November 25, 2025 • 60 mins
Check out an episode that has host Tom Butler getting real about a troubling physical issue caused by his continued failure to develop a consistent flexibility program. He shares his strategy for making the necessary changes to overcome an injury that could keep him off the bike.
This week's guest, Ken Dyckman, brings more than a decade of touring wisdom to the podcast as he discusses his transition from solo cycling adventures to group tours. It's a nuanced exploration of change—Ken candidly shares the benefits he's looks forward to by riding with others; while acknowledging the bittersweet reality of leaving behind the freedom and solitude he's always loved about solo touring.
Ken offers practical advice drawn from his extensive touring experience and shares memorable stories from the road—both the awe-inspiring moments and the challenging ones that tested his resolve. Whether you're considering your first tour or you're a seasoned rider contemplating a shift in how you ride, this episode delivers insights worth hearing.
Links:
Ken's Cycleblaze Journal: cycleblaze.com/profile/kendyc/
Ken's Youtube: youtube.com/@kendyckman6095
Rails to Trails Railbanking Fact Sheet: railstotrails.org/resource-library/resources/railbanking-fact-sheet/
Here is your invitation to join a great launch party for the summer cycling season. Join the Cycling Over Sixty Tour de Cure PNW team. Whether you are local or come out to experience cycling in the great Northwest, I would love to have you help make this a ride with a purpose. And to send a message that the joy of cycling is here for everyone, regardless of age. Go to tour.diabetes.org/teams/CO60
I know it is early but we are looking to get the Cycling Over Sixty Tour de Cure team together as soon as possible. You can find all the info at tour.diabetes.org/teams/CO60
Thank you Konvergent Wealth for sponsoring CO60 Jerseys for the Tour de Cure!
Become a member of the Cycling Over Sixty Strava Club! www.strava.com/clubs/CyclingOverSixty
Cycling Over Sixty is also on Zwift. Look for our Zwift club!
Please send comments, questions and especially content suggestions to me at info@cyclingoversixty.com
Follow and comment on Cycling Over Sixty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyclingoversixty/
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 4,
episode 4, from Solo to GroupTouring, and I'm your host, Tom
Butler.
I'm currently dealing withsomething that I'm not happy
(00:26):
about.
I have a really sore Achillestendon.
I don't know how I originallystrained it, but it has
progressively gotten worse.
I thought I would just kind ofignore it and wait for it to
slowly heal, but I had anexperience that caused me to
change my mind.
A couple of weeks ago, I wentto the Woodland Park Grand Prix,
an MFG cycle cross event.
It is billed as the biggestcycle cross event in the world,
(00:48):
and it has a real partyatmosphere.
This is my second time to MFGWoodland Park, and I've loved it
each time.
I didn't ride this year, but Ihope to do it next year.
One thing I like is there arelots of riders over 60 to hang
out with there.
We positioned ourselves on amuddy hill to watch Gearin
compete and just to experiencethe mayhem there.
(01:08):
At one point, someone pulledoff the trail and was holding
their lower leg.
They said they thought theytore it.
After the race was over and Iwas walking to the car with my
Achilles hurting me, I just keptthinking about that person and
seeing myself on the side of thetrail with a torn Achilles.
I decided that I'd better bemore proactive about it.
The Achilles can take a longtime to heal.
(01:30):
This is explained by Dr.
Dane Wukic on the University ofTexas Southwestern Medical
Center Med blog.
He says, quote, unlike muscletissue, tendons don't get a
significant supply of blood.
Blood delivers fluid andnutrients that are essential for
healing.
The less blood delivered, thelonger it takes for tissue to
heal.
Add to that the sheer size ofthe Achilles tendon, and you're
(01:52):
in for a lengthy recovery.
End quote.
The truth is that I'm in thisposition because I haven't been
proactive.
I've talked a bunch here aboutmy lack of flexibility.
I've had at least five healthprofessionals tell me that I
need to dramatically improve myflexibility, but I still have
been negligent.
So I'm pulling out all thehabit change strategies that
I've talked about here.
And I'm doing it right now.
(02:12):
I'm sending McKenna a text thatI need flexibility,
accountability.
Usually texting McKenna meansthat she will kick into whip dad
into shape mode.
Let's see what she says.
I'm sending the message that Ineed to have flexibility,
accountability.
Of course, meaning that I needto be held accountable for doing
(02:33):
flexibility exercise.
Okay, all I got back in textwas a simple yep.
But I know this isn't just ayep.
It is a yep.
I've been harping on this foryears, and you still haven't
done something about it.
So stop saying you'll dosomething about it and just do
it.
That's what she was reallytexting.
Well, I'm not standing for thatdisrespectful attitude, even if
(02:56):
it is the truth.
So I'm texting I need anegative consequence for not
doing stretching.
I've sent that.
There, now I've shown that thisisn't like the other times.
I'm taking my stretchingcompliance to a different level.
Take that, yepper.
I'm not gonna wait to hear fromher, but it'll be interesting
to see what she comes up with.
(03:16):
One of the problems that I havewith flexibility is that it's
hard to measure success.
I like data, but I'm notcurrently getting flexibility
data.
That will be something tofigure out.
One positive strategy that Iwant to share came about because
I wanted to ride Cranksgivingagain this year.
Since witnessing the guy on theside of the trail grasping his
leg, I've been taking it easyand not riding a bunch.
(03:38):
But I figured that Cranksgivingwas going to be a fairly gentle
ride, and I really wanted to doit.
By the way, you can see anInstagram reel of Cranksgiving
into coma on the Cycling Over 60Instagram page.
To help support my Achilles, Iused KT tape.
I looked up a way to put thetape on for that specific
purpose.
We have a good deal ofexperience in our house with KT
(04:00):
tape.
Kelly put it on for me, and Ithink it did a fantastic job.
I haven't been experiencing alot of pain when I'm writing,
but afterwards, when I've notmoved for a while, that's when I
will experience pain as soon asI stand up.
But the KT tape dramaticallyimproved things.
I will continue tape up for awhile.
It will be hard to comparesince I won't have the
(04:21):
experience of not taping up, butI'm still interested to see how
that might reduce how much painI have.
I'm reading a new book that wasrecommended to me by a cycling
or sixty writer.
The title is The MidlifeCyclist by Phil Cavell.
I see the title as a bitmisleading because Cavell is
really talking about cyclinglater in life.
I'm still just at the beginningof the book, but one of the
(04:44):
things that I think applies tomy Achilles issue is that
cycling is just too linear.
I hate this kind of talk.
I truly want to just do cyclingand not have to mess with other
forms of exercise.
But just like with weighttraining, I have to admit that
cycling alone is not enough forwhat I want to get out of
exercise.
Cavell states that cyclistsneed to add chaos to their
(05:08):
activity.
Unfortunately, that makes a lotof sense.
Especially when it comes tostrength around the ankle joint.
The pedal motion is just toolinear.
So for me, I think the best wayto get chaos is to walk on
uneven ground.
I'll find a place where I canhike that isn't a smooth path.
Maybe some place that wouldhave me scrambling up some
rocks.
I'll keep you posted on thisand other strategies to bring
(05:31):
some chaos to my activities.
When Ken Dykman emailed meabout making a change from solo
touring to group tours, I foundthat to be an intriguing place
for a cyclist to be.
Ken has done some reallyfantastic solo tours.
(05:54):
He also realizes there is atime when group touring has
advantages.
I haven't done a long cyclingtour yet.
I hope the yet is a key part ofthat statement.
I was excited about hearingfrom someone as experienced as
Ken.
Here is our discussion.
I want to welcome Ken Dykman tothe podcast.
Thank you for joining me, Ken.
Thank you for having me, Tom.
(06:16):
I am really excited to get yourperspective on long distance
touring.
I think that you've done somany interesting things, and
we'll get into some things thatyou've learned from that.
But let's start out by havingyou share your earliest memory
of the bicycle.
Ken Dyckman (06:33):
Yeah, thanks, Tom.
Yeah, I'm I'm looking forwardto sharing.
Golly, my earliest memory of abicycle.
You know, I rode, I rememberriding an old Schwin to
elementary school and it had thebig banana seat, you know, the
big chopper handlebars.
Uh the thing was heavier thanuh a car, it seemed like.
(06:55):
And from there, I walked tomiddle school and I took a um
bus to to high school.
So I don't remember read uhusing a bike too much.
But then in college, my oldestbrother gave me a Fuji, I think
it was a steel road bike to getaround the campus.
And that was my firstexperience with a real true road
(07:17):
bike with the skinny tires andsuch.
And I thought, well, that'sthis is a pretty efficient way
of transportation.
You know, it's lightweight,easy to handle, uh, easy to
ride.
And so, yeah, that was probablyhow I got hooked on to uh just
using road bikes.
That was my first experiencewith the road bike.
Tom Butler (07:32):
I remember having a Schwin with a banana seat, and
then it was a craze for a whileto try to get really long forks
on the front of it.
Ken Dyckman (07:42):
Yeah, I remember that.
Yep, yep.
Tom Butler (07:44):
So having the chopper bars and the really long
forks out in front probablymade them pretty dangerous.
But yeah.
Ken Dyckman (07:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Tom Butler (07:52):
So were you focused on staying active when you were
younger?
Ken Dyckman (07:57):
I think so.
I've picked up a lot of greatpieces of advice from various
people in my life.
And one of my best friends incollege, who was an usher at my
wedding, uh, Eric, he gave methis line that always stuck with
me.
He said, Ken, he said, up toabout 30 years old, your body
takes care of itself.
But from 30 and beyond, youneed to take care of it.
(08:18):
So that really stuck with me.
And so right around that time,30 years old, that's when I
moved up to the PacificNorthwest, I got really into
triathlons.
That was, you know, back whenthey were just getting popular
back in the early 2000s, and uh,which I absolutely loved, just
the energy, the support, and thecheering from the spectators of
(08:38):
those.
And so that really kept megoing for a while.
And yeah, that's quite anactive sport, certainly, too.
So I was I was in the bestshape of my life when I did
those.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (08:47):
Nice.
Well, what good advice.
I wish we could pass that on toeverybody.
I wish I could go back in timeand really get that in my mind.
Because I I knew it was true,but I just let life get in the
way of it.
So it's awesome that you tookthat to heart and you you stayed
with it.
You've completed someincredible solo tours over the
past 12 years.
(09:08):
I mean, really things that areout of the norm of most people,
even most cyclists, maybe notmost of the people that listen
to the podcast, but really not atypical cycling journey.
I I'm wondering what initiallydrew you to long-distance
touring?
Ken Dyckman (10:37):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I probably would have donetriathlons forever if I could
have, but I had two surgeries onmy left foot from overuse
injury.
And you know, and I I just, Idon't know, it kind of made me
angry because I've always stayedpretty fit from a weight
standpoint.
And I've always seen these, youknow, larger cyclists pass me
(10:58):
on triathlons and you know, justbigger people in general
running.
And I'm, I think, in um fairlygood weight shape.
And, you know, I get I getthese injuries on my foot.
It's like, ah, doggone, it'snot fair.
So I couldn't do triathlonsanymore.
But I noticed that hiking andbiking didn't hurt me at all.
So I thought, okay, I'm gonnado biking for a while.
(11:20):
And I just got to do bikingmore and more.
And it was probably a blessingin disguise because, you know,
running is really hard on yourjoints.
I I read that a 150-poundperson running a marathon puts a
million pounds of force on, youknow, every joint that you
have, you know, your hips, yourknees, your all the joints in
your feet.
And so do a lot of thosemarathons.
(11:41):
And yeah, it's no wonder olderpeople, you know, have hip
replacements and kneereplacements.
And so, yeah, like I say, it'sprobably a blessing in disguise.
But specifically, I think youask about you know what drew me
to long distance touring.
There was one triathlon that meand the family drove down from
the Pacific Northwest down toArizona on.
(12:02):
It was along uh Highway 101there, and I saw lots of
distance cyclists along theroad.
And we stayed at one reallynice hotel, kind of nestled in
the redwoods, and I saw a bikecamper there.
And I just I kind of imaginedmyself as him, and I thought,
you know, I'd love to do thatone day.
(12:22):
And that just kind of stuck inmy head.
So it kind of grew from there,I'd say.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (12:27):
You probably have too many experiences for us to
get to all of them here, buttalk about some of the things
that stick out as adventuresyou've had.
Ken Dyckman (12:37):
Well, yeah, my favorite distance touring ones
certainly um that stick out inmy head.
I started, I think, when I was46.
So in 2013, I did the WestCoast from uh Seattle to Los
Angeles.
That was over uh just only twoweeks because I couldn't take
off much from work, so had somepretty long days.
(12:59):
And then in 2017, when I was50, I did the East Coast from
Florida up to Maine.
And then when I was 52, thatwas 2019, I did the coast of
Portugal.
My wife and I vacationed overthere.
She kind of drove along while Iwas on the bicycle, so that was
a lot of fun and a great way tosee a new country that way,
(13:19):
just the perfect pace.
And then most recently in 2023,when I was 55, I did Central
America from uh Cancun all theway down to Panama City.
And that took about eightweeks.
If you notice a trend and kindof sense the um distance there,
yeah, it's taken me longer andlonger.
It's taken me longer, but Ithink I've also learned to just,
(13:43):
you know, not rush throughthings and just kind of enjoy
the experience as opposed tobeing so destination-oriented.
Tom Butler (13:51):
Yeah, I think that's one of those things when you
get to the point where you havesome time and when you've got an
obligation, it's like I onlyhave two weeks or I only have
one week or whatever.
It seems like that timepressure can change things a
lot.
But to to be able to step backand say, I'm gonna enjoy this
journey, whatever it yields, ityields however far I go today.
