Steve Retired and Cycling

Join Tom Butler as he dives into the thrilling victories of the US Women's Olympic Cycling Team! Get the latest on his new cycling gear, and stay updated on the potential impact of local wildfires on Tom's ambitious cycling challenge for this season.

This week's special guest is the amazing Steve Robertson from the "Steve Retired and Cycling" YouTube channel. Discover the inspiring journey of this cycling enthusiast and gain valuable insights into his passion for the road. Don't miss this great episode filled with motivation and cycling expertise!

Links
Steve's Youtube Channel: youtube.com/@steveretiredandcycling
Priority Bikes: prioritybicycles.com
The Infinity Seat: infinitybikeseat.com

Thanks for Joining Me! Follow and comment on Cycling Over Sixty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyclingoversixty/

Consider becoming a member of the Cycling Over Sixty Strava Club! www.strava.com/clubs/CyclingOverSixty

Please send comments, questions and especially content suggestions to me at tom.butler@teleiomedia.com

Show music is "Come On Out" by Dan Lebowitz. Find him here : lebomusic.com

Chapters

• 0:24 Weekly Update
• 9:24 Finding Time to Cycle as an Adult
• 14:20 Health Transformation Through Dietary Changes
• 20:53 Spending More Time on the Bike
• 29:55 Making the Leap to Longer Trips
• 35:54 Discovering the Joy of Bikepacking
• 40:55 Steve's Bike
• 45:17 Equipment Discoveries
• 49:32 Launching the Youtube Channel
• 1:01:15 Wrap Up

Transcript

Tom Butler: 0:04

This is the Cycling with 60, podcast, season two, episode 54, steve retired in cycling and I'm your host, tom Butler, welcome to the podcast, where I highlight my efforts to get and stay fit and where I interview people who inform and motivate me. I want to start out talking a bit about the Olympics. I've found the women's cycling events to be really fascinating. I'll be spoiling some stories here, so you might not want to listen until you've had a chance to watch the events if you don't want it spoiled. I'm betting you've already seen the results, if you're like me, because I can't help but see Olympic news anytime I'm looking at social media. I need to be upfront about the fact that I am rooting for the USA on everything, so if you're listening outside the US, forgive my very biased cheering.

Tom Butler: 1:04

For me, the Olympic cycling story started with the time trial, where Chloe Diger crashed into a barrier and was able to get back on the bike and win bronze. Her coming back and getting that medal to me was super exciting. To gold medalist Grace Brown of Australia and silver medal winner Anna Henderson from Great Britain for going so fast in bad conditions. That made the time trial really technical. After the time trial, I was hoping that Dygert could get a gold in the road race, but unfortunately she crashed again. She did get back on the bike, but she had a hip injury and her chin was split open. It just really showed how tough she is. If you don't know her backstory, she came back from a gruesome injury that happened right before the Tokyo Games.

Tom Butler: 1:54

With Dygert out, the story became about a thrilling ride by Kristen Faulkner. Faulkner didn't originally qualify for the road race for these Olympics. She was brought in when another USA cyclist decided to focus on the triathlon. Faulkner rode just an absolutely brilliant race to win the gold medal. I would encourage everyone to at least watch the highlights of the race, if you can, and if you don't know Faulkner's story, check it out. It reads like a movie script.

Tom Butler: 2:22

Then there was the Women's Team Pursuit track event. It reads like a movie script. Then there was the Women's Team Pursuit track event. The team included Faulkner and Dygert, along with Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams. In three previous Olympics the US got two silvers and one bronze in Team Pursuit, but this year they held on to barely beat a charging New Zealand team for gold. It was awesome that Mateo Jorgensen made it in the top 10 on the road race, but Evanipole was amazing and it was pretty awesome to see France take silver and bronze, but overall I was left wondering where the US men are in track cycling.

Tom Butler: 2:58

Seems like we should be able to produce some powerful athletes to compete in the men's track events. However, I think we only sent one cyclist, grant Koontz. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I would love to hear some analysis on why we're not sending more men to participate in track events Now. The best way to share your thoughts is to join the Cycling Over 60 Strava Club. We have a fantastic group of people in the club. Before moving on from talk about competitions, I want to give a huge shout out to Tom Hackleman who, at age 71, placed first in the 40k road race at the Western Washington Senior Games recently. His time was one hour 10 minutes and 46 seconds. That means an average speed of 21.1 miles per hour. Awesome job, tom.

Tom Butler: 3:47

I picked up a new bike computer last week. I am still waiting for it to get delivered and I'm not being that patient with it. It really says something about what a certain company has done to modify my expectations about when things should come. I felt like I needed to have navigation on my computer for the trip that I want to do in September. As all of you probably know, bike computers navigation can get pricey. Because of that, I wasn't planning on getting one. Instead, I was looking for a way to do navigation on my phone. However, the company that makes my current computer just released a model with navigation. The reason the company that makes my current computer just released a model with navigation the reason that I originally went with this computer is because it's really inexpensive. The company is called Couspo At least I think that's how it's pronounced. It's spelled C-O-O-S-B-O. It is a Chinese company and that is a big reason why it's taken a while for the computer to get here. You can grab the computer I currently use for about $60. The new computer with navigation is $90, which, in my opinion, is really reasonable. The screen is only black and white, but since I'm colorblind, that really isn't a big deal for me. I'm hoping that I'll be as happy with the new computer as I have been with my current model.

