Featured image: Looking for active travel for women over 50? Diana Ballon suggests cycling trips! | Photo provided by Diana Ballon

Cycling is good for the body, mind and soul

by Diana Ballon

As someone who doesn’t drive but loves to travel, exploring independently has its physical challenges. I started long-distance running, but a knee injury in 2016 permanently prevented me from jogging for more than about five kilometres at a time. When I took up cycling, the whole world opened up to me.

Until then, finding ways to be active amongst people who are a similar age and like-minded has been difficult. I can keep up with the “youngsters” in Toronto spin classes, but my earplugs can’t block out the blaring techno house music, nor the instructor yelling at us to keep pushing harder. I simply don’t belong.

But when the workout ‘class’ is a rural landscape, and you are cycling with other people 50+ who are in good shape, or managing well on e-bikes, well, now finally I feel like I fit in. In fact, I’m hooked. In the last six years, group cycling trips have become my primary mode of travel. I have done week-long trips in the Loire Valley in France, the Atlantic coast of Portugal, mainland Greece, and the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the last three with Exodus Adventure Travels. I am plotting my next trip as I write.

There are so many aspects of group cycling trips that work for the 50+ woman. It’s a sport that’s low impact and non-weight-bearing, so your knees, hips and other body parts don’t cause you trouble, making it probably one of the easiest activities to do as you age. At the same time, it allows you to maintain muscle and get cardiovascular exercise. And it is hassle-free, in that the tour company will supply the bikes (regular ones, or e-bikes often for an additional cost), and have the route mapped out, an experienced local guide to lead you, a support van, and hotels booked along the route.

For long-distance trips, you can join a group through an adventure or bike touring company with a partner or friend or go solo and know you’ll find others you can connect with. On my trips, I have made quick and sometimes long-lasting connections to other cyclists, who — like me — have not let age limit their movements.

Cycling trips are also lots of fun!

Cycling creates a sense of belonging

In the past, I struggled to be part of a group, particularly a team. As a kid, I never did team sports like volleyball or soccer: I preferred running, gymnastics, tennis — all activities that allowed me to rely on myself, without worrying about letting a team down if I fouled up.

Group cycling is the first sport that has brought me a feeling of belonging. It’s a way for me to exercise with people without competing against them. I can ease into being part of a group and be independent. I can chat over meals and while cycling and then, at the end of a long day, I can retreat to my hotel room to read or be quiet: it’s a perfect combination for someone who is part introvert, part extrovert.

Support from the group

When booking my Exodus cycling trip to the Greek Peloponnese last fall, I had no idea that Greece is the third most mountainous country in Europe, nor that I would be biking uphill, sometimes for several kilometres at a time, in 35-degree Celsius heat. At times, I struggled at the back of the heap, as we ascended, single file, the rest of the group no longer visible up ahead. Then I would crest a hill, and see the rest of the team sheltered under one of the few olive trees along the shoulder of the road, and they would be clapping — for me!

This was not something I grew up with. My dad rewarded accomplishment, not effort. And I had been so worried about slowing down the group, I was almost in tears when they were so encouraging and non-judgmental. The group’s clapping also felt a whole lot better than having to wave sweaty towels and doing congratulatory high-fives with fellow riders at the end of a spin class.

Cycling solo but not alone

As more of a one-on-one person, I love being able to book a cycling trip alone — without having to wait for a friend or family member to be available, knowing that I will be able to make personal connections with other cyclists.

On a recent Exodus bike trip from Barcelona to Valencia in Spain, a highlight was a new friendship with fellow cyclist Naomi Rae, who had recently lost her husband to cancer after a 30-plus marriage. For her, the trip also had other intrinsic benefits.

“This trip allowed me to reconnect with myself away from the noise of loss,” Rae says. “The guide made it possible for me to do the biking safely. It was technically demanding [with an e-bike], but he told me ‘you can do it,’ and gave me confidence.

The fact that there were lots of other solo travellers also made it easier for her to come on her own, she says. “It allowed me to dip in or out socially, according to how I felt.”

Journalist Melanie Chambers also describes the benefits she gets from the dozens of cycling trips she has taken. Rather than joining a supported bike trip with an adventure or cycling tour company, Melanie does “bikepacking,” which involves cycling with gear attached to the bike.

