Cycling Over Sixty

From Solo To Group Touring

• Tom Butler • Season 4 • Episode 4

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Check out an episode that has host Tom Butler getting real about a troubling physical issue caused by his continued failure to develop a consistent flexibility program. He shares his strategy for making the necessary changes to overcome an injury that could keep him off the bike.

This week's guest, Ken Dyckman, brings more than a decade of touring wisdom to the podcast as he discusses his transition from solo cycling adventures to group tours. It's a nuanced exploration of change—Ken candidly shares the benefits he's looks forward to by riding with others; while acknowledging the bittersweet reality of leaving behind the freedom and solitude he's always loved about solo touring.

Ken offers practical advice drawn from his extensive touring experience and shares memorable stories from the road—both the awe-inspiring moments and the challenging ones that tested his resolve. Whether you're considering your first tour or you're a seasoned rider contemplating a shift in how you ride, this episode delivers insights worth hearing.

Links:

Ken's Cycleblaze Journal:  cycleblaze.com/profile/kendyc/

Ken's Youtube: youtube.com/@kendyckman6095

Rails to Trails Railbanking Fact Sheet: railstotrails.org/resource-library/resources/railbanking-fact-sheet/

Here is your invitation to join a great launch party for the summer cycling season.  Join the Cycling Over Sixty Tour de Cure PNW team.  Whether you are local or come out to experience cycling in the great Northwest, I would love to have you help make this a ride with a purpose.  And to send a message that the joy of cycling is here for everyone, regardless of age. Go to tour.diabetes.org/teams/CO60

I know it is early but we are looking to get the Cycling Over Sixty Tour de Cure team together as soon as possible. You can find all the info at tour.diabetes.org/teams/CO60

Thank you Konvergent Wealth for sponsoring CO60 Jerseys for the Tour de Cure!

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

Cycling Over Sixty is also on Zwift. Look for our Zwift club!

Please send comments, questions and especially content suggestions to me at info@cyclingoversixty.com

Follow and comment on Cycling Over Sixty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyclingoversixty/

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

Tom Butler:

This is the Cycling Over 60 Podcast, season 4, episode 4, from Solo to Group Touring, and I'm your host, Tom Butler. I'm currently dealing with something that I'm not happy about. I have a really sore Achilles tendon. I don't know how I originally strained it, but it has progressively gotten worse. I thought I would just kind of ignore it and wait for it to slowly heal, but I had an experience that caused me to change my mind. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Woodland Park Grand Prix, an MFG cycle cross event. It is billed as the biggest cycle cross event in the world, and it has a real party atmosphere. This is my second time to MFG Woodland Park, and I've loved it each time. I didn't ride this year, but I hope to do it next year. One thing I like is there are lots of riders over 60 to hang out with there. We positioned ourselves on a muddy hill to watch Gearin compete and just to experience the mayhem there. At one point, someone pulled off the trail and was holding their lower leg. They said they thought they tore it. After the race was over and I was walking to the car with my Achilles hurting me, I just kept thinking about that person and seeing myself on the side of the trail with a torn Achilles. I decided that I'd better be more proactive about it. The Achilles can take a long time to heal. This is explained by Dr. Dane Wukic on the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Med blog. He says, quote, unlike muscle tissue, tendons don't get a significant supply of blood. Blood delivers fluid and nutrients that are essential for healing. The less blood delivered, the longer it takes for tissue to heal. Add to that the sheer size of the Achilles tendon, and you're in for a lengthy recovery. End quote. The truth is that I'm in this position because I haven't been proactive. I've talked a bunch here about my lack of flexibility. I've had at least five health professionals tell me that I need to dramatically improve my flexibility, but I still have been negligent. So I'm pulling out all the habit change strategies that I've talked about here. And I'm doing it right now. I'm sending McKenna a text that I need flexibility, accountability. Usually texting McKenna means that she will kick into whip dad into shape mode. Let's see what she says. I'm sending the message that I need to have flexibility, accountability. Of course, meaning that I need to be held accountable for doing flexibility exercise. Okay, all I got back in text was a simple yep. But I know this isn't just a yep. It is a yep. I've been harping on this for years, and you still haven't done something about it. So stop saying you'll do something about it and just do it. That's what she was really texting. Well, I'm not standing for that disrespectful attitude, even if it is the truth. So I'm texting I need a negative consequence for not doing stretching. I've sent that. There, now I've shown that this isn't like the other times. I'm taking my stretching compliance to a different level. Take that, yepper. I'm not gonna wait to hear from her, but it'll be interesting to see what she comes up with. One of the problems that I have with flexibility is that it's hard to measure success. I like data, but I'm not currently getting flexibility data. That will be something to figure out. One positive strategy that I want to share came about because I wanted to ride Cranksgiving again this year. Since witnessing the guy on the side of the trail grasping his leg, I've been taking it easy and not riding a bunch. But I figured that Cranksgiving was going to be a fairly gentle ride, and I really wanted to do it. By the way, you can see an Instagram reel of Cranksgiving into coma on the Cycling Over 60 Instagram page. To help support my Achilles, I used KT tape. I looked up a way to put the tape on for that specific purpose. We have a good deal of experience in our house with KT tape. Kelly put it on for me, and I think it did a fantastic job. I haven't been experiencing a lot of pain when I'm writing, but afterwards, when I've not moved for a while, that's when I will experience pain as soon as I stand up. But the KT tape dramatically improved things. I will continue tape up for a while. It will be hard to compare since I won't have the experience of not taping up, but I'm still interested to see how that might reduce how much pain I have. I'm reading a new book that was recommended to me by a cycling or sixty writer. The title is The Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell. I see the title as a bit misleading because Cavell is really talking about cycling later in life. I'm still just at the beginning of the book, but one of the things that I think applies to my Achilles issue is that cycling is just too linear. I hate this kind of talk. I truly want to just do cycling and not have to mess with other forms of exercise. But just like with weight training, I have to admit that cycling alone is not enough for what I want to get out of exercise. Cavell states that cyclists need to add chaos to their activity. Unfortunately, that makes a lot of sense. Especially when it comes to strength around the ankle joint. The pedal motion is just too linear. So for me, I think the best way to get chaos is to walk on uneven ground. I'll find a place where I can hike that isn't a smooth path. Maybe some place that would have me scrambling up some rocks. I'll keep you posted on this and other strategies to bring some chaos to my activities. When Ken Dykman emailed me about making a change from solo touring to group tours, I found that to be an intriguing place for a cyclist to be. Ken has done some really fantastic solo tours. He also realizes there is a time when group touring has advantages. I haven't done a long cycling tour yet. I hope the yet is a key part of that statement. I was excited about hearing from someone as experienced as Ken. Here is our discussion. I want to welcome Ken Dykman to the podcast. Thank you for joining me, Ken. Thank you for having me, Tom. I am really excited to get your perspective on long distance touring. I think that you've done so many interesting things, and we'll get into some things that you've learned from that. But let's start out by having you share your earliest memory of the bicycle.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, thanks, Tom. Yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to sharing. Golly, my earliest memory of a bicycle. You know, I rode, I remember riding an old Schwin to elementary school and it had the big banana seat, you know, the big chopper handlebars. Uh the thing was heavier than uh a car, it seemed like. And from there, I walked to middle school and I took a um bus to to high school. So I don't remember read uh using a bike too much. But then in college, my oldest brother gave me a Fuji, I think it was a steel road bike to get around the campus. And that was my first experience with a real true road bike with the skinny tires and such. And I thought, well, that's this is a pretty efficient way of transportation. You know, it's lightweight, easy to handle, uh, easy to ride. And so, yeah, that was probably how I got hooked on to uh just using road bikes. That was my first experience with the road bike.