(14:16):
I go, as I talk to people, itseems like that's a really
positive way to do a tour.
Ken Dyckman (14:21):
Like you say, I think sometimes you have to make
it a conscious decision.
You have to tell yourself thisis what you're going to do,
because it's hard to get out ofa rut sometimes.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (14:30):
I would say for me, I'm pretty outcome-driven.
Get to that space where I'mlike, okay, step back and enjoy
it.
You know, don't worry so muchabout the outcome.
Ken Dyckman (14:39):
Yeah, we all can tell with your uh progress on
your annual goals, but uh that'salways fun to hear from you.
Tom Butler (14:46):
So good, good.
That's good feedback.
You are now 58.
Yep.
And I'm wondering as you lookout ahead, how are you feeling
about cycling over 60 andbeyond?
Ken Dyckman (14:57):
You know, Tom, I I want to do it for as long as I
can still.
You know, I just I absolutelyfeel so alive and so fulfilled
when I get on a bike, um, evenjust a short bike ride, you
know, around my my home, butespecially in a new area that
I've never been to before,because you know, one of the
things I enjoy the most aboutcycling is it's just a perfect
(15:21):
pace to really see everything,and especially, like I say,
something new.
Hiking is nice, you know,because some place you some
places you have to go in themountains where you can't
necessarily take a take a bike.
But I think cycling is justthat right pace where you can
experience uh everything, youknow, not too fast, not too
slow.
And of course you can smell andand hear everything.
(15:43):
Anyway, I'm really just lookingforward to having more time to
just devote to that because um Ijust absolutely love it and
yeah, I want to do it for aslong as I can.
Tom Butler (15:52):
What's it look for cycling together as a family or
as a couple in in the future?
What do you think about that?
Ken Dyckman (15:59):
You know, my kids are fairly independent.
Although um one of mydaughters, we have cycled, and
we both cycled just kind ofrecreationally.
My wife is more of a hiker andI'm more of a biker.
I've tried to get her to cycle.
And, you know, I try to hikewith her a little bit.
And actually, she's she'sreally gotten me into hiking.
She is such an inspiring hiker,I'll tell you what.
(16:20):
She during COVID in Oregonthere, I think, if I remember
correctly, she hiked that yearof COVID, she hiked like a
thousand miles, 250,000 feet ofelevation.
Wow.
So yeah, so she really got meinto that.
But but she doesn't like to bein the sun.
So whatever, you know, wechange as we get older and we
just we try to do as much as wecan together.
(16:42):
But um she supports me, Isupport her, so it works out
well.
Tom Butler (16:47):
Yeah.
Nice.
Now you mentioned when youreached out to me that you're
making a conscious shift fromsolo touring to more organized
group rides.
Was there something specificthat made you realize it was
time to make this change?
Ken Dyckman (17:01):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to talking about that.
Yes, definitely there was onething specifically that was a
light bulb that made me realizeit was time to change.
Uh, two words.
Costa Rica, especially uhNicoya Peninsula.
Gosh, I'll tell you what, thatis rough.
You know, for people who readabout the Nicoya Peninsula and
(17:24):
Costa Rica, most of thecountries in Costa Rica are uh
relatively flat.
Honduras has a lot ofmountains, but the the roads
aren't bad, really.
It's very beautiful.
But yeah, the Nicoya Peninsulain Costa Rica, it's mostly dirt
roads and it's incrediblybeautiful, but just tough.
They do not make roads downthere, Tom, that go back and
(17:46):
forth up a mountain, you know,that kind of tack back and
forth.
They it just goes straight upand straight down.
And straight up and straightdown.
Yeah.
And they're so steep thatliterally I was off my bike
several times, several days in arow, just dragging it, uh, in
fact, tacking it, walking mybike up a dirt road, tacking it
(18:07):
back and forth.
That's how steep it was.
And in fact, I have a gel seat,and I still have an imprint in
my gel seat from my thumbnail,digging into it so hard,
dragging it up this hill.
You know, it's heavy with mypanniers on it and such.
But and then you go down thehill and it's so steep downhill
that you've almost completelylocked up both wheels and
(18:28):
skidding, and you get to thebottom, and it's just a giant
mud pit down there, because mostof the vehicles in Central
America in general are eithermotorcycles or are four-wheel
drives with the like the snorkelexhaust that go over the hoods
because they're always goingthrough mud and rivers and so
forth.
So you get to the bottom ofthese hills, and you got to
change your shoes into sandals,and you cross this mud, and then
you get on the other side, getback in your bike's shoes and
(18:50):
try to go up, but mainly justwalking your bike up and then
riding it down, changing yourshoes again.
And you do that all day long.
And it just it really wore onme.
So the realization that I hadwhen I was doing that is I'm in
a really remote location.
I did not expect this aboutCosta Rica, especially.
And, you know, something couldhappen to me out here, and no
(19:13):
one would find me for weeks.
So it really, you know, itreally dawned on me that, okay,
I'm getting that age too, thatsomething could happen to me.
And so that's when I kind ofrealized that, well, yeah, this
is probably my last big hurrahas a solo, you know, for
something that long, somethingso remote anyway.
I love exploring exotic newcountries and different, you
(19:36):
know, locations.
But if I'm going to do thatagain, yeah, it's gonna be with
others because I've got a longways to go still to enjoy life
and uh I don't need to end itearly.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (19:47):
Uh it sounds wise.
I think you know, evaluatingthat situation and saying, you
know, there's a risk of me beinginjured for a week out here by
myself.
Ken Dyckman (20:01):
It's humbling, I'll tell you what, because you
know, you just you feelinvincible and it's tough to
accept, you know, what your bodyis telling you.
But yeah, it's a reminder everyday when you get out of bed and
feel more creaks and cracks,and you know, you it's you you
gotta listen to that sometimes,right?
Tom Butler (20:18):
So I've talked before on the podcast about this
thing where there's both sidesof cycling that I really enjoy.
I enjoy being out by myself alot, you know, being a place
even sometimes, you know, thistime of year at night, being on
a trail, there's nobody else onthe trail.
That solitude is something thatI enjoy.
(20:39):
So I I, you know, I I'mthinking there's definitely
aspects of solo touring that arethat way.
So I'm wondering if you couldtalk about like three things
that you're gonna miss aboutsolo touring.
Ken Dyckman (20:52):
Well, certainly the solitude, yeah, just being able
to, you know, reflect on lifeand soul searching on your own
without any kind of schedule oranybody kind of pressuring you
to go on or to stop somewhereelse.
Yeah, just the ability to stop,you know, whenever you want,
wherever you want, eat whateveryou want to, um, just that
independence is amazing.
(21:13):
And yeah, I think that I I willmiss that.
I I'll need to try tosupplement that with something
or try to find it somehow still.
And I've got some ideas aboutthat too.
Tom Butler (21:22):
There's an element of problem solving that I've
heard people talk about thatthey enjoy.
Like when you're out on yourown, there's times that you have
to tackle things.
What do you think about that?
Ken Dyckman (21:33):
Oh, indeed.
Yeah, I think, especially inCosta Rica, because I don't
speak Spanish all that well.
I did some crash course and youknow, I was able to speak
enough to kind of get by withyou know common phrases and
such.
But I'll tell you, yeah, whenyou're in that kind of remote
condition and you experiencethings literally every day that
(21:53):
you do not expect, things thatjust come up and you got to work
through them somehow.
And yeah, that gives you such asense of confidence.
Uh, I'll tell you what.
So um, yeah, I think that thatis something too that, you know,
as I research and kind oflisten to some of some of your
other guests and just kind ofthink about my future, that it's
something else that you need tothink about is being a solo
(22:16):
distance cyclist, especially inremote areas, that it's not just
your physical capabilities, butyou know, your cognitive
abilities too, and being able tofigure things out.
We have to realize that it'sthat part diminishes too, you
know, at some point.
That's something to be awareof.
But yeah, until then, yeah,just having that confidence,
(22:37):
once you accomplish somethinglike that, you just feel so
invincible, like you can do somuch more.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (22:42):
This might be not the easiest thing to answer, but
I'm wondering, you know, as youmake this transition, there
must be some things you you arelooking forward to.
And then I'm also curious aboutkind of that mental shift of
looking forward to cooperationand maybe compromise.
(23:03):
And like you mentionedsomething that stuck in my mind,
and that's like eating whereyou want with your when you're
with a group of people.
There's even this negotiationsometimes about you know, what
are we going to eat?
Everything.
So I'm wondering, you know,again, what are you looking
forward to?
And like what's the mentalaspect of it, that meant mental
(23:23):
preparation like?
Ken Dyckman (23:25):
Yeah, it's great questions.
It's a it's a double-edgedsword, the solitude and then the
social aspect.
But I try to look forward toyou know positive things and so
you know, stay focused on that.
And so yeah, I'm lookingforward to meeting people,
especially mingling with peoplefrom other countries to learn
their culture and you know,maybe help me decide what's
(23:47):
worth exploring and more, youknow, when I'm in full
retirement, just sharing storieswith them.
Yeah, I I always try to remainoptimistic and believe when one
door closes, another one opens.
We'll see, you know, what kindof groups I join.
Yeah, but I think the key isstaying focused on the
positives, you know, the newexperience, not what you're
giving up or sacrifices, butwhat new experiences there are
(24:10):
that you hadn't thought aboutand make the best of them.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (24:14):
Are there some tips, uh, you know, lessons that
you've learned along the waythat you think would be valuable
for people to know as they'reconsidering long distance
touring?
Ken Dyckman (24:26):
Yes, indeed.
Yeah, I made a couple of uhnotes hoping that you would ask
this.
You know, I think we talked alittle bit about you know being
realistic about yourcapabilities as you get older
and my realization in that typeof environment, you know, that
remote, very tough, harshenvironment in the Nicoya
(24:47):
Peninsula there in Costa Rica.
So certainly your health, yourphysical capabilities, but other
things from a safety standpointto consider is you know, where
you're going, how remote it is,a SAT phone might be good, or at
least a uh a GPS locator, youknow, like a garment.
I can't remember the name.
(25:07):
There's several manufacturers,but they they'll send a like a
message to someone, a shortmessage, and as well as your GPS
location.
Those little safety trianglesthat are getting pretty popular
now, but still not a lot ofpeople know about them.
It looks like a yield sign.
It's people come around a curveor go over a hill.
So having a big reflectiveyield sign either on your back
or on your bike on your panieror something, I think is good
(25:31):
from a safety standpoint.
And I think also I've learned,I don't know, maybe I'm just a
little bit naively adventurous.
When I was in uh foreigncountries there in Central
America, I was generally greetedby very friendly people.
I suppose there's badneighborhoods.
You know, you've got to alwaysuse your judgment and stay away
(25:53):
from those bad areas.
But I think in general, if youact like a local and not a
tourist, you just don't paint atarget on yourself that way.
You know, if you're alwaysnervous, I think it almost
becomes a self-fulfillingprophecy that, you know, you
just you you act like thatwounded animal and you become
prey, right?
So I think if you can use thelocal language a little bit,
(26:16):
that helps make you look like alocal.
But even if you don't look,even if people don't make you
out as a local, I think they'llrecognize, they'll appreciate
that you're trying to make aneffort to speak in in their
native language.
It was funny, I remember one,uh I can't remember which
country in Costa Rica, it wasshortly after, it was 2023, so
shortly after COVID.
(26:36):
But I just I walked right intoa grocery store, just acting
like a local, you know, justlike deliberately, you know, I
didn't know where I was going,didn't know what I was doing,
walked right in there, and thenthe security guard that was
outside them, I think it was inEl Salvador, because they had a
lot of security guards prettymuch in every establishment.
So he came tracking me downdown this aisle in the grocery
(26:57):
store, and and I had to figureout what he was saying in
Spanish, but I had to wear amask.
I was not allowed to enter thestore without a mask.
So I so I felt kind of bad.
So I went outside and I I got amask and everything.
But uh yeah, really make aneffort to to to make like a
local.
And then, you know, I I Iwanted to throw this out as a
tip, not necessarily as a safetyconcern, probably, but and
(27:20):
maybe this is more obvious to alot of other riders.
Maybe it's just me that wasnaive to this, but proper tire
pressure is really important.
I rode for a little bit with uhnot the highest pressure that I
should have had in my biketires.
I gave up a little bit of speedfor comfort because I thought,
well, you know, it'll add alittle more cushion to my butt.
(27:42):
I'm riding pretty long, and Ijust chose to do that.
Well, I learned that mostpeople I assume have, you know,
the Kevlar bead, you know,puncture-proof tires.
But if you're not using themfully pressurized, you have a
big bulge on the bottom where itcomes into contact with the
(28:03):
road, and that creates more of asurface area to get punctures
outside of that Kevlar bead.
And so I got one or twopunctures outside of that Kevlar
bead.
And so I learned reallyquickly, yep, air it up so that
you have just that surface areaof that Kevlar beadt hitting the
contact.
So it is it is important tohave proper tire pressure.
Tom Butler (28:24):
Well, that's super practical.
And I yeah, I don't think Iwould have thought about that,
but that that's great.
I'm wondering about yourinteraction with cars, and I I I
I'd like to talk about a couplethings in particular.
You talked about doing the WestCoast, and you also talked
about doing the East Coasts.
Were those similar experiences?
Were they really differentexperiences?
(28:45):
And kind of specifically likeinteraction with cars.
It seems like the road is verydifferent going down the west
coasts than on the east coast.
Maybe contrast those a bit.
Ken Dyckman (28:56):
Totally different experiences, which I didn't
expect about the east coast.
I kind of knew about the westcoast from pictures and such.
And there's not many routes onthe west coast, you know, it's
101 from, you know, northernWashington all the way down to
Mexico, basically.
