bccycleguy

I commuted to university in my 20's and some annual weekend trips, but it wasn't until my late 40's when I was teaching my daughter how to ride a bike around the neighbourhood that I realized how much I enjoyed cycling again. Did my first tour over 2 weeks in my 50's.

cyccommute 

Me. I started seriously at age 22 but I had ridden bikes all the time as a kid. The 16 to 22 years were kind of dry, however. I've ridden to work and school ever since. I even have the records (at least from 1988) to prove it

I average 113 days riding to work per year, around 3000 miles. My highest number of days riding to work is 156 (of 260) and my lowest is 72 (I was on assignment in Vermont for almost 6 months of that year but I still had a bike and rode to work when I could). This year I'm trying to do 190.

On the touring front, I did a lot of touring in my younger days before I had kids. After kids, we still toured but it was car type and supported tours (one or two). I have ridden in 27 of the 50 states and plan on riding in all 50. I have most of the west, including Hawai'i and all of the Northeast - a perk of being banished to Vermont. My wife and I toured in Virginia, Colorado and Scotland. I have soloed in Colorado several times, done a few mountain bike tours here, soloed Lewis and Clark on the east end. I've also, just this last summer, done the west end of Lewis and Clark. With kids, we have toured in Wisconsin, Kansas (prettier and harder than you think), Yellowstone, the Black Hills, Colorado and a little of Vancouver Island.

And, if it has two wheels and no motor, I'll ride it! I have had 25 bikes since I started riding seriously. One I plowed into the side of a car (for which I got 4 days in the hospital and a cool scar on my knee), one I dropped in a hole, 3 mountain bikes have broken on me and the others I either still have or out grew. I still have 8 bikes (down from 10) including 2 mountain bikes, a cruiser bike, a fixed gear, a mid80's race bike, 2 touring bikes and a tandem.

Is there a Bicycles Anon. out there?

BlueTwo

You have asked the question the wrong way round. It is actually harder to find cycle tourists who are under 30 , most of us travelling the world are over 40 or even 50 , however I have noticed in the last year or to more under30's outthere.

xroader

I guess I fit both catagories. I rode as a kid of course, then fairly regularly in my twenty's mostly single track MTB when I was living in Europe. I didn't ride most of my 30's (young kids, work, and 1,000 other excuses) Now in my 40's I have taken it back up with a good hybrid. I have been training up to commute (29mi RT) which I will start on Monday and ride with the family (one kid on her first multi-speed MTB and the other on a Adams trail-a-bike) My wife was never much for riding, but got a REALLY comfortable comforte bike and this week did great on her first 15mi ride. So, yes I guess we really got into it "later" in life. I agree with BlueTwo, it seems to me that older riders vastly out number the younger ones. But that may be a factor of the commute times that I ride and where I live.

scottmorrison99

I rode when I was younger, up until about '89, I still rememeber watching the TdF and cheering on Lemond. Even did some bike commuting for a while. Then I got married, had a family, insert other excuses here, and stopped riding. About 6 months ago at 38 I decided I needed to get back in shape, and the health club just wasn't inspiring me. I bought a bike and started riding all over. Now I am considering riding in next year's Go Greenbelt! weeklong ride around the San Francisco Bay area. I rode out to the nearest point to where I live to cheer on this year's riders. One way or another I will be touring around Northern California next Summer. Get into it after 30? You bet.

philso

close at least.

i started touring when i was 17. did my longest ever tour (2+ months) when i was 18. many week or so trips during my 20's, but also lived several years in mexico and japan, doing little or no cycling, during this period. then a long lull in any cycling other than commuting and local rides due to, oh yeah, marriage. the exigencies of working full-time, going back to school full-time and still pulling my weight in the housework/cooking dinner categories somehow precluding most of my cycling and climbing. so for most of my 30's, if i had a significant number of days off, it was spent in the mountains. my cycling was down to commuting, day trips, and the infrequent overnight or century. since my late 30's, though, things have picked up a bit in the cycling department with a fair number of 3-day weekend trips and a couple of 5 - 7 day trips per year. still riding the same bike, too.

philso

touring was really popularized in the late 60's and early 70's, due in large part to the youth subculture and environmantal awareness of those days. touring pretty much died with the advent of disco, and the x generation did nothing to revive it. i think there's a correlation here between popular music and the popularity of touring. counterculture & alternative. i think this helps explain the age gap to a considerable dregree.

wsexson

Yes, but how old do you think generation x is now?

wsexson

Over 30 is later in life?!?!

To answer your question, I bought my first bike as an adult at 31 and now have ridden over 4000 miles in the last 12 months at 36 (shooting for over 6000 in the next 12 months). I am looking forward to adding a nice bike tour to my outdoorsy type activities in the future, too.

paul2

I've been cycling my entire life. From my first little red bike with training wheels, to my bike with the banana seat and the high rise bars, to my first ten speed. I cycled to high school and university. Cycle dto work in the summer. When I graduated university I moved to Toronto. One of the first things I did was join the Toronto Bicycling Network. I've been cycling with the TBN for 21 years. I occasionally cycle to work.

But I didn't do my first tour until I was 33. In the eleven years since, I've toured all over the world.

Alex L

Unsupported touring has been my hobby since I was six.
I have bought an encyclopedia “Bike touring” (600 pages) by chance. It was like a revelation, one happened in 2000, when I was 34. Since that time I have had a new idea in my life and three bicycles hang on the wall in my flat now: road, mtn and touring. The book “Bike touring” is like The Bible to me.
I have got even a velosimulator for cycling trainings, because I live in a megacity.