Tom Butler:

I remember having a Schwin with a banana seat, and then it was a craze for a while to try to get really long forks on the front of it.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, I remember that. Yep, yep.

Tom Butler:

So having the chopper bars and the really long forks out in front probably made them pretty dangerous. But yeah.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, yeah.

Tom Butler:

So were you focused on staying active when you were younger?

Ken Dyckman:

I think so. I've picked up a lot of great pieces of advice from various people in my life. And one of my best friends in college, who was an usher at my wedding, uh, Eric, he gave me this line that always stuck with me. He said, Ken, he said, up to about 30 years old, your body takes care of itself. But from 30 and beyond, you need to take care of it. So that really stuck with me. And so right around that time, 30 years old, that's when I moved up to the Pacific Northwest, I got really into triathlons. That was, you know, back when they were just getting popular back in the early 2000s, and uh, which I absolutely loved, just the energy, the support, and the cheering from the spectators of those. And so that really kept me going for a while. And yeah, that's quite an active sport, certainly, too. So I was I was in the best shape of my life when I did those. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

Nice. Well, what good advice. I wish we could pass that on to everybody. I wish I could go back in time and really get that in my mind. Because I I knew it was true, but I just let life get in the way of it. So it's awesome that you took that to heart and you you stayed with it. You've completed some incredible solo tours over the past 12 years. I mean, really things that are out of the norm of most people, even most cyclists, maybe not most of the people that listen to the podcast, but really not a typical cycling journey. I I'm wondering what initially drew you to long-distance touring?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, it's a great question. I probably would have done triathlons forever if I could have, but I had two surgeries on my left foot from overuse injury. And you know, and I I just, I don't know, it kind of made me angry because I've always stayed pretty fit from a weight standpoint. And I've always seen these, you know, larger cyclists pass me on triathlons and you know, just bigger people in general running. And I'm, I think, in um fairly good weight shape. And, you know, I get I get these injuries on my foot. It's like, ah, doggone, it's not fair. So I couldn't do triathlons anymore. But I noticed that hiking and biking didn't hurt me at all. So I thought, okay, I'm gonna do biking for a while. And I just got to do biking more and more. And it was probably a blessing in disguise because, you know, running is really hard on your joints. I I read that a 150-pound person running a marathon puts a million pounds of force on, you know, every joint that you have, you know, your hips, your knees, your all the joints in your feet. And so do a lot of those marathons. And yeah, it's no wonder older people, you know, have hip replacements and knee replacements. And so, yeah, like I say, it's probably a blessing in disguise. But specifically, I think you ask about you know what drew me to long distance touring. There was one triathlon that me and the family drove down from the Pacific Northwest down to Arizona on. It was along uh Highway 101 there, and I saw lots of distance cyclists along the road. And we stayed at one really nice hotel, kind of nestled in the redwoods, and I saw a bike camper there. And I just I kind of imagined myself as him, and I thought, you know, I'd love to do that one day. And that just kind of stuck in my head. So it kind of grew from there, I'd say. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

You probably have too many experiences for us to get to all of them here, but talk about some of the things that stick out as adventures you've had.

Ken Dyckman:

Well, yeah, my favorite distance touring ones certainly um that stick out in my head. I started, I think, when I was 46. So in 2013, I did the West Coast from uh Seattle to Los Angeles. That was over uh just only two weeks because I couldn't take off much from work, so had some pretty long days. And then in 2017, when I was 50, I did the East Coast from Florida up to Maine. And then when I was 52, that was 2019, I did the coast of Portugal. My wife and I vacationed over there. She kind of drove along while I was on the bicycle, so that was a lot of fun and a great way to see a new country that way, just the perfect pace. And then most recently in 2023, when I was 55, I did Central America from uh Cancun all the way down to Panama City. And that took about eight weeks. If you notice a trend and kind of sense the um distance there, yeah, it's taken me longer and longer. It's taken me longer, but I think I've also learned to just, you know, not rush through things and just kind of enjoy the experience as opposed to being so destination-oriented.

Tom Butler:

Yeah, I think that's one of those things when you get to the point where you have some time and when you've got an obligation, it's like I only have two weeks or I only have one week or whatever. It seems like that time pressure can change things a lot. But to to be able to step back and say, I'm gonna enjoy this journey, whatever it yields, it yields however far I go today. I go, as I talk to people, it seems like that's a really positive way to do a tour.

