Cycling Over Sixty
Join us as we continue to follow the inspiring journey of Tom Butler, an average man in his 60s, who has found an invigorating path to fitness through the power of bicycling.
In Season One, Tom achieved his long-desired goal of completing the grueling 206-mile Seattle to Portland ride. He also discovered that his capacity for gaining strength and endurance was much higher than he anticipated for his age. However, despite Tom’s success, some key indicators of lifestyle diseases persisted.
Season Two steps up Tom's quest for improved overall fitness. Determined to make changes that will yield better results, he embarks on a fresh cycling challenge, pushing his boundaries even further. Along the way, we'll witness his trials and triumphs as he seeks to transform his health.
The podcast features insightful interviews with experts in exercise, nutrition, and various health topics. From seasoned cyclists to leading specialists, these guests offer valuable advice and guidance to Tom on his mission to achieve and sustain optimal fitness.
But it's not just about the physical aspects of cycling – the podcast also explores all things biking. Discussions range from bike mechanics and equipment to the broader impact of cycling on society and the environment.
Tom, wholeheartedly embracing cycling as the foundation of his fitness journey, shares his struggles and successes candidly. His infectious enthusiasm aims to inspire people approaching or over 60 to hop on a bike and discover their untapped potential for increased fitness.
If you're seeking motivation, expert insights, and a heartwarming story of perseverance, "Cycling Over Sixty" is for you. Listen in to this fitness expedition as we pedal towards better health and a stronger, fitter future!
Cycling Over Sixty
Kelly's First Cycling Tour
In this episode of Cycling Over Sixty, host Tom Butler shares some exciting news about his upcoming cycling challenge. Despite potential road closures and air quality concerns, Tom is optimistic that his chosen route will be bikeable this season. He also reveals details about another cycling experience he's looking forward to this fall.
Joining Tom for this episode is his wife, Kelly, who recently completed her first group ride, covering 125 miles in three days. Tom and Kelly discuss the experience and the potential impact it will have on their future cycling adventures together. With future cycling trips on the line, Tom is hopeful that Kelly's experience will inspire them to do more cycling as a couple and keep both of them motivated to stay fit.
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
This is the Cycling Over 60 podcast, season two, episode 56, kelly's first cycling tour and I'm your host, tom Butler. Welcome to the podcast. This is my attempt to share the lessons that I'm learning for people who are helping me stay fit later in life through cycling. On the podcast you will hear about health topics and, of course, all things about the bike, and you will even hear some things that are bigger topics of nutrition, like last week's focus on potato agriculture. My hope is that if you are a fan of cycling and want to keep pedaling later on in life, that you will find a wide variety of interesting topics on the podcast. Before I get into this week's conversation, here's an update on my challenge for this season. If you are new, I'm going to try and ride across the state of Washington to culminate the season of the podcast.
Tom Butler:I've been talking about the wildfires and the air quality along the route for a few weeks now. Currently, I'm feeling optimistic about both of these things. Instaweb, an interagency source for updates on wildfires, has stopped giving daily updates for my main concern, the Easy Fire. I think this is a very good sign that the Easy Fire is seen as manageable, plus, there are a few days of rain coming soon in the area of the fire, so I think that will also help. Of course, with rain comes the chance of lightning and that could spark another fire. Lightning was the original cause of the easy fire. I'm still going to have to monitor air quality. Even without the easy fire smoke, there can be smoke coming from other areas that can blow over the route. I really need to talk with someone about exposure to moderate air quality. If I'm riding for an hour in moderate air quality, is that an issue? What if I am climbing in moderate air quality? How much more of a risk is there if I'm breathing hard? These are questions I'd like to have more information on. Another factor is that the rain could bring a mudslide. With the ground cover destroyed, heavy rain can be an issue. State Route 20 just reopened from a previous rain-induced mudslide. They removed 7,000 tons of material to open it. In some places the mud was 10 feet deep. I'm hopeful that between now and September 10th, when I ride through that section, that they will have it even more cleared. I saw a current image of the area and the shoulder was a mess. Fortunately, it does look like the mess is only for a small section.
Tom Butler:In addition to the ride across Washington, I am planning on a really easy bikepacking trip for October. This is just to dip my toe in the water. After loading our bikes on the ferry to San Juan Island, we will ride there and spend the night at San Juan Island County Park. The next morning we'll ride to the ferry dock and take the ferry to Lopez Island to ride around 18 miles round trip to Shark Reef Sanctuary, then back on the ferry to head home. October means a real chance of rainy weather. We'll just have to see if we can get lucky with it by the end of fall. I will have experienced a lot of what Washington has to offer. I experienced the Olympic Peninsula on the Port Townsend tour we did last weekend. I'm going to be experiencing the North Cascades and the Matau Valley. Riding across Washington and the bikepacking on the San Juan Islands means experiencing a really unique part of Washington. I am thrilled to be seeing all these places at the speed of a bicycle.
