2,400 miles by bike at age 69 Cyclist takes his longest ride a trip to Michigan

Quick, what do you get when you divide 2,400 miles by 27.5 daysand combine it with 69 years and 20 flat tires?

Answer: Tom Swanson's cross-country bike ride from Tucson to Charlevoix, Mich., earlier this summer.

Swanson left Tucson on June 15 and arrived at his destination on July 12, three days before his 69th birthday.

The longtime salesman at Roh's Inc. makes the trip back to his hometown every summer, but this was the first time he decided to do it on a bicycle, he said.

Before that, the longest he'd ridden his bicycle was 50 miles, and that was only in the weeks leading up to the big trip.

"I was able to do that because I exercise virtually every day," he said. He enjoys bike riding, golfing, using a stair climber or treadmill and lifting weights.

It all began when he read a newspaper article about a different fellow who rode his bike across the country.

"I thought, 'I could do that,' " Swanson said last week during a break from selling televisions at Roh's, the Midtown store where he has worked for 18 years. "I'm not gonna go that far again, but it was kinda fun."

Swanson went on a "credit card" bike tour, he said.

He said in the world of bicycling enthusiasts, there are three kinds of bike tours: supported tours, where someone accompanies the bicyclist in a truck carrying necessary supplies; self-contained tours, in which cyclists carry all cooking and camping necessities and are completely self-reliant; and credit-card tours, in which the cyclist stays in motels and eats at restaurants along the way.

At about $2,000, Swanson spent considerably more on his credit-card tour than he would have spent on airfare, but said, "It was worth it. I always got a good night's sleep and a shower."

Because he didn't plan a route ahead of time -- instead, he asked local law enforcement in the towns he went through about which routes would be best -- he did have a tent, sleeping bag and pillow with him, but they went unused.

"I took too much stuff," he said. The extra weight made the hilly parts of the trip all but unbearable. Missouri was the worst, he said, being all up and down hills in 95-degree weather.

His wife of 43 years, Joan, said she didn't believe her husband when he first mentioned his plan.

"I thought he was crazy, and I didn't think he'd do it," she said. He doesn't have a history of being unpredictable, "But he's stubborn. Once he makes up his mind, he does it."

Once he was on the road, she paced the floor every evening until she heard from him. It was almost like worrying about a child again, she said. The two have three grown children.

She worried that he would get hit by a car or get mugged along the way.

"It's just something you have to put away. I couldn't think on it," she said.

None of those things happened, Tom Swanson said. The weather cooperated and nothing was stolen.

Tires went flat 20 times, so he went through a lot of inner tubes and patching. One day, he had four flat tires.

Two times, people stopped and threw his bike into their trucks and gave him a ride to get help. Nobody who ever helped him would let him pay them, he said.

"There's still some really nice people in the world."

Sandy Roh, who has been Swanson's boss for 18 years, affectionately called him "our wonder boy."

"He's always been in terrific shape," she said. In all the time he's worked for her family's company, he's been quick to handle some of the more physically demanding tasks.

People around the store marvel at how much Swanson exercises when he's not at work, Roh said. "Everyone else is like, 'Can you bring me the coffee and doughnuts?' "

Describing Swanson as "a really nice man" who "takes darn good care of himself," Roh said she doesn't know what she would have done without him at the store for the past 18 years because he is a model employee.

Joan Swanson said she's feeling much better now that her husband is home, and she's "very, very proud" of his adventure.

"Everyone has a dream in their life, of accomplishing something. That was his."