Cycling Over Sixty
The Cycling Over Sixty Podcast is meant to provide information and inspiration for anyone wanting to get and stay fit later in life. Host Tom Butler uses his own journey toward fitness as an example of what is possible by committing to healthy lifestyle practices. After decades of inactivity and poor health choices, Tom took on a major cycling challenge at age 60. After successfully completing that challenge and seeing the impact on his health, he determined to never go back to his old way of living. Each week, Tom shares a brief update on the triumphs and challenges of his journey to live a healthy life.
Episodes feature guests who share on a variety of fitness related topics. Topics are sometimes chosen because they relate to Tom's journey and other times come from comments by the growing Cycling Over Sixty community. Because cycling is at the heart of Tom's fitness journey, he is frequently joined by guests talking about a wide variety of cycling related subjects.
Now in the third season, the podcast is focusing a three areas. First is the area of longevity. Guests this season will be asked to give their expert opinion on what it takes to have a long and healthy life. A second area of focus is how to expand the Cycling Over Sixty community so that members have more success and able to connect with other people who want to cycle later in life. And the final focus is on how Tom can expand his cycling horizons and have even bigger adventures that entice him to continue his journey.
If you're seeking motivation, expert insights, and a heartwarming story of perseverance, Cycling Over Sixty is for you. Listen in to this fitness expedition as we pedal towards better health and a stronger, fitter future!
Cycling Over Sixty
Sequim Wheelers
Tom Butler kicks off this episode with an recap of the Tour de Victoria—an experience that ranks among Kelly's all-time favorite rides. Hear what made this event so memorable and why it left such a lasting impression.
Then, Tom sits down with Eric Mahnerd from Sequim Wheelers, a remarkable program that's changing lives through adaptive cycling. Using a diverse fleet of specialized bikes, Sequim Wheelers provides riding opportunities to people who would otherwise be unable to experience the outdoors on two wheels.
Eric talks about the logistics and heart behind running such an extensive program, sharing moving stories from the road and his observations about the profound impact these rides have on participants and the wider community. It's an inspiring conversation about accessibility, inclusion, and how bicycles can bring pure joy to those who need a little extra help getting outside.
Whether you're curious about adaptive cycling programs or simply love stories about the transformative power of riding, this episode offers both practical insights and plenty of heart.
Links
Sequim Wheelers Website: sequimwheelers.com
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Show music is "Come On Out" by Dan Lebowitz. Find him here : lebomusic.com
I think if you have an opportunity to experience the Turkish Victoria, you should definitely take it. First of all, Victoria, British Columbia is just a terrific place. In addition to the ride, we also visited the Mallahat Skywalk about 40 minutes outside of Victoria. It was rainy and cloudy on the day we visited Malahat, so we didn't get the full beauty of the view. But it was still spectacular. And the rain made for fewer crowds, which was nice. Walking on the trail to the Skywalk and spending time outdoors in such a remote place felt like we were recharging our bodies in a way. Our trip started out with a drive to Port Angeles where we jumped on the Black Ball Ferry to Victoria. I think anytime I get on a ferry, I see it as leaving the world behind. It is very rare that we get on a ferry for anything other than recreation. So, a ferry ride is linked to my brain with fun and relaxation. The trip was also part of Kelly's 60th birthday celebration, so we splurged on the hotel. Of course, that added to the special nature of the trip. Our hotel was very close to the starting line on Saturday morning, and we headed out from the hotel in light rain. We were a little too relaxed about it. As we got to the starting area, we found out that almost everybody had already left. I felt bad about that because I wanted Kelly to experience the fun of a big group start. So that's something that is still on the list of things to do with her. I managed to make a fairly silly mistake before the ride. The weather had been showing rain for the whole week, so on Friday I went and picked up some new fenders. But on Saturday morning, it looked like the rain wasn't going to be an issue. So I made the decision to leave the new fenders off. That decision, I think, ensured that we would have rain, which we did for about half of the ride. I kept thinking about the new fenders sitting in the hotel as water sprayed out my back. More about the fenders later. About midway through the ride, the skies cleared and it was absolutely stunning weather. Tour de Victoria is one of the most inclusive rides I've seen. There were options to do 160k, 140k, 100k, 80k, 60k, 40k, 30k, 15k, and even a kid's ride. We originally planned on doing 100k, but at pretty much the last minute we switched to the 80k. I think it was the right decision for us. I like the thought of doing a metrics entry, but I'm glad we didn't have the extra distance. Twitter Victoria gets different sponsors for the different ride distances. I think that adds to the ability to have all the routes well managed. It was definitely an excellent experience from a ride support perspective. The only criticism I would have was that some of the brake stops were just right on the side of the road. And it made it difficult when there were a lot of bikes at the stop trying to get off the road. Here's the biggest question I had about the ride. And actually I still have this question. The 80k route was actually 77 kilometers, so that means 47 miles. It was posted at 770 meters of climbing. That would be around 2,526 feet. However, my computer registered 3,642 feet. I was immediately disappointed with that because I thought it meant that my computer was not measuring elevation appropriately. 