Jeanette

     Does anybody really read this stuff? OK, I'm Jeanette, Jerry's wife. Jerry and I have been fly fishers and campers for most of our married life.

     Twenty years ago we owned Bridgestone "10 speeds". We rode them in the valley and hills and really enjoyed that time together. Jerry pushed himself trying to be the next Greg Lemond and ended up with a pair of painfully swollen knees. That ended our bike riding and we moved on to other things.

     We bought some inexpensive bikes in 2002, "just to ride around town." It didn't take long for the bug to bite again. Jerry found that his knees had healed and he could ride extended distances without pain. The stress relief of just riding for a few hours was invigorating for both of us and we needed the exercise for our health. In three months we were scouring the Internet, checking out bikes suitable for club activities and light touring.

     Time has taught us that being the fastest is not always the best. Our perspectives on what we want out of riding have changed and have become more social and recreational. We both love to travel and the idea of traveling light on a bike is challenging and exciting. It's been great so far with neat trips to England. France, North Carolina's Outer Banks, San Francisco and Napa and the Katy Trail in Missouri as well as rides along the bike trail with our fellow Sacramento Bike Hikers. 

     Our current plans include a month in France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the summer of 2006. The tour will be unguided light touring with the credit card providing the food and shelter.

Jerry

     I started riding again in 2002 after an almost 20 year pause due to knee problems. My knees have improved so my wife, Jeanette, and I invested in some decent bikes capable of extended riding and touring.

     In addition to the bad knees, I gained too much weight and was diagnosed by my doctor as having dangerously high blood pressure. A year's worth of cycling has given me a new lease on life with a loss of 60 pounds and blood pressure levels of 120 over 75 and a resting pulse of 62

     Jeanette and I have joined the Sacramento Bike Hikers and participate in club rides and area centuries. We added, "Burley Baby," our Burley tandem, to our stable in August of 2003. We found it a great move since the bike equalizes our skills and maximizes our efforts. Our range and speed have increased dramatically when traveling together using the tandem.

     Jeanette and I have been fortunate in our lives. In addition to having lived in the South Pacific, one or both of us have visited New Zealand, England, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. In addition we have spent ten summers in Baja Mexico. All that traveling has given us an urge for even more. Light touring seems one of the best ways to get very close to the people and places we've wanted to see for so long. We've already done a number of tours and have a list of many more we'd like to accomplish.