Cycling is for Whole-of-Life
In 1980, when I turned 28 years of age, we purchased our first bikes. Since then, cycling has been a constant passion in our family’s lives. It has taken me to many places in this world, leading to many adventures, and developing many friends. Together with my dearly missed father-in-law, Herman, and my wonderful wife, Rita, we’ve encouraged most of our extended family and lots of friends to share in cycling pursuits, particularly cycle touring.
As a consequence, my wonderful son, Steven, shared many of these good times, developed outstanding mountain biking skills, and in turn, during my senior years, took over the leadership role.
Nowadays, Steven takes me to various mountain bike parks where I try my best to keep up with him. Steven is very patient with me. He waits for me when I’m lagging behind, or he comes back to find me if I’ve taken a tumble. Steven has rescued me a few times after serious crashes, called an ambulance for me, or accompanied me to the hospital.
When I turned 60, back in 2012, I rewarded myself with a lovely custom-built road bike. That was the year I retired after discovering I had early-stage prostate cancer. During that final year of my working life, I constantly felt puzzled by my lower levels of energy and shortened spans of concentration. I felt stressed and embarrassed by my waning productivity, without being able to put a finger on what exactly was going on. So immediately after the cancer was diagnosed I quit work to concentrate on getting better. Once an operation to remove the cancer was over, the shiny new road bike became an important tool in my physical and mental recovery.
In 2013-through-2015 my wife, Rita, embarked on her own adventure with a lovely fulfilling job at the Research Park at the Univerisity of Illinois. Together we lived in Champaign, Illinois. We took our bikes and enjoyed many wonderful cycling adventures in the prairies. During those years I found a part-time job at the local Champaign Cycles store and made new friends. I worked as a bicycle mechanic putting together the bikes that arrived partially dismantled in cardboard cartons prior to going into sales inventory. Our job was to ensure that the bikes were put together so that they would be safe to ride. Making certain to torque all the bolts properly, put grease on the proper places, adjust gears so they would change smoothly, true the wheels, adjust brakes so they worked properly so that every component worked as it should. Each year there was a crescendo in bike sales. As new students arrived to begin university they needed bikes to transport them around the campus. We had to work fast to build enough bikes to meet the demand. I learned new skills and made new friends.
Later, when I turned 65 in 2017, Steven was having to wait for me to catch up more often. Age was catching up, as I was finding myself getting over-heated and out-of-breath on climbs. That year I rewarded myself with an e-MTN bike.
The electric power-assisted mountain bike was one of the best investments I have ever made. It enabled me to get to the top of hard climbs like the top of Mount Stromlo here in Canberra without as many stops to catch my breath and without using up all my energy. My e-bike enabled me to descend the downhill trails more safely, with fewer falls because I was less exhausted and able to think more clearly. I found myself riding further and more often and my mountain biking skills improved markedly. Giving both Steven and me lots of pleasure.
