What I wouldn't have done acouple years ago I do now.
(02:56):
That could make it seem likeI'm struggling with balance when
I'm just putting myself in morechallenging situations.
It'd be great if I could findsome way to measure my balance,
because I see balance as animportant factor in staying
active and I'd like to thinkthat cycling will help me
preserve my balance later inlife.
Here's a look at how my ridinggoals are going.
(03:17):
My distance goal for the yearis 3,650 miles.
At the six-month mark I was at2,279.
That put me 389 miles ahead ofa pace to complete the goal.
Last year, at the halfway mark,I had 1,546 miles.
A factor with my distance goalis that I'm getting credit for
(03:38):
miles this year that I wouldn'thave in the past.
That is because I spent a lotof time on Zwift in the first
six months and Zwift isreporting it to Strava.
For a while now I have spenttime on a stationary bicycle,
but in the past none of that hasbeen reported to Strava.
After some thinking about it,I'm comfortable lumping in Zwift
(03:58):
miles with my road miles fornow.
Of the 2,279 miles this year,road miles for now Of the 2,279
miles this year, 1,166 mileshave been virtual.
Obviously, that is a huge chunk.
In the month of June, I did36.5 miles on Zwift of a total
of 433 miles.
What this shows is that I wasobviously wimping out when the
(04:20):
weather was bad, and now thatit's better I'm spending more
time outside.
Some of my rides have beenrelatively short rides, but the
one thing I want to stress isdon't dismiss shorter rides or
lighter efforts, because theyform the crucial building blocks
of any successful cyclingjourney.
Every pedal stroke counts,whether you're cruising around
(04:40):
the block for 15 minutes ormaybe embarking on a mellow ride
through the neighborhood park.
There's real value in theseseemingly modest outings that
sometimes cyclists overlook.
Sometimes we put more value inmore ambitious rides, but
especially if you're juststarting out.
Shorter rides are where youdevelop proper bike handling
(05:03):
skills.
Shorter rides are where youdevelop proper bike handling
skills.
You also build confidence intraffic and, most importantly,
comfortable rides develop agenuine love for cycling.
One thing that can killenjoyment of cycling is being
overwhelmed on a long ride.
Anytime you're on a bike, yourcardiovascular system is
strengthening, your leg musclesare developing cycling-specific
(05:25):
endurance and your core islearning to support you
efficiently in the saddle.
Every ride is building thefoundation for longer or harder
rides, creating neural pathwaysthat will serve you well when
you're ready to push further.
Consider each ride as aninvestment in your future
cycling adventures, laying downlayers of fitness and experience
(05:46):
that will compound over time.
I think a cyclist whoconsistently enjoys short,
pleasant rides will justnaturally progress further and
stay cycling longer than someonewho burns out trying to do too
much too soon.
In addition to the miles goal, Iset a climbing goal of 110,000
feet of elevation.
My progress at six months was80,435 feet.
(06:09):
That was above the pace by23,476 feet.
The elevation I did on Zwiftwas 42,385 feet.
Unlike the miles done on Zwift,the elevation is not the same
In real life if I'm pedaling upanything above 6% grade for any
length of time.
I have to be in my lowest gearand I have to pedal really slow
(06:32):
not to get above my heart ratetarget.
But on Zwift I can gear downand keep my RPMs high.
It just isn't the samedifficulty at all and doesn't
even feel anywhere like climbingin real life.
I think that climbing in Zwifthas benefits, but I don't want
to count all the elevationtowards my goal, so I think I'll
only count half the Zwiftelevation.
(06:52):
Making that adjustment, I'm at59,243 feet and that means I'm
just about right on track tomeet the 110,000 feet goal.
There's a lot of time that I'mcycling at a fairly low
intensity.
For example, many of the shortrides I do after breakfast to
burn up blood glucose are lowintensity, but I believe that it
is valuable anytime I'm puttingout energy.
(07:14):
I didn't set a time goal thisyear, but I think I'll do that
next year.
My time spent pedaling at thesix month point was 164 hours
and two minutes.
That compares to 116 hours and28 minutes for the first six
months of 2024.
I was looking for a way tojudge that amount of time.