3,642 feet is a pretty big difference from 2,526 feet. And if my computer was that far off, it meant that my elevation for the year was way off. However, looking at Strava data for other people that did the 80k route, I've come to believe that my computer was correct, and that Tor de Victoria didn't accurately report the elevation gain on the ride. I'm actually glad that the elevation was that much, because I was feeling it. There were several climbs that got up around 15%, and that's pretty hard for me. The ride with GPS for the route didn't show that steep of grades, but my computer and my legs registered them. I also didn't manage my feeling and electrolytes very well, and that led me to have to step off the bike at the top of a hill because I was cramping. Cramping just hasn't been a problem for me these days. So I regretted not being more careful with how I was feeding myself. Once again, we experienced how awesome e-assist is for Kelly. I was able to push myself while she was able to pedal at her own level. There were several fantastic aspects to the ride, including how many roads had been blocked off to cars, and the lack of interaction with traffic helped make this one of Kelly's favorite experiences on a bike so far. So for me that was awesome. My legs were pretty tracked by the end of the ride, but we hadn't had an opportunity to walk around Victoria, so after the ride we toured the shops on foot for hours. I thought that was going to mean that I would be extra sore from all the walking, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. It seemed to provide a really thorough cooldown or something. I'm not positive about this, but maybe doing a lot of walking after hard ride is good, even if I feel like doing nothing. After doing the Tour de Victoria and seeing how beautiful the city is and seeing all the great bike infrastructure there, I for sure want to spend more time exploring Vancouver Island by bike. There are several bike touring companies that offer trips by bike around Vancouver Island. I hope to get back there soon, and I hope to do a metrics entry at the Tour de Victoria in the future. I mentioned I got new fenders. I went to a bike shop in Victoria, but I didn't have my Roubaix with me at the time. The fenders that caught my eye are from Speedrocker. Like I said, I didn't put them on before the Tour de Victoria. The bike shop thought that they would fit the Roubet. However, they don't out of the box. They needed some modification. I really like these fenders, so I decided to make some modifications to the rear fender so that it fits. I will let you know if I get that figured out. I'm not the most skilled at modifying things, so we'll see what happens. We are wrapping up the Cycling Without Age program that Cycling Over 60 is doing in collaboration with the Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club. Earlier this year, I drove to Squim Washington to observe the Squim Wheelers program. Squim Wheelers have a very developed program, and I wanted to learn from them as much as possible. I see cycling without age trial rides as one of those things that can bring an element of service to local cycling over 60 communities. On my ride with them, I asked Eric Maynard to come on the podcast and share more about Squim Wheelers. He agreed, and here's our discussion. I'm so happy to be joined today by Eric Maynard. Thank you, Eric, for being here.
EricMahnerd:Well, I'm glad I could join you as well, Tom.
TomButler:The reason that Eric's here is that I went out to Squim and did a ride with the Squim Wheelers, an organization that's doing just a it's a great program out there, um taking older people for rides. I've talked about cycling without age here on the podcast before and got to see a a really just quality program. And so I was wanted Eric to come on and and talk a little more about it. I see these cycling without age-like programs, these programs where you take people with limited mobility out and let them experience the joy of being on a bicycle without the physical demands of being on a bicycle. I see that as a as something that brings real heart to cycling over 60. And so my bias is that cycling over 60 communities would have a program like this so they can give back to people and trying to do what I can to have that going into coma, Washington as we build out our first cycling over 60 community. Eric, I'm just really appreciating you giving your perspective on this. And I want to start out by asking you what is your earliest memory of the bicycle?
EricMahnerd:Well, that's a good one. I can remember my grandpa, he was a uh bricklayer, and I grew up in Minneapolis. I can remember when he bought me this little tiny bicycle and it had those training wheels on the back. And God, I was so thrilled. And he bought one bike, and my sister and I uh were would share it. And then how uh the day came when we took the training wheels off. That was really big time fun, you know. Yeah. Maybe what second grade, I guess, you know?
TomButler:Long time ago. Was this an older sister or a younger sister?
EricMahnerd:Uh I I always teach her. She's much older, she's um 18 months older. And so, and she she wasn't as active physically. She was more of a book reader than uh go out and do adventurous kind of stuff, you know.
TomButler:Yeah, so that's quite the day when the uh training wheels come off. You're out there just going. That's cool. I do it a lot different today, it seems like, where they uh the strider bikes or whatever they call them.
EricMahnerd:You know, on the trail, we see these really young kids just going crazy on these bikes. And I I think, God, was I that little? You know? And then we always tease them it's fun when we see a family and they got a couple, two, three kids on those little bikes. We go, biker gang, watch out, biker gang.
TomButler:Now, did you keep cycling throughout your life?
EricMahnerd:Oh, yeah. You know, and that you talk about other memories. I can remember, gosh, I must have been about third grade, fourth grade, and uh my mother bought me a Schwin bicycle, and it came where the handlebars had those little streamers hanging down from the handlebars. And God, I just love that bike. And you know, that was our basic uh mode of transportation all over the neighborhood. You know, we went on our bicycle, and then I can remember going down a hill that was too steep and it rounded out the bottom, and I bent the tire, you know. But yeah, I I loved bicycles for the longest time. And then as I got into high school and got a car and college, the bikes kind of went away until much later in life when my wife convinced me to do a charity ride. It was the MS 150, 150 miles through the gentle rolling hills in Texas. So I bought a really nice diamondback bike and my wife as well. And we got back into biking and really enjoyed it for years. Yeah, and we still bike now, very active bicyclists.
TomButler:That's cool. Had your wife been doing some cycling before that? What's the impetus for like launching off at 150 miles? Because she's crazy.
EricMahnerd:She came home with this poster. Look, this looks like fun. And I'm going, that's a long way. No, it'll be okay. It was a long way. But we both had bikes at that point, and we weren't using them a lot, and they were kind of older bikes. And then when we got the new um uh bikes, a diamond sky, they were so nice and light, and really uh we got clip-on shoes and padded pants. You know, it was fun. Yeah, yeah. It was a different thing, and we were in an area where there wasn't much traffic and it was a new development, so it's great places to ride without worrying about getting run over.
TomButler:That makes a huge difference as far as I'm concerned. Yeah.
EricMahnerd:Yeah.