Tom Butler:I've started planning now for the bikepacking trip because I have a lot of things to figure out. First and foremost, I need to decide whether or not I can use my Trek FX3 for the trip. I read a couple of comments that the FX3 was a poor choice for bikepacking, that it isn't hardy enough to be loaded down and ridden many miles. One of the things that was specifically mentioned is the carbon forks. I totally get this perspective, but I'm also not in the position to put out the money for a touring bike right now, so I will be doing this relatively short trip using the FX3. When I used the FX3 to do the Seattle Portland ride two years ago, I weighed 35 pounds more than I currently weigh and it lasted 206 miles. I figure that as long as I don't put more than 35 pounds of gear on for this overnight trip, then it'll be fine.
Tom Butler:One of the reasons that I don't want to put out money for a touring bike now is that I'm going to need to buy camping gear for the trip. I really don't know what all I will need to buy, but I know I at least need a new tent and a new sleeping pad. I will be figuring out what else I need in the next few weeks. I'm really excited to do this packing trip because it's an opportunity to experience another dimension of cycling.
Tom Butler:It was so fun doing the three-day Port Townsend tour with my wife, kelly, but the question is will that experience lead to more cycling together, or did Kelly find it to not be her cup of tea? I wanted to share my conversation with her about the trip. The trip certainly has the potential of being a big shift in how we spend vacations. If she enjoyed this adventure, then I could see all our vacations being spent on bikes or be active in some other way, and I see active vacations as a big part of maintaining an active lifestyle as we get older. Here is what kelly had to say. I am joined by someone this week who I think you've been on the podcast now as much as anybody else.
Kelly Butler:Oh no.
Tom Butler:And it is my wife, Kelly. Thanks for joining me, Kelly.
Kelly Butler:I guess anytime.
Tom Butler:You guess anytime.
Kelly Butler:Well, I think anytime, but might not want to make that too common. I know, well, I think any time, but might not want to make that too common.
Tom Butler:I know it's like. This doesn't seem to be like your most favorite activity.
Kelly Butler:Maybe not, but it's good, it's fun.
Tom Butler:Yeah, you're feeling more comfortable with it.
Kelly Butler:No.
Tom Butler:Okay, so the reason that we're talking is that we have, in my opinion, one of the funnest weekends we could ever have, and that was our Port Townsend tour that we did Cascade Bicycle Club put it on, and so I wanted to talk about that and what this has been like for you to start doing this with me, because I think that's such a powerful thing when I say this start doing bike rides with me, longer bike rides with me, because I think it's just such a powerful thing for me to get out there and stay with it. Let's start out with the planning we did for the ride. Let's start out with the planning we did for the ride. Let's start out with the planning we did for the ride.
Kelly Butler:How many hours would you say it took to get ready for it? You mean including deciding what clothes I'm going to need and ordering those, and or just the day before packing, or the week before. I mean, what do you mean?
Tom Butler:I would say like, in total like you listed some of that stuff this was the first ride that you'd ever done, first group ride that you ever done. We weren't just going out for a day, we were going for a weekend. We were driving for a couple hours to do it. So there was what clothes to wear, what you had to think about, that you would need. Do you have a way to put a number of hours it took to get ready for this?
Kelly Butler:I really don't know.
Tom Butler:But it was a significant amount of time.
Kelly Butler:Well, not as much as I thought it was going to be.
Tom Butler:honestly, oh, nice Okay.
Kelly Butler:I mean shopping online for what clothing you think you need. I mean you know I needed I have clothes for one day riding, but not for three, and trying to figure out what the weather was going to be like was probably the most unknown thing, and so we had to plan for all those things and then have the equipment to manage that. So buying a raincoat and talking about shoe coverings possibly and you know, all those things probably took the longest to think about and to find online and order them. Longest to think about and to find online, and order them.
Tom Butler:Do you think in the future that it would take half as much time, a quarter of the time? How much do you think we'll have to do as far as the planning is concerned for every trip that we do?
Kelly Butler:If it's a similar trip and I have the equipment and there's not changes in equipment needs, then I'd say at least half as much time.
Tom Butler:I do think that we spent twice as much time easy that we would normally spend Now that we've kind of been through that process just figuring out what questions we needed to ask in order to be prepared, that took a while. Yeah, you and I are not incredibly similar when it comes to planning.
Kelly Butler:We were both equally bad at it.
Tom Butler:But maybe bad in different ways. I think I'm a little more fly by the seat of your pants kind of planning. Yeah, you mentioned looking for stuff and we purchased a good amount of gear for the ride for a week. We had like packages showing up on our doorstep every day yes, some of which I need to return some didn't work out, but I think again, there was a lot of questions about what gear you wanted to get.
Kelly Butler:We spent a bunch of time just figuring out what to do for a rack yeah, so that was a whole day of activity, basically that we don't have to repeat that. I mean, that's just getting basic setup that we won't have to do again.
Tom Butler:I thought we were going to drive to one bike shop and then we ended up having to drive all over the place to find it.
Kelly Butler:Right. That was because of the uniqueness of the bike, and actually the rack was not quite fitted right and so nothing was fitting and we're trying to do all kinds of innovative things, and so that was a good portion of a day that definitely won't have to repeat again.
Tom Butler:Yeah, the whole thing with the rack. We won't have to repeat again. So again, I think maybe it'd be even more than it'd be even less than half the time that it took to do this. So that's encouraging to me. How does that feel to you? Do you feel like if we had to do that kind of planning?
