SUN CITY – Did you know that about 70 Sun City residents are bikers? They ride loose on the prairie several days a week. A significant number are women.
They donât ride motorcycles, they ride bikes. They dress conservatively, and they take to the bike trails because they are extremely active and canât get enough exercise in the fitness center. Most of them probably can boast the strongest legs and healthiest lungs in Sun City.
Left to right: Penny Anderson, Joan Pajak, Kathy Grosh, MaryLou Donovan, Mary Blasko, Sandy Sterling, Marilyn Larson, and Judy Koch (not shown is Laura Ferraris) are members of the Sun City cycling club the Mizadventures, who frequent the bicycle paths in and around the Sun City area. They met in the fitness center and decided to alter their fitness regime to include bi- cycle riding and found not only fitness but fun on the trails and friendship. (Photo provided)
About 60 residents make up the CyclePaths Club, a charter group of cycling enthusiasts who ride area trails on Wednesday and Saturday each week.
âAn average of 20 show up each day, and we ride trails in the northwest suburbs or within Sun City,â says Burl Cohn, current president of the group. âWe usually divide ourselves into three groupsâone that includes the strongest and most experienced riders, who like to go long distances, another group that likes to go 15-20 miles on trails near Sun City, and a third group that likes to bike around the Sun City property. We usually start about 9 a.m., stop for lunch at about 11 a.m., and then get back about 1 or 1:30 p.m.
âWe enjoy the camaraderie of riding together, the exercise, the scenery, and the change of pace it offers in our lives. We also learn and practice bicycle safety, which is so important when youâre riding on roadways with other vehicles.
Some club members have ridden bikes cross-country for extended periods, he says. âThese cyclists can teach some of the other members a lot about bikes and biking, what kind of equipment to acquire, and the rules of safety,â he added.
Within the CyclePaths, there is a group of nine women who call themselves the âmizadventures.â They met each other in the fitness center and decided to augment their exercise schedule with regular bike riding.
âWe ride along at a moderate pace, laugh a lot, argue with each other over how far weâve gone or the right routes to take, and just have a lot of fun,â says Mary Blasko, who played a role in forming the group. Her biking buddies include Mary Lou Donovan, Penny Anderson, Joan Pajak, Marilyn Larson, Sandy Sterling, Laura Ferraris, Judy Koch, and Kathy Grosch.
âWeâre all extremely active out here, and when we arenât riding weâre involved in clubs or outings or events all the time,â Blasko says. âWe ride the Long Prairie, Great Western, and Fox River trails, and go to the Leroy Oaks Forest Preserve. There are all kinds of good trails for bicyclists in the area around Sun City. The Great Western trail is one of the most popular in the area; it goes from St. Charles to Sycamore, about 20 miles each way.â
âOne time, we were on the Fox River trail, and road construction in the area forced us to take detours. The ride became a marathon, and we almost got lost, riding around on side roads. We also have a couple of coffee shops we stop at regularly.â
Bicycling – a modest investment of funds, a major investment of time, and a ton of fitness fun.
