Cycling Over Sixty

2025 Six Month Update

• Tom Butler • Season 3 • Episode 35

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Host Tom Butler returns to the microphone after taking some time away to share a mid-year progress report on his 2025 goals and ambitions.

In this candid update episode, Tom takes listeners through his cycling achievements from the first half of the year, revealing how his fitness journey has been progressing and what milestones he's reached. But the good news doesn't stop at personal cycling goals – Tom also dives into the developments happening with the podcast itself and shares updates on his efforts to build a thriving local Cycling Over Sixty community.

Whether you're just starting your fitness journey later in life or you're already pedaling toward your own goals, this episode is packed with inspiration and proof that it's never too late to pursue an active, healthy lifestyle. Tom's honest reflections on progress, setbacks, and victories offer valuable insights for anyone looking to get more fit and engaged in their community after later in life.

Thanks for Joining Me!

Consider becoming 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 tom.butler@teleiomedia.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 3, episode 35, 2025 six-month update, and I'm your host, tom butler. I'm happy to be back in front of a microphone and producing episodes again. I don't have a big reason why there's been such a gap since the last episode. It's just been a really busy summer. In the future, I need to figure out how to do podcasts while traveling. We have been gone a number of weeks and then when we get back, it seems like we have to catch up on a lot of things. I did pick up a laptop and I hope to be able to capture and upload interviews while traveling in the future. That would help me get some content up when I'm away from home.

Tom Butler:

Another factor is that we are putting in a lot of work on our house. Right now, we're finally getting to some home projects that we've put off for a while. An example of that is putting on a new roof. For a week, I helped out with the roofing project and I also dug out a couple of tree stumps, and for that week I felt like somebody had beaten me all over with a baseball bat. I must have been using a bunch of muscles that I normally don't use, but I felt sore from head to toe. As sore as I felt I do think it would have been even worse if I wasn't as fit as I am now. I think it's likely that I even prevented injuring myself because of a decent level of fitness. So the lifting and riding I've been doing paid off, in my opinion. While we still have a lot of work to do on these projects, I'm past the intense part of the projects and I have more time to get back to the podcast. All that is to say that I don't see a disruption in producing episodes in the near future.

Tom Butler:

Since I'm past six months into 2025, I thought I would take some time and report on how things are going. I have two goals here. One is to give you a progress report and the other is try to distill from my journey lessons that benefit everybody else. I should say that knowing people are following my progress is massive motivation for me. However, the biggest motivation is that my journey inspires and informs others. I'll try to do that here. In a way, this is much about my progress since September 2022, as the last six months, I've been steadily improving my cycling for 33 months now and seeing some significant health benefits, along with the fun I'm having on the bike.

Tom Butler:

Overall, I'm very happy with how the first half of the year has gone. I continue to make improvements in basically all areas of my cycling. The one exception might be the fact that I feel my balance isn't getting better. It is possible that my sense of this is just off. It's hard to believe that I'm not improving balance as I'm riding. So here might be one factor the more I ride, the more I push my bike handling. What I wouldn't have done a couple years ago I do now. That could make it seem like I'm struggling with balance when I'm just putting myself in more challenging situations. It'd be great if I could find some way to measure my balance, because I see balance as an important factor in staying active and I'd like to think that cycling will help me preserve my balance later in life.

Tom Butler:

Here's a look at how my riding goals are going. My distance goal for the year is 3,650 miles. At the six-month mark I was at 2,279. That put me 389 miles ahead of a pace to complete the goal. Last year, at the halfway mark, I had 1,546 miles. A factor with my distance goal is that I'm getting credit for miles this year that I wouldn't have in the past. That is because I spent a lot of time on Zwift in the first six months and Zwift is reporting it to Strava. For a while now I have spent time on a stationary bicycle, but in the past none of that has been reported to Strava. After some thinking about it, I'm comfortable lumping in Zwift miles with my road miles for now. Of the 2,279 miles this year, road miles for now Of the 2,279 miles this year, 1,166 miles have been virtual. Obviously, that is a huge chunk. In the month of June, I did 36.5 miles on Zwift of a total of 433 miles. What this shows is that I was obviously wimping out when the weather was bad, and now that it's better I'm spending more time outside.