Ken Dyckman:

Like you say, I think sometimes you have to make it a conscious decision. You have to tell yourself this is what you're going to do, because it's hard to get out of a rut sometimes. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

I would say for me, I'm pretty outcome-driven. Get to that space where I'm like, okay, step back and enjoy it. You know, don't worry so much about the outcome.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, we all can tell with your uh progress on your annual goals, but uh that's always fun to hear from you.

Tom Butler:

So good, good. That's good feedback. You are now 58. Yep. And I'm wondering as you look out ahead, how are you feeling about cycling over 60 and beyond?

Ken Dyckman:

You know, Tom, I I want to do it for as long as I can still. You know, I just I absolutely feel so alive and so fulfilled when I get on a bike, um, even just a short bike ride, you know, around my my home, but especially in a new area that I've never been to before, because you know, one of the things I enjoy the most about cycling is it's just a perfect pace to really see everything, and especially, like I say, something new. Hiking is nice, you know, because some place you some places you have to go in the mountains where you can't necessarily take a take a bike. But I think cycling is just that right pace where you can experience uh everything, you know, not too fast, not too slow. And of course you can smell and and hear everything. Anyway, I'm really just looking forward to having more time to just devote to that because um I just absolutely love it and yeah, I want to do it for as long as I can.

Tom Butler:

What's it look for cycling together as a family or as a couple in in the future? What do you think about that?

Ken Dyckman:

You know, my kids are fairly independent. Although um one of my daughters, we have cycled, and we both cycled just kind of recreationally. My wife is more of a hiker and I'm more of a biker. I've tried to get her to cycle. And, you know, I try to hike with her a little bit. And actually, she's she's really gotten me into hiking. She is such an inspiring hiker, I'll tell you what. She during COVID in Oregon there, I think, if I remember correctly, she hiked that year of COVID, she hiked like a thousand miles, 250,000 feet of elevation. Wow. So yeah, so she really got me into that. But but she doesn't like to be in the sun. So whatever, you know, we change as we get older and we just we try to do as much as we can together. But um she supports me, I support her, so it works out well.

Tom Butler:

Yeah. Nice. Now you mentioned when you reached out to me that you're making a conscious shift from solo touring to more organized group rides. Was there something specific that made you realize it was time to make this change?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, I'm looking forward to talking about that. Yes, definitely there was one thing specifically that was a light bulb that made me realize it was time to change. Uh, two words. Costa Rica, especially uh Nicoya Peninsula. Gosh, I'll tell you what, that is rough. You know, for people who read about the Nicoya Peninsula and Costa Rica, most of the countries in Costa Rica are uh relatively flat. Honduras has a lot of mountains, but the the roads aren't bad, really. It's very beautiful. But yeah, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, it's mostly dirt roads and it's incredibly beautiful, but just tough. They do not make roads down there, Tom, that go back and forth up a mountain, you know, that kind of tack back and forth. They it just goes straight up and straight down. And straight up and straight down. Yeah. And they're so steep that literally I was off my bike several times, several days in a row, just dragging it, uh, in fact, tacking it, walking my bike up a dirt road, tacking it back and forth. That's how steep it was. And in fact, I have a gel seat, and I still have an imprint in my gel seat from my thumbnail, digging into it so hard, dragging it up this hill. You know, it's heavy with my panniers on it and such. But and then you go down the hill and it's so steep downhill that you've almost completely locked up both wheels and skidding, and you get to the bottom, and it's just a giant mud pit down there, because most of the vehicles in Central America in general are either motorcycles or are four-wheel drives with the like the snorkel exhaust that go over the hoods because they're always going through mud and rivers and so forth. So you get to the bottom of these hills, and you got to change your shoes into sandals, and you cross this mud, and then you get on the other side, get back in your bike's shoes and try to go up, but mainly just walking your bike up and then riding it down, changing your shoes again. And you do that all day long. And it just it really wore on me. So the realization that I had when I was doing that is I'm in a really remote location. I did not expect this about Costa Rica, especially. And, you know, something could happen to me out here, and no one would find me for weeks. So it really, you know, it really dawned on me that, okay, I'm getting that age too, that something could happen to me. And so that's when I kind of realized that, well, yeah, this is probably my last big hurrah as a solo, you know, for something that long, something so remote anyway. I love exploring exotic new countries and different, you know, locations. But if I'm going to do that again, yeah, it's gonna be with others because I've got a long ways to go still to enjoy life and uh I don't need to end it early. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

Uh it sounds wise. I think you know, evaluating that situation and saying, you know, there's a risk of me being injured for a week out here by myself.

Ken Dyckman:

It's humbling, I'll tell you what, because you know, you just you feel invincible and it's tough to accept, you know, what your body is telling you. But yeah, it's a reminder every day when you get out of bed and feel more creaks and cracks, and you know, you it's you you gotta listen to that sometimes, right?

Tom Butler:

So I've talked before on the podcast about this thing where there's both sides of cycling that I really enjoy. I enjoy being out by myself a lot, you know, being a place even sometimes, you know, this time of year at night, being on a trail, there's nobody else on the trail. That solitude is something that I enjoy. So I I, you know, I I'm thinking there's definitely aspects of solo touring that are that way. So I'm wondering if you could talk about like three things that you're gonna miss about solo touring.

Ken Dyckman:

Well, certainly the solitude, yeah, just being able to, you know, reflect on life and soul searching on your own without any kind of schedule or anybody kind of pressuring you to go on or to stop somewhere else. Yeah, just the ability to stop, you know, whenever you want, wherever you want, eat whatever you want to, um, just that independence is amazing. And yeah, I think that I I will miss that. I I'll need to try to supplement that with something or try to find it somehow still. And I've got some ideas about that too.

Tom Butler:

There's an element of problem solving that I've heard people talk about that they enjoy. Like when you're out on your own, there's times that you have to tackle things. What do you think about that?