Kelly Butler:every time, that amount of time we took. That it would be annoying, yeah, but I like you. I believe it's going to be far less next time.
Tom Butler:I should say, for anybody that hasn't listened before, that your bike is a unique bike. It's a cruise bike and if you're interested, there is an episode just on you. And if you're interested, there is an episode just on you, kelly, getting a new bike. So it's a semi-recumbent bike. We got a rack for it and they didn't send all the parts, and so the rack didn't really fit right. But in everything that we're talking about with this, there is this element of you having a unique bike, and so that did play a role. We loaded up the car with everything, and I want to talk about your suitcase size for three days.
Kelly Butler:Hey, I just let go any thought that you know we're going to go minimal here, because we were going two hours, we had the whole car and I had no idea what I was going to want to wear before, after, what the weather was going to be like, and I just like you know what, forget it. I'm going to throw everything in there. I can fit my pillow and all my shoes and everything I need inside this one suitcase and I don't have to stress about it and take a long time deciding what I'm taking, have to stress about it and take a long time deciding what I'm taking.
Kelly Butler:I'll just take everything I might want. I think it was great.
Tom Butler:I think the biggest thing was that, like we had so many scenarios that it could possibly be yeah, I don't know what you used, maybe 10% of what you took.
Kelly Butler:Probably 25%.
Tom Butler:It could have been anything from like the low 60s and raining the whole time to the low 80s and sunny the whole time. I mean, we really didn't know what to expect. And then we knew what to take. We knew we needed stuff to wear on the bike, but we didn't know what we were going to be doing in the evenings or everything. So there was a big unknown there. So we had to cover a whole bunch of bases from that yeah, so hence the big suitcase, off we go and the suitcase weighed more than me more than the bike for sure, but it worked out.
Tom Butler:And again, I think that we learned some stuff from this that would make the next time better. But at the same time there was part of it that was just the nature of the weather on the peninsula that we didn't know what to expect. Talk about that aspect of it. How did you feel that the weather turned out compared to kind of what you were anticipating?
Kelly Butler:That was unbelievable. It was perfect. It turned out so, so much better than what we thought it was going to be. We were expecting rain, at least on two of the days while we were during the day, while we were riding, maybe cloudy days on the third. We were during the day while we were riding, maybe cloudy days on the third, but we ended up with either slightly cloudy or sunny all of the days that we rode and the storm was only at night, so it could not have been better. It was amazing weather.
Tom Butler:I really expected the weather to be a factor in kind of dampening how enjoyable it would be. It would be interesting what it would have been like if we would have enjoyed it as much if it was raining. But yeah, the weather just turned out to be so amazing. Now, one thing is that we didn't start till like nine o'clock in the morning. We didn't get on the road every morning till about nine o'clock, and so there was a chance for it to warm up a bit. If we were getting out at six o'clock it would have been pretty cold starting out, but it made it so nice and to be in that area of the world and have such beautiful weather, it just really turned out to be nice. I don't ever remember being too hot. It was warm enough that I needed to focus on how much water I took in and electrolytes I took in, but I never remember being too hot.
Kelly Butler:I definitely was not too hot. I had a jacket on in the mornings so I was comfortable the whole time we did have flexibility because of your bike you were.
Tom Butler:You did have a lot of storage room, you did have a nice big trunk, yeah, and so that made it nice to have that flexibility. But boy, it was just beautiful. How would you rate our accommodations? Radar accommodations acceptable, they're fine. Not, they were just one notch above unacceptable. It was really a rundown place, and the worst part about it was that you could hear the wall was made out of like paper.
Kelly Butler:It didn't keep me awake, it didn't bother me, and it seemed clean and it was fine. It was just. All it is is walls and a bed and a sink, it's all. Anything is.
Tom Butler:A microwave.
Kelly Butler:A microwave and a fridge. It had those two things, so that was good.
Tom Butler:We did use the fridge.
Kelly Butler:We did yep Green smoothies for breakfast.
Tom Butler:It was definitely, definitely. The bed was comfortable enough. Yeah, you know, it seemed clean. It was really run down and there was no insulation in the whole place, but so that did keep me awake. There were two nights that I didn't sleep very well because of that. So I would definitely want to upgrade our accommodations in the future if there was a choice, and really I think everything was booked out by the time I got to booking accommodations.
Kelly Butler:Right.
Tom Butler:And I didn't wait that late. I didn't feel like I waited really late in the process. Let's get to the ride. This was the first time that you were out on a ride with a group of people.
Kelly Butler:Yes.
Tom Butler:Can you talk about what that was like? I think you were nervous about that at first, right.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, I was nervous about that because I didn't know how close we were going to be. I didn't know if we were going to be packed with people all around. I mean, I just had zero idea of what to expect. While I'm pretty confident on my bike, I still would be nervous if people were all around me.
Tom Butler:I think you feel like you can still get thrown off on your bike so that you're moving left or moving right more than you want to.
Kelly Butler:In certain situations.
Tom Butler:yes, Isn't that kind of what you were nervous about being packed in? Is that something might happen and you would move into somebody? Yeah, we had about 150 people and one thing that we did was that we waited and left kind of towards the end of the group leaving yes, the first two days especially would you want to do that again, or or do you think after this experience you feel more comfortable?
