It’s easy to find bicyclists who have ‘the look’.  Folks who roll off 30 or 40 miles with ease, wearing cute bike outfits on carbon bikes. The danger for those of us in the industry is thinking this is the ultimate goal for adults on bikes.

Today we’ll look at bicycling from a different view. There’s a group of bikers who don’t look like a typical bike club, yet they maintain a very active schedule of rides. Cycling for Active Adults in Farmington and Farmington Hills is this group.

Like many groups, they communicate via Facebook. There are regular rides, follow-up posts with photos, and Strava maps of their adventures. Do a little study on their photos and you will see a few department store bikes. Look at their maps to learn the rides are on the short side, and often in subdivisions. Make a headcount, however, and you’ll find healthy numbers of riders.

Short rides, close to home, and no demand for expensive equipment. I had to learn more, so I sat down to chat with two of their ride leaders, Liza Luzod-Chubb and Devon Schwalm.

I first met Liza this past spring when she emailed me to ask about the Kal-Haven Trail Tour   and bringing her friends along. The tour sounded good to her, and soon I was invited to speak to their full group. A handful of them joined the tour in Kalamazoo, and two more came along for a  week long adventure near Traverse City.

Liza grew up Downriver from Detroit, and had bikes as a youth. As with many of us, marriage and career interrupted her riding until recently. When the city started this group, she wanted to join. Her husband found a used bike, one that was too big and too heavy. After a few rides, she moved on to a better bike. “It’s fun. I like the exercise, it’s good on your knees. I like the breeze in my face, and seeing different places.”

Devon Schwalm arrived at the group by different means. He was an active adult doing kite boarding, but that requires steady wind. To keep his adrenaline up, he began racing mountain bikes about 10 years ago. For seven years he enjoyed the mountain bike. Then came the accident.

“I was riding mountain bike trails in Ann Arbor with a group. We rode on a difficult trail along the Huron River. At the bottom of a hill in a sharp turn, I went over the handlebars and hit a tree. I was totally paralyzed at that point.”

Devon couldn’t move or breathe. Fortunately one of the riders had mountain rescue training and took control. They were right across from the University of Michigan Hospitals, and it took only 7 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

“I ended up with a broken neck, a bruised spinal cord, and I was in U of M hospital for two months. I had to learn” he continued, “how to walk again.” That’s a sobering thought for anyone.

I asked him, why join this group? “I became part of the group once I was out riding around the neighborhood, I had no confidence in my own abilities.” This group was able to support him when he needed it, and now he helps support the group.

Liza rides for fun, and Devon rides for support. I pressed for more motives, noting that in the group pictures there is a wide variety of bikes and bike quality, and some interesting outfits. “It’s a motley crew” laughed Liza. Devon chimed in: “There’s a lot of people from different situations, and there are different reasons why they’re riding…We’re riding for exercise, and the other big thing, it’s a social group.”

Liza had some more reasons to support the group ride notion. “If I have a problem on the ride, there’s someone along to help. Also you’re a lot more visible riding as part of a group. We don’t ride on busy roads, but you’re still dealing with traffic.”

“Yes, 25 MPH roads and sidewalks” said Devon, “the safest hard surfaces. We’re not riding fast, and we can ride two abreast and talk during the ride.” Liza had another reason to support these rides: Schedule. “When there’s something on the calendar and you’ve committed to go, you’re more likely to go, you’ve got motivation.”

There’s about 5 main ride leaders, and several others who can sub on short notice. With about 50 riders over the course of the season, it’s common to have 12 to 15 cyclists on each ride. The group is not top heavy, so the individual ride leaders have the freedom to go where they want. Liza tries to ensure one neighborhood ride each week, to support the members who won’t or can’t transport their bike to a remote starting point.

Farmington Hills is an inner-ring suburb in metro Detroit, surrounded by 4 million people in 3 counties. Virtually all the main roads are classified as high traffic roads by MDOT. This forces the ride leaders to get creative in their routing, and sometimes just riding in subdivisions. I asked if subdivisions cause any complications for them.

“Subdivisions are probably the safest” said Devon, “We communicate and talk about hazards. With a group, everyone is looking out and communicating to each other, and 25 MPH roads are pretty safe. We post our rides to inform members about the conditions, so they have an idea and can choose to ride or not.”

“A lot of people really like to be able to ride from home, instead of using their car to get to a ride” added Liza.

Not all the rides are in Farmington Hills. This year they’ve been to Ann Arbor and Belle Isle, Grosse Pointe, Lansing, Rochester and Romeo, and Windsor, Ontario…Canada.

“The standing rule of the group” said Liza, “is we ride with the slowest rider, and if you don’t like that, then this might not be your group” (laughs). It’s obvious that these two ride leaders are comfortable with the system they have.

This group focuses on shorter rides close to home, and they maintain a relatively low profile. I wondered: How are they served by the bicycling community, including bike shops, tours & tour operators, and cycling organizations?

“We get a lot of people who don’t have a bike, and they’ll ask ‘what do you recommend?’ I always tell them go to a bike shop. I say if you’re not sure, get an inexpensive bike and ride with us a few times.”

“Right” added Devon, “you don’t want to waste money buying a bike that’s not quite right for you. And you need to ride one a bit to really know that.”

Liza also shares posts from the  League of Michigan Bicyclists onto their Facebook page. It’s obvious that these two are aware of the bicycle community in Michigan, and where to find support from it.

Liza and Devon are comfortable with the mission and activities of Cycling for Active Adults in Farmington Hills. They are in the core group of leaders there, providing a service to adults who otherwise might not ride at all. Their model is based on casual rides, close to home, with no pressure to compete. Let’s celebrate CFAA and other civic groups who provide a service useful to their local communities and to the cycling community. Great job guys!

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