Ken Dyckman:

Oh, indeed. Yeah, I think, especially in Costa Rica, because I don't speak Spanish all that well. I did some crash course and you know, I was able to speak enough to kind of get by with you know common phrases and such. But I'll tell you, yeah, when you're in that kind of remote condition and you experience things literally every day that you do not expect, things that just come up and you got to work through them somehow. And yeah, that gives you such a sense of confidence. Uh, I'll tell you what. So um, yeah, I think that that is something too that, you know, as I research and kind of listen to some of some of your other guests and just kind of think about my future, that it's something else that you need to think about is being a solo distance cyclist, especially in remote areas, that it's not just your physical capabilities, but you know, your cognitive abilities too, and being able to figure things out. We have to realize that it's that part diminishes too, you know, at some point. That's something to be aware of. But yeah, until then, yeah, just having that confidence, once you accomplish something like that, you just feel so invincible, like you can do so much more. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

This might be not the easiest thing to answer, but I'm wondering, you know, as you make this transition, there must be some things you you are looking forward to. And then I'm also curious about kind of that mental shift of looking forward to cooperation and maybe compromise. And like you mentioned something that stuck in my mind, and that's like eating where you want with your when you're with a group of people. There's even this negotiation sometimes about you know, what are we going to eat? Everything. So I'm wondering, you know, again, what are you looking forward to? And like what's the mental aspect of it, that meant mental preparation like?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, it's great questions. It's a it's a double-edged sword, the solitude and then the social aspect. But I try to look forward to you know positive things and so you know, stay focused on that. And so yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting people, especially mingling with people from other countries to learn their culture and you know, maybe help me decide what's worth exploring and more, you know, when I'm in full retirement, just sharing stories with them. Yeah, I I always try to remain optimistic and believe when one door closes, another one opens. We'll see, you know, what kind of groups I join. Yeah, but I think the key is staying focused on the positives, you know, the new experience, not what you're giving up or sacrifices, but what new experiences there are that you hadn't thought about and make the best of them. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

Are there some tips, uh, you know, lessons that you've learned along the way that you think would be valuable for people to know as they're considering long distance touring?

Ken Dyckman:

Yes, indeed. Yeah, I made a couple of uh notes hoping that you would ask this. You know, I think we talked a little bit about you know being realistic about your capabilities as you get older and my realization in that type of environment, you know, that remote, very tough, harsh environment in the Nicoya Peninsula there in Costa Rica. So certainly your health, your physical capabilities, but other things from a safety standpoint to consider is you know, where you're going, how remote it is, a SAT phone might be good, or at least a uh a GPS locator, you know, like a garment. I can't remember the name. There's several manufacturers, but they they'll send a like a message to someone, a short message, and as well as your GPS location. Those little safety triangles that are getting pretty popular now, but still not a lot of people know about them. It looks like a yield sign. It's people come around a curve or go over a hill. So having a big reflective yield sign either on your back or on your bike on your panier or something, I think is good from a safety standpoint. And I think also I've learned, I don't know, maybe I'm just a little bit naively adventurous. When I was in uh foreign countries there in Central America, I was generally greeted by very friendly people. I suppose there's bad neighborhoods. You know, you've got to always use your judgment and stay away from those bad areas. But I think in general, if you act like a local and not a tourist, you just don't paint a target on yourself that way. You know, if you're always nervous, I think it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that, you know, you just you you act like that wounded animal and you become prey, right? So I think if you can use the local language a little bit, that helps make you look like a local. But even if you don't look, even if people don't make you out as a local, I think they'll recognize, they'll appreciate that you're trying to make an effort to speak in in their native language. It was funny, I remember one, uh I can't remember which country in Costa Rica, it was shortly after, it was 2023, so shortly after COVID. But I just I walked right into a grocery store, just acting like a local, you know, just like deliberately, you know, I didn't know where I was going, didn't know what I was doing, walked right in there, and then the security guard that was outside them, I think it was in El Salvador, because they had a lot of security guards pretty much in every establishment. So he came tracking me down down this aisle in the grocery store, and and I had to figure out what he was saying in Spanish, but I had to wear a mask. I was not allowed to enter the store without a mask. So I so I felt kind of bad. So I went outside and I I got a mask and everything. But uh yeah, really make an effort to to to make like a local. And then, you know, I I I wanted to throw this out as a tip, not necessarily as a safety concern, probably, but and maybe this is more obvious to a lot of other riders. Maybe it's just me that was naive to this, but proper tire pressure is really important. I rode for a little bit with uh not the highest pressure that I should have had in my bike tires. I gave up a little bit of speed for comfort because I thought, well, you know, it'll add a little more cushion to my butt. I'm riding pretty long, and I just chose to do that. Well, I learned that most people I assume have, you know, the Kevlar bead, you know, puncture-proof tires. But if you're not using them fully pressurized, you have a big bulge on the bottom where it comes into contact with the road, and that creates more of a surface area to get punctures outside of that Kevlar bead. And so I got one or two punctures outside of that Kevlar bead. And so I learned really quickly, yep, air it up so that you have just that surface area of that Kevlar beadt hitting the contact. So it is it is important to have proper tire pressure.

Tom Butler:

Well, that's super practical. And I yeah, I don't think I would have thought about that, but that that's great. I'm wondering about your interaction with cars, and I I I I'd like to talk about a couple things in particular. You talked about doing the West Coast, and you also talked about doing the East Coasts. Were those similar experiences? Were they really different experiences? And kind of specifically like interaction with cars. It seems like the road is very different going down the west coasts than on the east coast. Maybe contrast those a bit.