Kelly Butler:kind of get on the road with everybody yeah, I feel more comfortable just getting on the road. In fact, I I tried to get you to go faster the third time I know, and I was not catching on.
Tom Butler:I'm like, well, we're not at the end, kelly, but you were kind of like yeah, I don't want to be at the end.
Kelly Butler:Let's go.
Tom Butler:So I think you felt less comfortable passing people than you did like being on the road with people yes before we did this ride, you weren't thinking that we were going to be passing people as much as we were right, that's correct.
Kelly Butler:and I didn't feel as comfortable turning around to look behind me and I wasn't used to the little tiny mirror, so I didn't feel as comfortable behind me and I wasn't used to the little tiny mirror, so I didn't feel as comfortable knowing when it was safe to pass. And so I, yeah, if you were in front of me saying let's go, and I was just following you, that was fine. But if you were way ahead of me and I was going to catch up to you, I wasn't as comfortable.
Tom Butler:And this was a little bit different than some rides like the STP, you know, or any ride where you've got like 5,000 people going. Then it's going to be a big group of people moving out. This was when we came out of the parking area in the morning. We were single file, and so that made a big difference too. You weren't really packed in. How organized did you feel that the ride was?
Kelly Butler:I thought it was very well organized. I think they did a great job yeah, I do too.
Tom Butler:I mean every cascade event I've been on. The only exception I would say to that was, I think, the nature of a tour. You know it's not, as I don't know what the word I'm looking for, but encapsulated, I guess, would be a way to say it. I mean, they release you and you can wander around and see different places. You definitely have a route, but there's places to stop and you know. But at the end of the day there wasn't really anything going on. You kind of came in, you checked in, but there wasn't like a big finishing area, even at the very end of the ride.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, that was kind of anticlimactic, the very end of the ride, at the end of the ride itself. It would have been fun to have something there, but most of the socializing came, you know, optional after in the evening.
Tom Butler:You know, again, it's different because people are so scattered out and come in over such a long period of time. Right, one of the things that I really appreciated was there was a guy that in the morning would give a briefing.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, he was awesome.
Tom Butler:He did such a thorough job. He was great. It was too much information for me to store in my brain.
Kelly Butler:It was amazing that it was stored in his brain. Every turn, every, every detail was in his brain and he just freeloaded it off. It was amazing.
Tom Butler:I never saw him reading notes.
Kelly Butler:No.
Tom Butler:Yeah, so just you know, hey, watch out for this. And this is you know, and this is shut down. Excellent job. Shout out to that person who we should remember his name. It wasn't a hundred percent of a smooth ride for you. You did go down. What? Two times.
Kelly Butler:I went down at the top of the hill. It was cause, kind of like, the way I do go down occasionally on this bike is when I'm almost stopped going really slow or something, and the weight of the run-in somehow gets away from me. I don't know how that happens, but so I you know you don't get hurt and I didn't even. I just stood up and my bike went over, basically you were in front of me that time oh, and the gravel in the gravel.
Kelly Butler:I did slide up or I did, I don't know they're both pretty minor.
Tom Butler:I think the thing that happens with your bike is it gets really squirrely if the wheel gets turned 90 degrees.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, which only happens when I'm basically stopped.
Tom Butler:Yeah, but you have to be stopped and then like, if you have to mess with something when you're stopped, then the front end can get turned and then it just there's no stability to it.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, yeah, it's kind of funny.
Tom Butler:So it just like it slides. It just slides down, just goes down, I don't know. And the front end is heavy and once it gets going it kind of just keeps going. Yeah, you didn't get hurt, no, either of those times. How did you feel about going down? Was it embarrassing?
Kelly Butler:Yeah, a little bit. I mean, it's just such a weird thing that I don't even understand, as it's happening, why it's happening. It's just funny times, Like I'm almost at the top of the hill and I'm just basically stopping and getting off my bike and it goes over. I don't know it's weird, but it's just something to laugh with people about and people are nice and I think that is one thing that I would point out. They always say how graceful my fall is.
Tom Butler:That's good. See, that was so graceful. You're going down. I think that was. One thing that I would note is that people were really cool about it. People were checking in are you okay? And everything. They were really cool about it. If you're an inexperienced cyclist and you're going on one of these tours, I think the people that go on these tours are going to be really nice if, if you do, you know, if you don't clip out, you weren't clipped in. But it'd be kind of be equivalent to somebody that's clipped in and they forget to clip out and go over when they're stopped. I think people are going to be really cool about it. Nobody took a chance of joking with you about it. I mean, people could have for sure and you wouldn't have taken that bad, but I just thought people joking with you about it. I mean people could have for sure and you wouldn't have taken that bad, but I just thought people were really cool about it.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, definitely, and luckily it's not like we're all riding along in a line and if I fall down are people going to run into me. It was never a situation like that. There was always times where other people were stopped or slow or not close to me.
Tom Butler:Yeah, I don't think you went down on the actual worst part of the route. We basically went mountain biking.
Kelly Butler:That was the funnest part.