Tom Butler:

Some of my rides have been relatively short rides, but the one thing I want to stress is don't dismiss shorter rides or lighter efforts, because they form the crucial building blocks of any successful cycling journey. Every pedal stroke counts, whether you're cruising around the block for 15 minutes or maybe embarking on a mellow ride through the neighborhood park. There's real value in these seemingly modest outings that sometimes cyclists overlook. Sometimes we put more value in more ambitious rides, but especially if you're just starting out. Shorter rides are where you develop proper bike handling skills. Shorter rides are where you develop proper bike handling skills. You also build confidence in traffic and, most importantly, comfortable rides develop a genuine love for cycling. One thing that can kill enjoyment of cycling is being overwhelmed on a long ride. Anytime you're on a bike, your cardiovascular system is strengthening, your leg muscles are developing cycling-specific endurance and your core is learning to support you efficiently in the saddle. Every ride is building the foundation for longer or harder rides, creating neural pathways that will serve you well when you're ready to push further. Consider each ride as an investment in your future cycling adventures, laying down layers of fitness and experience that will compound over time. I think a cyclist who consistently enjoys short, pleasant rides will just naturally progress further and stay cycling longer than someone who burns out trying to do too much too soon.

Tom Butler:

In addition to the miles goal, I set a climbing goal of 110,000 feet of elevation. My progress at six months was 80,435 feet. That was above the pace by 23,476 feet. The elevation I did on Zwift was 42,385 feet. Unlike the miles done on Zwift, the elevation is not the same In real life if I'm pedaling up anything above 6% grade for any length of time. I have to be in my lowest gear and I have to pedal really slow not to get above my heart rate target. But on Zwift I can gear down and keep my RPMs high. It just isn't the same difficulty at all and doesn't even feel anywhere like climbing in real life. I think that climbing in Zwift has benefits, but I don't want to count all the elevation towards my goal, so I think I'll only count half the Zwift elevation. Making that adjustment, I'm at 59,243 feet and that means I'm just about right on track to meet the 110,000 feet goal.

Tom Butler:

There's a lot of time that I'm cycling at a fairly low intensity. For example, many of the short rides I do after breakfast to burn up blood glucose are low intensity, but I believe that it is valuable anytime I'm putting out energy. I didn't set a time goal this year, but I think I'll do that next year. My time spent pedaling at the six month point was 164 hours and two minutes. That compares to 116 hours and 28 minutes for the first six months of 2024. I was looking for a way to judge that amount of time. One option is to look at what is recommended for people to be healthy. As far as moderate activity is concerned, that recommendation is 150 minutes every week. To meet that requirement would mean I would have done 65 hours of moderate activity so far this year. I did close to two and a half times the recommended. I think everybody could agree that the recommended is a minimum. I think the recommendations are there because public health officials are constantly trying to get such a sedentary population moving. For me, there's no question that I want to exceed. What Of the 164 hours of cycling I did in the first six months, I spent 79 hours and four minutes on Zwift. This is an area that I'm happy, counting what I've done on Zwift toward a goal. Thinking about it, I think I'll add a time goal for this year and shoot for 320 minutes of activity by the end of the year.

Tom Butler:

Zwift is different for me than being out on the road on the bike. The biggest thing for me is that time just drags on when I'm on Zwift. The exception to this is the Cycle Number 60 Zwift Tuesday rides, as Kelly has talked about before. Cycling indoors is just not as healthy as being out in the fresh air. There's a lot of reasons why I want to spend as much time as possible outside. However, I certainly benefited from embracing Zwift as a training tool. In particular, I love seeing the power data and that helps to motivate me. While the weather isn't terrible here in the Northwest, I did appreciate this year having the indoor training option for cold, rainy days. Being able to be comfortable on really bad weather days by riding indoors is no doubt partially responsible for me increasing the amount of time I was active.