Well, it it does kind of cutover a little bit in uh the
Redwoods, but you can keep nextto the coast.
(29:20):
It doesn't become 101 then.
It becomes, uh I forget whatthe highway number it is.
But anyway, you can stay on thecoast.
And it's mostly a highway ridewithout a whole lot of lights.
And it's pretty um a prettywide bike lane.
It's it's a gorgeous, fairlysafe route.
In fact, um I think some of theroads in California uh rival
(29:41):
that in Oregon.
And I I think Oregon does areally good job.
I've always believed Oregon hasreally good roads, but there's
actually some curbs to helpseparate you and the cars along
that highway there inCalifornia.
So along the East Coast, I hadkind of hoped that there would
be a similar kind of pathwaythroughout that whole route that
(30:02):
I could, you know, see theocean the majority of the time.
And that was not the casewhatsoever.
I saw the ocean veryinfrequently.
But it was okay.
You know, I saw a lot of justdifferent country away from the
ocean, a lot more hills andvalleys, I would say.
And it's interesting, Tom, thatthere's definitely states that
are more bike-friendly thanothers.
(30:23):
Virginia, uh, I don't know whatit is, but and maybe it was
just the limited time that I wasthere, or maybe the route that
I had, but Virginia seems to beextremely accommodating of psych
of cyclists compared to in allthe other states that I uh went
along on that journey.
Yeah, I had people stay behindme, and I've got one of those
(30:44):
big rear view mirror on my uhhelmets, you know, that I could
big fish eye mirror so I can seepeople.
And, you know, I would seepeople behind me.
Well, here's a great example.
I mean, in Virginia, I sawpeople, you know, waiting
forever for me, you know, untilI I finally just found a spot to
pull over because I felt bad,because you know, there was a
big long, long line.
And they would pass me up andnobody ever honked me, honked at
(31:06):
me.
Whereas in Northern California,there was not much of a bike
lane here along this onepathway.
And this one lady, she wouldn'tpass me.
And I said, Yeah, I keptthinking in my mind, hey, you've
got plenty of room.
Just go ahead and pass me.
I don't mind.
Just give me, give me my threefeet.
I don't require six feet.
Or I love it when people go allthe way across the other lane
(31:28):
completely.
That's really generous of them,but I don't require that.
Give me at least three feet andwe're all good.
But she just would not pass me.
Well, finally she passed me.
And then the guy behind her, hepassed me and he honked and
flipped me off like it was myfault.
I said, hey, I'm I'm trying toride to the as far right as I
can.
I can't help it if the personin front of you, the person
(31:50):
behind me, never passed me.
So uh, you know, yeah, you yourun into all types, right?
Uh but yeah, it was definitelya different experience.
I thought in general, the EastCoast, you know, especially in
like Boston and New York, theywould not be very bike friendly.
But boy, I I, you know, I rodeall the way in New York right
through Times Square and with noproblems.
(32:12):
I mean, I thought that I wasgoing to be, you know, I I
started a little nervous, but uhno, I think, you know,
especially in downtown areas,you know, I mean, you're aware,
you know, Eugene and Portlandand Seattle, people are very
friendly to bikes, you know,there.
But I think big cities ingeneral, even on the east coast,
so um a lot of things we couldtalk about there, but uh yeah,
(32:35):
just a wide variety and yeah,definitely differences in
scenery, but people between theWest Coast and East Coast.
Tom Butler (32:43):
Now you're not the only one that makes a transition
from solo riding to groupriding.
I'm wondering if you're outlooking for tour companies, if
you're evaluating companies, andwhat do you have in mind as
you're looking for touroperators or groups to ride
with?
Ken Dyckman (33:02):
Yeah, great question.
There are so many um tourcompanies out there now that
specialize in so many things.
You know, there's a group oftour companies in Europe that
that are getting more popular,the the bike and boat options,
where you know you're on arelatively small ship or boat at
(33:23):
in the evenings and you go fromplace to place and they stop
and and you get off and youknow, I some provide you the
bikes.
I think most of them, maybesome you can bring your own
bike.
So that seems popular.
I think you can look to seewhere they're headquartered at
to see, gosh, you know, do youwant, you know, and where do
they target?
What kind of what countries,what's their target demographic
(33:46):
that they that they target sothat you can kind of ride with
with you know younger or oldpeople or foreign people or
people in your home country ifyou just want to be around
familiar people.
But for myself, I'll tell youwhat, I've really gravitated,
you know, I really enjoy thelonger tours just because I
think most tour companies in theworld, they specialize in one
(34:07):
week or two week, and it'spretty rare to find a three-week
tour.
But I think, you know, one totwo weeks, especially if you're
working, but even if not, it'sjust hard to disconnect from
home.
It takes a few days, right?
You know, to for a vacation.
And if it's if you're onlythere for one or two weeks,
you're just finally getting intothat new environment, and then
you got to go back home again.
(34:28):
So for me, the longer thebetter.
The only tour company that Ihave found on the internet,
anyway, is the same tour companythat I remember uh Erin Ely
that you had on your show acouple few months ago, talked
about her journey in India withuh TDA Global.
And I don't want to necessarilyturn this into an advertisement
(34:48):
for TDA Global, but they've gota lot of things going for them.
One of the tours that I'meyeing with them is the South
American Epic, they call it.
It goes from Colombia all theway down to the to the southern
tip of Ushuaia, uh, Argentina,over five and a half months.
One of the things that I reallylike about TDA Global, because
I recently spent a night withthem, they have an opportunity
(35:11):
for guest riders that, you know,if they're riding by your home
or if you want to just travel towherever they happen to be
traveling at, if you want tojoin them, they allow you to
just join them for a day or two,just see what it's like, and
they'll cook for you and such.
Bring a tent if they'recamping, or you know, they'll
put you up in a hotel.
And so that was a kind of aneat experience, you know,
(35:32):
talking with people.
And there were some foreigners.
I I joined them on their NorthAmerican Epic, which goes from
Alaska all the way down toPanama City.
And what I like about TDAGlobal is when you take off in
the morning, you're on your own.
I mean, you can be, you canfind someone to team up with.
And then they have severalvehicles that when they pass you
(35:53):
by, when they set up lunch, andyou know, at the end of the
day, they pass you by.
They give you a couple of honksway back so they don't scare
you.
And as you go by, you give thema thumbs up if you're feeling
good, you give them a thumbsdown if you need them to pull
over and you get some supportthat way.
So you get great support, butit's a really nice hybrid, I
think, because most of yourjourney, you can have that solo
(36:15):
experience and you know, thesolitude.
And if you want to stop andtake a break or you know, have a
granola bar or whatever,wherever you want, you can do
that.
Stop and enjoy the view.
And then you can you you havetheir support at lunchtime and
in the evening.
And you know, they're reallynice because I think most of
their tours, they have a doctorwith them, you know, and a
dedicated chef and a mechanicand so forth.
(36:35):
They're a little bit, you know,they're kind of expensive, but
it's worth it.
Yeah, that's the tour companythat I've got my eye on for a
lot of trips, actually.
Tom Butler (36:42):
I guess uh interesting comment that you
made there that one of thethings to think about in booking
a tour is that you can findsome really full service
operations.
Talk about medical support andbike mechanic and those things,
but it costs money to providethose things.
And so to keep that in mindthat those are gonna be more
(37:04):
expensive outfits, but uh itseems like that's kind of
insurance, right?
Ken Dyckman (37:09):
It's it's exactly what it is.
You're right, yeah.
Tom Butler (37:12):
Talk about what you're liking as far as the bike
that you're using, maybe theequipment there you're using.
Do you feel like you've got theright setup?
Or are you pretty happy withwhat you've chosen to ride with?
Ken Dyckman (37:27):
Yeah, I've got a I've got a Kona Sutra.
I actually looked at the Trek700, I think it was.
But when I wanted to try to geta touring bike, it was just
after COVID, and I could notfind one of those anywhere,
really, like literally in thewhole country.
So I really enjoy my KonaSutra.
(37:48):
But honestly, I can't reallytalk too much about bikes.
I know some people really getinto them.
I'm honestly more, this mightbe sacrilege here, but I'm I'm
more into the experience and theactual mental experience of uh
what I'm doing.
I really don't care what'sbetween my legs, really.
(38:08):
So I could have anything.
You know, it just needs tofunction.
And, you know, you got to havegood panures and so forth.
You know, I can do most bikerepairs, but I really don't
enjoy working on the bikemyself.
I just would rather take it toa mechanic.
And another thing I love aboutTDA Global when I get to riding
with them is, you know, justhaving a mechanic take care of
(38:30):
problems for me.
I don't mind paying for that.
So that's just me.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (38:35):
I I think it's been 12 years ago that you started.
Ken Dyckman (38:40):
Yeah, pretty much.
Uh-huh.
That's right.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (38:42):
Do you have you seen equipment change in that amount
of time?
Do you think like touring hasexpanded?
More people are to managestuff, or do you have you not
really seen that?
Ken Dyckman (38:53):
Well, certainly uh e-bikes.
I don't know if more people aretouring, but yeah, I mean
e-bikes have permeatedeverything about cycling, I
suppose.
But it's tough to take ane-bike, your own e-bike that
way, out of the country on aplane just because of the
battery size, right?
It just doesn't work.
You know, won't allow it onplanes.
(39:14):
But you know, you can just flysomewhere.
And if you join a a tourcompany that where they will
lend you an e-bike, you know Ididn't really think about that
too much before this thisinterview, Tom, but I think that
that is probably a goodconsideration for people as they
get older too.
And I've thought about it too,actually.
I actually rode one e-bikesomewhat recently.
(39:35):
It was in um Greece.
My wife and I were justvacationing there, and I just
did a day tour with the bikecompany, and they just they only
had e-bikes, so I thought, I'llgive it a try.
Oh my God, those things are soaddicting.
I cannot ride another one againbecause I fear that if I do it
one or two more times, that'sall I'm gonna ride.
I mean, this e-bike was like 60pounds and it handled like my
(39:55):
Saturday little carbon fiberbike, you know.
So that's my, I don't know,maybe 10 to 20 year out
transition.
Right now I'm transitioningfrom solo to group tours humbly,
but you know, positively, I'mkeeping a good outlook.
And I know that there will be atime, hopefully, if I continue
this, if you know my legs holdout and so forth, that I will
(40:17):
probably not be able to justride a regular bike.
And so, you know, I'll have totransition to that e-bike.
And again, that's my way ofreally enjoying the environment
at my pace and not having towork so hard at it.
Uh, but yeah, there'sdefinitely a lot of
considerations about that from adistance limitation standpoint
and and uh just maintenance andso forth and cost.
(40:39):
There's a lot more options nowfor distance cycling with tour
companies and equipment thanthere used to be.
It's a great time to get intoit, I'd say.
Tom Butler (40:48):
Yeah, I'm hoping it continues that way too.
I'm pretty excited about likethe Great American Rail Trail.
Ken Dyckman (40:54):
Yeah.
Tom Butler (40:54):
You know, and just uh share real quick a concern I
have there is legislation rightnow that is being considered
really threatening legislationout there.
It's HR 4924 that coulddramatically change the way that
abandoned rail lines can beconverted to trails and actually
(41:17):
potentially even threatening totake away trails that are
already in place.
I think that that would be ashame because I see the Rails to
Trails movement as being soawesome.
And if people want to know moreabout that, I I'm really
encouraging anybody andeverybody to find your local
bike advocates and team togetherand write letters and
(41:41):
everything to in opposition ofHR 4924.
Rails to trails.org, they havea really nice fact sheet.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes.
A really good fact sheettalking about the threat that HR
4924 holds for trails.
I am excited about the futurebecause I think as time goes on,
(42:05):
there'll actually be morescenic bikeways and
opportunities for touring.
Ken Dyckman (42:11):
Maybe to tag along that a little bit, you know,
I've spent most of my time inthe Pacific Northwest and the
Cascade Bike Club in Washingtonand in Oregon, too.
There's very strong groupsthere that push for bicycle
rights and so forth.
And it was evident kind of whatI took for granted when I was
in Costa Rica, because you wouldthink Costa Rica being kind of
(42:34):
a green company country, itwould encourage cycling.
They would have trails andinfrastructure and so forth.
I think Costa Rica is probablythe hardest country in all of
Central America to cycle in.
And I think that's a shame.
And I think it stems from thefact that they just don't have
cyclists in positions of powerto make those sorts of
decisions, which I think is badfor the country because I think
(42:56):
that they could really benefitfrom that part of marketing.
It just is incongruent witheverything else that is about
Costa Rica, the the you know,the the green and just you know
being free and you know, uh purelife and so forth.
It's a shame because some ofthe greatest roadways in Costa
(43:17):
Rica that had wide bike lanes,they're illegal to travel on.
It's the weirdest thing.
I traveled on them anywaybecause I saw some other local
cyclists on there and somepolice passed me up.
So either they didn't care orthey just didn't bother to pull
me over or anything.
And like I say, there's so manyroads that are illegal that
it's just so hard to ride a bikeon.
(43:37):
So yeah, I'm with you.
I think that that is somethingthat we should not take for
granted of and try to ensurethat that right and those
opportunities don't slip awayfrom us.
Tom Butler (43:49):
I'm really interested in to be honest, I
don't think about you know thetrip you did, you went from
Cancun to Panama City, I think.
Is that right?
And you know, I I actuallydon't think of doing that
anytime I think about doingsomething.
I mean, I being on thispodcast, I'm constantly getting
(44:11):
new things that I want to do.
But are Cancun to Panama Cityis not one of those things.
Let's find it.
But tell me a little bit aboutthat.
When you look back at it, doyou see for the most part?