Tom Butler:No, it wasn't. We're going to talk about what you thought was the funnest part, but that was not the funnest part, but almost everybody was on road bikes. There were a couple bikes that were set up more for off-road. But we go down this trail and first we had to get through some trees that was just barely wide enough to get through and then we're on this little tiny trail. It opened up a bit. There was that first part that was kind of tough to get through, and then, trail, it opened up a bit. You know, there was that first part, there was that first part that was kind of tough to get through and then it kind of opened up. But then there were like roots, huge roots to go over and just all kinds of stuff.
Tom Butler:People can go onto the Cycling Over 60 Strava Club and see some pictures from our trip and if you're not a member of that club, please consider joining the club because it is. It's just really fun. I mean I love it. I love the pictures. But we have some pictures of our trip up there and you can see one picture. You can see Kelly on her bike and then you can see the trail. That was a good part of the trail.
Kelly Butler:That was nice and wide and smooth.
Tom Butler:Yeah, but other parts of that trail. It wasn't that long but that was an adventure, but you didn't go down on that and you thought that was fun.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, makes me think I want to do mountain biking at some point.
Tom Butler:I can see that there was the part of the ride that was your favorite part of the ride, the Larry.
Kelly Butler:Scott Trail the Larry Scott Trail.
Tom Butler:The Larry Scott Trail. So talk about why that was so fun to you.
Kelly Butler:Because it wasn't on a highway where there's a whole bunch of cars driving whizzing by and there's either a tiny, a tiny shoulder or no shoulder. I find that somewhat nerve wracking. I mean, I've done a lot of miles of it now but that's not my, not my favorite kind of riding. I liked being where there were no cars and it was pretty and it was in nature and smooth and beautiful and really fun.
Tom Butler:So the Larry Scott Trail is an interesting section of trail. It's the first seven miles of the Olympic Discovery Trail and the Olympic Discovery Trail is a trail that goes all the way across the Olympic Peninsula I think 247 miles if I remember right which is going to be an absolutely amazing trail. I mean, if you like seeing beautiful country on a bike, like keep an eye out on the Olympic Discovery Trail because it's going to be amazing. We got to hear a presentation one night about the trail and it's going to be amazing. It went along the waterfront for a lot of it. It was not a paved trail but it was really packed and so it was dirt but it was really packed and you know. So it was dirt but it was really hard pack dirt. How did you feel like your bike handled that kind of trail?
Kelly Butler:Really well, it was great.
Tom Butler:So you didn't feel any like that was any more difficult than on the road.
Kelly Butler:No.
Tom Butler:You mentioned like you got so much more experience riding on the road with cars than you ever had.
Kelly Butler:Ever imagined I would have.
Tom Butler:Yeah, Maybe you'll feel more comfortable on a roadway with cars, but I think for now, what we're going to be looking for if we're going to do longer rides is we're going to be looking for something like the Larry Scott Trail to ride on.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, it sounded like they were kind of apologetic that there was so much road traffic. So I don't know what rides normally are like, but I definitely would like something more along the lines of Larry Scott Trail. It's certainly much more relaxing and beautiful and fun.
Tom Butler:We were on some back roads, a lot of back roads that didn't have any shoulder, but there was no traffic.
Kelly Butler:Right.
Tom Butler:And that was okay.
Kelly Butler:Yeah.
Tom Butler:But I think the way that it worked is that we had to ride some pretty sketchy roads in order to get to some areas.
Tom Butler:Right yeah, sketchy roads in order to get to some areas, right, yeah, and there, I know, one road was shut down for construction that they wanted to use, and so we had to be out on a highway with more traffic. But I didn't, I didn't find it to be terrible, I found it to be okay, uh, but at the same time it was yeah again, I think for you. For now, if we're going to do longer rides, we want to find some long sections where we have trails that are separate from traffic.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, far more appealing to me.
Tom Butler:I didn't go down, but I did have a problem. My problem could have been prevented. One thing that I do is I step off always with my left foot, and I must drag my left foot or something. I don't know what I do, but I wear down the cleat on my left shoe much more than my right shoe, and so I started experiencing some problems clipping in, you know, which should have alerted me that I was. I had worn down my cleat, but halfway through the second day I ended up not being able to clip in. That was an issue. And then, because we're in a town with 150 cyclists, I went to a bike shop and, like the two bike shops in town, they had sold out of cleats. We weren't too far from another bike shop, so we drove and picked up the cleats and it was great. It was fantastic, and now I have new cleats. But the thing about it that I wanted to mention was didn't you think that people in those bike shops were cool?
Tom Butler:yes, they always are yeah, I don't know that I would say that I don't know that I would as many as you have, but yes, they were very they're extremely helpful, you know, and they, you know they didn't have it.
Tom Butler:So they called over to you know it's like try this shop and you know they had it all set up and I just felt like they were really helpful. So I want to give a shout out, shout out to ben's bike shop in swim, washington. That's where I actually bought the cleats, but also the velo cats great name.
Tom Butler:that's a great name, a great shop. I think you know, if you're ever in Port Townsend, slip in to buy something. I just find that to be a cool place, a really cool place. And then also there was the Broken Spoke.
Kelly Butler:Was that the name of it?
