1. 4 I HEALTHFORLIFE I APRIL/MAY 2010 STLtoday.com/health/forlife
WHEN I WAS A KID I’d ride for hours – the
wind blowing in my hair, wheels whizzing
beneath me. There were very few bike trails
back then, so we road on city streets. Then,
I grew up and my bike went into the rafters.
When my kids were ready to ride, we hauled
our bikes to area trails – much safer than city
streets. Then, the kids grew up and my bike
went into the rafters. Now, at 47, I’m thinking
it may be time to pull the old girl down again
and give her wheels a whirl. But I wondered,
“What would it take to get ready for a season
of rides?”
“I fell in love with cycling from my couch,”
said Karen Capps, an avid cyclist. This was
hopeful news.
“I loved to watch the professionals and
kept tabs on European racing. Then, during
fall 2007, I started to have some health
problems associated with weight. So, in
January 2008, I had the folks at Sunset
Cycling set me up with an entry level
mountain bike with slick tires and I committed
to get more active. I hit the road that first
weekend (brrr). I added miles gradually
through the spring and did the 35-mile ‘I
Scream for Ice Cream’ charity ride (see list of
rides below) in July.” The idea of being able
to ride and raise funds for a worthwhile cause
had definite appeal to me, but I confess I’m
not too keen on crowds.
“For me, that first group ride was a huge
milestone,” Karen said. “By this time I was
getting stronger and the pounds were
starting to burn away. And I was getting bike
envy. I was tantalized by the faster, sleeker
road bikes. I promised myself that if I stayed
on the bike over the cold winter, I would
reward myself with a new steed. I invested
in a indoor bike trainer and sweated out the
winter of 2008-2009 spinning. By April 2009,
my road bike and I were finally able to keep
up with a ride group.”
“I am a pretty cautious rider,” Karen said as
if reading my thoughts. “Charity rides give me
an opportunity to ride a mapped, supported
route and give back to charities who support
the healthy lifestyle that is important to me
now. I did the MS ride (Bike MS) for the first
time in September 2009. The event was really
well organized and supported. There were
rest stops every 10 miles or so with tons of
people cheering you on to complete the
weekend. And, it was great to raise money to
find relief for people who are challenged in
ways I cannot even imagine.”
She had me sold, but I wondered, “What
about the time?”
“Balancing work and family can be a
challenge,” Karen said. “I find it best to
work in ride hours around my other schedule
constraints. If I can work out my schedule
in advance, I can find a ride partner every
weekend. I have developed some really great
friendships with other cyclists. It is great to
have someone to pass the time with and push
me to conquer the next hill, or a few more
miles – but I also ride on my own quite a bit.”
She suggested starting out with Trailnet
(trailnet.org) rides, which usually feature
short, medium and long routes.
“You can determine how you are feeling
and how much time you have, then take the
appropriate route,” she said. “I do a half
dozen or so of the Trailnet rides annually.”
Cindy Mense, Trailnet’s Community Services
Director, offered additional encouragement.
“Our rides offer an opportunity to hone
your skills,” she said. “Our weeknight
(organized) rides do offer three distances
and our weekend (social) rides often have
SAG wagon support.” A SAG wagon follows
riders to offer support in case of mechanical
difficulties or too strenuous a route.
Trailnet stopped putting in trails in 2000,
however, bikeway projects throughout the
bi-state are moving forward – many made
possible by the Great Rivers Greenway District
(greatrivers.info), the Metro-East Park and
Recreation District (meprd.org) and Madison
County Transit (mcttrails.org). I found a
wealth of information from trail maps, to
ride dates to safety tips on each of these
organization’s websites.
“One of our most popular web tools is
our find a trail tool (trails and bikeways map
search),” Mense said. After playing with it for
a few minutes, I can see why. It got me really
excited about exploring local trails, joining
local events and getting ready for a full
season of local rides.
KATE BOEMEKE
GetReadyforafullseason
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