I mean, you talked about CostaRica, but for the most part, are
you on road?
Do you have to be prepared toride on gravel?
How's that aspect of it?
Ken Dyckman (44:33):
Yeah, good question.
Yeah, I'm not a mountain bikerwhatsoever.
I've tried it a couple of timesand it's just way too rough on
my wrists, you know, and so I Idon't want to wear those, wear
my joints out anymore than theythen they're already worn out.
So I'm I'm definitely a road uhbiker, and I try to stick with
the blacktop roads as much aspossible.
(44:54):
You know, I was surprised bymany of the countries in um uh
Central America, Mexico,actually, from Cancun,
especially from Cancun to justpast Playa del Carmen, a little
bit south of there, that fewhundred miles, is probably some
of the best roads that I've evertraveled on in my life.
(45:15):
It rivals some of the bestroads in the United States.
And I've driven, I've I've rodeon a lot of bike lanes in the
United States.
So I was surprised by that.
Lots of litter everywhere in inCentral America, you know,
plastic bottles and definitelyugly.
I mean, if you can kind of lookabove that and the trees and
the ocean, everything, there'sbeauty there.
(45:36):
But unfortunately, you know,just people throw out their
trash and garbage all over theplace.
So that's unfortunate.
But yeah, the worst roads werein Costa Rica, mainly along that
Nakoy Peninsula, becausethere's just not a lot of ways
to traverse that withouttraveling on dirt roads.
But you can get on there withuh with a just a touring bike
with you know 35 to 45 tires.
(45:59):
And it's it's not that rough.
It's graded pretty well.
There's so many surprisesthere.
You know, for example, in CostaRica, you're traveling out in
the middle of like nowhere.
It seems so remote.
The road is rough.
And then all of a sudden, youknow, in one area, I started
cycling on these um like latticebricks that were in this dirt
road.
(46:19):
I thought, wow, where are thesewhere these bricks come from?
It was like that for a coupleof hundred yards, and then all
of a sudden there's this huge,like uh four or five-star resort
in the middle of nowhere.
And then you go past that, youknow, on the bricks, and then it
goes back to absolute dirt roadagain, like almost
four-wheeling type.
It's just the weirdest thing inthe world.
I love being surprised bythings that I mean, I research
(46:41):
the heck out of things, but evenafter I research it, when I'm
surprised, it's just it's it'snice, you know, just to have
things come up that you don'texperience.
Hopefully you don't have to,you know, trudge through it or
solve a problem, but just youknow, those kinds of little
surprises, like you just don'tsee those things in the United
States, probably nor Europe,really, right?
Tom Butler (47:02):
So now a real practical question.
What did you do about water?
Ken Dyckman (47:06):
Great question.
Because really the onlycountries that it's safe to
drink the water in is Panama andCosta Rica, but all other
places it's not.
And so yeah, I just I boughtbottled water most of the time.
I did let's see, did I have it?
No, I I brought a camp stove totry to boil water if I needed
it, but I had the hardest timefinding a little, you know,
(47:29):
butane uh bottle for my so Inever used it, so I just bought
a bunch of water, and I'll tellyou, I spent one night uh, gosh,
I have to tell you thisexperience here real quick.
So I was in Guatemala and in avery remote uh Airbnb, and it
was Christmas Eve and Christmas,and I remember um texting my
(47:52):
family, asking them what they uhwere having for a Christmas Eve
dinner, and you know, they sentpictures of ham and potatoes
and gravy and bread and soforth.
Well, I didn't know this aboutthe uh culture there, but most
of the stores closed, not juston Christmas, but on Christmas
(48:12):
Eve too, for the entire day.
So I could not find, I mean,literally, I could not find any
place to go get food, grocerystores or anything.
And so Christmas Eve, you know,family was sending me pictures
and I sent a picture back.
It's like, okay, I've got adried up, you know, kind of
nasty granola bar because notquite the same granola bar as
(48:34):
the United States, and someramen that I picked up a long
time ago.
So ramen in a granola bar wasmy Christmas Eve dinner.
So, you know, not thinking, Ijust dumped some ramen in uh a
glass and filled it up withwater from the sink.
And I didn't have any way toheat it because they don't have
a whole lot of hot we hot waterin the places in the uh Central
(48:54):
America.
So I just let it sit there forabout an hour and it softened up
and I had it.
And about 50 minutes later, mystomach started gurgling, and I
thought, ooh, I use tap waterfor that.
And yeah, I spent an extracouple days there because yeah,
I had Montezuma's revenge.
So so yeah, that's water isimportant.
So yeah.
That was a wow, but yeah, itmakes for good memories, right?
Tom Butler (49:17):
So yeah, yeah, being sick is always a good memory, I
guess.
Again, it's one of those thingsof overcoming, you know.
So preparation is important.
You know, you don't just jumpon a bike if you've done nothing
and go a thousand miles orwhatever.
Talk about that.
What do you think aboutpreparation now?
(49:39):
And what are you thinking aboutas far as preparation as you
get older?
Ken Dyckman (49:44):
Well, there's the physical aspect, of course, but
I think that most of it is inyour head.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsto consider as you get older,
you know, again, just more andmore things that go out and uh
trying to stay aware of yourcognitive ability and so forth.
I think as long as you have agood mindset about what you want
(50:07):
to do and think about why youwant to do stuff, ask what is it
that I want to get out of it?
You know, is it thedestination?
Is it the journey?
Is it the exercise?
Is it is it the social aspect?
But I think as long as you havea good attitude about it,
everything else will kind offall in line because what's the
saying?
If you have a strong enoughwhy, we'll overcome anyhow,
(50:28):
right?
So if you know why you want todo something, you'll figure out
the physical, you know, stayingin shape, you'll figure out the
equipment, making sure thatyou're prepared.
So I think if you're mentallyprepared, that's 99% of it.
Everything else will kind offall behind that.
Tom Butler (50:43):
Are you cycling enough on a weekly basis that
that's not something that youreally need to change in
preparation for a long trip?
Ken Dyckman (50:51):
I think so.
You know, me personally, I kindof mix it up a little bit with
cycling and hiking, and I stilldo some swimming too, just
because it's at my apartment andit's such a great way to stay
in shape without stressing yourjoints.
I think if you have good heartand lungs, you know, that that
does a whole lot.
Yeah, I it depends on how longof the trips you're going to
(51:12):
take and how much you tend tocycle in one day.
When I started off the WestCoast, I literally had planned,
again, I didn't have a whole lotof time off work, so I had
several back-to-back centuries.
Now it's very difficult.
I don't enjoy doing a century,especially with pan years, you
know.
It's just that's just part ofgetting older.
You know, if you only cycle 30or 40 miles a day, uh, that
(51:35):
doesn't take much.
But if you want to cycle more,you know, if you just if you if
you're in it for the exercise orso forth.
So I think that kind of guidesyour preparation a lot too.
But again, I think the mostimportant part is the mental
preparation.
If you have that down pat andunderstand the why you're doing
it hard enough, I thinkeverything else will fall in
(51:56):
place.
Tom Butler (51:56):
You've done these long trips.
You you talked about havingtime to reflect.
I'm wondering if you can lookback and point to these
adventures as something that hasreally brought out an aspect of
yourself that you wouldn't havelearned about any other way.
Ken Dyckman (52:14):
Well, that's a very interesting question.
Yeah, I think so.
You know, I um definitely ammore grateful now with these
trips, you know, just maybe Idon't know if it's the solitude,
but just the appreciation ofjust being able to plan.
And gosh, I mean, the fact thatI'm talking to you right now
(52:35):
about this stuff, I'm justgrateful that hearing myself say
these things, you know, so manypeople just don't have that
ability.
And so, and so my advice is forpeople with respect to that is
you know, do do whatever you canas soon as you can because it
doesn't get easier.
But I think we talked about asense of accomplishment gives
(52:56):
you such a sense of ofconfidence that you know you can
solve problems and just take onanything after that.
I believe also this has reallygot me into a lot more of uh
mindfulness and just enjoyingthe experience with a lot more
senses, not just taking mentalsnapshots, but really enjoying
(53:18):
everything about the smell, thesounds, the taste of things.
And then I think also justagain, maybe just taking the
time to reflect, because youknow, there's a lot of time on a
bike by yourself when you're onone of these tours, and unless
you're listening to music orsomething.
So you can you have a lot oftime to think and talk to
yourself.
And so really just kind oflearning how to ask myself, you
(53:40):
know, what do I want to do inlife?
And, you know, just askingseveral whys.
Okay, well, why do I want to dothat?
Okay, well, what does that meanto me?
What do I want to get out ofit?
So that's different for everypeople.
Is it, you know, is it thepictures, the images, the
cultures, the sense ofaccomplishment, the the
exercise?
And then whatever that is, youknow, why is that important to
(54:01):
you?
With age comes wisdom, and witha lot of time on a bike comes a
lot of some of theserevelations, I think, too.
So yeah, I'm I'm grateful forum having those revelations.
I don't think they would havecome to me if I didn't have a
lot of that solo time to uh toreflect on that, on that.
Tom Butler (54:19):
You talked about looking to cycle as long as you
can, looking to do these tripsas long as you can.
Ken Dyckman (54:24):
You bet.
Tom Butler (54:24):
I I'm wondering about people that you've met
along the way.
Are you seeing people older inlife that are keeping it up,
that are have been aninspiration to you?
Is that something you'veexperienced?
Ken Dyckman (54:38):
It's funny you mentioned that.
There's a couple of exampleshere.
So I remember when the familywas younger and I would see
people on these long distancetours, and I remember this one
man, gosh, I don't rememberwhere he was, but I talked to
him, maybe he was in a store orsomething, and I was asking him,
you know, what he was doing,kind of like here, you know,
tell me about your experienceand what you love about it and
(55:00):
so forth.
And I said, boy, you're you'remy hero.
I want to be like you someday.
I can't remember how long agothat was.
It was a long time ago, 20years ago or so.
It was interesting that when Iwas on my um Central America
trip, I actually went into abike shop to get my chain
replaced and do somemaintenance.
And there was uh anothercustomer in there, he was
(55:21):
younger, probably in his 30s.
And I swear to God, Tom, hecame to me and said, Hey, tell
me about your experience.
I said, Oh, uh tell him aboutit.
He says, Oh man, you're myhero.
You're my inspiration.
I I want to I want to do whatyou do when I get your age.
And I thought of the man that Italked to, you know, 20-some
years ago.
And I thought, okay, it's myturn to pass on the torch,
(55:42):
right?
I just thought that was kind ofan interesting um set of
dynamics there.
But I think when you findsomething that you love, I think
you should share it withsomeone and help others try to
reach their goals by whatevermeans possible, you know, just
telling stories, inspiring themsomehow, because it comes back
and it makes you feel greatafterwards, you know.
Tom Butler (56:02):
I think that's one of the things that I'm as
interested in as anything withbuilding local cycling over 60
communities.
Ken Dyckman (56:10):
Yeah.
Tom Butler (56:11):
And that's the we get to go out and we get to be a
testament.
Yeah you know, to people thatare younger.
We get to be that in motion.
And I'm really looking for nextspring and the tour to cure
American Diabetes Association.
I just think the statement thatseeing people are older and and
(56:32):
some of the writers will belike me that have diabetes or
pre-diabetes, and I think thatyeah, it's something great that
we can do, you know.
So you get to go out, you getto enjoy cycling, and you get to
have a positive impact.
Ken Dyckman (56:47):
So well said, so well said.
And I think that's so importantin today's day and age where
most of the young kids now withtheir VR headsets and the AI,
they think that that's all theyneed to do to enjoy life.
And you, you know, the VRheadsets are pretty cool, but
there's so much more than justthe visual aspect of it.
Going out there and justmovement, keeping your body, any
(57:09):
kind of exercise, you know,cycling is pretty good because
it's low impact, and thataffords you, you know, a long
lasting lifetime, but just toexperience life with so many
other senses, too.
So yeah, it's trying toencourage kids to um you know,
put down the electronics, right?
And and enjoy that.
I'm hopeful that we canencourage them as a generation.
(57:30):
And so, yeah, I look forward tothat as well.
Tom Butler (57:33):
Is there a way for people to follow your
adventures?
Ken Dyckman (57:35):
Oh, sure.
I posted one adventure on CrazyGuy on a bike, but I don't like
that website because it's kindof hard to use.
I I use Cycle Blaze now.
I use that for my uh journals.
So I think you can just look atKen Dykman on Cycle Blaze, and
they can look at the spelling ofmy name, I suspect, on your
your notes.
And then I have a YouTubechannel too that I've made
(57:56):
certain videos that I've linkedinto my travel journals.
So you could look up Ken Dykmanon uh YouTube and see lots of
little short snips of days onthe bike.
So yeah, no, I'd appreciatethat.
And if anybody um wants to dropcomments and tell me about
their adventures, I'd love tohear about theirs as well.
Tom Butler (58:17):
Uh and I'll drop those links on in the show notes
so that people can find themeasily.
You know, I would recommendseeing Ken as a target if you
know of some great tours, somegreat organized tours, you know,
let them know about it.
Ken Dyckman (58:30):
Yeah, I'd love to exchange ideas on those, you
bet.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (58:33):
Ken, this has been a blast.
Thank you so much for sharingwith me.
Thanks for reaching out andletting me know your story and
coming on here and sharing moreof it.
I really appreciate people likeyou who like sharing.
Here's what I've learned,here's what I've done.
So the it kind of adds tothings that people know about
(58:54):
how to do some of these things.
Ken Dyckman (58:55):
Awesome.
It's been great.
I really thank you for theopportunity.
I really appreciate everythingthat you're doing with this
podcast, Tom.