Tom Butler:The first place we went to was the Broken Spoke. It just was really great. I mean it would have been great to just walk in, grab some cleats and walk out, but they were just so helpful. It was just a really nice experience getting that problem fixed. What did you think of the food?
Kelly Butler:It was good. It was very good. The food on the ride itself the first day was good, it was very good. The food on the ride itself first day was amazing, really good, and the other that was a pita that I don't even know what was on it I don't know, it was vegetarian and it was so good, really, really good. I don't know what was on it either, but we should go back and find out where they got it. Um, and the other days were fine. They were good too.
Tom Butler:I thought the pizza that they had. On the second day we pulled in a place and they had a pizza oven set up and I thought they did a fantastic job with pizza. I'm not really eating pizza these days, but what did you think of the pizza?
Kelly Butler:I thought it was unique and really good. I thought it was. It was not your boring pizza, it was. It was nice, it was really good.
Tom Butler:And it was all you could eat pizza. So that I felt was well done. And then the third day they made sandwiches and I thought they were really good sandwiches Again, more bread than than I would want to eat. But I can't expect you know what I mean the way that I'm eating right now. I can't expect it really to be accommodated. So they did a fantastic job, and then I think I would want to go to a place like Port Townsend because I think we found good food to eat in the evening.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, definitely.
Tom Butler:Found some really good restaurants.
Kelly Butler:The place that the second night, the social area was really fun.
Tom Butler:Yeah.
Kelly Butler:Really good, was it Finn River?
Tom Butler:Yeah, I think it was Finn River.
Kelly Butler:Totally different styles of food and I didn't. Obviously I'm not experienced with those places, but it was fun, it was really cute and had really good food.
Tom Butler:It was a farm and then it had like a food court, yeah, and they had live music and they had a big open area. It was like a big food court, outdoor food court. So that was very cool.
Kelly Butler:Very cute.
Tom Butler:Yeah, if we were doing another tour, I would want to have a place where we could get good food in the evening, and I probably I haven't really looked closely at all the tours, but they're probably all like that. I bet they have that in mind. Yeah, one of the things about going on this trip that was organized for us, versus if we just did it on our own, was we were out with 150 people and they did make time for social interaction in the evening, both Friday evening and Saturday evening, interaction in the evening, both Friday evening and Saturday evening and I found that to be really awesome that we got to meet people, got to socialize with people, hang out with people.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, it was definitely true. I felt that was one of the definitely one of the fun things about it is meeting just interesting, unique and fascinating people and getting to interact with them and getting to know them a little bit was very fun.
Tom Butler:We wouldn't have had an opportunity to meet any of the people we met any other way. I'm sure of that.
Kelly Butler:Right.
Tom Butler:Part of that is the destination. I think that you know the Olympic Peninsula is a cool place, so it pulled people from a lot of different areas over to do that tour and again we got to interact with a lot of really fun, interesting people that we would have never met Absolutely yeah, here's my theory.
Kelly Butler:Okay, lay it on me.
Tom Butler:I think that if you go on a three-day bicycle trip, that you're going to meet more interesting people and more friendly people than like normally traveling.
Kelly Butler:Normally traveling.
Tom Butler:Yeah, like just going on a vacation somewhere and meeting people. I think on a cycling vacation or a cycling trip, you're going to meet more interesting and more friendly people.
Kelly Butler:I think I can agree with that. I think that we meet all kinds of people everywhere, but I think the concentration of cool, unique, fun, interesting people on this tour was was denser and it was great.
Tom Butler:Yeah, and here's my reason why I think that. I think that these were people, like said already that it was an older group of people. These were people who were interested in staying healthy and living life, and living vibrantly.
Kelly Butler:And had already lived lots of vibrant years and interesting lives that we got to hear about.
Tom Butler:That's a great point Interesting careers and interesting things they were doing in retirement and everything, and interesting things they were doing in retirement and everything. So I feel like people that are looking to take care of themselves physically are also looking to be stimulated intellectually as well. So I think there's also that element of being interesting. Yeah, so I'm looking forward to doing more of that. And again, I think that means plugging into organized rides that are pulling in a lot of people from different places, maybe being a couple people Not that we're that interesting, but a couple people that come from a different place.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, we come from a very different place than most people Just laying that out there. Yeah, we come from a very different place than most people Just laying that out there.
Tom Butler:So, you know, because again it's fun, you know meeting people that you wouldn't normally meet, just hanging around at home.
Kelly Butler:Yep, another perk of an organized ride.
Tom Butler:Yeah, we had received, powered by Potato jerseys from the Washington Potato.
Kelly Butler:Commission. So we were repping. Yes.
Tom Butler:We were repping potatoes. How did you feel about that?
Kelly Butler:Well, it was kind of fun Because people, actually lots of people, asked us what's with the potatoes, so it was fun.
Tom Butler:Yeah, I thought that was fun. We'll do that again sometime. Rip potatoes, and thanks to the Washington Potato Commission for sending us the jerseys. That was fun.
Kelly Butler:Yes, it was.
Tom Butler:I was nervous about going too slow up the hills. I can go really slow up a hill, I have learned. I've had to learn how to go really slow up a hill and there were some steep hills there. There were some decent hills and so I was worried about going too slow and that you would not be able to control your bike going really slow. That was a dynamic for me. How did you feel about that towards the end? Was that something that you felt was really manageable?