Tom Butler: 5:08

Last week I mentioned that I'm feeling optimistic about the wildfires along the route I plan to ride in September for this season's challenge. Well, the last few days have left me pretty concerned. Hot weather and wind caused the fire to dramatically increase the area that needs to be managed, and they needed to close the road again. Looking at the 10-day forecast for the area, temperatures seem to be coming down and there is some chance of light rain. A problem is that rain can also bring more lightning. Lightning is what set off this current fire, called the easy fire, and if it rains too hard, then runoff can create small debris flows.

Tom Butler: 5:48

I've come to realize that I need to be looking for an alternative trip to do. I can't imagine that I will find something as appealing as riding across the state, but I will need to keep an open mind about that. But for sure I will be very disappointed if I need to change my plans. I constantly find people who are a huge inspiration to me, people who are taking on the challenge to stay active through cycling well beyond 60. This week I am interviewing one of those people. Steve Robertson lives by the model no Excuses. When Steve retired, he took it as an opportunity for him and his wife, jan, to get out on two wheels and explore. I'm so glad to catch him in between trips so he could share his passion for cycling with us. Here is our discussion. I am joined today by Steve Robertson. Thanks, steve, for coming on.

Tom Butler: 6:49

Well thanks, tom, for inviting me. It's certainly a pleasure and a privilege. You are an avid cyclist and I wanted to introduce people to you and have you talk a bit about your adventures. And we'll start with a common question here what are your earliest memories of a bicycle?

Steve Robertson: 7:13

Oh boy, that was quite some years ago when I was 10 years old. I had a single speed Montgomery Wards bicycle that I learned to ride in the school parking lot and went everywhere on that thing, went everywhere on that thing. And then one day I went to our library and I took a book out on bicycling and I saw these guys on drop bar bicycles with leather helmets on and I thought that is something that really is going to get my attention. So immediately I thought, well, how can I get a bike like that? So I had a paper route. I was a paper boy and found out that there was a Schwinn Varsity drop bar 10 speed at my local bike shop for $66. So nobody's going to give me 66 bucks. So I have my paper route. I had to save my money and saved it up and bought that bicycle and kept it until I got my driver's license and sold it for 45 bucks. So it was a good return on investment for the amount of use I got out of it. I guess that's awesome.

Tom Butler: 8:23

Now what part of the country was this in Connecticut.

Steve Robertson: 8:26

Okay, and in a very hilly area.

Tom Butler: 8:29

So were you using a bicycle to deliver your papers? Yes, I was.

Steve Robertson: 8:36

Yes, and I started out, you know, on my single speed, very heavy, montgomery Ward's 26 inch.

Tom Butler: 8:45

And there must have been some snow at times.

Steve Robertson: 8:49

There was. So I have to admit, my mom would take me on the paper route. You know it was an afternoon paper route. She would take me during the snowstorms.

Tom Butler: 9:00

Okay. Well, that was probably the safest way to go. I think so. So you saw that drop bar bike and you got on a Schwinn Varsity. Did your cycling interest remain as you got older?

Steve Robertson: 9:16

It did. It really did. You know it wasn't a highlight of my life as it was when I was a youngster. A highlight of my life as it was when I was a youngster. As I got older, you know, I got a driver's license, driving a car and all that, but it was still there In my early 20s, one of the jobs I had.

Steve Robertson: 9:36

I thought, you know, it's only 17 miles away, why don't I ride my bicycle? So I found that very often I would be, you know, mounting my bike and going into work, and people thought I was crazy, right, and so I'd park it outside near the motorcycles and ride home. So that was enjoyable. And then one day one of my friends says, hey, me and so-and-so, we're going to ride to Boston. It's only 100 miles. You want to come with us? And I thought about it and I hadn't ridden that far ever and I said, sure, why not? What possibly could go wrong? And so we took the ride to Boston, 100 miles. And when I did that it really opened up a lot of possibilities. You know, in my mind I thought, if I can do that, I can do anything, you know.

Tom Butler: 10:30

Now, was your family active. Did you come from a family that, like, valued physical activity?

Steve Robertson: 10:40

Completely honest. No, you know, my father worked a lot of hours and my mom was a housewife. They were not very physically active whatsoever, but what they did instill in me they and my grandfather was a good work ethic. You know from the time of having a paper route saving your money. My grandfather had a small construction business, so throughout my formative years I worked with him as a roofer every summer, so I really learned the value of a dollar and I'd say the physical activity really came from within. It was something that I was self-motivated to do really.

Tom Butler: 11:29

Gotcha, you talked about riding your bike into work and I'm wondering what your experience was. It seems like an awful lot of us. As we have more work, responsibilities life gets busy. You know maybe family responsibilities that it gets harder and harder to spend time on a bike. What was your experience with that?