There's a lot of people outthere like me that appreciate
hearing from your interestingguests.
It's fun hearing about andtracking your progress
throughout the year as well.
So thank you.
Tom Butler (59:10):
Well, thank you.
That's great, that's greatfeedback.
So all right, talk to you laternow.
Ken Dyckman (59:14):
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Tom Butler (59:25):
What do you think of Ken's focus on why?
I like it.
I do believe that if the why issolid, it will drive all the
other things that go into makinga great cycling tour.
If the why is solid, I'll takethe time to prepare physically.
If the why connects tosomething deeper in me, then
I'll learn what I need to learnabout having the equipment I
(59:47):
need.
I hope that there is ameaningful why associated with
your cycling.
My why goes back to when Ibought a new bike at 59 years
old.
I felt at the time the bikegave me the best chance to do
what I needed to reclaim a goodhealth status.
It has turned out that way forme.
I hope that your cycling isjust as fun and rewarding as
(01:00:08):
mine.
And remember, age is just agear change.
This is the Cycling Over 60 Podcast, season 4,
episode 4, from Solo to GroupTouring, and I'm your host, Tom
Butler.
I'm currently dealing withsomething that I'm not happy
(00:26):
about.
I have a really sore Achillestendon.
I don't know how I originallystrained it, but it has
progressively gotten worse.
I thought I would just kind ofignore it and wait for it to
slowly heal, but I had anexperience that caused me to
change my mind.
A couple of weeks ago, I wentto the Woodland Park Grand Prix,
an MFG cycle cross event.
It is billed as the biggestcycle cross event in the world,
(00:48):
and it has a real partyatmosphere.
This is my second time to MFGWoodland Park, and I've loved it
each time.
I didn't ride this year, but Ihope to do it next year.
One thing I like is there arelots of riders over 60 to hang
out with there.
We positioned ourselves on amuddy hill to watch Gearin
compete and just to experiencethe mayhem there.
(01:08):
At one point, someone pulledoff the trail and was holding
their lower leg.
They said they thought theytore it.
After the race was over and Iwas walking to the car with my
Achilles hurting me, I just keptthinking about that person and
seeing myself on the side of thetrail with a torn Achilles.
I decided that I'd better bemore proactive about it.
The Achilles can take a longtime to heal.
(01:30):
This is explained by Dr.
Dane Wukic on the University ofTexas Southwestern Medical
Center Med blog.
He says, quote, unlike muscletissue, tendons don't get a
significant supply of blood.
Blood delivers fluid andnutrients that are essential for
healing.
The less blood delivered, thelonger it takes for tissue to
heal.
Add to that the sheer size ofthe Achilles tendon, and you're
(01:52):
in for a lengthy recovery.
End quote.
The truth is that I'm in thisposition because I haven't been
proactive.
I've talked a bunch here aboutmy lack of flexibility.
I've had at least five healthprofessionals tell me that I
need to dramatically improve myflexibility, but I still have
been negligent.
So I'm pulling out all thehabit change strategies that
I've talked about here.
And I'm doing it right now.
(02:12):
I'm sending McKenna a text thatI need flexibility,
accountability.
Usually texting McKenna meansthat she will kick into whip dad
into shape mode.
Let's see what she says.
I'm sending the message that Ineed to have flexibility,
accountability.
Of course, meaning that I needto be held accountable for doing
(02:33):
flexibility exercise.
Okay, all I got back in textwas a simple yep.
But I know this isn't just ayep.
It is a yep.
I've been harping on this foryears, and you still haven't
done something about it.
So stop saying you'll dosomething about it and just do
it.
That's what she was reallytexting.
Well, I'm not standing for thatdisrespectful attitude, even if
(02:56):
it is the truth.
So I'm texting I need anegative consequence for not
doing stretching.
I've sent that.
There, now I've shown that thisisn't like the other times.
I'm taking my stretchingcompliance to a different level.
Take that, yepper.
I'm not gonna wait to hear fromher, but it'll be interesting
to see what she comes up with.
(03:16):
One of the problems that I havewith flexibility is that it's
hard to measure success.
I like data, but I'm notcurrently getting flexibility
data.
That will be something tofigure out.
One positive strategy that Iwant to share came about because
I wanted to ride Cranksgivingagain this year.
Since witnessing the guy on theside of the trail grasping his
leg, I've been taking it easyand not riding a bunch.
(03:38):
But I figured that Cranksgivingwas going to be a fairly gentle
ride, and I really wanted to doit.
By the way, you can see anInstagram reel of Cranksgiving
into coma on the Cycling Over 60Instagram page.
To help support my Achilles, Iused KT tape.
I looked up a way to put thetape on for that specific
purpose.
We have a good deal ofexperience in our house with KT
(04:00):
tape.
Kelly put it on for me, and Ithink it did a fantastic job.
I haven't been experiencing alot of pain when I'm writing,
but afterwards, when I've notmoved for a while, that's when I
will experience pain as soon asI stand up.
But the KT tape dramaticallyimproved things.
I will continue tape up for awhile.
It will be hard to comparesince I won't have the
(04:21):
experience of not taping up, butI'm still interested to see how
that might reduce how much painI have.
I'm reading a new book that wasrecommended to me by a cycling
or sixty writer.
The title is The MidlifeCyclist by Phil Cavell.
I see the title as a bitmisleading because Cavell is
really talking about cyclinglater in life.
I'm still just at the beginningof the book, but one of the
(04:44):
things that I think applies tomy Achilles issue is that
cycling is just too linear.
I hate this kind of talk.
I truly want to just do cyclingand not have to mess with other
forms of exercise.
But just like with weighttraining, I have to admit that
cycling alone is not enough forwhat I want to get out of
exercise.
Cavell states that cyclistsneed to add chaos to their
(05:08):
activity.
Unfortunately, that makes a lotof sense.
Especially when it comes tostrength around the ankle joint.
The pedal motion is just toolinear.
So for me, I think the best wayto get chaos is to walk on
uneven ground.
I'll find a place where I canhike that isn't a smooth path.
Maybe some place that wouldhave me scrambling up some
rocks.
I'll keep you posted on thisand other strategies to bring
(05:31):
some chaos to my activities.
When Ken Dykman emailed meabout making a change from solo
touring to group tours, I foundthat to be an intriguing place
for a cyclist to be.
Ken has done some reallyfantastic solo tours.
(05:54):
He also realizes there is atime when group touring has
advantages.
I haven't done a long cyclingtour yet.
I hope the yet is a key part ofthat statement.
I was excited about hearingfrom someone as experienced as
Ken.
Here is our discussion.
I want to welcome Ken Dykman tothe podcast.
Thank you for joining me, Ken.
Thank you for having me, Tom.
(06:16):
I am really excited to get yourperspective on long distance
touring.
I think that you've done somany interesting things, and
we'll get into some things thatyou've learned from that.
But let's start out by havingyou share your earliest memory
of the bicycle.
Ken Dyckman (06:33):
Yeah, thanks, Tom.
Yeah, I'm I'm looking forwardto sharing.
Golly, my earliest memory of abicycle.
You know, I rode, I rememberriding an old Schwin to
elementary school and it had thebig banana seat, you know, the
big chopper handlebars.
Uh the thing was heavier thanuh a car, it seemed like.
(06:55):
And from there, I walked tomiddle school and I took a um
bus to to high school.
So I don't remember read uhusing a bike too much.
But then in college, my oldestbrother gave me a Fuji, I think
it was a steel road bike to getaround the campus.
And that was my firstexperience with a real true road
(07:17):
bike with the skinny tires andsuch.
And I thought, well, that'sthis is a pretty efficient way
of transportation.
You know, it's lightweight,easy to handle, uh, easy to
ride.
And so, yeah, that was probablyhow I got hooked on to uh just
using road bikes.
That was my first experiencewith the road bike.
Tom Butler (07:32):
I remember having a Schwin with a banana seat, and
then it was a craze for a whileto try to get really long forks
on the front of it.
Ken Dyckman (07:42):
Yeah, I remember that.
Yep, yep.
Tom Butler (07:44):
So having the chopper bars and the really long
forks out in front probablymade them pretty dangerous.
But yeah.
Ken Dyckman (07:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Tom Butler (07:52):
So were you focused on staying active when you were
younger?
Ken Dyckman (07:57):
I think so.
I've picked up a lot of greatpieces of advice from various
people in my life.
And one of my best friends incollege, who was an usher at my
wedding, uh, Eric, he gave methis line that always stuck with
me.
He said, Ken, he said, up toabout 30 years old, your body
takes care of itself.
But from 30 and beyond, youneed to take care of it.
(08:18):
So that really stuck with me.
And so right around that time,30 years old, that's when I
moved up to the PacificNorthwest, I got really into
triathlons.
That was, you know, back whenthey were just getting popular
back in the early 2000s, and uh,which I absolutely loved, just
the energy, the support, and thecheering from the spectators of
(08:38):
those.
And so that really kept megoing for a while.
And yeah, that's quite anactive sport, certainly, too.
So I was I was in the bestshape of my life when I did
those.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (08:47):
Nice.
Well, what good advice.
I wish we could pass that on toeverybody.
I wish I could go back in timeand really get that in my mind.
Because I I knew it was true,but I just let life get in the
way of it.
So it's awesome that you tookthat to heart and you you stayed
with it.
You've completed someincredible solo tours over the
past 12 years.
(09:08):
I mean, really things that areout of the norm of most people,
even most cyclists, maybe notmost of the people that listen
to the podcast, but really not atypical cycling journey.
I I'm wondering what initiallydrew you to long-distance
touring?
Ken Dyckman (10:37):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I probably would have donetriathlons forever if I could
have, but I had two surgeries onmy left foot from overuse
injury.
And you know, and I I just, Idon't know, it kind of made me
angry because I've always stayedpretty fit from a weight
standpoint.
And I've always seen these, youknow, larger cyclists pass me
(10:58):
on triathlons and you know, justbigger people in general
running.
And I'm, I think, in um fairlygood weight shape.
And, you know, I get I getthese injuries on my foot.
It's like, ah, doggone, it'snot fair.
So I couldn't do triathlonsanymore.
But I noticed that hiking andbiking didn't hurt me at all.
So I thought, okay, I'm gonnado biking for a while.
(11:20):
And I just got to do bikingmore and more.
And it was probably a blessingin disguise because, you know,
running is really hard on yourjoints.
I I read that a 150-poundperson running a marathon puts a
million pounds of force on, youknow, every joint that you
have, you know, your hips, yourknees, your all the joints in
your feet.
And so do a lot of thosemarathons.
(11:41):
And yeah, it's no wonder olderpeople, you know, have hip
replacements and kneereplacements.
And so, yeah, like I say, it'sprobably a blessing in disguise.
But specifically, I think youask about you know what drew me
to long distance touring.
There was one triathlon that meand the family drove down from
the Pacific Northwest down toArizona on.
(12:02):
It was along uh Highway 101there, and I saw lots of
distance cyclists along theroad.
And we stayed at one reallynice hotel, kind of nestled in
the redwoods, and I saw a bikecamper there.
And I just I kind of imaginedmyself as him, and I thought,
you know, I'd love to do thatone day.
(12:22):
And that just kind of stuck inmy head.
So it kind of grew from there,I'd say.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (12:27):
You probably have too many experiences for us to
get to all of them here, buttalk about some of the things
that stick out as adventuresyou've had.
Ken Dyckman (12:37):
Well, yeah, my favorite distance touring ones
certainly um that stick out inmy head.
I started, I think, when I was46.
So in 2013, I did the WestCoast from uh Seattle to Los
Angeles.
That was over uh just only twoweeks because I couldn't take
off much from work, so had somepretty long days.
(12:59):
And then in 2017, when I was50, I did the East Coast from
Florida up to Maine.
And then when I was 52, thatwas 2019, I did the coast of
Portugal.
My wife and I vacationed overthere.
She kind of drove along while Iwas on the bicycle, so that was
a lot of fun and a great way tosee a new country that way,
(13:19):
just the perfect pace.
And then most recently in 2023,when I was 55, I did Central
America from uh Cancun all theway down to Panama City.
And that took about eightweeks.
If you notice a trend and kindof sense the um distance there,
yeah, it's taken me longer andlonger.
It's taken me longer, but Ithink I've also learned to just,
(13:43):
you know, not rush throughthings and just kind of enjoy
the experience as opposed tobeing so destination-oriented.
Tom Butler (13:51):
Yeah, I think that's one of those things when you
get to the point where you havesome time and when you've got an
obligation, it's like I onlyhave two weeks or I only have
one week or whatever.
It seems like that timepressure can change things a
lot.
But to to be able to step backand say, I'm gonna enjoy this
journey, whatever it yields, ityields however far I go today.
(14:16):
I go, as I talk to people, itseems like that's a really
positive way to do a tour.
Ken Dyckman (14:21):
Like you say, I think sometimes you have to make
it a conscious decision.
You have to tell yourself thisis what you're going to do,
because it's hard to get out ofa rut sometimes.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (14:30):
I would say for me, I'm pretty outcome-driven.
Get to that space where I'mlike, okay, step back and enjoy
it.
You know, don't worry so muchabout the outcome.
Ken Dyckman (14:39):
Yeah, we all can tell with your uh progress on
your annual goals, but uh that'salways fun to hear from you.
Tom Butler (14:46):
So good, good.
That's good feedback.
You are now 58.
Yep.
And I'm wondering as you lookout ahead, how are you feeling
about cycling over 60 andbeyond?
Ken Dyckman (14:57):
You know, Tom, I I want to do it for as long as I
can still.
