Discovery vs. Rediscovery
My visit with Tom Butler was coming more from rediscovering my cycling career in my twenties and what that felt like and what a wonderful thing that was. In reality what I found is a person, Tom, who is in the midst of a discovery cycle. He had diabetes, 60, decided to take something up. A son-in-law challenged him to ride the what was known as the STP. Seattle Tacoma Portland. He went and entered a cycle cross race, which is definitely not trivial.
He is on the discovery side of cycling. He is on the side of not hanging out at all. Wily is a competitive cyclist or an over 25-year-old competitive cyclist that goes out, rides in pelotons, and through drafting picks the pace up. It all ends with somebody winning. In this discovery cycle it turns out to be entirely different. I spend time spinning with David Svini, which is a Zoom-type session, and I mostly do that in the winter time. The rest of my exercise is walking. What he's proposing is entirely different. I'm slowing down a degenerative process. He's slowing it down but he's learning something new about his body and that's entirely different than me lamenting where I used to be and pretending like I'm still a competitive cyclist when I'm really on spinning gear and watching other people with the David Finney program participate. The studies are rampant about how exercise, at different levels, with different cadence and distance, makes a difference. What is missing, and I am trying to find with the Silver Peloton, is that element of belonging, of meeting up, of having a croissant, a doppio macchiato with todays coffee shop and bike shop the temples. Having one of those kinds of experiences is what's additive to what I see is the Silver Peloton. How Tom is approaching it is: how do you make this longevity-increasing element, which is physical exercise, expand into belonging to the group, promoting solidarity? He has decided to figure out a way to go after the over-60 aging audience that's never been fit, never experienced exercise, and that's his challenge. What he's looking for to change is very impressive. As a scout for Silver Peloton, I was left fairly speechless and without questions. This was a new paradigm. Tom's academic career is around planning, urban planning. It even turned out that my brother went to the same school that he did and his partner so it's a small world. The other thing we had in common: we both have daughters that hate AI so we had a good time discussing that. He had a goal to, in Pierce County, attract over 60 who could and should use possibly cycling as a way to increase and improve their longevity. I never got into the details of what that looked like. Was that a program? Was that state funding? That's for another discussion with him. As always this gave me a new rabbit hole. Why not make a demo plan complete with budget and powerpoints: Tom is in the thick of it so this is for me: teleiomedia.com how does he leverage his membership on board of Upcoming Rides & Events
Tax revenue is useful, but probably not the strongest primary case. A better public-policy argument would be:
For a modest public investment, the program increased physical activity among older adults, reduced isolation, generated repeat customers for local businesses, expanded trail usage, and produced documented taxable spending.
That gives Pierce County officials five defensible results:
- Usage: Are residents participating?
- Equity: Are beginners and less-active older adults included?
- Economy: Are local businesses gaining customers?
- Public value: Are health, mobility, and social connection improving?
- Revenue: Is measurable taxable activity being created?
Next steps should be:
- Go look at his plethora of content.
- Get him to narrow down to two or three that are pertinent to his current endeavors.
Many of them that he has are not particularly relevant to this new challenge that he's on so if we can get him as the context for what we're working with, below are some of my ramblings about that.
He went from "I don't want to talk about AI" to being intrigued with PS Editor and wasn't quite sure he wanted at least a monthly blog post from me. He said he likes numbers and data. I would like you to help me create, I guess we call it, a proposal. It would start with the premise of what a program that he's talking about is. How do you measure success? That would start as the basic premise of what would success look like and then we work into the realities of: is it bottom line? There's got to be economics involved, somebody needs to be making money. Business needs, something. If you build bike paths, I think a good issue is how do you optimize existing bike trails rather than how do you build more? I think there's a lot of good ideas that you could have on that and what other cities are doing and the comparative thing. A big piece is also demographics. There simply are no places in Tacoma. It doesn't even ring a bell. Bicycle paths are due to financial reasons, societal reasons, and many other reasons. I'd like to report on what demographic, meaning what geographical area in Pierce County, is conducive to bike paths and merchants and a predicted sales tax, revenue, or some sort of economic data projections. I think this would be very compelling as a starting point for these discussions. I would like to start with the typical state government, county government style proposal writing which leads into PowerPoints for communities. Seeking public assistance not so much in the financing as in an understanding of what this awareness of cycling could bring to a region within Pierce County. There are affluent areas and they could be identified as having cycling capabilities that exist and just need to be expanded on. Focus on what is and how to get more people involved and fundamentally the economics of it. I would like to include the element of it's way more than the heartbeat, how fast you spin, those kinds of fitness measurements. This is more about friendship, collaboration, belonging, being part of your home.
