Mark's Cycling Page

Ever since I got my first hand-me-down bike at age 8, I've loved to bicycle. It was a red bike that Mother bought from a professor at SIU Carbondale who was moving. I rode it around Johnson City, IL and then Almond, NY when we moved there. I think I wore the poor bike out.

While stationed at Air Base Soesterberg, The Netherlands with the 32nd TFS (Wolfhounds) Security Police, I rode my Peugeot bicycle around central Holland. What a beautiful country to ride in, with windmills, canals, farms anh flowers.

While Stationed at Scott AFB near Belleville, IL, I bought a bike from the Touring Cyclist in Swansea, IL. With the Boy Scouts of Troop 52, Wolf Branch School, Swansea, IL, we did many bicycle camping trips. In 1996, 18 Scouts and parents joined the CAMP (Cycle Across Missouri Parks) ride across the state of Missouri with Hostel International of St Louis and the Missouri Parks Department. Here is a web page article about that ride, along with a picture of my son John. For the full article, click here

I also rode from Belleville down to Chester and across Illinois on Bicycle Route 76 to the Ohio River. After moving to New Jersey, my son John rode his bike to school for three years and then took it to college.

In Chicago at the REI store, I picked up an REI Randonee touring bike. It is a top notch camping / touring machine.

I'm now interested in recumbents, bicycles you sit in instead of sit on. I went to high school with Peter Stull, The Bicycle Man of Alfred Station, NY. He has a tremendous selection of recumbents.

One of my goals is to ride from coast to coast - Virginia to Oregon. I think I'll do it when I retire from my second job, and then on a recumbent. Cycling is a great way to see the country up close.

Mail me with comments or suggestions. I've updated my email to a lifelong email so you will be sure to contact me.