One option is to look at whatis recommended for people to be
(07:38):
healthy.
As far as moderate activity isconcerned, that recommendation
is 150 minutes every week.
To meet that requirement wouldmean I would have done 65 hours
of moderate activity so far thisyear.
I did close to two and a halftimes the recommended.
I think everybody could agreethat the recommended is a
minimum.
(07:58):
I think the recommendations arethere because public health
officials are constantly tryingto get such a sedentary
population moving.
For me, there's no questionthat I want to exceed.
What Of the 164 hours ofcycling I did in the first six
months, I spent 79 hours andfour minutes on Zwift.
This is an area that I'm happy,counting what I've done on
Zwift toward a goal.
(08:18):
Thinking about it, I think I'lladd a time goal for this year
and shoot for 320 minutes ofactivity by the end of the year.
Zwift is different for me thanbeing out on the road on the
bike.
The biggest thing for me isthat time just drags on when I'm
on Zwift.
The exception to this is theCycle Number 60 Zwift Tuesday
rides, as Kelly has talked aboutbefore.
(08:39):
Cycling indoors is just not ashealthy as being out in the
fresh air.
There's a lot of reasons why Iwant to spend as much time as
possible outside.
However, I certainly benefitedfrom embracing Zwift as a
training tool.
In particular, I love seeingthe power data and that helps to
motivate me.
While the weather isn'tterrible here in the Northwest,
(09:05):
I did appreciate this yearhaving the indoor training
option for cold, rainy days.
Being able to be comfortable onreally bad weather days by
riding indoors is no doubtpartially responsible for me
increasing the amount of time Iwas active.
In the first six months of theyear I didn't think about
setting goals as far as settingpersonal best times, but I know
I was expecting to set some.
In the first six months Ihaven't really done a lot of
(09:27):
that.
I did set PRs for 10 miles, 20k, 30k and 50k, but it's like in
one ride.
I didn't beat PRs over and overagain as the year progressed.
But next year I think I'llchange that by looking at a way
of breaking some personal bests.
I think maybe I'll target 10miles, 40k and 50 miles and see
(09:49):
if throughout the year, I can'tbest those times.
Personally, I find thatachieving PRs really motivates
me to push it, but it's reallytrue that I benefit more from
focusing on consistency than onspeed.
Prs can naturally emerge fromjust simply getting more fit.
Like I said, I set several PRson one ride.
That's because I was ridingwith people who are stronger
(10:11):
than me, so I pushed myself andI think I need to regularly ride
with stronger people here whoare stronger than me.
So I pushed myself and I thinkI need to regularly ride with
stronger people.
Here's the problem for me.
If I ride with stronger people,I need to let the group know
that it's okay to leave me.
One problem I have is that Ihate to slow a group down.
I simply would enjoy myself alot more if I knew the group was
willing to drop me instead ofwaiting for me.
(10:33):
That takes getting to know agroup of people really well.
I think that they feelcomfortable, that I won't feel
neglected if they leave mebehind, so they can go harder by
themselves.
One question I'd like to getpeople to comment on is how are
you balancing the occasionalride that is a real challenge
(10:53):
with riding in a way that iscomfortable enough and develops
consistency.
One of the biggest goals I setthis year was to do 25
consecutive weeks of upper bodystrength training and I'm really
happy to report that Iaccomplished that goal.
I want to stress two thingsabout that 25 weeks.
First and most importantly, Idefinitely saw a transformation
(11:14):
in my upper body and I see thatas excellent news, not only for
me but for anybody in their 60s.
I didn't significantly increasethe amount of weight I could
lift and someone suggested thatI connect with a personal
trainer and that mightaccelerate my progress in that
realm.
I think that might be a goodidea.
I would like to do that andthen get permission to have my
(11:36):
first session with the trainerrecorded for the podcast.
The person who suggested apersonal trainer is 70 years old
.
He found that it made a bigdifference for his progress and,
of course, the personal trainerappreciated the fact that he
was interested in buildingstrength at his age.
In some ways, I think thatpersonal training when you get
older might be more importantthan any other time in life.