Ken Dyckman:

Totally different experiences, which I didn't expect about the east coast. I kind of knew about the west coast from pictures and such. And there's not many routes on the west coast, you know, it's 101 from, you know, northern Washington all the way down to Mexico, basically. Well, it it does kind of cut over a little bit in uh the Redwoods, but you can keep next to the coast. It doesn't become 101 then. It becomes, uh I forget what the highway number it is. But anyway, you can stay on the coast. And it's mostly a highway ride without a whole lot of lights. And it's pretty um a pretty wide bike lane. It's it's a gorgeous, fairly safe route. In fact, um I think some of the roads in California uh rival that in Oregon. And I I think Oregon does a really good job. I've always believed Oregon has really good roads, but there's actually some curbs to help separate you and the cars along that highway there in California. So along the East Coast, I had kind of hoped that there would be a similar kind of pathway throughout that whole route that I could, you know, see the ocean the majority of the time. And that was not the case whatsoever. I saw the ocean very infrequently. But it was okay. You know, I saw a lot of just different country away from the ocean, a lot more hills and valleys, I would say. And it's interesting, Tom, that there's definitely states that are more bike-friendly than others. Virginia, uh, I don't know what it is, but and maybe it was just the limited time that I was there, or maybe the route that I had, but Virginia seems to be extremely accommodating of psych of cyclists compared to in all the other states that I uh went along on that journey. Yeah, I had people stay behind me, and I've got one of those big rear view mirror on my uh helmets, you know, that I could big fish eye mirror so I can see people. And, you know, I would see people behind me. Well, here's a great example. I mean, in Virginia, I saw people, you know, waiting forever for me, you know, until I I finally just found a spot to pull over because I felt bad, because you know, there was a big long, long line. And they would pass me up and nobody ever honked me, honked at me. Whereas in Northern California, there was not much of a bike lane here along this one pathway. And this one lady, she wouldn't pass me. And I said, Yeah, I kept thinking in my mind, hey, you've got plenty of room. Just go ahead and pass me. I don't mind. Just give me, give me my three feet. I don't require six feet. Or I love it when people go all the way across the other lane completely. That's really generous of them, but I don't require that. Give me at least three feet and we're all good. But she just would not pass me. Well, finally she passed me. And then the guy behind her, he passed me and he honked and flipped me off like it was my fault. I said, hey, I'm I'm trying to ride to the as far right as I can. I can't help it if the person in front of you, the person behind me, never passed me. So uh, you know, yeah, you you run into all types, right? Uh but yeah, it was definitely a different experience. I thought in general, the East Coast, you know, especially in like Boston and New York, they would not be very bike friendly. But boy, I I, you know, I rode all the way in New York right through Times Square and with no problems. I mean, I thought that I was going to be, you know, I I started a little nervous, but uh no, I think, you know, especially in downtown areas, you know, I mean, you're aware, you know, Eugene and Portland and Seattle, people are very friendly to bikes, you know, there. But I think big cities in general, even on the east coast, so um a lot of things we could talk about there, but uh yeah, just a wide variety and yeah, definitely differences in scenery, but people between the West Coast and East Coast.

Tom Butler:

Now you're not the only one that makes a transition from solo riding to group riding. I'm wondering if you're out looking for tour companies, if you're evaluating companies, and what do you have in mind as you're looking for tour operators or groups to ride with?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, great question. There are so many um tour companies out there now that specialize in so many things. You know, there's a group of tour companies in Europe that that are getting more popular, the the bike and boat options, where you know you're on a relatively small ship or boat at in the evenings and you go from place to place and they stop and and you get off and you know, I some provide you the bikes. I think most of them, maybe some you can bring your own bike. So that seems popular. I think you can look to see where they're headquartered at to see, gosh, you know, do you want, you know, and where do they target? What kind of what countries, what's their target demographic that they that they target so that you can kind of ride with with you know younger or old people or foreign people or people in your home country if you just want to be around familiar people. But for myself, I'll tell you what, I've really gravitated, you know, I really enjoy the longer tours just because I think most tour companies in the world, they specialize in one week or two week, and it's pretty rare to find a three-week tour. But I think, you know, one to two weeks, especially if you're working, but even if not, it's just hard to disconnect from home. It takes a few days, right? You know, to for a vacation. And if it's if you're only there for one or two weeks, you're just finally getting into that new environment, and then you got to go back home again. So for me, the longer the better. The only tour company that I have found on the internet, anyway, is the same tour company that I remember uh Erin Ely that you had on your show a couple few months ago, talked about her journey in India with uh TDA Global. And I don't want to necessarily turn this into an advertisement for TDA Global, but they've got a lot of things going for them. One of the tours that I'm eyeing with them is the South American Epic, they call it. It goes from Colombia all the way down to the to the southern tip of Ushuaia, uh, Argentina, over five and a half months. One of the things that I really like about TDA Global, because I recently spent a night with them, they have an opportunity for guest riders that, you know, if they're riding by your home or if you want to just travel to wherever they happen to be traveling at, if you want to join them, they allow you to just join them for a day or two, just see what it's like, and they'll cook for you and such. Bring a tent if they're camping, or you know, they'll put you up in a hotel. And so that was a kind of a neat experience, you know, talking with people. And there were some foreigners. I I joined them on their North American Epic, which goes from Alaska all the way down to Panama City. And what I like about TDA Global is when you take off in the morning, you're on your own. I mean, you can be, you can find someone to team up with. And then they have several vehicles that when they pass you by, when they set up lunch, and you know, at the end of the day, they pass you by. They give you a couple of honks way back so they don't scare you. And as you go by, you give them a thumbs up if you're feeling good, you give them a thumbs down if you need them to pull over and you get some support that way. So you get great support, but it's a really nice hybrid, I think, because most of your journey, you can have that solo experience and you know, the solitude. And if you want to stop and take a break or you know, have a granola bar or whatever, wherever you want, you can do that. Stop and enjoy the view. And then you can you you have their support at lunchtime and in the evening. And you know, they're really nice because I think most of their tours, they have a doctor with them, you know, and a dedicated chef and a mechanic and so forth. They're a little bit, you know, they're kind of expensive, but it's worth it. Yeah, that's the tour company that I've got my eye on for a lot of trips, actually.

Tom Butler:

I guess uh interesting comment that you made there that one of the things to think about in booking a tour is that you can find some really full service operations. Talk about medical support and bike mechanic and those things, but it costs money to provide those things. And so to keep that in mind that those are gonna be more expensive outfits, but uh it seems like that's kind of insurance, right?

Ken Dyckman:

It's it's exactly what it is. You're right, yeah.

