Senior Citizens Day: Five Reasons for Older Texans to Ride

August 21 is Senior Citizens Day, and we join with others across the nation in honoring older Americans. We also celebrate that so many older people are choosing to ride a bike! Why ride once you’re over 60? Here are five great reasons:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend two hours and 30 minutes of exercise per week for people who are 65 and older.
• Since there is no upper age limit on bicycling, many older Americans are turning back to bicycles, some for the first time since they were teenagers, to stay fit and active. People for Bikes notes that “new trips by seniors account for 22% of the nation’s growth in adult biking.”
• Biking for older Americans is so popular, there’s an entire website dedicated to “Bicycle Riding for Boomers.”
• Not content to leave senior citizens who may be curious about biking to fend for themselves, the City of Portland has an Older Adults Bike Program (video).
• Of course, if you’re not a senior citizen yet but want to get an early start on an activity you can continue for the rest of your life, look no further for inspiration than Savona Bailey-McClain, bicycling advocate in her own community in Brooklyn, who learned to ride in her late 40s.

We’re delighted that on the day after Senior Citizens Day, an 83-year-old from Utah will be joining BikeTexas, BikeMN, and NCSL on the 10th Annual NCSL Bipartisan Bike Ride in Minneapolis. We’ve heard that his age is no barrier– he still loves to ride a bike!

BikeTexas strongly supports the infrastructure that gives our older Texans the confidence to take to a bicycle for the first time in a long time. Our streets should be designed for everyone to use, from age 8 to 80 and beyond! Learn more at biketexas.org/completestreets.

Happy Senior Citizens Day! Let the older people in your life know you appreciate them today– maybe by inviting them for a bike ride!

Photos, top to bottom: BikeTexas staff member Brenda Chuleewah and her sister trying out Brenda’s new bike in 1963; Two happy attendees of the 2013 NCSL Bipartisan Bike Ride in Atlanta; BikeTexas staff members Durwood and Allene Mayfield rolling through Austin.