Kelly Butler:Yeah, definitely I've been surprised at how slow I can go and control the bike. I was really surprised by that. But of course I always have the opportunity I can just use a little bit of assist and go faster. I was never concerned about that because I knew that I didn't have to go slow, even if I was tired.
Tom Butler:I think probably in the future there's a few hills hills I would go slower on. But I think it is good that you do have the option that if you feel like you need to go a little bit faster, you can just go faster because of the assist and just meet me at the top of the hill. I think that there was at least a couple of times that I felt really good about that, that it worked out really well for you to do that. We spent quite a bit of time alone.
Kelly Butler:We did on some of the back roads especially.
Tom Butler:Yeah, so I was surprised by that. But we would be stopped for lunch something and then take off and not see anybody for a while, just the two of us on the road. How do you feel about that?
Kelly Butler:Well, I was surprised too, but it makes sense. I mean, there's a lot of miles to spread out on and every level of abilities and desire to go fast or slow, so I mean it kind of makes sense.
Tom Butler:We must have been going at the pace of most people is what I'm thinking, because to get on the road by yourself and not you know, we didn't catch people very often. We did catch people and we weren't caught by many people. So I think we must have been going at about the pace that when you get out there going any faster, any slower than anybody else, it's good that we're not. We weren't the slowest people out there.
Kelly Butler:We definitely were not.
Tom Butler:How would you rate my navigation skills?
Kelly Butler:Really good, especially after the first day. The first day was a little iffy.
Tom Butler:Well, that is actually a better response than I expected. I did have a new computer and it did take me a little bit to get used to the navigation on the computer. It was the first time I had really used the navigation on the computer was the first time I'd really used the navigation on the computer, so that first day was a little sketchy, but it was really nice, since we were alone. I mean, they did have Dan Henry's on the road, they did have you know places that showed you where the turn, but I really found the navigation having a computer with navigation Awesome.
Kelly Butler:But they also did a really nice job of marking the road. I thought that was something that was very well done also.
Tom Butler:So I thought they did a nice job of marking the road and then again that morning, briefing I think was helpful too as far as pointing out some places that might be more difficult to navigate. There was maybe one time in the three days that I think they got it wrong. I think they got the marker wrong on the road, but it took about seven, eight of us gathering around there to figure out. Okay, we're definitely going this way. But yeah, they did a really good job. But I'm glad that you felt like my navigation skills were good. That's what's important.
Kelly Butler:Okay, good.
Tom Butler:Do you feel like you learned anything about staying fit in your 70s?
Kelly Butler:I did Because there were so many people in their 70s. I was blown away. I was really inspired by the people that were there. I thought it was really, really cool.
Tom Butler:There were many people older than us.
Kelly Butler:More older than younger.
Tom Butler:Do you think that's right? I don't know about that.
Kelly Butler:Maybe not.
Tom Butler:But we could have been like in the middle. As far as age is concerned, I think there were probably a lot of people in their 50s, but it was not a ride for young people, but it was not a ride for young people. Okay, there's one thing that I feel like we need to figure out, and that's water intake. Do you think that you took in enough water? Do you think that the setup that you had for water was adequate?
Kelly Butler:Yeah.
Tom Butler:You do. I didn't feel like you were taking in water, as you were riding very much wasn't very hot.
Tom Butler:Okay, I felt like I was taking in enough so we had a hydro pack that was hanging on the back of your bike, attached to your bike. People have to realize you're in a seat leaning back, you're not, uh, you're not on a saddle. And then beside you on that seat there was a magnet where we had the hose from the the hydro pack. If it was a hot day and you couldn't drink while you're stopped, you had to drink while you're moving. Do you feel like you would have been able to use that system?
Kelly Butler:yes, I did use it some okay.
Tom Butler:So are you happy with the water system you have, or do we need to do something to fix it?
Kelly Butler:No, I think it's fine.
Tom Butler:You did 125.32 miles in three days. Now that is the most by far that you've spent on a bicycle in a weekend.
Kelly Butler:Well yeah, each of those days was equal to or more than I'd ridden in a day before.
Tom Butler:Pretty close.
Kelly Butler:Pretty close yeah.
Tom Butler:I mean going 47 miles. One of those days that was.
Kelly Butler:The first day.
Tom Butler:On the first day. I mean that was a good long ride. How do you feel about it?
Kelly Butler:I felt great.
Tom Butler:Yeah.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, because I didn't hurt and it was. I went for a long ride but I felt good it wasn't like, oh my goodness, I can't do that again.
Tom Butler:It seems like one of the biggest things about the trip is that you rode three days in a row like farther than any ride you'd ever done, and you weren't sore.
Kelly Butler:Right.
Tom Butler:You know the position that you were in. I think your back maybe was not used to like sitting in that position for so long.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, my back. I did discover some back muscles that I don't typically use, so I had a little bit of soreness there, but it was mild. The whole thing was amazing. I went back to work the next day and I had zero issues. I was not sore.
Tom Butler:So that's just huge. Yeah, a big. Reason for that is because you're riding the cruise bike Right. So, overall, how do you feel about riding the cruise bike?