Tom Butler:

In the first six months of the year I didn't think about setting goals as far as setting personal best times, but I know I was expecting to set some. In the first six months I haven't really done a lot of that. I did set PRs for 10 miles, 20k, 30k and 50k, but it's like in one ride. I didn't beat PRs over and over again as the year progressed. But next year I think I'll change that by looking at a way of breaking some personal bests. I think maybe I'll target 10 miles, 40k and 50 miles and see if throughout the year, I can't best those times. Personally, I find that achieving PRs really motivates me to push it, but it's really true that I benefit more from focusing on consistency than on speed. Prs can naturally emerge from just simply getting more fit.

Tom Butler:

Like I said, I set several PRs on one ride. That's because I was riding with people who are stronger than me, so I pushed myself and I think I need to regularly ride with stronger people here who are stronger than me. So I pushed myself and I think I need to regularly ride with stronger people. Here's the problem for me. If I ride with stronger people, I need to let the group know that it's okay to leave me. One problem I have is that I hate to slow a group down. I simply would enjoy myself a lot more if I knew the group was willing to drop me instead of waiting for me. That takes getting to know a group of people really well. I think that they feel comfortable, that I won't feel neglected if they leave me behind, so they can go harder by themselves. One question I'd like to get people to comment on is how are you balancing the occasional ride that is a real challenge with riding in a way that is comfortable enough and develops consistency.

Tom Butler:

One of the biggest goals I set this year was to do 25 consecutive weeks of upper body strength training and I'm really happy to report that I accomplished that goal. I want to stress two things about that 25 weeks. First and most importantly, I definitely saw a transformation in my upper body and I see that as excellent news, not only for me but for anybody in their 60s. I didn't significantly increase the amount of weight I could lift and someone suggested that I connect with a personal trainer and that might accelerate my progress in that realm. I think that might be a good idea. I would like to do that and then get permission to have my first session with the trainer recorded for the podcast. The person who suggested a personal trainer is 70 years old. He found that it made a big difference for his progress and, of course, the personal trainer appreciated the fact that he was interested in building strength at his age. In some ways, I think that personal training when you get older might be more important than any other time in life.

Tom Butler:

I wish I knew how to best measure the changes that I saw over the 25 weeks. I could get a new body composition test done. However, I don't think it would measure specifically enough for me to see just what transformation there has been in my upper body muscle groups. I guess that might be something that I would talk to a personal trainer about. I wish everyone could feel what I feel after doing these workouts. I know that a lot of people who listen to this podcast have had this experience. I'd like for people who aren't lifting to experience what I've experienced. My upper body literally feels different. When I cross my arms, I can feel the different. Carrying things feels different. I would like everyone to know that if they haven't been doing anything to stay strong for 30 years, in six months you can see a huge difference. Again, I didn't see a lot of changes in the amount of weight I was moving, but my functional capacity changed significantly. So I would say start small if needed, but start now, which everybody says.

Tom Butler:

I avoided upper body workouts for a while when I started cycling, and I think that was the right move for me. I think I needed to just focus on doing something that I really enjoy, like cycling. I don't enjoy lifting weights and I don't know that I ever will, but there is no denying that adding upper body workouts has really contributed to a higher level of overall fitness that cycling alone doesn't provide. Truth is, I would love to be able to stop lifting, but that just is not an option. Now here's the bad news Despite 25 weeks of upper body workouts, it never moved into the realm of a new habit.

Tom Butler:

What I mean by that is that it never became automatic. I always had to think really hard about when I was going to work out. There were several weeks where I needed to work out late on Saturday night just to make sure and get my second session in for the week, and on one occasion I flexed to Sunday my second session in for the week, and on one occasion I flexed to Sunday. The rest of this year will be spent trying to change it so that upper body workouts are more automatic. I know that I only made the 25-week goal because I had family and friends cheering me on when it was Saturday and I hadn't done a second workout yet. I was highly motivated to get it in so that I could share that. I was one week closer to my goal. I would send a text message out to people that were watching my progress and I would get awesome support messages back. That kind of external accountability is essential for me. In addition to physical performance goals, I also set a goal to do seven group rides this year, and I wanted two of them to be outside the state of Washington. I did two rides in the first six months. They were both in-state. I'm finding that doing seven rides is a pretty high goal for me, but I do believe that I can get them all.