(11:59):
I wish I knew how to bestmeasure the changes that I saw
over the 25 weeks.
I could get a new bodycomposition test done.
However, I don't think it wouldmeasure specifically enough for
me to see just whattransformation there has been in
my upper body muscle groups.
I guess that might be somethingthat I would talk to a personal
trainer about.
(12:19):
I wish everyone could feel whatI feel after doing these
workouts.
I know that a lot of people wholisten to this podcast have had
this experience.
I'd like for people who aren'tlifting to experience what I've
experienced.
My upper body literally feelsdifferent.
When I cross my arms, I canfeel the different.
Carrying things feels different.
I would like everyone to knowthat if they haven't been doing
(12:41):
anything to stay strong for 30years, in six months you can see
a huge difference.
Again, I didn't see a lot ofchanges in the amount of weight
I was moving, but my functionalcapacity changed significantly.
So I would say start small ifneeded, but start now, which
everybody says.
I avoided upper body workoutsfor a while when I started
cycling, and I think that wasthe right move for me.
(13:03):
I think I needed to just focuson doing something that I really
enjoy, like cycling.
I don't enjoy lifting weightsand I don't know that I ever
will, but there is no denyingthat adding upper body workouts
has really contributed to ahigher level of overall fitness
that cycling alone doesn'tprovide.
Truth is, I would love to beable to stop lifting, but that
(13:25):
just is not an option.
Now here's the bad news Despite25 weeks of upper body workouts
, it never moved into the realmof a new habit.
What I mean by that is that itnever became automatic.
I always had to think reallyhard about when I was going to
work out.
There were several weeks whereI needed to work out late on
(13:47):
Saturday night just to make sureand get my second session in
for the week, and on oneoccasion I flexed to Sunday my
second session in for the week,and on one occasion I flexed to
Sunday.
The rest of this year will bespent trying to change it so
that upper body workouts aremore automatic.
I know that I only made the25-week goal because I had
family and friends cheering meon when it was Saturday and I
(14:08):
hadn't done a second workout yet.
I was highly motivated to getit in so that I could share that
.
I was one week closer to mygoal.
I would send a text message outto people that were watching my
progress and I would getawesome support messages back.
That kind of externalaccountability is essential for
me.
In addition to physicalperformance goals, I also set a
(14:28):
goal to do seven group ridesthis year, and I wanted two of
them to be outside the state ofWashington.
I did two rides in the firstsix months.
They were both in-state.
I'm finding that doing sevenrides is a pretty high goal for
me, but I do believe that I canget them all.
In this year I have been able totake my bike along on some
trips and did some great riding.
(14:49):
In Eugene, oregon, I connectedwith GEARS, the Greater Eugene
Area Riders, for two rides.
I really enjoyed the company ofthe good people at GEARS.
I also took my bike on a tripto Coeur d'Alene, idaho, and
rode by myself on the CentennialTrail there.
That was an example of how I'mreally benefiting from taking my
bike on trips.
Coeur d'Alene is such abeautiful area and the
(15:12):
Centennial Trail is a reallynice trail.
Another trip where I loaded thebike up and took it with us was
to a friend's wedding.
We stayed in Enterprise, oregon.
I pulled up a route on Ride withGPS that looked great and
headed out on a Sunday morning.
That ride ended up being verydifferent for a couple reasons.
First, the scenery in that partof Oregon is fantastic and
(15:35):
different from where I ridearound my home here.
But the biggest difference wasthe ride with GPS.
Information didn't really matchthe route Ride with GPS showed
that a small amount of the ridewas on gravel roads.
However, probably threequarters of the ride was on
gravel.
I did have a really fun time onthe ride and my Specialized
Roubaix did really well on thegravel, but I really wish I'd
(15:58):
had known about the gravel andput different tires on.
The biggest issue was comingdown some pretty steep hills and
having to go slow to preventover braking and have the tires
slide out.
I mention these rides here inthis six-month report because
they represent something Iwanted to do more of this year.
I wanted to ride in new placesand have new experiences.
(16:18):
The rides in Idaho and Oregondid provide new experiences and
that was especially true forriding on the gravel roads
around Enterprise.