TomButler:I can't remember where I initially saw Squim Wheelers. I I I think that it might have been on the Cycling Without Age website, but since then, you know, there's I've seen all kinds of things about the Squim Wheelers, including uh I think King Five uh report on a really nice report on what your group is doing. How would you describe Squim Wheelers as someone who's never seen it in action?
EricMahnerd:Well, that yeah, that's a good question. You know, Squim Wheelers is a voluntary group. We're a 5013, and we rely on donations to keep us going. And we have an adaptive bike program. So for your listeners, it's basically a bicycle in the back that is electrically assifted, and then on the front, they've attached a wheelchair. And so we have two like that, and this enables us to take people, whether they're elderly people, whether they're physically challenged or intellectually challenged, people that can no longer ride a bike by themselves. We can transfer them to the wheelchair portion of the bike, we get them all strapped in safely, put a helmet on them, and then we give them the joy of riding a bicycle again. We take them out into the beautiful countryside out here on the Olympic Discovery Trail. We also uh kind of have two other bikes. Uh, one is a tri-shaw, or they can sit side by side. So we have two people side by side, and that's a very popular bike because we do a lot of private rides as well as facilities, and so we get like grand grandmother and grandson or daughter, father. And then it's also really neat. We have some married couples, and we have couples that are romantically attached in the facilities here in town, so they get to ride side by side, holding hands, and and so that's a cool bike. And then our last bike that we have is called a fun to go, and the person, the our passenger, sits side by side with the pilot. So just quick terms here: the person driving the bicycle is a pilot, the person riding in the bicycle is the passenger, we call them the wheeler, and then we always have at least one, two, or three safety riders that are going along, making sure that the ride stays safe, looking out for traffic, for obstacles like that. So in the fun to go, the person sits right next door, right side by side with the pilot, and they have the opportunity to pedal. So they can assist in the bike. If they don't want to pedal, that's fine. We can put a platform down for them as well. That's really popular with some of our younger senior citizens. Uh, they get exercise, so that's a real popular bike as well.
TomButler:Yeah, and it looks pretty cool too, I think.
EricMahnerd:Yeah, yeah, it really is.
TomButler:How did Squim Wheelers get started?
EricMahnerd:Our founder is uh Nicole Leping, and she was watching a PBS show out of Healing, Illinois, and it was a PBS show about a program up there. And she thought, wow, with our elderly population and the number of retirement facilities we have, that might be a good fit. So she called them, got a lot of information. They referred her to Portland Wheelers, and Portland Wheelers is one of the largest programs in the country, and they're out of Portland, Maine. So she and another friend, Lilani Sunt, they flew out to Maine and got all the information they could get from those folks, and they were really generous with their help. And they came back here, put together a group of about 15 volunteers, and started raising money. At that time, the duet bicycle that they bought cost about $7,000. So she came to our rotary club and was making a presentation of what they wanted to do. And one of our generous uh Rotarians, Bryce Fish, he gave them $5,000. And with that other money they had, they were able to go ahead and buy that first bike. That was in 2018. As you can imagine, here in the Northwest, our season for giving the rides is limited by the weather. And so that summer they had the one duet, they went on 61 rides, and they took 91 people out on the Olympic Discovery Trail.
TomButler:That's an incredible beginning, I think.
EricMahnerd:That's also it really is, and they just continued to uh expand the program. They bought a second bike, continuing to raise money. First Federal gave them a grant that helped buy a bike, and then like I say, we're at 50 and 3C, and people were giving individual donations, so they continued to grow. And uh this past year we were up to four bicycles. We had 73 volunteers helping, 20 were new that we trained during that time frame. We took out 408 wheelers on rides, over a thousand hours of volunteer time, and we were working with 13 different facilities or groups here in the swim area. And so our facilities, one is a rehab, you know, for physical injuries, people recovering from that, or a stroke, that kind of type of things. Then we have, I think, three memory issue facilities. Then we have uh the rest are uh quite a few of them are elderly folks, retirement facilities. Then we do deal with uh two different organizations that are working with intellectually challenged individuals, uh, so it's a widespread. Then in addition to that, we give out a large number of private rights. The program has expanded uh uh quite a bit since its origin in uh 2018.
TomButler:I'm thinking that those numbers that you're talking about, uh Squim Wheelers must be one of the larger programs in out there, is that right?
EricMahnerd:You know, to be perfectly honest, I I I would venture to guess we're right up there at the top. The the only other one that I know that's really large is the Portland uh wheelers out there in Portland, Maine. And they're quite large and they have paid staff. Our program, for the most part, our wheelers and the facilities, they bring the people to us and then we go on the trail. We do go to a couple of facilities where we actually will drive the bikes over, pick them up, and then take them back to the trail. Up in Portland, Maine, they have a fleet of trucks and they load the bikes on the trucks and go to the facilities. Every year they have a big fundraiser, and I think last year they raised $150,000 for their program. So it's it's a big program. Yeah.
TomButler:Talk about what the typical ride experience looks like for guests.