Tom Butler:

In this year I have been able to take my bike along on some trips and did some great riding. In Eugene, oregon, I connected with GEARS, the Greater Eugene Area Riders, for two rides. I really enjoyed the company of the good people at GEARS. I also took my bike on a trip to Coeur d'Alene, idaho, and rode by myself on the Centennial Trail there. That was an example of how I'm really benefiting from taking my bike on trips. Coeur d'Alene is such a beautiful area and the Centennial Trail is a really nice trail. Another trip where I loaded the bike up and took it with us was to a friend's wedding. We stayed in Enterprise, oregon.

Tom Butler:

I pulled up a route on Ride with GPS that looked great and headed out on a Sunday morning. That ride ended up being very different for a couple reasons. First, the scenery in that part of Oregon is fantastic and different from where I ride around my home here. But the biggest difference was the ride with GPS. Information didn't really match the route Ride with GPS showed that a small amount of the ride was on gravel roads. However, probably three quarters of the ride was on gravel. I did have a really fun time on the ride and my Specialized Roubaix did really well on the gravel, but I really wish I'd had known about the gravel and put different tires on. The biggest issue was coming down some pretty steep hills and having to go slow to prevent over braking and have the tires slide out.

Tom Butler:

I mention these rides here in this six-month report because they represent something I wanted to do more of this year. I wanted to ride in new places and have new experiences. The rides in Idaho and Oregon did provide new experiences and that was especially true for riding on the gravel roads around Enterprise. A big part of cycling for me is always going to be the journey of discovery and again I want to be specifically planning and setting specific goals to make that happen every year. I wanted to specifically focus on doing more gravel rides this year and I did start that by exploring the Cascade to Blues Trail.

Tom Butler:

I have more work to do to figure out kind of what setup I need to do more gravel and that might include looking in to get some new equipment. I definitely want to get Kelly a different setup that will handle gravel well. So I'm just beginning the process of making gravel riding a regular thing. The target is having it all figured out before the end of the year. I haven't gone on any bike packing trips this year and this again is something that I really wanted to get figured out before the end of the year and do some really nice trips. I do want to get that figured out before the weather gets bad. Last year the bikepacking trip I did was on the road and I might have to do that again. I was hoping to do gravel bikepacking and again there's some work I need to do to figure out my gravel setup first. For now I'll look for something accessible by road or paved trail. I really enjoyed the Olympic Discovery Trail, so I think I'll look for something along that trail. I do feel pretty good about my bikepacking setup if I'm on the road and I'm really excited to use it more. Here's something that I'm hoping will unlock some adventures in the future.

Tom Butler:

Now that I'm 62, I've invested in the America the Beautiful Senior Pass for $80. I'll have to start a list of bike camping locations that the Senior Pass provides a discount to. It just seems like among the sites under the Senior Pass are some good bike camping options. These sites are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, bureau of Reclamation, fish and Wildlife Services, usda Forest Service, national Park Service and the US Army Corps of Engineers. One interesting aspect is that generally a pass holder and three other bicyclists can enter for free into sites managed by these entities. There is some gear that I would like to get, based on riding so far this year.

Tom Butler:

One is a new cycling computer. I currently use a Kuzpo CS500. I chose that because it's really cheap. It's a navigation computer that you can find for under $100. The problem is that the navigation is a little too basic. There is only a single path displayed, but complicated road systems can make it difficult to confirm that you are on route. On a recent ride I followed the route to a bike trail and noticed that I seemed to be just a little off the trail. Come to find out I was on the wrong trail. The trail that I was supposed to be on was on the other side of an interstate. This was an area that had two trails, one on each side of the interstate. The display didn't show the interstate, so it wasn't completely obvious where I was supposed to be. So I've begun the process of looking at Garmin computers or something else. That would be an upgrade.