In her case, she includes a tent and other camping equipment fastened in paniers for trips that can last up to three months. Although “solo”, Chambers says she staves off loneliness by connecting with other cyclists and joining organizations that support this kind of riding. This includes Warmshowers, a global network of more than 190,000 users in 161 countries worldwide who host cyclists, or who you can host, whether that’s with a bed for the night, a warm meal or some collegial conversation. (More about Warmshowers here)

“I love this kind of slow travel,” Chambers says. It’s quiet and meditative, and completely counter to the mass or pack tourism mentality. You are lingering in a place, rather than simply quickly passing through. And rather than [focusing on] key tourist attractions, you are often in a rural landscape, and can see how other people live outside of cities.”

Active travel with people our age

At Exodus Adventure Travels, most participants in the groups I have been on tend to also be in their 50s or 60s, along with one or two from their 30s or 40s, and the odd cyclist who is in their late 70s or early 80s.

Bike trips are graded, generally from about level two to five, with distance and elevation per day mapped out in the itinerary, so participants can see what to expect before booking. Many come alone, either paying a single supplement to have their own rooms or being paired in a room with another cyclist as a cheaper option and ensured companionship.

The most popular European cycling trips tend to be the coastal ones, explains Exodus’s senior product manager Emma Garrick — trips like the one on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast and the Porto to Lisbon ride in Portugal (which was my favourite). Other popular Exodus trips include ones in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Argentina and India that all focus on taking in key sights. And about 70 per cent of people doing cycling trips go on to book another.

Many other multi-adventure and cycling tour companies also offer bike trips, from more luxurious (and expensive) ones like Butterfield & Robinson, DuVine and Backroads, to more affordable ones like Exoticca and Intrepid Travel. Some trips also have premium options with upgraded hotels and added luxury. Most if not all of these companies offer the option of e-bikes, as well as a support van to accompany the tour. At Exodus, e-bike use is really growing, says Garrick, with about 20 per cent of cyclists using this option.

E-bikes open up cycling to women of all ages

E-bikes have opened up the field to almost anyone. If the idea of a multi-day trip on a regular bike feels intimidating, e-bikes are a readily available alternative.

“You’re still working, even if not entirely with your own power,” Chambers explains, referencing how you can toggle between using battery power or turning it off or down when you want exercise.

And whether on an e-bike or a regular bike, long-distance cycling doesn’t mean you are riding out of breath for hours on end. Far from it. You are improving cardiovascular function and getting exercise. But it can also be a gentle activity, where you can still carry on conversations with other cyclists, and then move into a more meditative state as you climb a hill or navigate a tricker part of the terrain.

For the person-powered bikes, I have had plenty of role models on the trips I have taken. In fact, sometimes the fastest cyclists, the ones with the best endurance, have been the older ones, like 75-year-old Wendy Ward, who I met on the Exodus cycling trip in Greece.

Ward has done three Exodus holidays plus several self-planned cycling trips with her husband, and cycles four or five times a week while in retirement, along with doing exercise classes. For her, staying in shape is about having a positive mindset and a healthy lifestyle and not letting age hold you back.

“Cycling holidays are an adventure, sometimes with unexpected challenge, and we need a little adventure as we get older,” Ward says. “The e-bike hasn’t come yet but, at some point, it will be the next step, enabling me to enjoy my cycling holidays until who knows when!”

I love the idea of something that I don’t have to give up as I get older. Maybe cycling will require some modifications. An e-bike may also be in my future. I plan to keep cycling as my primary mode for exploration, as long and as far as I can.

To get started, consider joining a local bike club for group rides. This is a good way to see if you enjoy group cycling and will also help you train. Spin classes are also helpful for developing your cardio strength, particularly in winter or when bad weather prevents you from cycling outdoors.

Preparing for a cycling trip

When doing a several-day bike trip, you will need:

• A helmet
• Padded shorts (at least two pairs, which you can take turns washing in the sink each night)
• Chamois cream (to help prevent chaffing and saddle sores)
• A rain jacket
• Short-sleeved shirts or specialized cycling jerseys with pockets
• A long-sleeved shirt or short-sleeve shirt with arm sleeves that you can take on and off
• Running shoes or cycling shoes (some clip into pedals, in which case you may need to bring your own pedals: ask the company what kind of bike they provide)
• Gel bike seat cover (optional – for added comfort)
• Sunscreen

More Adventure Travel To Inspire You