EricMahnerd:Okay. What we will do is I'll do a four-bike ride. That's what we do most of the time. We'll take out four bikes. So we'll have the tri-shaw, the fun to go, and then two wheelchair bikes. The volunteers will meet at our storage facility. We'll get all the bikes ready, and then we have a safety briefing as to what the organization we're going to work with and what our plan is for the ride. And then about oh, maybe a two-minute ride away is the Dungeness River Nature Center. And the facilities will come to us and we'll unload the people there. Then we we get them into the chairs, get them all strapped in and comfortable, and then we give them a helmet. And depending on the the weather, we may bundle them up in a blanket because it is cool out here. This has been a particularly cool summer, and uh, like personally, I've had six rides canceled because of weather, because if it's cold, we just don't go, it's no fun. And so once we get them all bundled in, and we we have a very open dialogue with our wheelers, and we've seen a lot of them, we know them from other rides, and it's like a big happy family. We get them all loaded up, and then we head west on Olympic Discovery Trail. And for your listeners, Olympic Discovery Trail, and when it's completed, it'll go from Seattle all the way out to the ocean on an Olympic peninsula. And each year they're adding more and more to the route. And part of it is where the uh old railroad went. So it's a perfect uh right-of-way, and they've where the tracks were, they put in paving, and so it's just a beautiful um uh trail to go on. And the best part is there's no cars, so it's nice and quiet, you're surrounded by nature, surrounded by trees, occasional deer or two. I have not seen, but one one rider, they didn't even see a bear, and that's all right. I don't care to see the bear. Uh so then we we we get them on the bikes, we head west, and our first stop is maybe a couple hundred yards away, and that's the old Trussell bridge across the Dungeness River. So we'll stop there and we take photos, and then we continue west. And the ride is in total is an hour. So we go for about an hour, and uh we'll cross uh three streets, but the rest of the time you're in uh in nature's glory out there on the trail. We turn around, we we stop at the airport, it's a private airport, hopefully see in a plane or two, make sure they need water or if they're warm enough. We come back the other direction, we go to the Dungeness River Nature Center in the back, take some more photos, and then we take them to back to their van and say goodbye. All in all, it takes about an hour on the ride.
TomButler:I'm thinking of people that are doing it for the first time. Can they be hesitant sometimes?
EricMahnerd:Well, you know, it's interesting. I I'll tell you a brick's story. The lady, uh, her name was Beth, and she was really nervous. And she was she she didn't want to get in the wheelchair, she was afraid it wasn't going to be safe. But the people at the facility they convinced her to be safe. We got her all strapped in and we started going, and she said, I don't want you to go too fast. I said, Nope, I won't go too fast. And as we were going across the bridge, I could hear her, and I said, Beth, are you singing? And she said, Well, yes, I am singing. And I said, And why are you singing? Well, then I won't be scared. So for the next hour, Beth and I sang the whole route, and then I kept trying to come up with songs, and Beth was probably in her 80s, so I'm reaching back to songs in the 50s, and you know, and I would know the beginning, but then I wouldn't know the rest of the words, so I'd make them up. And we had the best time, and when we got done, we helped her back into the band, and then we gave them a little souvenir pin, and I pinned the pin on her, and she said, I want to thank you very much. And I I said, Well, I'm glad. I'm glad you weren't scared. No, the singing really helped. So when I come next time, could you have a songbook? Because you don't seem to know the words. So that's the kind of stuff that we get. You know, it's it's it is, you know, I do a lot of volunteer work. I'm in the rotary, I'm boys and girls club, the food bank, but this is by far the one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, or the rest of our 70 volunteers. It's it's such a meaningful thing to see the joy and that we're bringing to these um elderly citizens or even uh the younger ones, yeah.
TomButler:When I came and rode with you, there was a gentleman, and you know, it was obvious it wasn't his first time, but he was raring to go. He kept going like, okay, let's edit, let's go, you know. So uh I'm sure it doesn't take many times before they're really comfortable with the experience.
EricMahnerd:You know, they talk about um there's a memory um uh the cottages, and then the people there are having memory issues, and some uh very the severe memory issues, some not quite as much. And so there's a couple, they're not married, but they're a couple, and it's Misty and Jim, and they always ride in the tri-shaw together, and they hold hands, and when Chic Misty comes down, she'll say, Hi, Eric, how are you? And I'll say, then I'll say, Play Misty for me. It was a song in a movie, yeah. And and so we laugh and we joke. So we get to the end of the road, and we're gonna turn around and come back. And I had the tri-shaw, so I got to do a three-point turn to get it in the opposite direction. And every time I'm pulling backwards, the two of them go beep, beep, beep, beep. You know, I mean, these people love this stuff. And that's incredible. Uh I'll tell you, let me tell you another real quick one here. I had um uh there's another one, uh, Dungeness Memory Center, and there was the daughter and her father, and his father has Alzheimer's. And so we took him on his first ride with the daughter. And when we got done, the lady is almost in tears. She says, I can't thank you enough. I haven't seen my father be this responsive and this community in the longest time. And as we were driving along, he's remembering stuff and he's talking about stuff. And you know, if you think about these facilities, they serve a wonderful purpose, but to be alone in those facilities and never getting out much, especially the people with the memory issue. I mean, this is just uh such a reward, rewarding experience for us, such an adventure for them. So, yeah, it's a great program.
TomButler:There's a PBS uh series called Joyride, which focuses on cycling without age, and and it captures some really good stories there. Yeah. I would encourage anybody to go to look look that up. I want to talk a little more about uh how the bikes work. You you talked about I think four different types. Uh there's a three, I think, that you mentioned, and there's a fourth. The fourth one is a bike that will receive a wheelchair, and then you have the fun to go bike, which is a side-by-side bike, and the tri-shaw, uh the brand I think is called Trio Bike. And then the other one that you have it has uh like a wheelchair on on the front of it or a wheelchair-like. I mean it's a a wheelchair that's kind of specially made to go in the front of a bicycle, but someone gets into that. And so I'm interested in uh kind of looking at those as a way for people who can't ride a traditional bicycle to be able to get out and about. Let's start with the fun to go. I guess the thing I would first ask is are you able to kind of tailor the bikes that you're using to who's gonna show up? Or is it is that basically a mystery of who's gonna be there?