You know, I just I absolutelyfeel so alive and so fulfilled
when I get on a bike, um, evenjust a short bike ride, you
know, around my my home, butespecially in a new area that
I've never been to before,because you know, one of the
things I enjoy the most aboutcycling is it's just a perfect
(15:21):
pace to really see everything,and especially, like I say,
something new.
Hiking is nice, you know,because some place you some
places you have to go in themountains where you can't
necessarily take a take a bike.
But I think cycling is justthat right pace where you can
experience uh everything, youknow, not too fast, not too
slow.
And of course you can smell andand hear everything.
(15:43):
Anyway, I'm really just lookingforward to having more time to
just devote to that because um Ijust absolutely love it and
yeah, I want to do it for aslong as I can.
Tom Butler (15:52):
What's it look for cycling together as a family or
as a couple in in the future?
What do you think about that?
Ken Dyckman (15:59):
You know, my kids are fairly independent.
Although um one of mydaughters, we have cycled, and
we both cycled just kind ofrecreationally.
My wife is more of a hiker andI'm more of a biker.
I've tried to get her to cycle.
And, you know, I try to hikewith her a little bit.
And actually, she's she'sreally gotten me into hiking.
She is such an inspiring hiker,I'll tell you what.
(16:20):
She during COVID in Oregonthere, I think, if I remember
correctly, she hiked that yearof COVID, she hiked like a
thousand miles, 250,000 feet ofelevation.
Wow.
So yeah, so she really got meinto that.
But but she doesn't like to bein the sun.
So whatever, you know, wechange as we get older and we
just we try to do as much as wecan together.
(16:42):
But um she supports me, Isupport her, so it works out
well.
Tom Butler (16:47):
Yeah.
Nice.
Now you mentioned when youreached out to me that you're
making a conscious shift fromsolo touring to more organized
group rides.
Was there something specificthat made you realize it was
time to make this change?
Ken Dyckman (17:01):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to talking about that.
Yes, definitely there was onething specifically that was a
light bulb that made me realizeit was time to change.
Uh, two words.
Costa Rica, especially uhNicoya Peninsula.
Gosh, I'll tell you what, thatis rough.
You know, for people who readabout the Nicoya Peninsula and
(17:24):
Costa Rica, most of thecountries in Costa Rica are uh
relatively flat.
Honduras has a lot ofmountains, but the the roads
aren't bad, really.
It's very beautiful.
But yeah, the Nicoya Peninsulain Costa Rica, it's mostly dirt
roads and it's incrediblybeautiful, but just tough.
They do not make roads downthere, Tom, that go back and
(17:46):
forth up a mountain, you know,that kind of tack back and
forth.
They it just goes straight upand straight down.
And straight up and straightdown.
Yeah.
And they're so steep thatliterally I was off my bike
several times, several days in arow, just dragging it, uh, in
fact, tacking it, walking mybike up a dirt road, tacking it
(18:07):
back and forth.
That's how steep it was.
And in fact, I have a gel seat,and I still have an imprint in
my gel seat from my thumbnail,digging into it so hard,
dragging it up this hill.
You know, it's heavy with mypanniers on it and such.
But and then you go down thehill and it's so steep downhill
that you've almost completelylocked up both wheels and
(18:28):
skidding, and you get to thebottom, and it's just a giant
mud pit down there, because mostof the vehicles in Central
America in general are eithermotorcycles or are four-wheel
drives with the like the snorkelexhaust that go over the hoods
because they're always goingthrough mud and rivers and so
forth.
So you get to the bottom ofthese hills, and you got to
change your shoes into sandals,and you cross this mud, and then
you get on the other side, getback in your bike's shoes and
(18:50):
try to go up, but mainly justwalking your bike up and then
riding it down, changing yourshoes again.
And you do that all day long.
And it just it really wore onme.
So the realization that I hadwhen I was doing that is I'm in
a really remote location.
I did not expect this aboutCosta Rica, especially.
And, you know, something couldhappen to me out here, and no
(19:13):
one would find me for weeks.
So it really, you know, itreally dawned on me that, okay,
I'm getting that age too, thatsomething could happen to me.
And so that's when I kind ofrealized that, well, yeah, this
is probably my last big hurrahas a solo, you know, for
something that long, somethingso remote anyway.
I love exploring exotic newcountries and different, you
(19:36):
know, locations.
But if I'm going to do thatagain, yeah, it's gonna be with
others because I've got a longways to go still to enjoy life
and uh I don't need to end itearly.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (19:47):
Uh it sounds wise.
I think you know, evaluatingthat situation and saying, you
know, there's a risk of me beinginjured for a week out here by
myself.
Ken Dyckman (20:01):
It's humbling, I'll tell you what, because you
know, you just you feelinvincible and it's tough to
accept, you know, what your bodyis telling you.
But yeah, it's a reminder everyday when you get out of bed and
feel more creaks and cracks,and you know, you it's you you
gotta listen to that sometimes,right?
Tom Butler (20:18):
So I've talked before on the podcast about this
thing where there's both sidesof cycling that I really enjoy.
I enjoy being out by myself alot, you know, being a place
even sometimes, you know, thistime of year at night, being on
a trail, there's nobody else onthe trail.
That solitude is something thatI enjoy.
(20:39):
So I I, you know, I I'mthinking there's definitely
aspects of solo touring that arethat way.
So I'm wondering if you couldtalk about like three things
that you're gonna miss aboutsolo touring.
Ken Dyckman (20:52):
Well, certainly the solitude, yeah, just being able
to, you know, reflect on lifeand soul searching on your own
without any kind of schedule oranybody kind of pressuring you
to go on or to stop somewhereelse.
Yeah, just the ability to stop,you know, whenever you want,
wherever you want, eat whateveryou want to, um, just that
independence is amazing.
(21:13):
And yeah, I think that I I willmiss that.
I I'll need to try tosupplement that with something
or try to find it somehow still.
And I've got some ideas aboutthat too.
Tom Butler (21:22):
There's an element of problem solving that I've
heard people talk about thatthey enjoy.
Like when you're out on yourown, there's times that you have
to tackle things.
What do you think about that?
Ken Dyckman (21:33):
Oh, indeed.
Yeah, I think, especially inCosta Rica, because I don't
speak Spanish all that well.
I did some crash course and youknow, I was able to speak
enough to kind of get by withyou know common phrases and
such.
But I'll tell you, yeah, whenyou're in that kind of remote
condition and you experiencethings literally every day that
(21:53):
you do not expect, things thatjust come up and you got to work
through them somehow.
And yeah, that gives you such asense of confidence.
Uh, I'll tell you what.
So um, yeah, I think that thatis something too that, you know,
as I research and kind oflisten to some of some of your
other guests and just kind ofthink about my future, that it's
something else that you need tothink about is being a solo
(22:16):
distance cyclist, especially inremote areas, that it's not just
your physical capabilities, butyou know, your cognitive
abilities too, and being able tofigure things out.
We have to realize that it'sthat part diminishes too, you
know, at some point.
That's something to be awareof.
But yeah, until then, yeah,just having that confidence,
(22:37):
once you accomplish somethinglike that, you just feel so
invincible, like you can do somuch more.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (22:42):
This might be not the easiest thing to answer, but
I'm wondering, you know, as youmake this transition, there
must be some things you you arelooking forward to.
And then I'm also curious aboutkind of that mental shift of
looking forward to cooperationand maybe compromise.
(23:03):
And like you mentionedsomething that stuck in my mind,
and that's like eating whereyou want with your when you're
with a group of people.
There's even this negotiationsometimes about you know, what
are we going to eat?
Everything.
So I'm wondering, you know,again, what are you looking
forward to?
And like what's the mentalaspect of it, that meant mental
(23:23):
preparation like?
Ken Dyckman (23:25):
Yeah, it's great questions.
It's a it's a double-edgedsword, the solitude and then the
social aspect.
But I try to look forward toyou know positive things and so
you know, stay focused on that.
And so yeah, I'm lookingforward to meeting people,
especially mingling with peoplefrom other countries to learn
their culture and you know,maybe help me decide what's
(23:47):
worth exploring and more, youknow, when I'm in full
retirement, just sharing storieswith them.
Yeah, I I always try to remainoptimistic and believe when one
door closes, another one opens.
We'll see, you know, what kindof groups I join.
Yeah, but I think the key isstaying focused on the
positives, you know, the newexperience, not what you're
giving up or sacrifices, butwhat new experiences there are
(24:10):
that you hadn't thought aboutand make the best of them.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (24:14):
Are there some tips, uh, you know, lessons that
you've learned along the waythat you think would be valuable
for people to know as they'reconsidering long distance
touring?
Ken Dyckman (24:26):
Yes, indeed.
Yeah, I made a couple of uhnotes hoping that you would ask
this.
You know, I think we talked alittle bit about you know being
realistic about yourcapabilities as you get older
and my realization in that typeof environment, you know, that
remote, very tough, harshenvironment in the Nicoya
(24:47):
Peninsula there in Costa Rica.
So certainly your health, yourphysical capabilities, but other
things from a safety standpointto consider is you know, where
you're going, how remote it is,a SAT phone might be good, or at
least a uh a GPS locator, youknow, like a garment.
I can't remember the name.
(25:07):
There's several manufacturers,but they they'll send a like a
message to someone, a shortmessage, and as well as your GPS
location.
Those little safety trianglesthat are getting pretty popular
now, but still not a lot ofpeople know about them.
It looks like a yield sign.
It's people come around a curveor go over a hill.
So having a big reflectiveyield sign either on your back
or on your bike on your panieror something, I think is good
(25:31):
from a safety standpoint.
And I think also I've learned,I don't know, maybe I'm just a
little bit naively adventurous.
When I was in uh foreigncountries there in Central
America, I was generally greetedby very friendly people.
I suppose there's badneighborhoods.
You know, you've got to alwaysuse your judgment and stay away
(25:53):
from those bad areas.
But I think in general, if youact like a local and not a
tourist, you just don't paint atarget on yourself that way.
You know, if you're alwaysnervous, I think it almost
becomes a self-fulfillingprophecy that, you know, you
just you you act like thatwounded animal and you become
prey, right?
So I think if you can use thelocal language a little bit,
(26:16):
that helps make you look like alocal.
But even if you don't look,even if people don't make you
out as a local, I think they'llrecognize, they'll appreciate
that you're trying to make aneffort to speak in in their
native language.
It was funny, I remember one,uh I can't remember which
country in Costa Rica, it wasshortly after, it was 2023, so
shortly after COVID.
(26:36):
But I just I walked right intoa grocery store, just acting
like a local, you know, justlike deliberately, you know, I
didn't know where I was going,didn't know what I was doing,
walked right in there, and thenthe security guard that was
outside them, I think it was inEl Salvador, because they had a
lot of security guards prettymuch in every establishment.
So he came tracking me downdown this aisle in the grocery
(26:57):
store, and and I had to figureout what he was saying in
Spanish, but I had to wear amask.
I was not allowed to enter thestore without a mask.
So I so I felt kind of bad.
So I went outside and I I got amask and everything.
But uh yeah, really make aneffort to to to make like a
local.
And then, you know, I I Iwanted to throw this out as a
tip, not necessarily as a safetyconcern, probably, but and
(27:20):
maybe this is more obvious to alot of other riders.
Maybe it's just me that wasnaive to this, but proper tire
pressure is really important.
I rode for a little bit with uhnot the highest pressure that I
should have had in my biketires.
I gave up a little bit of speedfor comfort because I thought,
well, you know, it'll add alittle more cushion to my butt.
(27:42):
I'm riding pretty long, and Ijust chose to do that.
Well, I learned that mostpeople I assume have, you know,
the Kevlar bead, you know,puncture-proof tires.
But if you're not using themfully pressurized, you have a
big bulge on the bottom where itcomes into contact with the
(28:03):
road, and that creates more of asurface area to get punctures
outside of that Kevlar bead.
And so I got one or twopunctures outside of that Kevlar
bead.
And so I learned reallyquickly, yep, air it up so that
you have just that surface areaof that Kevlar beadt hitting the
contact.
So it is it is important tohave proper tire pressure.
Tom Butler (28:24):
Well, that's super practical.
And I yeah, I don't think Iwould have thought about that,
but that that's great.
I'm wondering about yourinteraction with cars, and I I I
I'd like to talk about a couplethings in particular.
You talked about doing the WestCoast, and you also talked
about doing the East Coasts.
Were those similar experiences?
Were they really differentexperiences?
(28:45):
And kind of specifically likeinteraction with cars.
It seems like the road is verydifferent going down the west
coasts than on the east coast.
Maybe contrast those a bit.
Ken Dyckman (28:56):
Totally different experiences, which I didn't
expect about the east coast.
I kind of knew about the westcoast from pictures and such.
And there's not many routes onthe west coast, you know, it's
101 from, you know, northernWashington all the way down to
Mexico, basically.
Well, it it does kind of cutover a little bit in uh the
Redwoods, but you can keep nextto the coast.
(29:20):
It doesn't become 101 then.
It becomes, uh I forget whatthe highway number it is.
But anyway, you can stay on thecoast.
And it's mostly a highway ridewithout a whole lot of lights.
And it's pretty um a prettywide bike lane.
It's it's a gorgeous, fairlysafe route.
In fact, um I think some of theroads in California uh rival
(29:41):
that in Oregon.
And I I think Oregon does areally good job.
I've always believed Oregon hasreally good roads, but there's
actually some curbs to helpseparate you and the cars along
that highway there inCalifornia.
So along the East Coast, I hadkind of hoped that there would
be a similar kind of pathwaythroughout that whole route that
(30:02):
I could, you know, see theocean the majority of the time.
And that was not the casewhatsoever.
I saw the ocean veryinfrequently.
But it was okay.
You know, I saw a lot of justdifferent country away from the
ocean, a lot more hills andvalleys, I would say.