Steve Robertson: 11:50

Yeah, you know, as my career, you know, flourished, and I got older and my family flourished. I had more obligations, as we all do, and I found myself coming up with more excuses. Physical activity for most people is something that they need motivation to do, and if you're not self-motivated, you know you may have a problem. But with family obligations, my work became all-consuming. I really let life get in the way. Let life get in the way, constantly making excuses. I'm either too tired, too out of shape, put on too much you know weight and it was really easy for me to become complacent about things. You know I'll do it tomorrow. Maybe I'll pull the bike out tomorrow. I think we all have a tendency to be that way and for me it was a constant fight. So it wasn't just the work obligations, but it was on my own internal struggle.

Tom Butler: 12:53

You know, one of the things that I'm really curious about, really interested in how to change, is this aspect of a culture, because I think you probably experienced what I experienced there really wasn't a lot of pushing in culture as a whole for you to spend time on your bike. You know employers are interested in spending time doing work, you know, but not so much like pushing you to make sure that you're you know, hey, are you going out for a ride this weekend?

Tom Butler: 13:25

Are you going to ride this work? If you need to take some work off to go for a ride, go for it. You know it just. There's a culture of rewarding things that are sedentary, but not so much pushing to be active.

Steve Robertson: 13:38

Right, yes, I found that to be the case, especially in my early work. That to be the case especially in my early work experiences. You know you'd be sitting in a room that was a smoke-filled room. Everyone was smoking. There wasn't the emphasis on physical activity and people would look at you as maybe some kind of an oddball If you show up to work on a bicycle, like, why would you do that? Don't you own a car? You know to your point. Yes, it was not a activity that was stressed back then.

Tom Butler: 14:10

But at some point you found yourself in need of making a lifestyle change. I understand what was it that pushed you to make different choices.

Steve Robertson: 14:19

You know it wasn't until later in life health issues, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. It wasn't until later in life health issues, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. The deciding factor was I ended up having a DVT, which is a life-threatening condition of having a blood clot. So you know things got serious. It started to make me think about my mortality. You know it's time, steve, for you to start taking life seriously. So I became motivated to take control of my own life and my own health. And what better way to start that would be to change my diet and to start exercising the way that I used to. Right On my YouTube channel, I get a lot of people that say I just got back into cycling and I've overcome this, this and this, and still, to me that's very motivating.

Tom Butler: 15:18

Now you said you were older. How old were you at this?

Steve Robertson: 15:20

time In my early 50s actually.

Tom Butler: 15:24

Yes, so that's a good amount of time. How long do you think it been since you'd really been active up to that point?

Steve Robertson: 15:32

It had been about 20 years since I was really active. I had got caught up in my career. I was traveling every week, getting on a plane every week, flying all over the world, and my entire focus was my job and everything else seemed to suffer at the time you mentioned dietary changes.

Steve Robertson: 16:00

What kind of dietary changes did you make? Well, you know, when I started after I had my DVT, when I started thinking about making changes, the first thing I thought of was dairy. I have some people in my family that have a real allergy to dairy, so I cut it out and I found that I felt so much better. My breathing improved, my cardio improved, there was no more mucus buildup, anything like that, and so I thought, you know, I've cut out dairy, how else can I improve my overall health?

Steve Robertson: 16:36

And you know, I'd always heard that possibly you should cut out red meat or restrict it a little. So I just cut it out, I cut out red meat, I cut out chicken, I cut out pork and, lo and behold, I felt a whole lot better from doing that, and it became a lifestyle, or a way of life, to put it that way. At this point, I now consume what I would consider a 90% vegan type diet, with a lot of fruit, vegetables, a lot of beans, and, you know, and I feel a lot better and I have more stamina. I'd always heard that, oh, vegetarians, you know, don't get enough protein. Well, that's not true, you know, and I've done enough studying to realize the ways in which to get protein.

Tom Butler: 17:33

At that time, it seems like there would have been a lot of people around you that were thinking that giving up meat and everything was maybe even a radical thing to do, an unusual thing to do, I guess, first of all. Is that the case, and if so, what kind of influenced you to go against what was typical?

Steve Robertson: 17:56

Yes, it is the case. A lot of people thought I was far up there. But you know you have to think about yourself. You only have one life and it's yours and you can't worry about what other people think. Sometimes, if you embark on a course like this, you would get pressure from your family. I was blessed in that my wife, jan, is very supportive of most everything that I do and she's also a good cook, so she's been very supportive and she's sort of going along with my diet to a great extent and so there's no problem there. And really if anyone else is offended or something, there's not much I can do about it. You know I have found that most people like to accommodate you. You know you're an older guy and you're looking after your health and it's all how you present it. You know I'm not a militant vegan. It's all how you present your lifestyle and your life choices. I should say it's all how you present your life choices.

Tom Butler: 19:08

Was your wife the primary cook in your family when you made the change? Yes, yes, she was. So she must have had a lot of tried and true recipes at that point that just she had to give up on and learn a different way of cooking.

Steve Robertson: 19:22

She did, but she has actually learned a new way of cooking. She did, but she has actually learned a new way of cooking and it's been very nice. We have a lot of bean burritos and a lot of vegetable dishes, you know, and she'll still have a hamburger every now and then, and I'll have a Beyond Burger at the same time, or an Impossible Burger, and for my money they taste great to me, yeah it is nicer now than it was.