Tom Butler:

The other change in equipment that I'm considering is putting smaller chainrings on. I currently have a 34-tooth lower chainring, but it doesn't take much grade before I'm pedaling really slow. For higher grades I'm pedaling at 40-45 RPMs. If I'm going to continue to challenge myself on rides with a lot of elevation, I think it makes sense for me to consider putting on a 32-tooth small chainring. I'm a little nervous about leaving my 50-tooth large chainring on. I'll have to find out if shifting from 50 to 32 would cause any problems. I could also look at maybe changing my cassette instead, but I think that could bring in more problems. I love my Specialized Roubaix on a lot of levels, but I do think I might have to consider options to make it support my limitations or even consider looking at other bikes.

Tom Butler:

One of the things that I hope comes out of cycling over 60 is a deep understanding of how to accommodate physiological changes that happen for older riders. I've obviously learned over the last two years that I can be stronger than I thought, but the truth is that someday I will slow down, someday I will even switch over to an e-bike to keep going, but I want to understand more about what is in between my current Real Bay, which is designed for all riders, and a bike with pedal assist. I want to know how bikes without motors can be designed to meet the needs of cyclists later in life. I don't think there's a lot of designers asking this question, which is strange to me, because when I go out on a big group ride, there are a lot of older riders who aren't on e-bikes. Maybe we need to see a movement where we have regular bikes being designed by older riders for older riders and seeing the difference that can make.

Tom Butler:

The bottom line of my riding over the first six months of this year is this At 62, I'm still getting stronger. I would be happy to just be holding steady. However, I'm improving and that should be exciting to everyone, and I'm doing it without perfect physiology. I have energy utilization issues that I believe are interfering with me achieving even more. I think it's true that, no matter what someone is dealing with, that I'm a testament to the power of being active. So I would say to everyone do whatever activity you can do. I also want to report on my goals for the podcast over the first half of the year.

Tom Butler:

I had a couple directions that I wanted to go with the podcast at the beginning of the season. The first is that I wanted to interview more authors. I'm happy that I've been able to do that with people who have done some great writing about their cycling adventures. Now I would also like to include more people who write about health. One thing that hasn't been as much of a focus as I've wanted is the topic of individualized medicine. There's a reason for that. I've been working to get connected to more local health experts. I believe that those connections can open the door to guests who are experts in different areas of the individualized medicine landscape. Local connections have taken a little more time than I expected because I've been developing materials to share with the healthcare system here locally that help to tell the Cycling Over 60 story, but I expect my efforts will yield some good results soon.

Tom Butler:

Trying new things is really important to me and I want to do more of that in the next few months. Along for the Ride episodes are an example of trying to innovate, I believe, if I can get it perfected Along for the Ride is going to be a fun addition to my regular interviews. Maybe the most important thing I'm working on is to have more of a local community aspect to Cycling Over 60. Expanding the podcast to also include real-life support is taking a lot of energy. That's typical of launching something new. It takes a lot of energy in the beginning, and that is the case with the new initiative to have a local Cycling Over 60 group in Tacoma, but I'm really excited for what I'm seeing. I'm consistently seeing how a package of local resources can help to encourage cyclists to stay on the bike later in life, and I'm only seeing the beginning.

Tom Butler:

One of the things that I felt was important was to have a new website for Cycling Over 60. Something that would capture the move from more than a podcast. If you go over to cyclingovers60.com, you will see the first iteration of a site that I hope will someday be a hub for anybody wanting to pursue cycling as they age. The function of launching the first local Cycling Over 60 community in Tacoma is, of course, to impact the local community, but the launch is incredibly valuable for determining what components will be important to support a local community of older cyclists. I really want to understand what that package of support looks like. Now. There are a lot of older cyclists who are like me and don't really need much support, but the most valuable thing Cycling Over 60 can do is to encourage people to get on the bike for the first time or to get back on the bike after being off for a long time.

Tom Butler:

So far, I developed some components that I think are really vital to be in place. First is a local bike club that has a focus on accepting inexperienced riders to group rides. Second is an entity that is focused on getting access to bikes for people that have limited financial resources. Another element is a local medical system that embraces exercise and medicine and the bicycle as a medical device. I didn't have a lot of opportunities in the first half of the year to have the conversations with health professionals about the concept of the bicycle as a medical device. I'm expecting these conversations to be very interesting. One thing that I believe for sure is getting connected with as many healthcare people as possible who are passionate about cycling will help really move things forward. Another aspect that I think is super important for the overall support of a local Cycling with 60 community is organizations like non-motorized transportation advocacy groups and local transportation agencies. The first half of this year has been spent gathering information about what organizations like this are in the Tacoma area. For the second half, my goal is to have good connections with as many organizations as possible.