Kelly Butler:I feel great about the bike. I'm really really happy with it, Super happy that it's so comfortable and I don't have pain. And to ride 123, whatever miles, in the weekend and not come out with some serious soreness is to me pretty amazing.
Tom Butler:There's one aspect about your bike the assist part of it. Have you embraced that you're riding a knee bike?
Kelly Butler:No, I don't think I have. It still bothers me.
Tom Butler:We got into what I felt was this really cool rhythm. You didn't feel comfortable descending as fast as I descended.
Kelly Butler:No, but I did go 33 miles an hour downhill, which scared me a bit, but it was also fun. I didn't know if I was being reckless or stupid or what, but anyway there's that.
Tom Butler:And I think you'll get more comfortable going.
Kelly Butler:I don't know that you need to go much faster than 33 miles an hour, but Well, on the road I'd never been on, I had no idea what you know, what could have been in front of me, you know.
Tom Butler:Yeah, that's a good point, but I could get out in front of you going down the hills, knowing that you were going to catch me going up the hills, and we would have never been able to do that without the e-assist.
Kelly Butler:Yeah, I couldn't have done that ride without the e-assist. I mean with at least the weight that the bike is with the motor and the battery. I couldn't have done that without it. But it's just so helpful certain situations to have a little bit of oomph, so helpful.
Tom Butler:You didn't put in a ton of training hours and you know you don't really bike as much as I do. So the truth of the matter is, even without the weight of the motor and everything, you would have not been able to keep up on the hills. It would have been difficult for you going up those hills.
Kelly Butler:Yes.
Tom Butler:So I would say that e-assist makes it possible for us to bike together. It does, I love it.
Kelly Butler:I know you love it and I appreciate it. I mean, I realize that I couldn't do what we did without it, and so I'm happy for that.
Tom Butler:What message would you like us doing this ride to send to our kids, Garen and McKenna?
Kelly Butler:That it's doable and fun to stay active all the time.
Tom Butler:I think that there's a message of we're in in so much better shape when we're doing stuff like this. Did the experience of doing the ride change any thoughts that you have about me riding across Washington?
Kelly Butler:I think I'm a little more comfortable with the thought of it.
Tom Butler:Do you feel like the right? The climbing that I did at this ride gave you more confidence that I would be able to handle the climbs to go across Washington.
Kelly Butler:Well, not necessarily, but I mean after you were talking about you wouldn't be riding as hard, because you're going to do a whole lot more climbing on the ride across Washington than this one. I mean by a ton. So it didn't really to me seem like apples to apples at all. Actually, I was actually concerned because you were. You said your legs were thrashed after the third day. So I thought there well, that's not a good indication of your ability to ride across Washington because you're going to be doing so much more climbing in those five days. So I was thinking that was not a good indication at all. But you said that you were riding a lot harder up the hills. You'd be more just slow and low, grinding it out rather than pushing it. So I'll just have to take your word for that.
Tom Butler:I felt like the way that my legs felt every day, including up to the third day. I felt that my legs were pretty tired after the third day, but then when I woke up in the morning my legs felt good. So that gave me a lot of hope. And then again I was pushing it a lot harder up hills than I will be going across Washington. I'm just like you said. I'm just going to have to go slow and just grind it out. So I actually felt like the way that my legs felt in the morning every day after how they felt in the evening gave me a lot of hope for being able to go five days in a row. You mentioned riding on the road did not feel comfortable to you. Do you feel like you're more nervous and less nervous about me riding across Washington based on your experience with riding on the road from this ride?
Kelly Butler:I suppose a little bit more comfortable, not tremendously, but a bit more.
Tom Butler:I feel like the shoulder that I'm going to be on is so much better than what we were on for this that it makes me feel really comfortable about it. Now, the most important question on a scale of one to 10, how likely is it that you would want to do another three-day ride? Go out and experience a place on bicycle for three days?
Kelly Butler:I think that would be an eight, especially if I knew there would be less highway riding.
Tom Butler:So if I could find a tour that spent a lot of time on a protected trail or protected trails, then, you'd be for it. For sure, nice. I'm excited about that. I want to wrap up just by saying you're awesome. I'm super proud of you. It was so much fun for me. I just loved it, and thank you for being willing to go on this adventure with me.
Kelly Butler:Well, thank you for making it happen. I did have a lot of fun with me. Well, thank you for making it happen.
Tom Butler:I did have a lot of fun and I'm really thankful that you are doing your significant part in keeping us active as we get older. Nice, I am so glad that Kelly enjoyed the three days. Thank you, Cascade Bicycle Club for making a trip like this easy. I want to mention RJ and Josh from Cascade. We talked about how great the morning briefings were, and they're the ones that made them great. I think Kelly and I now need to expand our horizons and find a trip outside of Washington next year. I would be really interested to hear what suggestions you all have for multi-day trips. You can find my email and the show Instagram link in the show notes, and the best way to share your ideas is to post in the Cycling Over 60 Strava Club. Let me know what trips you have done, especially trips that were on trails protected from traffic. Now I hope all of you, like me, are finding great trips to share with family and friends. And remember age is just a gear change.