A big part of cycling for me isalways going to be the journey
of discovery and again I want tobe specifically planning and
setting specific goals to makethat happen every year.
(16:39):
I wanted to specifically focuson doing more gravel rides this
year and I did start that byexploring the Cascade to Blues
Trail.
I have more work to do to figureout kind of what setup I need
to do more gravel and that mightinclude looking in to get some
new equipment.
I definitely want to get Kellya different setup that will
(16:59):
handle gravel well.
So I'm just beginning theprocess of making gravel riding
a regular thing.
The target is having it allfigured out before the end of
the year.
I haven't gone on any bikepacking trips this year and this
again is something that Ireally wanted to get figured out
before the end of the year anddo some really nice trips.
I do want to get that figuredout before the weather gets bad.
(17:20):
Last year the bikepacking tripI did was on the road and I
might have to do that again.
I was hoping to do gravelbikepacking and again there's
some work I need to do to figureout my gravel setup first.
For now I'll look for somethingaccessible by road or paved
trail.
I really enjoyed the OlympicDiscovery Trail, so I think I'll
look for something along thattrail.
(17:41):
I do feel pretty good about mybikepacking setup if I'm on the
road and I'm really excited touse it more.
Here's something that I'mhoping will unlock some
adventures in the future.
Now that I'm 62, I've investedin the America the Beautiful
Senior Pass for $80.
I'll have to start a list ofbike camping locations that the
(18:03):
Senior Pass provides a discountto.
It just seems like among thesites under the Senior Pass are
some good bike camping options.
These sites are managed by theBureau of Land Management,
bureau of Reclamation, fish andWildlife Services, usda Forest
Service, national Park Serviceand the US Army Corps of
Engineers.
One interesting aspect is thatgenerally a pass holder and
(18:26):
three other bicyclists can enterfor free into sites managed by
these entities.
There is some gear that I wouldlike to get, based on riding so
far this year.
One is a new cycling computer.
I currently use a Kuzpo CS500.
I chose that because it'sreally cheap.
(18:46):
It's a navigation computer thatyou can find for under $100.
The problem is that thenavigation is a little too basic
.
There is only a single pathdisplayed, but complicated road
systems can make it difficult toconfirm that you are on route.
On a recent ride I followed theroute to a bike trail and
(19:07):
noticed that I seemed to be justa little off the trail.
Come to find out I was on thewrong trail.
The trail that I was supposedto be on was on the other side
of an interstate.
This was an area that had twotrails, one on each side of the
interstate.
The display didn't show theinterstate, so it wasn't
completely obvious where I wassupposed to be.
(19:28):
So I've begun the process oflooking at Garmin computers or
something else.
That would be an upgrade.
The other change in equipmentthat I'm considering is putting
smaller chainrings on.
I currently have a 34-toothlower chainring, but it doesn't
take much grade before I'mpedaling really slow.
For higher grades I'm pedalingat 40-45 RPMs.
(19:49):
If I'm going to continue tochallenge myself on rides with a
lot of elevation, I think itmakes sense for me to consider
putting on a 32-tooth smallchainring.
I'm a little nervous aboutleaving my 50-tooth large
chainring on.
I'll have to find out ifshifting from 50 to 32 would
cause any problems.
I could also look at maybechanging my cassette instead,
(20:10):
but I think that could bring inmore problems.
I love my Specialized Roubaixon a lot of levels, but I do
think I might have to consideroptions to make it support my
limitations or even considerlooking at other bikes.
One of the things that I hopecomes out of cycling over 60 is
a deep understanding of how toaccommodate physiological
(20:31):
changes that happen for olderriders.
I've obviously learned over thelast two years that I can be
stronger than I thought, but thetruth is that someday I will
slow down, someday I will evenswitch over to an e-bike to keep
going, but I want to understandmore about what is in between
my current Real Bay, which isdesigned for all riders, and a
(20:52):
bike with pedal assist.
I want to know how bikeswithout motors can be designed
to meet the needs of cyclistslater in life.
I don't think there's a lot ofdesigners asking this question,
which is strange to me, becausewhen I go out on a big group
ride, there are a lot of olderriders who aren't on e-bikes.