And it's interesting, Tom, thatthere's definitely states that
are more bike-friendly thanothers.
(30:23):
Virginia, uh, I don't know whatit is, but and maybe it was
just the limited time that I wasthere, or maybe the route that
I had, but Virginia seems to beextremely accommodating of psych
of cyclists compared to in allthe other states that I uh went
along on that journey.
Yeah, I had people stay behindme, and I've got one of those
(30:44):
big rear view mirror on my uhhelmets, you know, that I could
big fish eye mirror so I can seepeople.
And, you know, I would seepeople behind me.
Well, here's a great example.
I mean, in Virginia, I sawpeople, you know, waiting
forever for me, you know, untilI I finally just found a spot to
pull over because I felt bad,because you know, there was a
big long, long line.
And they would pass me up andnobody ever honked me, honked at
(31:06):
me.
Whereas in Northern California,there was not much of a bike
lane here along this onepathway.
And this one lady, she wouldn'tpass me.
And I said, Yeah, I keptthinking in my mind, hey, you've
got plenty of room.
Just go ahead and pass me.
I don't mind.
Just give me, give me my threefeet.
I don't require six feet.
Or I love it when people go allthe way across the other lane
(31:28):
completely.
That's really generous of them,but I don't require that.
Give me at least three feet andwe're all good.
But she just would not pass me.
Well, finally she passed me.
And then the guy behind her, hepassed me and he honked and
flipped me off like it was myfault.
I said, hey, I'm I'm trying toride to the as far right as I
can.
I can't help it if the personin front of you, the person
(31:50):
behind me, never passed me.
So uh, you know, yeah, you yourun into all types, right?
Uh but yeah, it was definitelya different experience.
I thought in general, the EastCoast, you know, especially in
like Boston and New York, theywould not be very bike friendly.
But boy, I I, you know, I rodeall the way in New York right
through Times Square and with noproblems.
(32:12):
I mean, I thought that I wasgoing to be, you know, I I
started a little nervous, but uhno, I think, you know,
especially in downtown areas,you know, I mean, you're aware,
you know, Eugene and Portlandand Seattle, people are very
friendly to bikes, you know,there.
But I think big cities ingeneral, even on the east coast,
so um a lot of things we couldtalk about there, but uh yeah,
(32:35):
just a wide variety and yeah,definitely differences in
scenery, but people between theWest Coast and East Coast.
Tom Butler (32:43):
Now you're not the only one that makes a transition
from solo riding to groupriding.
I'm wondering if you're outlooking for tour companies, if
you're evaluating companies, andwhat do you have in mind as
you're looking for touroperators or groups to ride
with?
Ken Dyckman (33:02):
Yeah, great question.
There are so many um tourcompanies out there now that
specialize in so many things.
You know, there's a group oftour companies in Europe that
that are getting more popular,the the bike and boat options,
where you know you're on arelatively small ship or boat at
(33:23):
in the evenings and you go fromplace to place and they stop
and and you get off and youknow, I some provide you the
bikes.
I think most of them, maybesome you can bring your own
bike.
So that seems popular.
I think you can look to seewhere they're headquartered at
to see, gosh, you know, do youwant, you know, and where do
they target?
What kind of what countries,what's their target demographic
(33:46):
that they that they target sothat you can kind of ride with
with you know younger or oldpeople or foreign people or
people in your home country ifyou just want to be around
familiar people.
But for myself, I'll tell youwhat, I've really gravitated,
you know, I really enjoy thelonger tours just because I
think most tour companies in theworld, they specialize in one
(34:07):
week or two week, and it'spretty rare to find a three-week
tour.
But I think, you know, one totwo weeks, especially if you're
working, but even if not, it'sjust hard to disconnect from
home.
It takes a few days, right?
You know, to for a vacation.
And if it's if you're onlythere for one or two weeks,
you're just finally getting intothat new environment, and then
you got to go back home again.
(34:28):
So for me, the longer thebetter.
The only tour company that Ihave found on the internet,
anyway, is the same tour companythat I remember uh Erin Ely
that you had on your show acouple few months ago, talked
about her journey in India withuh TDA Global.
And I don't want to necessarilyturn this into an advertisement
(34:48):
for TDA Global, but they've gota lot of things going for them.
One of the tours that I'meyeing with them is the South
American Epic, they call it.
It goes from Colombia all theway down to the to the southern
tip of Ushuaia, uh, Argentina,over five and a half months.
One of the things that I reallylike about TDA Global, because
I recently spent a night withthem, they have an opportunity
(35:11):
for guest riders that, you know,if they're riding by your home
or if you want to just travel towherever they happen to be
traveling at, if you want tojoin them, they allow you to
just join them for a day or two,just see what it's like, and
they'll cook for you and such.
Bring a tent if they'recamping, or you know, they'll
put you up in a hotel.
And so that was a kind of aneat experience, you know,
(35:32):
talking with people.
And there were some foreigners.
I I joined them on their NorthAmerican Epic, which goes from
Alaska all the way down toPanama City.
And what I like about TDAGlobal is when you take off in
the morning, you're on your own.
I mean, you can be, you canfind someone to team up with.
And then they have severalvehicles that when they pass you
(35:53):
by, when they set up lunch, andyou know, at the end of the
day, they pass you by.
They give you a couple of honksway back so they don't scare
you.
And as you go by, you give thema thumbs up if you're feeling
good, you give them a thumbsdown if you need them to pull
over and you get some supportthat way.
So you get great support, butit's a really nice hybrid, I
think, because most of yourjourney, you can have that solo
(36:15):
experience and you know, thesolitude.
And if you want to stop andtake a break or you know, have a
granola bar or whatever,wherever you want, you can do
that.
Stop and enjoy the view.
And then you can you you havetheir support at lunchtime and
in the evening.
And you know, they're reallynice because I think most of
their tours, they have a doctorwith them, you know, and a
dedicated chef and a mechanicand so forth.
(36:35):
They're a little bit, you know,they're kind of expensive, but
it's worth it.
Yeah, that's the tour companythat I've got my eye on for a
lot of trips, actually.
Tom Butler (36:42):
I guess uh interesting comment that you
made there that one of thethings to think about in booking
a tour is that you can findsome really full service
operations.
Talk about medical support andbike mechanic and those things,
but it costs money to providethose things.
And so to keep that in mindthat those are gonna be more
(37:04):
expensive outfits, but uh itseems like that's kind of
insurance, right?
Ken Dyckman (37:09):
It's it's exactly what it is.
You're right, yeah.
Tom Butler (37:12):
Talk about what you're liking as far as the bike
that you're using, maybe theequipment there you're using.
Do you feel like you've got theright setup?
Or are you pretty happy withwhat you've chosen to ride with?
Ken Dyckman (37:27):
Yeah, I've got a I've got a Kona Sutra.
I actually looked at the Trek700, I think it was.
But when I wanted to try to geta touring bike, it was just
after COVID, and I could notfind one of those anywhere,
really, like literally in thewhole country.
So I really enjoy my KonaSutra.
(37:48):
But honestly, I can't reallytalk too much about bikes.
I know some people really getinto them.
I'm honestly more, this mightbe sacrilege here, but I'm I'm
more into the experience and theactual mental experience of uh
what I'm doing.
I really don't care what'sbetween my legs, really.
(38:08):
So I could have anything.
You know, it just needs tofunction.
And, you know, you got to havegood panures and so forth.
You know, I can do most bikerepairs, but I really don't
enjoy working on the bikemyself.
I just would rather take it toa mechanic.
And another thing I love aboutTDA Global when I get to riding
with them is, you know, justhaving a mechanic take care of
(38:30):
problems for me.
I don't mind paying for that.
So that's just me.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (38:35):
I I think it's been 12 years ago that you started.
Ken Dyckman (38:40):
Yeah, pretty much.
Uh-huh.
That's right.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (38:42):
Do you have you seen equipment change in that amount
of time?
Do you think like touring hasexpanded?
More people are to managestuff, or do you have you not
really seen that?
Ken Dyckman (38:53):
Well, certainly uh e-bikes.
I don't know if more people aretouring, but yeah, I mean
e-bikes have permeatedeverything about cycling, I
suppose.
But it's tough to take ane-bike, your own e-bike that
way, out of the country on aplane just because of the
battery size, right?
It just doesn't work.
You know, won't allow it onplanes.
(39:14):
But you know, you can just flysomewhere.
And if you join a a tourcompany that where they will
lend you an e-bike, you know Ididn't really think about that
too much before this thisinterview, Tom, but I think that
that is probably a goodconsideration for people as they
get older too.
And I've thought about it too,actually.
I actually rode one e-bikesomewhat recently.
(39:35):
It was in um Greece.
My wife and I were justvacationing there, and I just
did a day tour with the bikecompany, and they just they only
had e-bikes, so I thought, I'llgive it a try.
Oh my God, those things are soaddicting.
I cannot ride another one againbecause I fear that if I do it
one or two more times, that'sall I'm gonna ride.
I mean, this e-bike was like 60pounds and it handled like my
(39:55):
Saturday little carbon fiberbike, you know.
So that's my, I don't know,maybe 10 to 20 year out
transition.
Right now I'm transitioningfrom solo to group tours humbly,
but you know, positively, I'mkeeping a good outlook.
And I know that there will be atime, hopefully, if I continue
this, if you know my legs holdout and so forth, that I will
(40:17):
probably not be able to justride a regular bike.
And so, you know, I'll have totransition to that e-bike.
And again, that's my way ofreally enjoying the environment
at my pace and not having towork so hard at it.
Uh, but yeah, there'sdefinitely a lot of
considerations about that from adistance limitation standpoint
and and uh just maintenance andso forth and cost.
(40:39):
There's a lot more options nowfor distance cycling with tour
companies and equipment thanthere used to be.
It's a great time to get intoit, I'd say.
Tom Butler (40:48):
Yeah, I'm hoping it continues that way too.
I'm pretty excited about likethe Great American Rail Trail.
Ken Dyckman (40:54):
Yeah.
Tom Butler (40:54):
You know, and just uh share real quick a concern I
have there is legislation rightnow that is being considered
really threatening legislationout there.
It's HR 4924 that coulddramatically change the way that
abandoned rail lines can beconverted to trails and actually
(41:17):
potentially even threatening totake away trails that are
already in place.
I think that that would be ashame because I see the Rails to
Trails movement as being soawesome.
And if people want to know moreabout that, I I'm really
encouraging anybody andeverybody to find your local
bike advocates and team togetherand write letters and
(41:41):
everything to in opposition ofHR 4924.
Rails to trails.org, they havea really nice fact sheet.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes.
A really good fact sheettalking about the threat that HR
4924 holds for trails.
I am excited about the futurebecause I think as time goes on,
(42:05):
there'll actually be morescenic bikeways and
opportunities for touring.
Ken Dyckman (42:11):
Maybe to tag along that a little bit, you know,
I've spent most of my time inthe Pacific Northwest and the
Cascade Bike Club in Washingtonand in Oregon, too.
There's very strong groupsthere that push for bicycle
rights and so forth.
And it was evident kind of whatI took for granted when I was
in Costa Rica, because you wouldthink Costa Rica being kind of
(42:34):
a green company country, itwould encourage cycling.
They would have trails andinfrastructure and so forth.
I think Costa Rica is probablythe hardest country in all of
Central America to cycle in.
And I think that's a shame.
And I think it stems from thefact that they just don't have
cyclists in positions of powerto make those sorts of
decisions, which I think is badfor the country because I think
(42:56):
that they could really benefitfrom that part of marketing.
It just is incongruent witheverything else that is about
Costa Rica, the the you know,the the green and just you know
being free and you know, uh purelife and so forth.
It's a shame because some ofthe greatest roadways in Costa
(43:17):
Rica that had wide bike lanes,they're illegal to travel on.
It's the weirdest thing.
I traveled on them anywaybecause I saw some other local
cyclists on there and somepolice passed me up.
So either they didn't care orthey just didn't bother to pull
me over or anything.
And like I say, there's so manyroads that are illegal that
it's just so hard to ride a bikeon.
(43:37):
So yeah, I'm with you.
I think that that is somethingthat we should not take for
granted of and try to ensurethat that right and those
opportunities don't slip awayfrom us.
Tom Butler (43:49):
I'm really interested in to be honest, I
don't think about you know thetrip you did, you went from
Cancun to Panama City, I think.
Is that right?
And you know, I I actuallydon't think of doing that
anytime I think about doingsomething.
I mean, I being on thispodcast, I'm constantly getting
(44:11):
new things that I want to do.
But are Cancun to Panama Cityis not one of those things.
Let's find it.
But tell me a little bit aboutthat.
When you look back at it, doyou see for the most part?
I mean, you talked about CostaRica, but for the most part, are
you on road?
Do you have to be prepared toride on gravel?
How's that aspect of it?
Ken Dyckman (44:33):
Yeah, good question.
Yeah, I'm not a mountain bikerwhatsoever.
I've tried it a couple of timesand it's just way too rough on
my wrists, you know, and so I Idon't want to wear those, wear
my joints out anymore than theythen they're already worn out.
So I'm I'm definitely a road uhbiker, and I try to stick with
the blacktop roads as much aspossible.
(44:54):
You know, I was surprised bymany of the countries in um uh
Central America, Mexico,actually, from Cancun,
especially from Cancun to justpast Playa del Carmen, a little
bit south of there, that fewhundred miles, is probably some
of the best roads that I've evertraveled on in my life.
(45:15):
It rivals some of the bestroads in the United States.
And I've driven, I've I've rodeon a lot of bike lanes in the
United States.
So I was surprised by that.
Lots of litter everywhere in inCentral America, you know,
plastic bottles and definitelyugly.