EricMahnerd:Yeah, it's a mystery. Now, like the cottages, they come every Friday, they bring five people, sometimes four. She will give me when I I'm gonna call her what day is today, Tuesday? So I call her tomorrow. I call her a couple days ahead of it time, and she'll say, I'll have Beth and Jim and Misty and Greg. And so So I'll need the fundigo, the trishaw, and the the two wheelchair bikes. And then she'll say, Yeah, we're gonna put Greg and Misty in the in the trishaw. Jim wants to do the fundigo because he likes the pedal, and the other two will be in the wheelchair bikes. So some of the people do know who wants which bike. So we try to adapt it to them. We do have some people that have are physically challenged besides being elderly, not in very good shape. So we would never put them on the fundigo to pedal. But we can put them on the fundigo and the pedals are out of the way and there's a platform to put their feet on it. So most of the time, if people are physically challenged, then we put them in one of the wheelchair bikes because it's more comfortable for them to sit. The fundigo is much better for an active person the way the bike is designed. And then the most comfortable one is the Trin Shaw. It's got a really nice padded seat. And we can also, it has a cover that we can bring up. So if it's a little cool, we bring the cover up. It's got a beautiful fleece blanket that keeps them nice and warm. That's our most comfortable one. And so people that are have the most challenges, we'll put them in there.
TomButler:On the fun to go, it looks like there's two handlebars, but actually only one of the handlebars is there for control. How easy is that to maneuver?
EricMahnerd:Well, you know, it's good because we can only have one person deciding which direction we're gonna go, you know. And it it is a very maneuverable bike, and it can turn on a dime. We get to where we have to turn around and head back to the nature center, boom, and it's already pointed the other direction while I'm doing the three-point turn with the big old tri-shaw. Yeah, it's a nice bike. That bike new, oh gosh, that's probably $15,000. You know, the the bikes are very expensive. They're made in the Netherlands. And the new one we just bought, uh it's called an Au Pair, and it's a wheelchair bike. It has what looks to be like a uh comfortable padded chair in the front, and that's over eleven thousand dollars. That bike. Uh the trishod's close to fifteen thousand. And the other part is is that because they're made in Leverett Net Netherlands, uh you start talking about the shipping. That's a good hunk. Also, the import duties, and they actually they're not too bad. It's 300 bucks. So that's not too bad for eleven thousand dollars. But they're quite expensive bikes.
TomButler:Uh, one thing is for sure, they need to be quality bikes. If there's one thing you're not gonna skip on, it's gonna be this activity for sure.
EricMahnerd:Yeah, and the each one of the bikes is electrically assisted, which is definitely needed. So that helps a great deal. When you figure, I think the maximum uh a wheeler can weigh is 235, 240, and then you have the pilot on it, you got a lot of weight on that bicycle. So being electrically uh assisted really helps. And as you mentioned, they are quality bikes. As much as we use them, we have three different uh volunteers that keep them maintained, they take a lot of use. I'm trying to think, I just saw it someplace last year. Where is it? They went 850 miles, so they get a lot of use and a lot of wear and tear on them.
TomButler:You're getting bikes, the au pair, that have this seat on the front, and you have two of those currently. Those aren't au-pairs, though, right? Are they a different brand?
EricMahnerd:Currently, we have one au pair and one duet. And when we get these four new bikes, we're gonna actually retire the duet and keep it as a spare. And the duet's a nice bike, except for one problem. The handlebars are low. And if you're more than about five five, when you're pedaling, your knees hit the handlebars. I'm 6'5, and I can't. If I try to ride that bike, my knees are way out to the side, and um it's not a good fit for me. So I I never ride that bike. So the O'Pairs, the handlebars are real high, and so it's not a leg issue at all. Yeah.
TomButler:On the OPERs, does it feel very stable as a pilot? Is it do you have to kind of get used to a feel for it, or or are they well balanced and everything where it feels really easy?
EricMahnerd:It's you know, it's a that's a really good question because when we ride from the storage shed over to where we're gonna pick up our wheelers, uh oh, it's about three or four blocks. And on that short ride, we have three sets of concrete weights in that seat to simulate a passenger sitting there because without it, the the front end's really squirrely. And then once you get the passenger in there, now it's well balanced between the front and the back, and the bike handles really well.
TomButler:Interesting. You're going to be getting a bike that accepts a wheelchair. And I'm wondering, was that in response to a demand for a bike like that, or how did it the decision come about to buy that bike?
EricMahnerd:Well, we're dealing right now with 13 facilities. Several of those facilities have people that it's very difficult to transfer out of the wheelchair. They're basically wheelchair bottom. They get out of bed in the morning, they put them in the wheelchair, and they stay there. And so this new bike, what'll happen is it has a platform on it. We hook a little cable onto the back of the wheelchair, and then we can winch it onto the platform. And once it's on the platform, you lock the winch cable, and then there's two sets of tie-down devices, one for each wheel, that secures the wheelchair bike to the platform. Now that passenger or the wheeler does not have to be transferred, and so it's a real boon. When we were made aware of that type of bike, one of our volunteers contacted all of the facilities. Hey, we're thinking about this. Do you uh have a need for a bike like that? And we had 16 uh responses of yes.
TomButler:Wow.
EricMahnerd:So we're excited to get that bike. It's going to open up our organization to a whole new line of uh passengers or wheelers. Yeah, it's gonna be really great.
TomButler:Now you do have rides that the public can request or sign up for. How's that process work?
EricMahnerd:It's really simple. I would encourage your listeners to go to our website and it's just really easy squimwheelers.com, S-E-Q-U-I-M dot com. And on there, there's a link, request a ride, and you hit that, and it'll be the information that they need will be right there. You fill it out, and it's simple. You you put in the date, time, and then you do have to sign a waiver, an insurance waiver, and you can sign that electronically, and you send it in, and then our schedule will reach out to you and get you all taken care of. We're a 501c. There is no charge for this. If you want to make a donation, fine. If you don't, that's fine too. We do at least one ride a day with the facilities. On some days, we're doing rides in the morning and in the afternoon. For the most part, our private rides are on the weekends. They can be in the week based on availability of bikes.
