Tesch family rolling along

“We’ve always loved bike riding,” observes Russell Tesch. “It’s a great way to be outdoors, see nature, and get some exercise.”

Both 82, he and Marie, who have been married for 63 years, share special memories of their decades-long tradition of visiting the Lanesboro area of southern Minnesota for a week or so each summer and riding a few hundred miles on the trails.

It went beyond that, though. Russell says his love of bicycle riding is lifelong, and one he and Marie have shared for much of their marriage.

In 2008, that tradition was threatened when Marie experienced a stroke. “I couldn’t balance,” she says, remembering the frustration she felt when she tried to mount a bike. Fortunately, though, a solution presented itself: a side-by-side bicycle. Theirs has four tires, upright seats, and joined handlebars, “so we both steer in the same direction at the same time,” she jokes.

They acquired the side-by-side about 15 years ago; their shared rides and summer trip were again a regular thing.

Time moved on. “The kids must have noticed we were slowing down a bit,” comments Russell, speaking of their three adult children Curtis, Mason and Kathleen and their spouses Patti, Roger and Bob.

For Marie’s birthday this spring, the three couples went together and purchased an after-market modification which includes an electric motor and controls for the side-by-side bike. Russell and Marie now have their choice: They can pedal the bicycle as before, use the electric motor for assistance on hills or when they grow tired, or simply turn on the motor and head out for a ride, no pedaling needed.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” remembers Marie, “but it sure was a good idea.”

The bike is about 20 pounds heavier than before, the two observe. Though it might be able to go faster, they limit their top speed to about 15 miles per hour. With a fully charged battery, they can ride about 25 miles before it needs recharging.

When asked how it feels to ride the bicycle without pedaling, Marie responds simply, “It feels like we’re enjoying ourselves.”

The two ride almost daily during the warm part of the year, mostly around Waseca. From their home in town, they say they have endless choices. They make use of the city trails and often ride around one or both of Waseca’s lakes. They will also sometimes join up with family or friends. Other favorite places to go riding include Rochester and, as always, the southeast corner of the state.

Russell and Marie speculate that, without the modification, they might barely be riding their bike at all anymore. “We’re getting so much enjoyment out of it,” says Marie enthusiastically. “I feel like we could go all day.”

Russell and Marie’s son Curtis and his wife Patti are also regular bicycle riders—although they do not typically go riding together. Curtis chooses to ride competitively, and so rides as much as 4,000 miles a year in all types of weather in locations scattered across the country. Patti classifies herself as more of a recreational rider, going for rides up to 10 miles long about five days a week during the warmer parts of the year.

Patti, 60, jokes that Curtis, now 62, “was glad when he turned 50 so he could be in the senior divisions” of competitions. Patti noticed she was slowing down about five years ago when her knees began to bother her, taking so much of the pleasure out of her rides that “I really wasn’t going out much anymore.”

She remembers that, at that time,” electric bikes were not well known, and some of her acquaintances laughed at the idea. Still, bicycles were so much a part of her everyday life, she wanted to give one a try.

Curtis arranged for a trial run and she’s been riding one ever since. Like Russell and Marie, she has the option of pedaling the bike entirely under her own power, using the electric motor for occasional assistance, or simply letting the motor do all the work. She says she chooses her speed based on conditions. By law, they are not supposed to go faster than 28 miles an hour; faster speeds would classify them as vehicles.

She says her almost-daily rides take her “Wherever I feel like that day; all over Waseca and around the lakes.”

As for Curtis’s rides, “daily” has been an absolute for the past 15 years or more “You just need the right tires and good gloves, and you can ride anytime,” he claims. “Sometimes I have to wait for the snowplow to come, but it’s rare that I don’t get in at least 10 miles.” Curtis says he rides back and forth to work at Tesch Service Center along Elm Avenue every day, purposely choosing a route at least 10 miles long round trip.

He says it all started when, as an in-line skate racer, he decided to use cycles for cross training. He discovered he preferred bicycling, partly because it felt safer and partly because time spent training can also be enjoyable social time. If he’s not traveling for a race or competitive ride, he says he often joins rides sponsored in the Mankato area by the owners of the Nicollet Bike Shop.

He says groups of 6 to 10 people who “like a challenge” will get together and ride 30 to 40 miles on gravel roads with speed as a priority. Among the group, Curtis says, most have traditional bikes, but he is one of three or four using an electric bike. “It’s really useful when they want to catch up,” he observes. His E-bike weighs 29 pounds; when in use, the motor automatically disengages when the bike reaches 28 m.p.h.--Curtis explains part of the reason is that any two-wheeled vehicle capable of speeds above 28 m.p.h. can no longer be classified as a bicycle.

Curtis owns nine bikes, only one of which has electric enhancements: each is set up for differing uses. One is a “recumbent” cycle, which has the rider much closer to the ground than a typical bike, and which requires a rider to use different muscles.

By traveling to participate in competitive rides, Curtis has been able to qualify for national-level competition: “You have to be among the top four in the state,” he explains, adding that it doesn’t have to be the rider’s home state.

He has three gold medals from the 2023 national competition: two were won in timed events, the third was for being the most accomplished senior cyclist “overall.”

He mentions having taken part in a 200-mile gravel-road race in Kansas which is “among the largest in the world,” and another which takes place in Oklahoma in March. He says he typically attends 8 to 10 competitions a year; his next one will be a mountain bike event in Wisconsin during September.