SteveA

Started out riding 10 miles on single speed, banana seat bike to grandma's with dad at about age 7. Did first century in 5th grade. Raced road and track from 12-19. Got married, had kids, and quit riding until I was 40. At that time my wife said "lets get a Tandem". We did - five years ago. Two years ago we went on an 11-day self-planned unsupported tour in Ireland (staying in B&B's). This summer we'll take a 5-day camping/cooking tour in the EUP of Michigan. Hopefully more in the future. We're both open to longer tours - if I can get time to do it (my wife is a teacher and has the summers off).

philso

somewhere's between kindergarten and elementary school? am i close?

seriously, i've spent so much of my adult life outside of the u.s. that generation x isn't the only thing i only have a vague, fuzzy idea about. not by a long shot.

bkrownd

"After 30" is "later in life"? I'm 36, and only recently started considering touring...not there yet, tho.

cyclezealot

Touring from Hilo to Kona. Sounds pretty distant - BK. Yeah, when on Molokai last August they reported something about a new inter island ferry connecting the islands. Maybe Hawaii touring is possilbe.?

bkrownd

The ferry is still in court. You could do Maui-Lanai-Molokai using the little ferries. Not sure what kind of reception you'd get on Molokai, or how many of the back roads are open to tourists. Might be more of a day-trip.

cyclezealot

I thought the locals said the ferry was under construction. ? and up and running in 07? When on Molokai in August, side roads are pretty much dirt. Not much traffic on the main road. Nice. The locals in town partied all night. Fun group. Liked Molokai so well. For peace and quiet, thought awhile about staying. One disadvantage. A day trip to Maui. Was it like $150.? Could almost fly back to the Mainland, should one do that many times. (In order to go to Safeway's.)
Don't reacall a ferry between Kona and Maui?

KLW2

Quit riding at 12 when I got my drivers license (Texas motorcycle) Took it up again at 55 and am having a ball at 58. Still looking forward to "later in life" to see what will happen when I grow up!

Monoborracho

For what its worth, I enjoy your website tremendously. Its also of interest to read your logs. Although I live in Texas I spent a lot of time in the mid 90s' in Calgary, Drumheller, Brooks, and all places that produce natural gas in SE Alberta. I still have an oil and gas map of Dinosaur Park on the wall.

I cycled a lot in college. Then, I rode off and on for 25 years. I got back into cycling a few years ago, and touring a year ago. I'm 53. I have three more tours planned for this year. One will be more or less an endurance test across much of Texas in the summertime. Should be interesting. I'm up to doing 40-60 miles rides on the weekend, hope to do my first century soon, and am planning to get a road bike, a Trek Pilot 2.1 next week. From there, who knows? But the thought of a 200 mile ride is already appealing to me.

"......and then the wheels came off"

bkrownd

There won't be one. The big ferry will only run to/from Honolulu, so a trip between the other islands would have to "lay-over" in Honolulu. It would be 8 hours or more to ride the ferry from Kona to Maui, which is stupid.

I'd expect that the back roads on Molokai are mostly private. It wouldn't be hawaii without a gate and a "no tresspassing, beware of dog" sign.

cyclezealot

BK. Couple years ago we were in Tahiti.. I would hope Hawaii would be as progressive as Polynesia. There you can ride a fleet of state sponsored cargo ships between all the islands and there are hundreds of them... and the price was very reasonable. the difference when you let the airlines run a state.
used to be flights between the islands were reasonable. last visit, I was so floored by airline interisland prices. well, we just saved money by not going.
Also, in the Bahamas, you can ride the mail boats. also very reasonable. and the limited use I had for them. sort of fun. ( between Andros and New Providence.)

GiantDave

Quit riding when I turned 18 and got a drivers license. Bought a bike to try touring when I turned 42----still touring today! I hope Ill be doing this for the rest of my life.

Timonabike

Hi!

57, back into bikes two years ago. Day rides of 30-40+ miles are fun ... just did a quick 22 mi. r/t along the river today. Put together my touring kit w/ a BOB and will be bikepacking this Summer. Had to postpone a C2C until '07.

Good equipment, low gears and proper conditioning will get you most anywhere.

Cheers!

Tim

mudmouse

Although biking has always been a part of our lives in one form or another, I never seriously biked until about 4 years ago. Dh commuted 5 miles to work back in '79 before we were married. All other riding was purely just tooling around the neighborhood or campground.

So far we've done a couple of supported weekender's with our bike club. This June will be our first week-long tour (supported), and we're also gearing up to do a couple of weekender's on our own. We're 46.

David in PA

I rode Sears & Roebuck clunkers as a kid, but did almost no riding after the age of 25 or so. At the age of around 44, I got into hiking and backpacking. I absolutely loved those sports, but they are a real pain to prepare for and with too much travel time involved. So, I needed a new sport. Around the age of 48, I purchased a "comfort" mountain bike, which I starting enjoying immediately. The next thing I knew, I purchased all kinds of additional gear--for touring. After two relatively short tours, I wnt on a big one in 2005, which took me from VA to CO on the TransAmerica Trail. It was one of the best experiences of my life!

But now things are going to change again. I am ready to buy a real road bike, with some comfort factors thrown in. So I'll probably get a relaxed geomotry bike, such as the Trek 2.1.

The great thing about cycling is that it can be enjoyed by anyone of any age in almost any fitness level. Although I'm 54 now, I've met people much older than I who tour parts of the US or just cycle at home regularly.