TomButler:It's really fun when I was on my way out of town. I stopped for lunch after I'd ridden with you. And the person behind the counter we got talking while I was there. Oh, that's that's really cool. You know, he was picturing his mom, being able to get out. And I I think the truth is a typical person that doesn't get out a lot, which can happen. And being able to send him over to the website was fantastic.
EricMahnerd:I was looking, I thought I saw how many. Yeah, we've had 13 private rides this summer. And this summer, as I mentioned, the weather just wasn't cooperating, and we were delayed and delayed and delayed. So this summer, unfortunately, we won't have as many rides as we did last year. Unless, of course, the fall cooperates. And if it gets below the 50 degrees, it it's not fun. And we're heading west, and usually out here in Squim, the wind is out of the west-northwest, so it's right into their face going out. Coming back, it's not so bad. And then obviously, if there's any rain, we don't operate in the rain.
TomButler:Talk about the interaction you have with the facilities you partner with. I'm thinking they must just love this.
EricMahnerd:They absolutely do. They are so appreciative of what we do. Most of them, in fact, I I can say all of them have contributed to our program uh in support each year. And when you think about the what we're doing, the advantage that we're giving them to take some of their people out and get to do something, it's really a really neat program. And especially, and we've mentioned this already, is that when you start getting into the elderly patients, you know, I've had patients uh into their 90s just last week, and one was 97, and she was a tiny little lady from England originally, sharp at the tack. She said, Well, my body's wearing out. The first time I met her, her daughter, who is 67 years old, was there with her, and that it was her first ride. So she said to her uh the daughter said to the mother, she said, So mom, tell them about what you did in World War II. And she said, Well, I was working in a factory in London, and she said, And tell them what you did when you heard the war had ended in Germany. Well, I had gotten out of school and I heard they were celebrating in London, but I couldn't get anybody to go with me, so I got on a train and went by myself. And tell them what you did in London, and she kind of grinned and she's blushing a little bit. She said, Well, I kissed some of the vultures. That's the kind of stuff that we run it. Right. So neat, you know.
TomButler:That's so fun. Yeah. You mentioned the rotary when you guys were starting out. Are you guys known by the Squim community, like different organizations by the community as a whole?
EricMahnerd:The Rotary Club, it's a Squim Sunrise Rotary Club. And I might mention that you are talking to its current president. Okay. Show more respect. We have about 75 members in our club. We're very, very active in the community. We have several ways that we raise money, and almost every penny we raise goes back to the community. And just recently, we we did a fundraiser for the Squin Wheelers and raised almost $1,000 for them. Plus, we do scholarships, we help the Boys and Girls Club, we help the food bank, we help all kinds of projects. Very um generously, as I mentioned, Bryce Fish, he donated $5,000 for the original bike. And then later, as the program was building, he bought him a second bike and paid for the whole thing outright. So yeah, the the rotary has been an integral part of the uh of the squim wheelers. Yeah.
TomButler:And the city, is the city aware of squim wheelers and support?
EricMahnerd:Oh, yeah. We get a lot of support from them, not financially, but they're very appreciative of what we do and they help promote us. We set up booths during the various farmers markets, the irrigation festival, the lavender festival. They are invited to be in the annual parade that we have. So yeah, the city enjoys what we do. You know, I think that's the one thing that people each year more and more people are becoming aware of the squim wheelers and the service it's providing to the community. And that's why people said, Well, you're buying four more bikes. And I said, Well, we really think the need is there, and uh, we're just going to keep on expanding.
TomButler:So that's wonderful. And I know, you know, experiencing firsthand that the people that you meet on the trail, you know, either you've met them before and they know what's going on, or they are uh yeah, it seems like everybody has a good response to it.
EricMahnerd:Yeah, you would get a lot of positive response from the people on the trail. And then we do, as I mentioned, have two groups that are uh intellectually challenged, and they really get excited when they're on the trail and they want to wave at everybody and talk, and and they love the the dogs and the animals, and uh the people on the trail with these folks, they are so generous with their time and their understanding of what the kids are all about, and it's really a neat, neat, neat experience.
TomButler:What does it take to become a volunteer pilot? There's a process there, I know.
EricMahnerd:You have to sign up each each spring. We have an open house and uh it's in the parking lot at the nature center. We set up our little tent and uh we have pre-cookies and we have all the bikes there, and we as people are going by the trail, they stop and see us. Plus, before the open house, we will um do a promo on our KSQM radio station. Susan Sorensen and I will do a couple promos on there. We get a really nice article in the paper so people know about the open house, and so we have a good turnout. Last year we had 21 new volunteers. This year we had 16. What the process is you sign up to join, you have to do a background check, which is relatively easy, and then we bring them to an orientation meeting and we give them a history of the organization and uh what our goals are, and then if they decide to join us, then we have a formal training program. And the training program are three sessions and they take two and a half hours each, and they're with our experienced riders that train the new guys. If they need more training, fine. If they don't, then we we send them out on the trail. Sometimes what we'll find is that people will not feel comfortable with riding the bikes, the because they are they're good-sized bikes with that chair in front or the or side by side, and they end up being safety, so we have a whole set of rules and regulations for our safeties and knock on wood. We've never had an accident, so that's great because we're very safety conscious. When it's time to start actually scheduling the new trainees into the program, we'll make sure that they are with seasoned veterans, and we inform the ride leader. Every ride that goes out has one ride leader that, hey, Bob is coming, and this is going to be his first ride. Okay, great. And so they keep an eye on him and make sure that he's comfortable with what we're doing. And then we also always have debriefings after every ride, and with the new guys uh making sure that they have any questions, they can get the answers.