Tom Butler: 19:51

You know what you're talking about. I think is somewhere around 20 years ago, I think Is that right, yeah. And so you know it is better. Now you go to a restaurant, there's a lot more vegetarian options and you know, at least in our area. I think there's probably areas in Oklahoma, you know so, places where it's harder, but you know. And then a lot of recipes out there. You know, we find a lot of vegetarian recipes on the Internet and vegan recipes on the Internet.

Tom Butler: 20:23

So there are those resources, and so you change your diet and you found some good results from that and you're motivated. You know, like you said, you're like okay, I think I need to be thinking more about my health and being more proactive about my health, and at some point you start getting on the bike more and I'm wondering what changes allowed you to do that.

Steve Robertson: 20:51

Yes. So, you know, that was seemed like a natural progression. First I had the you know the traumatic health scare which led me to change my diet. And then I thought, well, diet and exercise, they go hand in hand. So I pulled out the old bike I have a 1986 Fuji racing bike that I used to ride quite a bit and Jan, my wife, and I decided to go for a bike ride. It had been many years.

Steve Robertson: 21:23

We took a five mile bike ride, tom, and I thought I was going to die. I thought this is, you know, not only did I think I was going to die, but, you know, I thought I'm kind of proud of myself. I did five miles. Wow, you know, we kept it up a little by a little and before you know it, we were doing 10 mile bike rides and then 20 and then 30. And then, you know, I have always been a big, big advocate of the University, of YouTube, and so I would check out YouTube videos about cycling and things got a little more exciting. So there was this self-motivation, and Jan and I motivated ourselves and each other, and I motivated ourselves and each other. And then we ran into some like-minded friends and, you know, would share bike rides together, and one thing led to the next.

Tom Butler: 22:22

You know, it's so common when I talk to people who have been, you know, have done nothing, for actually it's really common for people to be sedentary for 20 years and then when they, you know, start out, they find that their body has, you know, atrophied, that you know their cardiovascular capacity is not very good, and so I think that's a common thing, and what you are is a testament to sticking with it. You know, again I think good on you for recognizing your accomplishment to go five miles, yes.

Tom Butler: 23:01

You know and then sticking with it. Do you remember being sore or anything? Oh, yes.

Steve Robertson: 23:09

Yes, you know, but there seemed to be muscle memory or something from riding so much when I was younger, you know? Yes, I was sore, the legs were sore, but it all seemed to come back rather quickly, did it?

Tom Butler: 23:22

take a bit to convince Jan to do this with you. How did she come to decide that she wanted to get more fit as well?

Steve Robertson: 23:32

decide that she wanted to get more fit as well. Yes, Well, she seemed to be. Over the years. She would put little seeds. She would throw them out there. Like you know, we're getting older, we're going to retire and we really need to be healthy when we retire, because we have so many things we want to do, don't we? She's a good salesman, right Salesperson. I love it. I love it Giving me all the sales pitch. It wasn't difficult. She went right along with it and I think she was rejoicing at the small steps I was making and she would make them right along there with me. So, yeah, it worked out well.

Tom Butler: 24:12

Now, part of the obstacles you know was work, and yes you know again the fact that society doesn't really push us to get out there and be active and the infrastructure isn't always the greatest as far as getting out and being active, as far as making the time to exercise. How did you manage that?

Steve Robertson: 24:36

Well, we, you know, working full time, we would ride on the weekends, during our vacations, they would be centered around cycling, going on on cycling trips and things, but I had the privilege of working out of my house. When I wasn't flying around, I was working out of my house and could take time to ride, maybe in the afternoon. And when I was traveling there was no excuse because I'd always stay in a hotel that would have a gym area, you know, workout area, and if they didn't have a stationary bike, they would have, you know, a treadmill, and so I always made it a point to do an hour on the treadmill or on the stationary bike in every hotel that I stayed at. So I was able to build up my fitness that way, was able to build up my fitness that way, and I was also very lucky to have a customer in Decatur, alabama, and this company, a family owned company in the traffic equipment business, and they would inspire their employees to get fit by every year having what's called the Biggest Loser Triathlon, and it was this Saturday after Father's Day in the summer, and from January 1st till that day of the Biggest Loser Triathlon, you would be encouraged to lose weight, get in shape and participate in this triathlon and so, as you know, a equipment supplier to them, they would always invite me to participate in that.

Steve Robertson: 26:25

So I would fly down with my bicycle and the triathlon was a mini triathlon, I think. The swimming was like a mile or less and the running was three miles and biking was nine and a half miles. So we had teams and I would participate in the biking portion and I was like a novelty. Oh yes, I would. Every year. I would win the oldest participant medal, right. So I was the novelty, I would win the oldest participant medal Right. So I was the novelty of the old guy on the bicycle and one year I beat out the guy who was putting this whole thing together and he wasn't too happy, glad I wasn't one of his employees. But you know, you asked about, you know, exercising biking during working time and that certainly was part of it.

Tom Butler: 27:21

I love that. What a great idea for a company to have. I love that. Is that company still in business? They are.

Steve Robertson: 27:28

You know they still do the event.

Tom Butler: 27:30

They do it every year.

Steve Robertson: 27:31

Yes, you know they still do the event they do it every year.

Tom Butler: 27:33

Yes, when you were flying around and cycling, did you look around and say, boy, it'd be fun to have a bicycle here. I'd love to explore this place on bicycle.