Maybe we need to see a movementwhere we have regular bikes
(21:12):
being designed by older ridersfor older riders and seeing the
difference that can make.
The bottom line of my ridingover the first six months of
this year is this At 62, I'mstill getting stronger.
I would be happy to just beholding steady.
However, I'm improving and thatshould be exciting to everyone,
and I'm doing it withoutperfect physiology.
(21:34):
I have energy utilizationissues that I believe are
interfering with me achievingeven more.
I think it's true that, nomatter what someone is dealing
with, that I'm a testament tothe power of being active.
So I would say to everyone dowhatever activity you can do.
I also want to report on mygoals for the podcast over the
(21:55):
first half of the year.
I had a couple directions that Iwanted to go with the podcast
at the beginning of the season.
The first is that I wanted tointerview more authors.
I'm happy that I've been ableto do that with people who have
done some great writing abouttheir cycling adventures.
Now I would also like toinclude more people who write
about health.
One thing that hasn't been asmuch of a focus as I've wanted
(22:15):
is the topic of individualizedmedicine.
There's a reason for that.
I've been working to getconnected to more local health
experts.
I believe that thoseconnections can open the door to
guests who are experts indifferent areas of the
individualized medicinelandscape.
Local connections have taken alittle more time than I expected
because I've been developingmaterials to share with the
(22:36):
healthcare system here locallythat help to tell the Cycling
Over 60 story, but I expect myefforts will yield some good
results soon.
Trying new things is reallyimportant to me and I want to do
more of that in the next fewmonths.
Along for the Ride episodes arean example of trying to
innovate, I believe, if I canget it perfected Along for the
Ride is going to be a funaddition to my regular
interviews.
(22:56):
Maybe the most important thingI'm working on is to have more
of a local community aspect toCycling Over 60.
Expanding the podcast to alsoinclude real-life support is
taking a lot of energy.
That's typical of launchingsomething new.
It takes a lot of energy in thebeginning, and that is the case
with the new initiative to havea local Cycling Over 60 group
(23:17):
in Tacoma, but I'm reallyexcited for what I'm seeing.
I'm consistently seeing how apackage of local resources can
help to encourage cyclists tostay on the bike later in life,
and I'm only seeing thebeginning.
One of the things that I feltwas important was to have a new
website for Cycling Over 60.
Something that would capturethe move from more than a
podcast.
If you go over tocyclingovers60.com, you will see
(23:39):
the first iteration of a sitethat I hope will someday be a
hub for anybody wanting topursue cycling as they age.
The function of launching thefirst local Cycling Over 60
community in Tacoma is, ofcourse, to impact the local
community, but the launch isincredibly valuable for
determining what components willbe important to support a local
(23:59):
community of older cyclists.
I really want to understandwhat that package of support
looks like.
Now.
There are a lot of oldercyclists who are like me and
don't really need much support,but the most valuable thing
Cycling Over 60 can do is toencourage people to get on the
bike for the first time or toget back on the bike after being
off for a long time.
(24:24):
So far, I developed somecomponents that I think are
really vital to be in place.
First is a local bike club thathas a focus on accepting
inexperienced riders to grouprides.
Second is an entity that isfocused on getting access to
bikes for people that havelimited financial resources.
Another element is a localmedical system that embraces
exercise and medicine and thebicycle as a medical device.
I didn't have a lot ofopportunities in the first half
(24:46):
of the year to have theconversations with health
professionals about the conceptof the bicycle as a medical
device.
I'm expecting theseconversations to be very
interesting.
One thing that I believe forsure is getting connected with
as many healthcare people aspossible who are passionate
about cycling will help reallymove things forward.
Another aspect that I think issuper important for the overall
(25:09):
support of a local Cycling with60 community is organizations
like non-motorizedtransportation advocacy groups
and local transportationagencies.
The first half of this year hasbeen spent gathering
information about whatorganizations like this are in
the Tacoma area.
For the second half, my goal isto have good connections with
as many organizations aspossible.
(25:31):
One exciting development thisyear is that I volunteered to be
the community and governmentrelations director for the
Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club.