TomButler:For people that like bike riding, would you say that being on one of these bikes is going for a bike ride? It's just like uh bike ride plus.
EricMahnerd:Well, I'm gonna say uh it's going for a rewarding bike ride because you're doing something really neat. And in most cases, not all cases, most cases you have an opportunity to talk with the people. Sometimes they don't. The memory issue people sometimes are not commutative, so they don't have that. But for the most part, yeah, you have an opportunity to share stories, to sing along, even if you don't know the words.
TomButler:Right, right. An opportunity to compose words on the on the fly. Yeah. What would you say is maybe some of the harder logistical challenges with organizing uh adaptive cycling rides?
EricMahnerd:You know, at this point, if you'd asked that question in 2018, they'd have a pretty good answer for you. This point, we are uh really well managed. So uh what we do at the end of the season, we have a postseason meeting where we try to get as many of the pilots and safeties together. Hey, here's the problem, here's what we did, should we be concerned about this? We do a season review. And as we're going through the season, if something comes up that we think everybody should know, we do blast emails to everybody in the in the organization. And then as we start getting into the new year, the new season, all the bikes are tuned up and ready to go. Then we go through our recurrent training. So every new or excuse me, veteran, we have a two-hour training session with them to re-familiarize them with the bikes. And we have all the bikes available so they can you know ride them. The electronics and the controls on the bikes are different, and so how to operate those, what the boost is, uh, so we get them spooled up. And then again, as I mentioned to you uh and shared with you last season, we did a really nice job on the formal training syllabus, and then we have that all set to go for our new hires. So yeah, I major challenges we don't have them. Now, I would say we are gonna have a little bit of a challenge because we've got two new types of bikes coming. The old pairs will be the same, but we've got the tri-shaw and um the new platform bike, so that'll we'll have to introduce those and build a syllabus for them.
TomButler:There is a logistical element of keeping the bikes going, is parts, uh maintenance and parts. Is that something that has to be managed?
EricMahnerd:Yeah, an example is we have another duet that is in storage because the battery has died, but the battery, because it's a large battery, is so expensive and the bike is old. We've decided not to replace. And it's so it's sort of a spare part locker now. The wear and tear on the bikes because of the amount of weight on them. We have spoke damage, we have wheel damage, the tires obviously are wearing out. So, yeah, it is quite a bit of maintenance to keep them up because, like I said, that we've already gone 800 miles or something this year, and it wears them out.
TomButler:Well, you guys are so well managed and and so experienced at this point. I'm wondering what kind of interaction you have with cycling without age at this point.
EricMahnerd:We don't do a lot with them. Uh, we are members of cycling without age. You know, they're um a huge organization. I think they're in what 41 countries. But God, I've read, I think, 3,500 chapters. And we have used them as a resource for insurance, for purchasing bikes. We've gotten valuable information off of their blogs, safety information and ideas. So, yeah, it's it's a source that we use, but our program's sort of self-contained and not quite like theirs. So, not a really, really active association with uh cycling without age.
TomButler:You mentioned the Olympic Discovery Trail. Uh what an awesome resource that is. When I was there, I experienced the Nature Center, which is a cool place. It it's like uh it feels almost ideal as a location to be able to make the rides easy.
EricMahnerd:It really is. It's a super place uh in that there's a great starting point to head west on the trail. Two years ago, they were doing repair work on the bridge. So we couldn't go west on the trail, we had to go east, and the trail to the east isn't nearly as desirable because one section there's all these trees and the roots are growing through the trail and it's bumpier than the heck through there. Then we get up by Hendrickson Avenue and the traffic is there, so it's loud. And then the trail ends up being in a residential neighborhood. So you're on streets where cars are also part of it. Sadly, the old railroad trestle bridge, it's wood, has been determined to be unsafe. They used to have activities on the bridge fundraisers for the Nature Center, and this year they had an engineering group said, come on and say, No, you can't do that anymore. It's okay for people to walk by, but you can't have large groups on that bridge. And we just found out that they're gonna tear the bridge down, they're gonna build a new one, but it's gonna be identical to the old one. So that'll you know, be an old, it'll be a wooden structure like uh the old one. But that means that we will not be able to go west on the trail and we'll have to be going east again, which is less desirable.
TomButler:There is a pretty active group of people that are focused on the Olympic Discovery Trail. Do swim wheelers get involved with those efforts? Are you advocating for the trail?
EricMahnerd:Oh, absolutely. The Olympic Trail Coalition, it's a large organization. They keep uh the maintenance on the trail, they're uh raising funds for improving the trail, they're lobbying to get the trail standed constantly. Uh, and it it's amazing what they've done. Like I said, they'll go from Seattle all the way out to the Pacific Ocean, and there are sections on that trail that are just gorgeous. Unfortunately for us, they're not accessible to us because we're time limited as to how long we can be on the bikes with our wheelers, and we don't have the facilities or the resources to be able to take people to some of the other areas, but they're certainly beautiful areas for individuals to ride.
TomButler:You are getting these four bikes, including one that's different than what you've had before. Do you have any question that the program's going to expand and utilize all those resources?
EricMahnerd:No, we are quite confident that we can utilize those resources. We like we said it's gonna be a net three because one more bike is gonna be retired unless we really need it. We have demand for more than what we have now. We have enough volunteers to expand the program. We were disappointed because of the delay, but in another on the other side of the coin, it'll probably work out well in that we will have all winter long to get the bikes assembled and get become familiar with them, and then we can also expand our program during those months, reaching out to the facility saying, okay, instead of being able to bring four riders, you're going to be able to bring seven.
TomButler:That's fantastic.
EricMahnerd:That'll that'll work out nicely.
TomButler:So, what do you see the future bringing for Squim Wheelers?