Steve Robertson: 27:45

Yes, yes, but I never did, you know. I did say that. You know Taiwan is a place that I used to go to often and I've often thought of trying to cycle there. Beautiful country, and over in the Netherlands also. I would go over there frequently.

Steve Robertson: 28:03

In fact, last month, my wife and I did go to the Netherlands and we took part in what was called a bike boat tour and it was a 180-foot schooner, three masted sailboat.

Steve Robertson: 28:18

They would island hop northern Netherlands from island to island and they would supply the bicycle and we had a professional chef on board and you'd go out and you'd cycle maybe 25, 30 miles a day and come back and enjoy a beautiful dinner.

Steve Robertson: 28:35

And fortunately there was one other couple that spoke English on board. And what the reason I bring that up is, anyone can do a trip like that, right? I think the average age was probably about 65 years old and most of these people weren't cyclists. A lot of them also rented e-bikes instead of a regular city bike, you know, without a motor, and so it just shows that anyone can start out doing something like that. You know, if you you think of doing bicycle touring, that's a very easy and enjoyable way to do it If you're older and you may not have the physical fitness or you do have some physical restrictions and you still get to see beautiful things. You know, we got to see the world's oldest planetarium, which just blew my mind. I'm working on a upcoming YouTube video that features the planetarium, so you and Jan started doing more trips.

Steve Robertson: 29:48

Yes.

Tom Butler: 29:49

And what caused you to make that leap to do longer trips?

Steve Robertson: 30:15

We had had a sailboat for a good 20 some years sailing in the same areas, year after year, and we thought, you know, we enjoy that, but there's more to life than that. Cycling in different areas of the world sounds like something that we would like to do. So Jan took it upon herself to book us for a tour in Portugal to do the coast of Portugal around Porto, and that was a multi-day event where it was a supported tour, and we enjoyed that very much, and so we thought, well, why don't we do some other tours just on our own? One tour we did was the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, new York, and that was a good 300 and some miles multi-day tour, and so we found out that we really enjoyed that activity.

Tom Butler: 31:06

If you were going to say something that was your favorite ride. Do you have that, or is that tough?

Steve Robertson: 31:14

Well, every ride has its pros and cons and you know, my favorites probably would be the Erie Canal Trail and also the East Coast Greenway that encourages you to ride from Florida to Maine on trails. Now, some of those trails are on road and some of those on road sections are dangerous, but that was probably my favorite trip. Then again, shortly after I had retired and we came back from Portugal, I flew myself and my bike down my bike and myself and went from there all the way back to my house in Connecticut and the adventures on that ride would fill hours and I'm thinking that you meet a lot of people doing that. You get to have a lot of conversations doing that, met one person in Key West when I had just started my ride that had come all away from your area, from Washington State, across the country, and he was just finishing up in Key West and we had quite a conversation.

Tom Butler: 33:06

That's awesome. What would you say about the difference? You know you start at Key West and you start biking. You could have driven that route. What would you say is the contrast between like experiencing that at the pace of bicycling versus being in a car?

Steve Robertson: 33:25

Well it's. It puts you in a whole different mindset. You know you, you may travel roads that you've traveled before, and I've driven from Key West up to Connecticut very quickly, right, and so you just don't get to see the sights and the smells and the sounds and the relaxation of being on a bicycle. It reminds me of a book that I read, called I think it was called the Mindful Athlete, by a gentleman by the name of George Mumford, and he talks about mindfulness, right, and so, after reading that book, I always try to get in touch with the moment, right, and to your point in your question, when you're cycling and you're thinking that you want to keep yourself in the moment, and when you're breathing, and when you're looking around and observing everything and you take it all in, it's almost, like you know, refreshment for your soul, being on a bicycle instead of being in a car. Right, I love driving my car, but I love being on a bicycle and experiencing nature and the world around me so much more.

Tom Butler: 34:49

I love that. I love that concept of refreshment. I love that concept of there's something about our soul that gets fed when we're out there and being physically active in the open air. That's wonderful.

Steve Robertson: 35:01

Yes, and it also opens up other things that, to me, are a bit humorous. When I was riding back from Florida and I got into Connecticut and I was on a road that I've ridden many times in a car, I realized how many hills there are in that road, you know. So you get a different perspective, you know the good and the challenging.

Tom Butler: 35:26

Right right Now you're doing something that I haven't taken on yet. I I think I will be doing in the future and having some conversations about doing that in the future and that's bike packing. So when you're out hitting the road, you're carrying the things that you need with you, and I'm wondering when your interest in bike packing started. Has that always been the case?

Steve Robertson: 35:53

Well, it was something I had always thought about when I was working, but I believe it was about a year before I retired that I really seriously thought this is something I'm going to want to do. So at that point I started preparing. You know, what am I going to need? Where am I going to need? Where am I going to go? How am I going to get there logistically? And on and on, and you could fill up a whole day's worth of talking about you know, those particular dynamics of bikepacking. You know, once I properly prepared to go on bikepacking adventures and that's really a big one I thought about well, where's my first trip going to be and this was self-supported trip right Going from Key West to Canada. How am I going to handle this?