I mean, if you can kind of lookabove that and the trees and
the ocean, everything, there'sbeauty there.
(45:36):
But unfortunately, you know,just people throw out their
trash and garbage all over theplace.
So that's unfortunate.
But yeah, the worst roads werein Costa Rica, mainly along that
Nakoy Peninsula, becausethere's just not a lot of ways
to traverse that withouttraveling on dirt roads.
But you can get on there withuh with a just a touring bike
with you know 35 to 45 tires.
(45:59):
And it's it's not that rough.
It's graded pretty well.
There's so many surprisesthere.
You know, for example, in CostaRica, you're traveling out in
the middle of like nowhere.
It seems so remote.
The road is rough.
And then all of a sudden, youknow, in one area, I started
cycling on these um like latticebricks that were in this dirt
road.
(46:19):
I thought, wow, where are thesewhere these bricks come from?
It was like that for a coupleof hundred yards, and then all
of a sudden there's this huge,like uh four or five-star resort
in the middle of nowhere.
And then you go past that, youknow, on the bricks, and then it
goes back to absolute dirt roadagain, like almost
four-wheeling type.
It's just the weirdest thing inthe world.
I love being surprised bythings that I mean, I research
(46:41):
the heck out of things, but evenafter I research it, when I'm
surprised, it's just it's it'snice, you know, just to have
things come up that you don'texperience.
Hopefully you don't have to,you know, trudge through it or
solve a problem, but just youknow, those kinds of little
surprises, like you just don'tsee those things in the United
States, probably nor Europe,really, right?
Tom Butler (47:02):
So now a real practical question.
What did you do about water?
Ken Dyckman (47:06):
Great question.
Because really the onlycountries that it's safe to
drink the water in is Panama andCosta Rica, but all other
places it's not.
And so yeah, I just I boughtbottled water most of the time.
I did let's see, did I have it?
No, I I brought a camp stove totry to boil water if I needed
it, but I had the hardest timefinding a little, you know,
(47:29):
butane uh bottle for my so Inever used it, so I just bought
a bunch of water, and I'll tellyou, I spent one night uh, gosh,
I have to tell you thisexperience here real quick.
So I was in Guatemala and in avery remote uh Airbnb, and it
was Christmas Eve and Christmas,and I remember um texting my
(47:52):
family, asking them what they uhwere having for a Christmas Eve
dinner, and you know, they sentpictures of ham and potatoes
and gravy and bread and soforth.
Well, I didn't know this aboutthe uh culture there, but most
of the stores closed, not juston Christmas, but on Christmas
(48:12):
Eve too, for the entire day.
So I could not find, I mean,literally, I could not find any
place to go get food, grocerystores or anything.
And so Christmas Eve, you know,family was sending me pictures
and I sent a picture back.
It's like, okay, I've got adried up, you know, kind of
nasty granola bar because notquite the same granola bar as
(48:34):
the United States, and someramen that I picked up a long
time ago.
So ramen in a granola bar wasmy Christmas Eve dinner.
So, you know, not thinking, Ijust dumped some ramen in uh a
glass and filled it up withwater from the sink.
And I didn't have any way toheat it because they don't have
a whole lot of hot we hot waterin the places in the uh Central
(48:54):
America.
So I just let it sit there forabout an hour and it softened up
and I had it.
And about 50 minutes later, mystomach started gurgling, and I
thought, ooh, I use tap waterfor that.
And yeah, I spent an extracouple days there because yeah,
I had Montezuma's revenge.
So so yeah, that's water isimportant.
So yeah.
That was a wow, but yeah, itmakes for good memories, right?
Tom Butler (49:17):
So yeah, yeah, being sick is always a good memory, I
guess.
Again, it's one of those thingsof overcoming, you know.
So preparation is important.
You know, you don't just jumpon a bike if you've done nothing
and go a thousand miles orwhatever.
Talk about that.
What do you think aboutpreparation now?
(49:39):
And what are you thinking aboutas far as preparation as you
get older?
Ken Dyckman (49:44):
Well, there's the physical aspect, of course, but
I think that most of it is inyour head.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsto consider as you get older,
you know, again, just more andmore things that go out and uh
trying to stay aware of yourcognitive ability and so forth.
I think as long as you have agood mindset about what you want
(50:07):
to do and think about why youwant to do stuff, ask what is it
that I want to get out of it?
You know, is it thedestination?
Is it the journey?
Is it the exercise?
Is it is it the social aspect?
But I think as long as you havea good attitude about it,
everything else will kind offall in line because what's the
saying?
If you have a strong enoughwhy, we'll overcome anyhow,
(50:28):
right?
So if you know why you want todo something, you'll figure out
the physical, you know, stayingin shape, you'll figure out the
equipment, making sure thatyou're prepared.
So I think if you're mentallyprepared, that's 99% of it.
Everything else will kind offall behind that.
Tom Butler (50:43):
Are you cycling enough on a weekly basis that
that's not something that youreally need to change in
preparation for a long trip?
Ken Dyckman (50:51):
I think so.
You know, me personally, I kindof mix it up a little bit with
cycling and hiking, and I stilldo some swimming too, just
because it's at my apartment andit's such a great way to stay
in shape without stressing yourjoints.
I think if you have good heartand lungs, you know, that that
does a whole lot.
Yeah, I it depends on how longof the trips you're going to
(51:12):
take and how much you tend tocycle in one day.
When I started off the WestCoast, I literally had planned,
again, I didn't have a whole lotof time off work, so I had
several back-to-back centuries.
Now it's very difficult.
I don't enjoy doing a century,especially with pan years, you
know.
It's just that's just part ofgetting older.
You know, if you only cycle 30or 40 miles a day, uh, that
(51:35):
doesn't take much.
But if you want to cycle more,you know, if you just if you if
you're in it for the exercise orso forth.
So I think that kind of guidesyour preparation a lot too.
But again, I think the mostimportant part is the mental
preparation.
If you have that down pat andunderstand the why you're doing
it hard enough, I thinkeverything else will fall in
(51:56):
place.
Tom Butler (51:56):
You've done these long trips.
You you talked about havingtime to reflect.
I'm wondering if you can lookback and point to these
adventures as something that hasreally brought out an aspect of
yourself that you wouldn't havelearned about any other way.
Ken Dyckman (52:14):
Well, that's a very interesting question.
Yeah, I think so.
You know, I um definitely ammore grateful now with these
trips, you know, just maybe Idon't know if it's the solitude,
but just the appreciation ofjust being able to plan.
And gosh, I mean, the fact thatI'm talking to you right now
(52:35):
about this stuff, I'm justgrateful that hearing myself say
these things, you know, so manypeople just don't have that
ability.
And so, and so my advice is forpeople with respect to that is
you know, do do whatever you canas soon as you can because it
doesn't get easier.
But I think we talked about asense of accomplishment gives
(52:56):
you such a sense of ofconfidence that you know you can
solve problems and just take onanything after that.
I believe also this has reallygot me into a lot more of uh
mindfulness and just enjoyingthe experience with a lot more
senses, not just taking mentalsnapshots, but really enjoying
(53:18):
everything about the smell, thesounds, the taste of things.
And then I think also justagain, maybe just taking the
time to reflect, because youknow, there's a lot of time on a
bike by yourself when you're onone of these tours, and unless
you're listening to music orsomething.
So you can you have a lot oftime to think and talk to
yourself.
And so really just kind oflearning how to ask myself, you
(53:40):
know, what do I want to do inlife?
And, you know, just askingseveral whys.
Okay, well, why do I want to dothat?
Okay, well, what does that meanto me?
What do I want to get out ofit?
So that's different for everypeople.
Is it, you know, is it thepictures, the images, the
cultures, the sense ofaccomplishment, the the
exercise?
And then whatever that is, youknow, why is that important to
(54:01):
you?
With age comes wisdom, and witha lot of time on a bike comes a
lot of some of theserevelations, I think, too.
So yeah, I'm I'm grateful forum having those revelations.
I don't think they would havecome to me if I didn't have a
lot of that solo time to uh toreflect on that, on that.
Tom Butler (54:19):
You talked about looking to cycle as long as you
can, looking to do these tripsas long as you can.
Ken Dyckman (54:24):
You bet.
Tom Butler (54:24):
I I'm wondering about people that you've met
along the way.
Are you seeing people older inlife that are keeping it up,
that are have been aninspiration to you?
Is that something you'veexperienced?
Ken Dyckman (54:38):
It's funny you mentioned that.
There's a couple of exampleshere.
So I remember when the familywas younger and I would see
people on these long distancetours, and I remember this one
man, gosh, I don't rememberwhere he was, but I talked to
him, maybe he was in a store orsomething, and I was asking him,
you know, what he was doing,kind of like here, you know,
tell me about your experienceand what you love about it and
(55:00):
so forth.
And I said, boy, you're you'remy hero.
I want to be like you someday.
I can't remember how long agothat was.
It was a long time ago, 20years ago or so.
It was interesting that when Iwas on my um Central America
trip, I actually went into abike shop to get my chain
replaced and do somemaintenance.
And there was uh anothercustomer in there, he was
(55:21):
younger, probably in his 30s.
And I swear to God, Tom, hecame to me and said, Hey, tell
me about your experience.
I said, Oh, uh tell him aboutit.
He says, Oh man, you're myhero.
You're my inspiration.
I I want to I want to do whatyou do when I get your age.
And I thought of the man that Italked to, you know, 20-some
years ago.
And I thought, okay, it's myturn to pass on the torch,
(55:42):
right?
I just thought that was kind ofan interesting um set of
dynamics there.
But I think when you findsomething that you love, I think
you should share it withsomeone and help others try to
reach their goals by whatevermeans possible, you know, just
telling stories, inspiring themsomehow, because it comes back
and it makes you feel greatafterwards, you know.
Tom Butler (56:02):
I think that's one of the things that I'm as
interested in as anything withbuilding local cycling over 60
communities.
Ken Dyckman (56:10):
Yeah.
Tom Butler (56:11):
And that's the we get to go out and we get to be a
testament.
Yeah you know, to people thatare younger.
We get to be that in motion.
And I'm really looking for nextspring and the tour to cure
American Diabetes Association.
I just think the statement thatseeing people are older and and
(56:32):
some of the writers will belike me that have diabetes or
pre-diabetes, and I think thatyeah, it's something great that
we can do, you know.
So you get to go out, you getto enjoy cycling, and you get to
have a positive impact.
Ken Dyckman (56:47):
So well said, so well said.
And I think that's so importantin today's day and age where
most of the young kids now withtheir VR headsets and the AI,
they think that that's all theyneed to do to enjoy life.
And you, you know, the VRheadsets are pretty cool, but
there's so much more than justthe visual aspect of it.
Going out there and justmovement, keeping your body, any
(57:09):
kind of exercise, you know,cycling is pretty good because
it's low impact, and thataffords you, you know, a long
lasting lifetime, but just toexperience life with so many
other senses, too.
So yeah, it's trying toencourage kids to um you know,
put down the electronics, right?
And and enjoy that.
I'm hopeful that we canencourage them as a generation.
(57:30):
And so, yeah, I look forward tothat as well.
Tom Butler (57:33):
Is there a way for people to follow your
adventures?
Ken Dyckman (57:35):
Oh, sure.
I posted one adventure on CrazyGuy on a bike, but I don't like
that website because it's kindof hard to use.
I I use Cycle Blaze now.
I use that for my uh journals.
So I think you can just look atKen Dykman on Cycle Blaze, and
they can look at the spelling ofmy name, I suspect, on your
your notes.
And then I have a YouTubechannel too that I've made
(57:56):
certain videos that I've linkedinto my travel journals.
So you could look up Ken Dykmanon uh YouTube and see lots of
little short snips of days onthe bike.
So yeah, no, I'd appreciatethat.
And if anybody um wants to dropcomments and tell me about
their adventures, I'd love tohear about theirs as well.
Tom Butler (58:17):
Uh and I'll drop those links on in the show notes
so that people can find themeasily.
You know, I would recommendseeing Ken as a target if you
know of some great tours, somegreat organized tours, you know,
let them know about it.
Ken Dyckman (58:30):
Yeah, I'd love to exchange ideas on those, you
bet.
Yeah.
Tom Butler (58:33):
Ken, this has been a blast.
Thank you so much for sharingwith me.
Thanks for reaching out andletting me know your story and
coming on here and sharing moreof it.
I really appreciate people likeyou who like sharing.
Here's what I've learned,here's what I've done.
So the it kind of adds tothings that people know about
(58:54):
how to do some of these things.
Ken Dyckman (58:55):
Awesome.
It's been great.
I really thank you for theopportunity.
I really appreciate everythingthat you're doing with this
podcast, Tom.
There's a lot of people outthere like me that appreciate
hearing from your interestingguests.
It's fun hearing about andtracking your progress
throughout the year as well.
So thank you.
Tom Butler (59:10):
Well, thank you.
That's great, that's greatfeedback.
So all right, talk to you laternow.
Ken Dyckman (59:14):
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Tom Butler (59:25):
What do you think of Ken's focus on why?
I like it.
I do believe that if the why issolid, it will drive all the
other things that go into makinga great cycling tour.
If the why is solid, I'll takethe time to prepare physically.
If the why connects tosomething deeper in me, then
I'll learn what I need to learnabout having the equipment I
(59:47):
need.
I hope that there is ameaningful why associated with
your cycling.
My why goes back to when Ibought a new bike at 59 years
old.
I felt at the time the bikegave me the best chance to do
what I needed to reclaim a goodhealth status.
It has turned out that way forme.
I hope that your cycling isjust as fun and rewarding as
(01:00:08):
mine.
And remember, age is just agear change.
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