EricMahnerd:Well, it as I mentioned, we are a 501c, and so we rely on donations uh to keep itself going. And uh when I say donations, we've been very fortunate in that uh we've had corporate sponsors, uh, First Federal, the as I mentioned, the TRIBE is very supportive of our program. The Benjamin Phillips Foundation, they've given us close to $30,000 in grants. We have several individuals, two off the top of my head that have given us $10,000 plus each. Bryce has given us $10,000. We have other organizations that, boom, once a year they send us a check for $2,300 in support of our program. I think all total we've raised over $100,000 since 2018. And so we need to keep on generating the funds going forward to pay for our program. And I think as long as we can do that, we certainly are confident that we're gonna have enough volunteers. And with the expanding of the elderly population in Squim, uh, we certainly feel that we're gonna have more than enough demand for our product from the local community. And one of the other things that we're doing, we're also reaching out to younger people. So the two groups, Mosaic and Tim's Place, the deal with the uh intellectually developed children and adults, more children that way. Plus, we're going, we've done road trips over to poor towns and into other schools where we have uh physically challenged people that we've introduced us to.
TomButler:What do you think people would find to be the most surprising aspect of the program?
EricMahnerd:I would think probably the most surprising aspect is the joy that our wheelers receive by getting out of the facility and out into the fresh air and out into nature. I went to um her name is Mary. She was 90 years old, she's not with us anymore, and her birthday was coming up, and I had her on a ride. She graduated from Squim High School in 1949. There were 49 kids in her class, and she couldn't wait to get out of this hick town. And she went over to Seattle and became a nurse and stayed over there until uh she retired. Then she and her husband came back and he passed away and she ended up in a uh retirement facility. So I had her for a ride, her first ride, and she's just thrilled with being out on the bike. And we're driving along, she says, See that house up there? I said, Yeah. She said, My best girlfriend in high school is in that house. And I said, Really? And then she said, But you know, maybe she wasn't my best girlfriend. And I said, Why's that, Mary? She said, Well, she stole my boyfriend. And I said, Oh, well, are they still married? She said, No, they're both dead. And so they were going around and she's pointing out the history of squim. So her birthday was the next next week, and my wife used to be a floor, so she made a really pretty bouquet. And she also makes homemade chocolates and a card. And so I went to her nursing home. And uh I said, Hi, I'm here to see Mary. Come on, I'll take you down. We knocked on the door, and she her nursing home consisted of a small bathroom and one room. And there was a bed over in the corner, there was a chair, a TV, and a little tiny kitchenette with a coffee pot and that. And she was so thrilled to see me and that I had brought that. And then she started telling me about what it meant to her to be able to come on that ride. And she said, I just love it. I just can't wait to do it again. And I had her two more times that summer, and it was just a joy for her to come out. Sadly, she she's not with us anymore. Yeah, I think that's the most surprising part. If people could see the smile on our wheelers' faces when they get done with the ride, or if they've been on the ride before, if you could see their smile when they're about to start the ride, it's just really wonderful. And hand in hand with that, the the workers at the facilities that bring them to the ride or there when we pick them up, they're so happy too because they know they're bringing joy to their clients, to their residents. So yeah, that's that's definitely it, yeah.
TomButler:I think that's a perfect note to end on, and you know, and and I've experienced that, you that the impact that it has, and it's wonderful. Eric, thank you so much for coming on and talking more about Squim Wheelers. I I just love the the work that you guys are doing there, that what you're building, um, what you continue to expand, and so happy that you came on and talked about it.
EricMahnerd:Well, I th I really want to thank you, Tom, for giving me this opportunity. Uh, you know, I I will encourage your listeners again, just go to squimwheelers.com. You can find out more about us and volunteer or sign up for a ride, or if you like, make a donation.
TomButler:Yes, yes, fantastic. You know, and I also just want to compliment you. You know, you're a leader with this organization, you're a leader in your community, and and good job. You know, I think it's wonderful that you're taking time uh to make your community better.
EricMahnerd:Well, thank you very much. You know, I I worked a lot of years. Uh I used to be uh an airline pilot and I worked in aviation for a long, long time. And when we moved up here, it it just gives me an opportunity to give back to the people in our community, and there are so many wonderful people in this town. Little town, 8,000 people, and volunteerism makes it work, and I'm really glad that I'm capable of being able to do that.
TomButler:Fantastic. Well, thanks again, and and maybe I'll make it out again and do another private guys. It was fun.
EricMahnerd:Come on, ride with us, and we'll we'll do it again.
TomButler:That'd be fun.
EricMahnerd:All right, good luck on your program. I hope it works out. And if you do need any more stuff, holler at me. I'd be glad to help you out.
TomButler:Well, I appreciate that, and and I'll probably take you up on that.
EricMahnerd:So okay, buddy. Take care. Bye bye now. Bye.
TomButler:I believe that there's an aspect of vibrant living that is only possible when we give to others without expectation of getting something in return. And I believe that aspect is amplified when we give to others as a team. I'm grateful that there are leaders like Eric out there working behind the scenes to bring service opportunities to life. When we do a cycling without age ride, there are three responses we get. One response comes from the passengers, or wheelers as Eric called them. Almost without exception, they respond by being very thankful that we took them for a ride. Second is the response from staff at our facility who love our rides. They're the ones that get to hear how much the residents enjoy the rides we do. And finally, whoever sees us out on a ride responds with smiles and waves, and usually a statement like, That's so cool. I think that the last response really says something. People immediately understand the value of getting outside at the speed of biking, experiencing the sun and the fresh air. And they can see that we're giving an opportunity for people who aren't mobile to have that experience. Hopefully, we can expand our program here to do even more rides next summer. I hope all of you have ways to give something to your community. Maybe you have also found something that combines cycling and service. And remember, it's just a gear test.