Steve Robertson: 36:48

Well, there's many things that one has to think about. You know, how are you going to get your bicycle to the starting point? Are you going to take a train? Are you going to take a plane? And if you're going to, how are you going to pack your bike? And on and on, and there's just a hundred different things to think about to be successful. And if you think about really what you're going to be doing in the sense of what is the best equipment that would help me to have a successful trip. You know, where am I going to stay? Am I going to tent? Am I going to stay in hotels or Airbnbs? You put all these things together and you think about how can I do this smart so that I won't fail or I won't be miserable. You know, you hear about the person that buys a tent and goes camping and it rains and they got soaking wet and they'll never do it again. Right, you have to prepare. You know, fail to plan and you'll plan to fail.

Tom Butler: 37:56

I'm curious if you have a local group or a group of people maybe it's not even local that are kind of a bike packing family or cohort or whatever that you interact with.

Steve Robertson: 38:11

I really don't. You know, I have met people along the way. My interaction has really been pretty much one way by observing others on YouTube that have made bikepacking a successful part of their life, people like the Bicycle Touring Pro. He has had a YouTube channel for many years. His name was Darren Alf and I believe he has over 700 videos out. So looking at how they did it, you know, and emulating people like that, looking at people like Ryan Van Duser, who has a channel, looking at people like Ryan Van Duser, who has a channel, and I would say he's the ambassador of attitude for the world. I mean, the guy has got more great attitude than anyone I've ever met, and I did get a chance to meet him a couple of times. No, there is really not a bikepacking group or community where I live.

Tom Butler: 39:12

Okay, what would you say is kind of the most challenging aspect of bikepacking for you?

Steve Robertson: 39:19

The most challenging part is the logistics of putting things together the actual bikepacking, the riding, the nutrition and all that. I've pretty much got that nailed. You know again, that could be a whole subject for another hour, but I would say the most challenging part is to make sure I don't fail on my trip. And what does that mean? Let's take an example when I recently rode from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, it was 95% on dirt trails, and it just so happened that it had rained a lot before my trip and so it was very muddy. I documented this on the YouTube channel and so I prepared for that.

Steve Robertson: 40:14

I took a bicycle that had wide tires with low air pressure, and it doesn't have a chain. It has a carbon belt on it, so it could get as muddy as can be and I wouldn't have a problem, right? So preparation, preparation, preparation. So I would say the biggest challenge for me is preparing for the trip, knowing what I'm going to do, where I'm, you know, and how I'm going to do it. I'm not a person that flies by the seat of my pants when it comes to that.

Tom Butler: 40:52

You mentioned your bike. I'm wondering what you're riding?

Steve Robertson: 40:55

The bike I'm riding that I really fell in love with is called a Priority 600X, and Priority is a manufacturer that has offices based in Manhattan, new York, and the bike is a hardtail mountain bike. It has front suspension, but it also has what's called a pinion gearbox. It's a 12-tooth large cassette or large gear in the back that has a 540% gear ratio. The Priority 600 has a 600% gear ratio, meaning it would be like having a 60-tooth gear in the back right. So with an extremely low gear, no derailleur and no chain, the whole system is driven by a Gates carbon belt, much like a fan belt in a car, that goes to one sprocket on the back wheel and the gear system is totally enclosed in a bath of oil and it's really bomb-proof. It takes the adjustment of a derailleur, the maintenance of a chain drive and all that out of the equation. So it's an excellent system. Is it a lightweight bike? No, it weighs about 35 pounds. It's a great bike for bike packing, especially off-road.

Tom Butler: 42:47

Now, how many miles have you put on that and have you found it to be low maintenance? Are you pretty happy with how solid it's been over the miles?

Steve Robertson: 42:56

It's really held up well. I do take an extra carbon belt with me in case that were to snap, but so far so good. I have not had any maintenance trouble with it whatsoever. It's really well built.

Tom Butler: 43:23

I'm wondering how your family feels about your cycling adventures. At your age, it's not typical for people to be out jumping on a bike. I think that we're seeing more and more of that, and I think the e-bikes have have opened uh things up for more people to get out. I at one point when the podcast interviewed someone who is 80 years old on an octogenarian odyssey, and so you know, I think we are seeing older people out there. Is your family excited? Do they worry about it sometime or sometimes are fully supportive? How does that go?

Steve Robertson: 44:07

They're fully supportive. Really, my wife, jan being, you know, my biggest supporter has no trouble with me going off for two weeks on a bikepacking trip on my own. You know I keep in contact with her and it's not like I'm going to do the tour divide race, you know, going in the middle of grizzly bear country or anything like that. So you know I pick trips that would be not too dangerous for myself, and so Jan is very supportive. She knows that I'm doing something that I love. My kids, who are grown and have their own kids now, are very supportive. My daughter wants to know, you know, when I get home safe and all that. So yeah, family is very supportive and that's important.

Tom Butler: 45:03

Yeah, awesome. Now, over the years I bet you've tried a lot of different equipment, made a lot of discoveries about equipment. What are some of the things you would highlight as far as your equipment discoveries?

