Great Grandma Rides a Bike

By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter

Arlene Vester is a great-grandmother who loves to ride her bicycle. In fact she rode over 3000 miles this summer on the trip of a lifetime. Great Grandma Rides a Bike

Published: Wed, October 24, 2007 - 4:06 pm Last Updated: Wed, October 24, 2007 - 4:33 pm

Jere Hough

Arlene Vester, Chatom, Alabama, has four children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren...and after her family and church, cycling is her love. For years she has regularly ridden a few miles around her home, and then one day, on a long trip from Gulf Shores to Fort Morgan and back...
"I giggled the whole way," she recalls. "I felt like I was sixteen! Fountain of Youth! And that's how I've felt ever since."
Then she had an idea.
"I had heard about a bike ride across America to celebrate our Bicentennial. And I thought, 'Wow, what a way to see this country.'"
And so, the summer of 2007...
"I started in San Francisco on June 3rd and I ended in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on July 24th," she says with a big smile.
That is thirteen states in 52 days...average daily ride: 80 miles!
"I loved every inch of it." Vester says with conviction. "I'd be back on it in a minute if I could."
She rode with a group...organized by "America by Bicycle." Each day's destination, a motel, was plotted for the whole trip. Every night at the group dinner, the next day's map was distributed.
Vester says, "You start off at the same time in the morning, and you have a time to be in, but everyone rides at their own pace."
A van accompanied the tour with some emergency gear and supplies...a good idea.
"I can honestly say I don't think there was anybody on the trip that didn't have a challenge of some kind," she recalls.
Her own challenge occurred in Missouri.
"We were coming in. We had just come down a big hill going pretty fast. And we leveled out, and my camera caught between the spokes and the front fork. I did a header, as we say, hit my face...broke my nose, knocked my teeth back, broke my hand."
After a visit to the emergency room, Vester continued the trip...in the support van.
" A week later," she laughs, "we took out all my stitches, I was back on my bike again."
She has a lot to say about helmets. "Helmets are wonderful. A helmet is why I'm able to be here now....be sure to wear helments when you ride."
Vester says she burned 6,000 calories a day on the trip...they encountered no bad storms (it did snow in the mountains, however), and a real high point was getting into the Indianapolis Speedway and riding around the track. .
Meteorologist Jere Hough holds up a map of the United States with the cross-country journey traced in black. He comments, "Arlene Vester says her bicycle is her fountain of youth. From San Francisco to Portsmouth, Maine, in 52 days....I think she's on to something!"

America by Bicycle has a variety of "fully supported" bicycle tours. Here's their website. abbike.com