To be the community andgovernment relations director
for the Tacoma WashingtonBicycle Club, an aspect of the
role is that it will allow me togive back to the community.
I benefit from TacomaWashington Bicycle Club and I'm
glad to participate in makingthe club as strong as it can be.
I plan to learn as much as Ican about how an organization
(25:54):
like Tacoma Washington BicycleClub can contribute in a
meaningful way to efforts tocreate safer spaces for cyclists
to ride.
I'm very fortunate because thepresident of TWBC, bob Myrick,
has decades of experience incommunity and government
relations.
It gives me the opportunity toget educated from someone who
really knows how to make theright connections.
(26:14):
The rest of the year will bespent having Bob get me up to
speed and meeting otheradvocates in the area.
I find the aspect of communityand government relations
fascinating.
I think I'm really going toenjoy doing this work.
While I love that I'm gettingmore involved in the local
community, I also want to getmore plugged into the community
of podcast listeners.
I started doing Zwift grouprides to create an opportunity
(26:36):
to ride with people who aren'tnearby.
These virtual rides had only afew participants but I always
enjoyed them and I really likeit when people would join me on
the Zoom call.
I would have Zoom chat up atthe same time as the ride.
It really doesn't matter to meif someone is riding or not.
The Zoom call is a way for usto meet.
The rides are on pause for thesummer, but look for Cycling
(27:00):
Over 60 Zwift Tuesdays to startup again in Lake Fall.
My plan is to start it up againon Tuesdays, but if there's a
lot of people who want to do itat a certain time, I'll try to
make that time happen.
One element of a local CyclingOver 60 community that I think
provides an opportunity tocreate a real heart connection
is Cycling Without Age.
Cycling Over 60 is now anaffiliate with Cycling Without
(27:21):
Age.
If you'd like to know moreabout this program, I would
recommend watching the seriescalled Joyride on PBS.
We started working with Alessio, an organization in Tacoma, to
use their bike rickshaws to giveresidents with limited mobility
rides.
It has been as rewarding as youcan imagine.
I see opportunities like thisas really vital to make Cycling
(27:43):
Over 60 a true community.
As you might know from listeningto the podcast, I like asking
people questions and I do thinkthis helps with a program like
Cycling Without Age.
I'm having such a fun timegetting to know the people who
hop on for a ride.
Hopefully I will be able toshare some audio from my rides
on a podcast someday.
(28:03):
It's great to be able topartner with Alessio, but I also
want to figure out how theTacoma Parks Department can have
some bike rickshaws that can beused for anyone in the city.
I've connected with the rightpeople at the Parks Department,
but it'd be really helpful tofind a similar program someplace
else.
As you can imagine, there are alot of questions that need to
(28:29):
be answered before the ParksDepartment would embrace a
program.
It would be helpful to find aplace that has answered those
questions already someplace else.
The final update I want to giveis concerning the first annual
Psych over 60 celebration, anevent I'm genuinely excited to
launch, despite some initialconstraints.
It is scheduled for Sunday,september 14th, and I'm hoping
to have a wonderful turnout ofcyclists who share a passion for
(28:52):
staying active and adventurousat any age.
This first event is going to bepretty laid back, with a relaxed
atmosphere where we can simplyenjoy each other's company.
I hope it's an opportunity toshare stories from the road and
to celebrate the joy of cyclingwithout any pressure or
competition.
I just don't have the resourcesto pull off something big this
year, but I believe there's realbeauty in starting small and
(29:14):
building something meaningfultogether as a community In the
future.
I want this to be a realcelebration of cycling later in
life, featuring group rides ofvarying distances, guest
speakers who inspire us withtheir cycling journeys, vendors,
booths showcasing gear designedto the needs of older cyclists
and maybe even awardsrecognizing the spirit and
dedication of our cyclingcommunity.
(29:36):
My vision is for this annualevent to become a cornerstone
gathering that proves that atany age, you can pursue your
cycling passions.
Well, there you have it.
I'm pretty happy with the startof this year and I'm looking to
have the second half be just asgreat, and I hope that you saw
some great progress in yourcycling and in your overall
(29:57):
fitness so far this year.
And remember, age is just agear change.
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