Steve Robertson: 45:18

So the equipment I've discovered has really been by what I feel is necessity as an older person, to have a successful trip, you need to have lightweight equipment and you need to have waterproof equipment when you go bikepacking. So let's just start with your panniers. What you keep all your equipment in. You need things that are waterproof. You don't want to make it miserable for yourself. So I discovered the Ortlieb company makes very good, high quality waterproof equipment. So the Z-Packs company. As far as tents go, I saved up when I was working because these things are not cheap, and I purchased a Z-Packs tent which keeps me dry and in the wind. You know I really feel safe my bike that I ride now my Priority 600X. You know low maintenance, anything to make it easy Bicycle computers I've tried Garmin's, I've tried Wahoo's and they both give you good results. As far as apps that you need when you're going on a bike trip, ride with GPS in conjunction with a good iPhone app, all sorts of things like that One thing that's very important is your seat, and people have their own ideas on what is the best bicycle seat.

Steve Robertson: 46:50

Well, I was always challenged by that and I've tried many seats and then I stumbled upon one called Infinity Bike Seat and I don't know if you've ever heard of it. I've not. So it is a company based in Southern California, a doctor who developed this seat, which is like nothing you've ever seen. Infinitybikeseatcom is the company, if anybody's interested. And the seat has two cutouts in it for your sit bones and it almost looks like a skeleton of a seat, you wouldn't think it would be comfortable, but it is the most comfortable seat I've ever ridden. In fact, for long distance bike rides I've found nothing better than that.

Steve Robertson: 47:41

I know some, you know, use Brooks seats and other seats, but this is a very good design. But this is a very good design. It's been adopted by the folks at the Race Across America. That happens every year and many of those riders use this seat for, you know, very long days in the saddle. That is probably my most important piece of equipment because I can ride all day and no pain piece of equipment because I can ride all day and no pain.

Tom Butler: 48:13

What caused you to try that seat? Because, looking at it, it does look so different. Did you hear from somebody that it was good, or had you seen it? How did that come about?

Steve Robertson: 48:22

I went into a bike shop when I was visiting with my kids down in Florida and they had one for sale. It was one of the first models. It was just a hard plastic seat and it had absolutely no padding on it. And I asked the guy what it was and he said it's infinity bike seat. So I looked them up on the internet and looked at some testimonials and said why not try it? What have I got to lose? Back then this was probably 12 years ago. Back then you could buy a seat, try it out for 30 days and if it didn't work you could return it. So I thought nothing to lose, bought it, found out that it was a wonderful seat.

Tom Butler: 49:10

And it is one of those things that can bring your trip to an end.

Steve Robertson: 49:14

Yes.

Tom Butler: 49:15

You don't have the right seat, so you know.

Steve Robertson: 49:17

Yes.

Tom Butler: 49:18

It's worth an investment there. Yep, you've mentioned your YouTube channel a couple times. Talk about that. What inspired you to start the channel and how do people find it, and things like that.

Steve Robertson: 49:32

Yeah. So after retirement, it was a hobby. I always thought, you know, I'm always looking at other YouTubers and appreciating their content, and so I needed another hobby after a very active working life, and so I thought why not start a YouTube channel? And what better subject to tackle would be cycling. And now I'm an older person, so let's talk about old people cycling. So I formed the channel and called it Steve Retired and Cycling, and it's really dedicated to older folks living an active lifestyle. And if you're not, get out there and start, try to do it. Don't have any excuses. If you're healthy and you want to be more active, try out cycling. If you're not a cyclist, if you are a cyclist, make sure you see your doctor first and make sure you're healthy enough, and then you'll have no excuses. That's what I've done. I've got no excuses. I can get out there and ride. So I've dedicated the channel to really all aspects of riding bikes for older people, be it get out and do a hundred mile ride I've done a video on that and I'll be doing another one this year or looking at an e-bike you know, evaluating an e-bike in a video, because there are people that really need e-bikes.

Steve Robertson: 51:09

I've really enjoyed the journey of my YouTube channel. Right now, I believe I've got like 6,500 subscribers, so it's growing slowly. I'm not doing it to try to make money, because even people with 150,000 subscribers can't live on that right. So it is just a hobby. But let me tell you what the most important thing about having a YouTube channel, for me anyway, is, and that are the people that comment, the people that watch.

Steve Robertson: 51:46

I did a video and I started it out by saying what would make a 70-year-old guy get up at 4.30 in the morning to ride 100 miles? And I got this comment if you'll indulge me, steve, good video. At 70. I was doing 100 mile rides, but I'm happy to say that I've never gotten up at 430 in my life. My mileage did decrease over the years, though, until in my early 80s to about 37 miles. That was my maximum, although I do live in a hilly area in southwest France. As I went through my 80s, the hills got progressively harder and I found myself looking for the flattest routes available, which limited my options. Eventually I gave in and for my 90th birthday two years ago, I fitted a small, neat friction drive ESS kit on my road bike. It works very well. So the hills are not a problem anymore and my rides have opened up again.

Steve Robertson: 53:01

So that was his comment, and comments like that make all the work of videoing and editing, you know, worth it for me, of videoing and editing, you know, worth it for me, and I've done some videos where I've gotten hundreds of comments from 80, 90 year old people from around the world, and it's refreshing to know that there are a lot of people that don't have any excuses. What did this gentleman do? At 90 years old? He's trying to figure out a way to stay on his bike and he gets this little friction drive thing and puts it on the back wheel.

