Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Ken Brown
09-10-05, 03:55 PM
I recently read a column in a newspaper by a man who had realized his dream of buying a motorcycle once he turned 50. It reminded me of my own dream, recently realized, of cycle-touring in Europe.
For at least 25 years I had maintained this dream. I had done a couple of three-day tours here in North America in the late ‘70s, and I came awfully close to cycle-touring in Ireland at that time. I had researched and selected my itinerary, decided that May was the best month to do the trip, had bought some of my equipment, and but for some reason I never did book the flight.
Fast forward to 2002, I was 57 years old, and I was no longer working full-time. I had bought a new bike the previous fall and decided on a touring bike, though I was unsure that I would ever use it for that purpose. I do not know what finally sparked my resolve, but I told myself it was now or never and began my research. During the preceding seven years I had developed a great interest in rail trails so the allure of Ireland was supplanted by the thought of Holland or some other location where there were bike paths. I no longer like sharing the road with cars and trucks, and climbing hills is not as much fun as it was when I was younger.
My favourite European cycling website was the Trento Bike Pages, and I started perusing peoples’ trip reports for a possible destination. The Danube jumped out of me, and I also found a few reports about the Taurn Radweg, a path that starts in the Alps and ends at the Danube in the city of Passau. I had to do it, to combine these two paths for a 650 km trip.
October 1st found me on a nonstop flight to Vienna, just me, my bicycle and my gear. I am not going to describe the trip here (you can see my photos and read my trip report at http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/austria1.htm ), but let me emphasize here that the trip was everything I hoped for and will remain a highlight of my life for as long as I live. Am I ever glad I didn’t leave this dream unfulfilled!
I had set a target to average 50 km/day (30 miles), which a couple people told me was not much. However I seldom cycled that far on a weekend ride, and to do it day after day, with loaded panniers, seemed daunting. I was also worried about knee and neck pain that had been bothering me that summer. However I found that I got stronger as the trip progressed, and averaged 65 km with a high of 91. My pains got better, not worse, as I spent more days in the saddle.
I think I inspired an old college friend, a relative newcomer to cycling. The following spring we did a 5-day tour in the 1000 Islands region of Ontario and New York. That fall I returned to Europe, solo, and cycled the Rhine and Mosel rivers (http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/mosel1.html ), a trip almost as good as the first. My friend and I have done two more 4-day trips in Quebec and are planning a longer trip next spring along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and into Pennsylvania. Next fall I want to get back to Europe.
I turned 60 just before our Quebec trip this spring, a psychological milestone that had me wondering whether it might be too much. I passed the test unscathed. I still feel some pressure to get my touring in while I still can, but if I keep my health I could have many more trips.
I enjoy reading postings such as the one by Digital Gee (Woohoo!!! 500 miles!!!). We should all strive to attain our goals, whatever they are, now that we are 50+.
For at least 25 years I had maintained this dream. I had done a couple of three-day tours here in North America in the late ‘70s, and I came awfully close to cycle-touring in Ireland at that time. I had researched and selected my itinerary, decided that May was the best month to do the trip, had bought some of my equipment, and but for some reason I never did book the flight.
Fast forward to 2002, I was 57 years old, and I was no longer working full-time. I had bought a new bike the previous fall and decided on a touring bike, though I was unsure that I would ever use it for that purpose. I do not know what finally sparked my resolve, but I told myself it was now or never and began my research. During the preceding seven years I had developed a great interest in rail trails so the allure of Ireland was supplanted by the thought of Holland or some other location where there were bike paths. I no longer like sharing the road with cars and trucks, and climbing hills is not as much fun as it was when I was younger.
My favourite European cycling website was the Trento Bike Pages, and I started perusing peoples’ trip reports for a possible destination. The Danube jumped out of me, and I also found a few reports about the Taurn Radweg, a path that starts in the Alps and ends at the Danube in the city of Passau. I had to do it, to combine these two paths for a 650 km trip.
October 1st found me on a nonstop flight to Vienna, just me, my bicycle and my gear. I am not going to describe the trip here (you can see my photos and read my trip report at http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/austria1.htm ), but let me emphasize here that the trip was everything I hoped for and will remain a highlight of my life for as long as I live. Am I ever glad I didn’t leave this dream unfulfilled!
I had set a target to average 50 km/day (30 miles), which a couple people told me was not much. However I seldom cycled that far on a weekend ride, and to do it day after day, with loaded panniers, seemed daunting. I was also worried about knee and neck pain that had been bothering me that summer. However I found that I got stronger as the trip progressed, and averaged 65 km with a high of 91. My pains got better, not worse, as I spent more days in the saddle.
I think I inspired an old college friend, a relative newcomer to cycling. The following spring we did a 5-day tour in the 1000 Islands region of Ontario and New York. That fall I returned to Europe, solo, and cycled the Rhine and Mosel rivers (http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/mosel1.html ), a trip almost as good as the first. My friend and I have done two more 4-day trips in Quebec and are planning a longer trip next spring along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and into Pennsylvania. Next fall I want to get back to Europe.
I turned 60 just before our Quebec trip this spring, a psychological milestone that had me wondering whether it might be too much. I passed the test unscathed. I still feel some pressure to get my touring in while I still can, but if I keep my health I could have many more trips.
I enjoy reading postings such as the one by Digital Gee (Woohoo!!! 500 miles!!!). We should all strive to attain our goals, whatever they are, now that we are 50+.