I thought I was the only one that knew about that underwear trick!  I put it in the same mental bucket as tearing off the half of maps I didn’t need or ripping out and tossing chapters of paperbacks after they’d been read.

Age 62.5 years.  First self-supported tour (not counting a couple of poorly-equipped overnight tours in my college days 40+ years earlier), new untested bicycle, new untested camping gear, solo across the U.S. on the Transam route;  Buddy Rides a Bike.  

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Working in London in my late twenties I used to ride weekend over nighters to Youth Hostels in the local area.

When I rode Adelaide to Melbourne in 2009 I had just celebrated my sixty seventh birthday. 

Mary and I acquired our Thorn Tandem in 2012.

I did my first self-guided bike tour at age 27.

I'm NOT one of those who took up bike touring in middle age or later.

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah.  Mine was at 14.  Can anyone beat that?

Yeah, Kirsten. 13.

She's too nice to blow her own horn. Not me though.

Rats, and congrats to Kirsten.  At least I’ve got her beat at the high end, so maybe I’ve got the greatest range on the site.

Scott at age 4 I was already showing signs of being enthralled (obsessed some would say) by the freedom endowed by self powered wheels. 

It wasn’t quite a tour, but in 1960, I pedalled this trike (solo, unaccompanied) from our family home to my uncle and aunt’s place about a km away. On unpaved, gravel streets. To this day I remember the elation of being able to go so far independently. 

This photo shows me trike-sporting my younger cousin Bob onto my grandparents’ car service ramp. He survived to tell the tale.

My first real tour on a bicycle was at age 22. It was a biggie. London to the Middle East. 

A one kilometer tour at age four is impressive, Graham!!!!  And not clipped in either.  Well done!!!!  

And trust  me that I’m not trying to upstage you here but it does remind me of my own first trike tour.  And I’ll also point out my sister Elizabeth (née Betty Lou, or Bla as we all called her until about a decade ago) practicing up for a future role at a TdF podium.