Tom Butler:

Talk about what you're liking as far as the bike that you're using, maybe the equipment there you're using. Do you feel like you've got the right setup? Or are you pretty happy with what you've chosen to ride with?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, I've got a I've got a Kona Sutra. I actually looked at the Trek 700, I think it was. But when I wanted to try to get a touring bike, it was just after COVID, and I could not find one of those anywhere, really, like literally in the whole country. So I really enjoy my Kona Sutra. But honestly, I can't really talk too much about bikes. I know some people really get into them. I'm honestly more, this might be sacrilege here, but I'm I'm more into the experience and the actual mental experience of uh what I'm doing. I really don't care what's between my legs, really. So I could have anything. You know, it just needs to function. And, you know, you got to have good panures and so forth. You know, I can do most bike repairs, but I really don't enjoy working on the bike myself. I just would rather take it to a mechanic. And another thing I love about TDA Global when I get to riding with them is, you know, just having a mechanic take care of problems for me. I don't mind paying for that. So that's just me. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

I I think it's been 12 years ago that you started.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, pretty much. Uh-huh. That's right. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

Do you have you seen equipment change in that amount of time? Do you think like touring has expanded? More people are to manage stuff, or do you have you not really seen that?

Ken Dyckman:

Well, certainly uh e-bikes. I don't know if more people are touring, but yeah, I mean e-bikes have permeated everything about cycling, I suppose. But it's tough to take an e-bike, your own e-bike that way, out of the country on a plane just because of the battery size, right? It just doesn't work. You know, won't allow it on planes. But you know, you can just fly somewhere. And if you join a a tour company that where they will lend you an e-bike, you know I didn't really think about that too much before this this interview, Tom, but I think that that is probably a good consideration for people as they get older too. And I've thought about it too, actually. I actually rode one e-bike somewhat recently. It was in um Greece. My wife and I were just vacationing there, and I just did a day tour with the bike company, and they just they only had e-bikes, so I thought, I'll give it a try. Oh my God, those things are so addicting. I cannot ride another one again because I fear that if I do it one or two more times, that's all I'm gonna ride. I mean, this e-bike was like 60 pounds and it handled like my Saturday little carbon fiber bike, you know. So that's my, I don't know, maybe 10 to 20 year out transition. Right now I'm transitioning from solo to group tours humbly, but you know, positively, I'm keeping a good outlook. And I know that there will be a time, hopefully, if I continue this, if you know my legs hold out and so forth, that I will probably not be able to just ride a regular bike. And so, you know, I'll have to transition to that e-bike. And again, that's my way of really enjoying the environment at my pace and not having to work so hard at it. Uh, but yeah, there's definitely a lot of considerations about that from a distance limitation standpoint and and uh just maintenance and so forth and cost. There's a lot more options now for distance cycling with tour companies and equipment than there used to be. It's a great time to get into it, I'd say.

Tom Butler:

Yeah, I'm hoping it continues that way too. I'm pretty excited about like the Great American Rail Trail.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah.

Tom Butler:

You know, and just uh share real quick a concern I have there is legislation right now that is being considered really threatening legislation out there. It's HR 4924 that could dramatically change the way that abandoned rail lines can be converted to trails and actually potentially even threatening to take away trails that are already in place. I think that that would be a shame because I see the Rails to Trails movement as being so awesome. And if people want to know more about that, I I'm really encouraging anybody and everybody to find your local bike advocates and team together and write letters and everything to in opposition of HR 4924. Rails to trails.org, they have a really nice fact sheet. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. A really good fact sheet talking about the threat that HR 4924 holds for trails. I am excited about the future because I think as time goes on, there'll actually be more scenic bikeways and opportunities for touring.

Ken Dyckman:

Maybe to tag along that a little bit, you know, I've spent most of my time in the Pacific Northwest and the Cascade Bike Club in Washington and in Oregon, too. There's very strong groups there that push for bicycle rights and so forth. And it was evident kind of what I took for granted when I was in Costa Rica, because you would think Costa Rica being kind of a green company country, it would encourage cycling. They would have trails and infrastructure and so forth. I think Costa Rica is probably the hardest country in all of Central America to cycle in. And I think that's a shame. And I think it stems from the fact that they just don't have cyclists in positions of power to make those sorts of decisions, which I think is bad for the country because I think that they could really benefit from that part of marketing. It just is incongruent with everything else that is about Costa Rica, the the you know, the the green and just you know being free and you know, uh pure life and so forth. It's a shame because some of the greatest roadways in Costa Rica that had wide bike lanes, they're illegal to travel on. It's the weirdest thing. I traveled on them anyway because I saw some other local cyclists on there and some police passed me up. So either they didn't care or they just didn't bother to pull me over or anything. And like I say, there's so many roads that are illegal that it's just so hard to ride a bike on. So yeah, I'm with you. I think that that is something that we should not take for granted of and try to ensure that that right and those opportunities don't slip away from us.

Tom Butler:

I'm really interested in to be honest, I don't think about you know the trip you did, you went from Cancun to Panama City, I think. Is that right? And you know, I I actually don't think of doing that anytime I think about doing something. I mean, I being on this podcast, I'm constantly getting new things that I want to do. But are Cancun to Panama City is not one of those things. Let's find it. But tell me a little bit about that. When you look back at it, do you see for the most part? I mean, you talked about Costa Rica, but for the most part, are you on road? Do you have to be prepared to ride on gravel? How's that aspect of it?

