DAY 13 - Over 2,000 miles

We just completed a wonderful ride through St Louis, MO.  We rode a good portion of the bike trail and had a nice ride.  A bit shorter than the other days, so it was nice to only log in 144 miles today.   Rob will have the details of the ride on his blog.

Over the past couple of days I had the opportunity to ride with a couple of the older gentlemen with the tour. Hans Jorgen Binder, 57 years old (left) and Gene Ter Horst, 59 years old (right).

Hans is from Denmark and has been riding for many years.  His wife Lone (pronounced "Luna," as the Luna Bar), is a Regional Brevet Administrator running brevets out of the Copenhagen area, so if you're looking to do some rides in Denmark you should look them up.  Hans works for the Ford Motor Company in Copenhagen in the finance department.  He says it's a small division and does well with only 10% of the market share. Hans has been traveling to the U.S. for the past 5 years doing PAC Tours and sight seeing around the country.  He and Lone enjoy the climate and landscape of Arizona the most.

Gene is from Byron Center, MI and turned 59 in April.  His wife Mary, doesn't cycle, but enjoys her time doing her thing while Gene is on his bike.  Gene is a truck driver for ABF and is looking forward to retirement in a few years, so he can put in more time on the bike.  When Gene isn't riding, he's busy running marathons to stay in shape.  He's run 22 marathons thus far and has never had any knee issues.  No triathlons for Gene.  He says the water above his ankles frightens him.

Both men are strong cyclists and are riding well.  If you're approaching the 60 year old mark and don't think that you can ride, take a look at these two.

Rob and I continue to ride strong and are doing a little better than just surviving the tour, which was my initial goal.  Rob is happy with maintaining his pace, but I've been looking to mix it up a bit.  I've been riding harder at different times and have manage a good ride in the morning, afternoon and evening, but have failed to put together a good ride for the entire day.  So this will be my goal for the next 6 days.  I'll keep you posted.  And don't forget to check out Rob's blog for the ride details.