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Morag Mottram, 67, and her husband Jim, 69, of Alberta, Canada had no plans to retire in South Florida and fill their days with bridge and pickleball. Nor did they intend to drive off into the sunset in a shiny Airstream trailer when it came time to hang up their work badges. Instead, this graying, convention-flouting couple set off on two wheels. A pedal-powered approach to life based on many days and weekends spent cycling led them to a small group adventure with Wilderness Scotland, riding across the Outer Hebrides, a scenic cluster of islands off the west coast of Scotland known for rugged hills, barren moorlands, and wind-swept beaches. It was just the start of many such trips to come.
Morag and Jim are far from alone. According to AARP's 50+ Cycling Survey, more older people are biking, and most who cycle do so at least three to five times per week. This 2020 survey found that COVID-19 motivated many older adults to start bicycling more often. Tour operators are taking notice, says the owner of Senior Cycling, a bike tour company catering to riders age 50+.
The rise in e-bikes, meanwhile, has made it easier for these bike-loving retirees to travel greater distances—including on multi-day itineraries. According to Backroads, 25% of their guests opted for e-bikes in 2019, which led the company to add e-bike only tours. Today, Backroads offers 11 dedicated e-bike tours in North America and Europe. As demand has ticked up, particularly among older adults eager to stay active later in life, Backroads has grown their fleet of e-bikes to more than 4,500. Wilderness Scotland, meanwhile, offers dedicated e-bike tours, on trips to the Orkney Isles and Outer Hebrides.
But there are many retirees who are passionate about cycling in any form, electric or old-school. At home between travels, the Mottrams may ride their bikes 5 to 10 miles on any given day—a bike trip, by contrast, allows the possibility for 20 to 50 miles logged daily, amid ever-changing scenery. “We’ve always liked exploring on bikes,” says Morag. “You’re in the fresh air and you’re experiencing the landscape first-hand, as opposed to being behind the windshield of a bus or a car. You’re getting more of a sense of where you are,” adds Jim, finishing Morag’s thought.
Guided trips mean you pay for a near seamless adventure, and importantly, do not have to be the one in charge. It's a welcome change after years of work. While the Mottrams enjoy planning two-wheeled adventures, they also appreciate what adventure travel tour operators have to offer: peace of mind. “You don’t need to worry about anything,” said Morag. “You’re going to get great local food and beverages, and experience the landscape while being in it.” That comfort comes at a price they and others are willing to pay: A typical seven-day cycling trip with Wilderness Scotland can run $3,500 per person, excluding airfare. With Backroads, a five-night cycling trip can cost $6,500+ per person, depending on destination and hotels (Backroads offers trips with either three- or four-star hotels.) It's harder to put a price on the sense of community they offer. “These trips have introduced us to many amazing people,” says Morag, who added that she and her husband have taken subsequent trips with friends they’ve made on these small group tours. That Scotland trip was their launching pad.
Some retirees, like Dan, 67, and Kathy Sigg, 64 of Penn Township, Pennsylvania, enjoy planning out multi-day cycling adventures on their own, like a five-day trip they took in 2019 over 334 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. by way of the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage and the 184-mile C&O Canal Towpath. Along the way, they stayed at quaint inns that popped up alongside the trail every 10 to 20 miles. It's the type of thing they relish having more time for in retirement, following lengthy dual careers as engineers.
“You can see a lot of things when you’re walking, but when you’re on a bicycle you can see things that you just never knew existed,” says Dan. For the Siggs, one such discovery was Theodore Roosevelt Island, an 88-acre island in D.C. that has hiking trails and a memorial honoring the former president. “There are people who have never heard of it because it’s out of the way and the parking lot is small, but with a bike, you can just zip on over.”
The Siggs spent several days in May 2022 end-to-end biking the 62-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail, which runs along the Pine Creek Gorge in Pennsylvania. That trip had a twist. “We were in a unique situation. We just could not find someone to watch our dog, so we took him with us and hooked him up to a [bike] trailer,” says Kathy. “We took turns dragging him and we dragged him about 100 miles [in sections] to ride the whole trail.”
Between these two groups of cyclists, there are those who want a guide-free multi-day cycling adventure, but don’t want to plan it on their own. This is where Sara Petyk, owner of Noble Invention Bike Touring, comes in. Petyk organizes bike tours on six trails in the Northeast and Midwest, booking hotel rooms or camp sites and creating detailed itineraries for riders. But with no guides at the lead, though, there's still a sense of independence.
“Many of our riders are over 50 and often retired or semi-retired,” said Petyk, who likes to simplify rides for her clients. They just reach the trail and ride. “Bike touring gets you outside, but also gives you time to really see the area. A bike tour can really be life changing.”
For some retired cyclists, it’s not enough to ride in the group. They want to lead. Ed Krajsky of Jackson, Wyoming, a strapping, mustachioed guide opted in to mountain life in 1978, following a drive from Florida to Wyoming for a summer job. He never returned home, instead working for years in and around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Now in his 60s, Krasky has been guiding rides for Backroads on and off for the last 15 years. He’s mostly-retired now, but still leading trips—and comfortably keeping up with the decades-younger fellow guides—that have taken him to destinations like India, Nevis, St. Kitts, and Spain.
While Krajsky loves guiding trips, not every ride is a sunny one. “Our job is to make vacations exceptionally memorable,” said Krajsky. That can mean 14 hour days. “We’re up before the guests, getting the bikes ready, dealing with the bikes at the end of the day.” As a trip leader, he’s part tour guide, part bike mechanic, and part troubleshooter extraordinaire, even making changes on the fly.
When you enjoy meeting people and working in a service-oriented business, Krajsky notes that it doesn’t feel like work. “I just enjoy the fellow guides in my age group,” said Krajsky. “There are teachers and nurses that are doing it, and it’s all just fun. It’s a great culture.” It’s also a “job” he can’t imagine leaving anytime soon; it’s his kind of retirement plan.