Steve Robertson: 53:44

So what does that inspire me to do those little gizmos? And two days ago I received it in the mail and I'm going to put it on two different bicycles and try it out and do a review of it for people that need a boost like that. Do I need a boost like that yet Some days? But no, I don't. I would not go out and purchase something like that yet, but when you think about how many people are out there that want to remain active, so that's what's important.

Tom Butler: 54:23

Well, I think that's such an awesome thing to share because, again, what you're doing is you're getting some inspiration from him, you know. So you put your content out there. You're inspiring a lot of people I know you are and then you're also getting it back to you in inspiration from people that are listening and that's, you know, making it more possible for both of you, or more likely for both of you, to stay with it, as well as the people that get to see your example.

Steve Robertson: 54:58

That's fantastic yes, and you know it's. It's real life too, even though I have a small channel. The folks that do long distance cycling seem to be a small community and they all watch each other's videos. On my trip from Pittsburgh to DC, I stopped off at a coffee shop and this family came into the coffee shop and they had two bicycles and a little trailer and they had their two year old daughter in the trailer. And the woman looks at me and she said are you Steve? And I said yes, she said you're the reason we took this trip. We just watched your video and I thought well, that's good, you know. And so they were out there.

Steve Robertson: 55:47

I ran into another person early on after I started my YouTube channel. I was in the backwoods of North Carolina and I'm pedaling along and this guy looks at me and said hey, steve. And he stopped me and, coincidentally enough, he had looked at my channel and he said you're the reason I'm out here, you know. And so I'm not blowing my own horn here. What I'm just trying to say and get the point across is there are a lot of people out there that want to stay active and get out there and enjoy nature and, if I can play just a little part in helping folks do that and motivating myself to do that, all the better. That's fantastic.

Tom Butler: 56:38

What adventures do you have planned in the future?

Steve Robertson: 56:41

Every year I ride my age, so that is an event. So I'll be turning 70 to November, so I will get out and do that. But in about three weeks, jan and I are going to pack our bikes up, hop on a plane, go to Moab, utah. We're flying into Denver and Jan's daughter lives a few miles outside of Grand Junction, colorado, so we're going to start there as far as putting our bikes together and then getting in a rental vehicle and driving to Moab and spend a few days there riding around. I've never been to Moab before, so that should be very exciting.

Tom Butler: 57:27

I think that's such a different country. I think that's going to be just Springs and beyond in Colorado.

Steve Robertson: 57:56

There is a bike trail I understand that runs alongside the highway, so I'm looking forward to tackling that someday, I don't think this year. Next year, jan and I are planning to go to Norway and cycle the Arctic coast of Norway. So two years ago we wanted to cycle the Arctic coast of Norway and our plane got delayed and so we never made a certain connection and we missed out on the trip and we ended up getting COVID when we were in Oslo, so we had to come home. So we're going to try it again next year. So that should be very exciting. It's a self-supported trip put on by a tour group up there, but you're on your own and you go from bed and breakfast to bed and breakfast in the Le Votin Islands and other areas Beautiful area so we're looking forward to that.

Tom Butler: 59:02

That sure sounds fantastic. I'm guessing that all these trips, people will be able to check them out on your YouTube channel at some point.

Steve Robertson: 59:10

That is true, Steve, retired in cycling. The YouTube channel I'd also like to mention. A lot of folks would like to get into bikepacking and they'd like to go for maybe a short ride. There's a gentleman on YouTube, his name is Alistair Humphreys and I believe he rode around the world. But the gentleman, I believe, is from England and he put out a series of videos called micro adventures and that would be an adventure from your house, maybe five miles away. You go out and you camp for the night on your bicycle or hiking or whatever, and then you come home. You either hike or your bike back home. You take these different micro adventures that all lead up to maybe bigger adventures or maybe just a whole bunch of micro adventures. So again, you don't have an excuse. You don't have to say I don't want to go out for a week, I'm still working, right. Well, how about Friday night or Saturday night, right?

Tom Butler: 1:00:21

Awesome, I love it. Well, Steve, this has gone by so fast. I've just enjoyed talking to you so much and I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your journeys with me.

Steve Robertson: 1:00:34

Well, the same here, and it's been a pleasure speaking with you. I did subscribe to your podcast this morning because you know it was a first when you reached out to me and I've already enjoyed a couple of the podcasts that I've seen there, so I'd encourage others to do the same Well thank you so much and good luck to both you and Jan on all your cycling adventures, and we'll maybe catch up with you sometime again. Yes, thanks again, tom. We'll keep in touch, okay, bye-bye now. Bye.

Tom Butler: 1:01:15

Steve's message of no excuses is an important one for me Seems like my daily life makes it so easy to have an excuse for not getting out on the bike. Just today I had a plan and it kept getting moved over and over again until it was too late in the day. I recently discovered a new route that leaves right from my house, and I love it. This route takes away the need for me to load my bike on the car and go to the trail, so that takes away an obstacle and an excuse as far as riding is concerned. But even eliminating that excuse, I am still able to find other ones. That is why it is so important for me to have some challenges I'm taking on. It really helps me push past the excuses. Seeing all of you in the Cycling Over 60 Strava Club is also a massive motivation for me to push past excuses. If you haven't joined yet, please consider doing so. I hope all of you are finding more excuses to ride than to stay home. And remember age is just a gear change.