RE-Cycling: Taking up Bicycling Again as an Adult
Bruce Wynkoop has been cycling seriously as an adult for twenty-five years. After knee and back pain forced him to give up jogging he needed a form of exercise that wasn't so hard on his body. Starting with short rides and quickly working up to longer ones, he soon came to enjoy it so much that he wondered why more people don't do it. He now averages 2500 miles a season on his road and hybrid bicycles (combined) and has ridden numerous cross-state rides, both in supported rides put on by organizations and self-supported rides with just a couple of friends. He has ridden the Natchez Trace in Mississippi, The Great River Road from St. Paul to St. Louis, the KATY Trail in Missouri, the George Mickelson Trail in South Dakota, around Lake Champlain, through Holland, North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park and South Dakota's Badlands National Park, and many other interesting places. He considers himself a "serious-casual" cyclist, rides for exercise and pleasure, not for ego, and says, "I don't ride fast, but I can ride all day." He hasn't ridden in the Tour de France, won any cycling awards, or set any records for riding across the country (even for his age group), and has no desire to do so. He has, however, cycled extensively, loves to cycle, and thinks the world would be a better place if more people cycled.