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, good question. Yeah, I'm not a mountain biker whatsoever. I've tried it a couple of times and it's just way too rough on my wrists, you know, and so I I don't want to wear those, wear my joints out anymore than they then they're already worn out. So I'm I'm definitely a road uh biker, and I try to stick with the blacktop roads as much as possible. You know, I was surprised by many of the countries in um uh Central America, Mexico, actually, from Cancun, especially from Cancun to just past Playa del Carmen, a little bit south of there, that few hundred miles, is probably some of the best roads that I've ever traveled on in my life. It rivals some of the best roads in the United States. And I've driven, I've I've rode on a lot of bike lanes in the United States. So I was surprised by that. Lots of litter everywhere in in Central America, you know, plastic bottles and definitely ugly. I mean, if you can kind of look above that and the trees and the ocean, everything, there's beauty there. But unfortunately, you know, just people throw out their trash and garbage all over the place. So that's unfortunate. But yeah, the worst roads were in Costa Rica, mainly along that Nakoy Peninsula, because there's just not a lot of ways to traverse that without traveling on dirt roads. But you can get on there with uh with a just a touring bike with you know 35 to 45 tires. And it's it's not that rough. It's graded pretty well. There's so many surprises there. You know, for example, in Costa Rica, you're traveling out in the middle of like nowhere. It seems so remote. The road is rough. And then all of a sudden, you know, in one area, I started cycling on these um like lattice bricks that were in this dirt road. I thought, wow, where are these where these bricks come from? It was like that for a couple of hundred yards, and then all of a sudden there's this huge, like uh four or five-star resort in the middle of nowhere. And then you go past that, you know, on the bricks, and then it goes back to absolute dirt road again, like almost four-wheeling type. It's just the weirdest thing in the world. I love being surprised by things that I mean, I research the heck out of things, but even after I research it, when I'm surprised, it's just it's it's nice, you know, just to have things come up that you don't experience. Hopefully you don't have to, you know, trudge through it or solve a problem, but just you know, those kinds of little surprises, like you just don't see those things in the United States, probably nor Europe, really, right?

Tom Butler:

So now a real practical question. What did you do about water?

Ken Dyckman:

Great question. Because really the only countries that it's safe to drink the water in is Panama and Costa Rica, but all other places it's not. And so yeah, I just I bought bottled water most of the time. I did let's see, did I have it? No, I I brought a camp stove to try to boil water if I needed it, but I had the hardest time finding a little, you know, butane uh bottle for my so I never used it, so I just bought a bunch of water, and I'll tell you, I spent one night uh, gosh, I have to tell you this experience here real quick. So I was in Guatemala and in a very remote uh Airbnb, and it was Christmas Eve and Christmas, and I remember um texting my family, asking them what they uh were having for a Christmas Eve dinner, and you know, they sent pictures of ham and potatoes and gravy and bread and so forth. Well, I didn't know this about the uh culture there, but most of the stores closed, not just on Christmas, but on Christmas Eve too, for the entire day. So I could not find, I mean, literally, I could not find any place to go get food, grocery stores or anything. And so Christmas Eve, you know, family was sending me pictures and I sent a picture back. It's like, okay, I've got a dried up, you know, kind of nasty granola bar because not quite the same granola bar as the United States, and some ramen that I picked up a long time ago. So ramen in a granola bar was my Christmas Eve dinner. So, you know, not thinking, I just dumped some ramen in uh a glass and filled it up with water from the sink. And I didn't have any way to heat it because they don't have a whole lot of hot we hot water in the places in the uh Central America. So I just let it sit there for about an hour and it softened up and I had it. And about 50 minutes later, my stomach started gurgling, and I thought, ooh, I use tap water for that. And yeah, I spent an extra couple days there because yeah, I had Montezuma's revenge. So so yeah, that's water is important. So yeah. That was a wow, but yeah, it makes for good memories, right?

Tom Butler:

So yeah, yeah, being sick is always a good memory, I guess. Again, it's one of those things of overcoming, you know. So preparation is important. You know, you don't just jump on a bike if you've done nothing and go a thousand miles or whatever. Talk about that. What do you think about preparation now? And what are you thinking about as far as preparation as you get older?

Ken Dyckman:

Well, there's the physical aspect, of course, but I think that most of it is in your head. I mean, there's a lot of things to consider as you get older, you know, again, just more and more things that go out and uh trying to stay aware of your cognitive ability and so forth. I think as long as you have a good mindset about what you want to do and think about why you want to do stuff, ask what is it that I want to get out of it? You know, is it the destination? Is it the journey? Is it the exercise? Is it is it the social aspect? But I think as long as you have a good attitude about it, everything else will kind of fall in line because what's the saying? If you have a strong enough why, we'll overcome anyhow, right? So if you know why you want to do something, you'll figure out the physical, you know, staying in shape, you'll figure out the equipment, making sure that you're prepared. So I think if you're mentally prepared, that's 99% of it. Everything else will kind of fall behind that.

Tom Butler:

Are you cycling enough on a weekly basis that that's not something that you really need to change in preparation for a long trip?

Ken Dyckman:

I think so. You know, me personally, I kind of mix it up a little bit with cycling and hiking, and I still do some swimming too, just because it's at my apartment and it's such a great way to stay in shape without stressing your joints. I think if you have good heart and lungs, you know, that that does a whole lot. Yeah, I it depends on how long of the trips you're going to take and how much you tend to cycle in one day. When I started off the West Coast, I literally had planned, again, I didn't have a whole lot of time off work, so I had several back-to-back centuries. Now it's very difficult. I don't enjoy doing a century, especially with pan years, you know. It's just that's just part of getting older. You know, if you only cycle 30 or 40 miles a day, uh, that doesn't take much. But if you want to cycle more, you know, if you just if you if you're in it for the exercise or so forth. So I think that kind of guides your preparation a lot too. But again, I think the most important part is the mental preparation. If you have that down pat and understand the why you're doing it hard enough, I think everything else will fall in place.

Tom Butler:

You've done these long trips. You you talked about having time to reflect. I'm wondering if you can look back and point to these adventures as something that has really brought out an aspect of yourself that you wouldn't have learned about any other way.