This type of discussion is big for me because, coming from a person that I know, the enjoyment I've got from being physically fit. Now it's about where can I go have coffee with friends and talk about nostalgia, talk about the way it was. Tom was talking about getting associated with assisted living type organizations and that just isn't it. I don't think he's gone and seen one of these places. These are not the places I want to go cycling to. I think the crowd is like me, is once fit, willing to look at slowing the degeneration and describe it more kindly as slowing that process. As opposed to what I think he's proposing, how can it be better? This is a societal thing. The Narrows Bridge is very symbolic, in my mind, of going from the lower-class Tacoma side over to the more affluent side that has open spaces and bike paths, so symbolic. The bridge is big, just like Mount Rainier is. I don't share his belief that rain makes a difference. Let's just be honest: it is a major part of the year, wet here in Pierce County. The over 60 new cyclist is not the person that is taking their child out, teaching them to ride. It's the grandparent having fun with grandchildren and their children around this activity.
The Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club (TWBC) is a community-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation. Our mission is to support safe cycling, advocate for better biking infrastructure, and foster a welcoming cycling community for riders of all skill levels.
Founded in 1974, TWBC has served the South Puget Sound cycling community for over 50 years.
I think this is what they want to build on: this TWBC, which is pretty weak. I think the big thing it has is the ride schedule, which I think is a big step towards us finding areas in Pierce County that could be expanded on with political activism maybe. Upcoming Rides & Events
The Cycling Over Sixty Podcast is meant to provide information and inspiration for anyone wanting to get and stay fit later in life. Host Tom Butler uses his own journey toward fitness as an example of what is possible by committing to healthy lifestyle practices. After decades of inactivity and poor health choices, Tom took on a major cycling challenge at age 60. After successfully completing that challenge and seeing the impact on his health, he determined to never go back to his old way of living. Each week, Tom shares a brief update on the triumphs and challenges of his journey to live a healthy life. Episodes feature guests who share on a variety of fitness related topics. Topics are sometimes chosen because they relate to Tom's journey and other times come from comments by the growing Cycling Over Sixty community. Because cycling is at the heart of Tom's fitness journey, he is frequently joined by guests talking about a wide variety of cycling related subjects. Now in the third season, the podcast is focusing a three areas. First is the area of longevity. Guests this season will be asked to give their expert opinion on what it takes to have a long and healthy life. A second area of focus is how to expand the Cycling Over Sixty community so that members have more success and able to connect with other people who want to cycle later in life. And the final focus is on how Tom can expand his cycling horizons and have even bigger adventures that entice him to continue his journey. If you're seeking motivation, expert insights, and a heartwarming story of perseverance, Cycling Over Sixty is for you. Listen in to this fitness expedition as we pedal towards better health and a stronger, fitter future! Upcoming Rides & Events how do we leverage AI for instance on this site how do we increase usage through usefulness
https://youtu.be/JJ8BV3O234E?si=OEQDrph6ZJDzv-9L
Can feature one presenter for the full hour or two with one being interviewee. Please create a picture-in-picture highlighting both participants.
My intent is to create a post which is fifty-four seconds in duration. This would be the sizzler, which is the hook from youTube and subsequently is the jump to the Ghost Post, which has the full session. The 52 seconds is a 9:16 aspect ratio, which can be used in YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram, and others. My intent is to show that PS Editor can create a blog post which has a primary attention-getting hook video or image and a subsequent 500k or less discussion. In this situation we are working with podcasts, which we strip the text from on YouTube. That is the context. We have a web page on the ghost site which aggregates all the context information that we have. The proposition that I would like to present is that he would create the podcast and keep it under his identity or brand. We would create a post for each episode of his series. It would be branded by us but also recognition that he was the source. We run through P.S. Edit, a post which allows the creation of a post image. His image is his current logo. Ours would be created by PS Editor identifying the interviewer and interviewee, with a cue cord on the far right bottom of this new image that you would create the prompt for.
While some 60+ groups operate as tight-knit, informal weekend cohorts, they are deeply integrated into the main regional cycling institutions:
1. Twilly Dots / Informal Tacoma Masters
A large contingent of Tacoma's 60+ elite and intermediate cyclists coordinate informal morning rides out of local hubs like the Tacoma Waterfront or local bike shops.
2. Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club (TWBC)
One of the oldest and most established cycling clubs in the state. While open to all ages, a massive percentage of their active, core membership consists of riders 50, 60, and 70+. They host structured weekly rides, weekend tours, and annual cycling events across Pierce County.
3. Cascade Bicycle Club (Regional)
Though based slightly north, Cascade serves the entire Puget Sound (including Tacoma) and features a massive "High Rollers" and senior cycling network. They provide specialized insurance, training series, and massive state-wide rides.
🛠️ Essential Hubs for Tacoma Riders
- Defiance Bicycles: A classic local shop known for supporting everyday riders, touring setups, and community bike knowledge.
- Old Town Bicycle: A major touchpoint for group ride departures, gear upgrades, and connecting with local ride leaders.
- The Waterfront Path: The literal staging ground for dozens of early-morning master pacelines heading north toward Federal Way or south into Steilacoom.