For the First Time, I Felt My 70 Years on a Bicycle Tour
Last Updated: June 2026 Quick Take: I still ride. I still train. I still dream about future tours. But after completing a 366-mile ride along the Mississippi River at age 70, I realized something I had managed to avoid for decades: age has finally become part of the equation. A few weeks ago, I finished a six-day bicycle tour along the Upper Mississippi River. It covered 366 miles and averaged about 61 miles per day. By any reasonable standard, I was happy with the ride. The scenery was beautiful, the weather mostly cooperated, and I enjoyed every day on the bike. Yet when I got home, I found myself thinking about another tour. Back in 2020, when I was 64 years old, I rode from the northernmost point of Texas to the southernmost point of Texas. The trip covered 972 miles in July, and most days the temperatures were over 100 degrees. Several days stretched beyond 100 miles, and when the tour was over, I felt tired but still strong. The more I thought about it, the more I realized...