Ken Dyckman:

Well, that's a very interesting question. Yeah, I think so. You know, I um definitely am more grateful now with these trips, you know, just maybe I don't know if it's the solitude, but just the appreciation of just being able to plan. And gosh, I mean, the fact that I'm talking to you right now about this stuff, I'm just grateful that hearing myself say these things, you know, so many people just don't have that ability. And so, and so my advice is for people with respect to that is you know, do do whatever you can as soon as you can because it doesn't get easier. But I think we talked about a sense of accomplishment gives you such a sense of of confidence that you know you can solve problems and just take on anything after that. I believe also this has really got me into a lot more of uh mindfulness and just enjoying the experience with a lot more senses, not just taking mental snapshots, but really enjoying everything about the smell, the sounds, the taste of things. And then I think also just again, maybe just taking the time to reflect, because you know, there's a lot of time on a bike by yourself when you're on one of these tours, and unless you're listening to music or something. So you can you have a lot of time to think and talk to yourself. And so really just kind of learning how to ask myself, you know, what do I want to do in life? And, you know, just asking several whys. Okay, well, why do I want to do that? Okay, well, what does that mean to me? What do I want to get out of it? So that's different for every people. Is it, you know, is it the pictures, the images, the cultures, the sense of accomplishment, the the exercise? And then whatever that is, you know, why is that important to you? With age comes wisdom, and with a lot of time on a bike comes a lot of some of these revelations, I think, too. So yeah, I'm I'm grateful for um having those revelations. I don't think they would have come to me if I didn't have a lot of that solo time to uh to reflect on that, on that.

Tom Butler:

You talked about looking to cycle as long as you can, looking to do these trips as long as you can.

Ken Dyckman:

You bet.

Tom Butler:

I I'm wondering about people that you've met along the way. Are you seeing people older in life that are keeping it up, that are have been an inspiration to you? Is that something you've experienced?

Ken Dyckman:

It's funny you mentioned that. There's a couple of examples here. So I remember when the family was younger and I would see people on these long distance tours, and I remember this one man, gosh, I don't remember where he was, but I talked to him, maybe he was in a store or something, and I was asking him, you know, what he was doing, kind of like here, you know, tell me about your experience and what you love about it and so forth. And I said, boy, you're you're my hero. I want to be like you someday. I can't remember how long ago that was. It was a long time ago, 20 years ago or so. It was interesting that when I was on my um Central America trip, I actually went into a bike shop to get my chain replaced and do some maintenance. And there was uh another customer in there, he was younger, probably in his 30s. And I swear to God, Tom, he came to me and said, Hey, tell me about your experience. I said, Oh, uh tell him about it. He says, Oh man, you're my hero. You're my inspiration. I I want to I want to do what you do when I get your age. And I thought of the man that I talked to, you know, 20-some years ago. And I thought, okay, it's my turn to pass on the torch, right? I just thought that was kind of an interesting um set of dynamics there. But I think when you find something that you love, I think you should share it with someone and help others try to reach their goals by whatever means possible, you know, just telling stories, inspiring them somehow, because it comes back and it makes you feel great afterwards, you know.

Tom Butler:

I think that's one of the things that I'm as interested in as anything with building local cycling over 60 communities.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah.

Tom Butler:

And that's the we get to go out and we get to be a testament. Yeah you know, to people that are younger. We get to be that in motion. And I'm really looking for next spring and the tour to cure American Diabetes Association. I just think the statement that seeing people are older and and some of the writers will be like me that have diabetes or pre-diabetes, and I think that yeah, it's something great that we can do, you know. So you get to go out, you get to enjoy cycling, and you get to have a positive impact.

Ken Dyckman:

So well said, so well said. And I think that's so important in today's day and age where most of the young kids now with their VR headsets and the AI, they think that that's all they need to do to enjoy life. And you, you know, the VR headsets are pretty cool, but there's so much more than just the visual aspect of it. Going out there and just movement, keeping your body, any kind of exercise, you know, cycling is pretty good because it's low impact, and that affords you, you know, a long lasting lifetime, but just to experience life with so many other senses, too. So yeah, it's trying to encourage kids to um you know, put down the electronics, right? And and enjoy that. I'm hopeful that we can encourage them as a generation. And so, yeah, I look forward to that as well.

Tom Butler:

Is there a way for people to follow your adventures?

Ken Dyckman:

Oh, sure. I posted one adventure on Crazy Guy on a bike, but I don't like that website because it's kind of hard to use. I I use Cycle Blaze now. I use that for my uh journals. So I think you can just look at Ken Dykman on Cycle Blaze, and they can look at the spelling of my name, I suspect, on your your notes. And then I have a YouTube channel too that I've made certain videos that I've linked into my travel journals. So you could look up Ken Dykman on uh YouTube and see lots of little short snips of days on the bike. So yeah, no, I'd appreciate that. And if anybody um wants to drop comments and tell me about their adventures, I'd love to hear about theirs as well.

Tom Butler:

Uh and I'll drop those links on in the show notes so that people can find them easily. You know, I would recommend seeing Ken as a target if you know of some great tours, some great organized tours, you know, let them know about it.

Ken Dyckman:

Yeah, I'd love to exchange ideas on those, you bet. Yeah.

Tom Butler:

Ken, this has been a blast. Thank you so much for sharing with me. Thanks for reaching out and letting me know your story and coming on here and sharing more of it. I really appreciate people like you who like sharing. Here's what I've learned, here's what I've done. So the it kind of adds to things that people know about how to do some of these things.

Ken Dyckman:

Awesome. It's been great. I really thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate everything that you're doing with this podcast, Tom. There's a lot of people out there like me that appreciate hearing from your interesting guests. It's fun hearing about and tracking your progress throughout the year as well. So thank you.

Tom Butler:

Well, thank you. That's great, that's great feedback. So all right, talk to you later now.

Ken Dyckman:

Take care. Bye-bye.

Tom Butler:

What do you think of Ken's focus on why? I like it. I do believe that if the why is solid, it will drive all the other things that go into making a great cycling tour. If the why is solid, I'll take the time to prepare physically. If the why connects to something deeper in me, then I'll learn what I need to learn about having the equipment I need. I hope that there is a meaningful why associated with your cycling. My why goes back to when I bought a new bike at 59 years old. I felt at the time the bike gave me the best chance to do what I needed to reclaim a good health status. It has turned out that way for me. I hope that your cycling is just as fun and rewarding as mine. And remember, age is just a gear change.

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Tom Butler

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