Tom Butler:

One exciting development this year is that I volunteered to be the community and government relations director for the Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club. To be the community and government relations director for the Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club, an aspect of the role is that it will allow me to give back to the community. I benefit from Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club and I'm glad to participate in making the club as strong as it can be. I plan to learn as much as I can about how an organization like Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club can contribute in a meaningful way to efforts to create safer spaces for cyclists to ride. I'm very fortunate because the president of TWBC, bob Myrick, has decades of experience in community and government relations. It gives me the opportunity to get educated from someone who really knows how to make the right connections. The rest of the year will be spent having Bob get me up to speed and meeting other advocates in the area. I find the aspect of community and government relations fascinating. I think I'm really going to enjoy doing this work.

Tom Butler:

While I love that I'm getting more involved in the local community, I also want to get more plugged into the community of podcast listeners. I started doing Zwift group rides to create an opportunity to ride with people who aren't nearby. These virtual rides had only a few participants but I always enjoyed them and I really like it when people would join me on the Zoom call. I would have Zoom chat up at the same time as the ride. It really doesn't matter to me if someone is riding or not. The Zoom call is a way for us to meet. The rides are on pause for the summer, but look for Cycling Over 60 Zwift Tuesdays to start up again in Lake Fall. My plan is to start it up again on Tuesdays, but if there's a lot of people who want to do it at a certain time, I'll try to make that time happen.

Tom Butler:

One element of a local Cycling Over 60 community that I think provides an opportunity to create a real heart connection is Cycling Without Age. Cycling Over 60 is now an affiliate with Cycling Without Age. If you'd like to know more about this program, I would recommend watching the series called Joyride on PBS. We started working with Alessio, an organization in Tacoma, to use their bike rickshaws to give residents with limited mobility rides. It has been as rewarding as you can imagine. I see opportunities like this as really vital to make Cycling Over 60 a true community.

Tom Butler:

As you might know from listening to the podcast, I like asking people questions and I do think this helps with a program like Cycling Without Age. I'm having such a fun time getting to know the people who hop on for a ride. Hopefully I will be able to share some audio from my rides on a podcast someday. It's great to be able to partner with Alessio, but I also want to figure out how the Tacoma Parks Department can have some bike rickshaws that can be used for anyone in the city. I've connected with the right people at the Parks Department, but it'd be really helpful to find a similar program someplace else. As you can imagine, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered before the Parks Department would embrace a program. It would be helpful to find a place that has answered those questions already someplace else.

Tom Butler:

The final update I want to give is concerning the first annual Psych over 60 celebration, an event I'm genuinely excited to launch, despite some initial constraints.

Tom Butler:

It is scheduled for Sunday, september 14th, and I'm hoping to have a wonderful turnout of cyclists who share a passion for staying active and adventurous at any age.

Tom Butler:

This first event is going to be pretty laid back, with a relaxed atmosphere where we can simply enjoy each other's company.

Tom Butler:

I hope it's an opportunity to share stories from the road and to celebrate the joy of cycling without any pressure or competition. I just don't have the resources to pull off something big this year, but I believe there's real beauty in starting small and building something meaningful together as a community In the future. I want this to be a real celebration of cycling later in life, featuring group rides of varying distances, guest speakers who inspire us with their cycling journeys, vendors, booths showcasing gear designed to the needs of older cyclists and maybe even awards recognizing the spirit and dedication of our cycling community. My vision is for this annual event to become a cornerstone gathering that proves that at any age, you can pursue your cycling passions. Well, there you have it. I'm pretty happy with the start of this year and I'm looking to have the second half be just as great, and I hope that you saw some great progress in your cycling and in your overall fitness so far this year. And remember, age is just a gear change.

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