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I was thinking about this story today that I wrote for The Romeo Observer back on October 9, 2002.....



Washington Township resident Henry Koehler turns 90 years old today and he won’t be celebrating by playing bingo or shuffleboard.

He will ride his bike nearly 20 miles around Stony Creek Metropark.

“I ride almost every day when the weather is good. I don’t ride in the rain or if it is too windy,” he said.

The fair weather bike riding days have added up to nearly 3,000 miles this year.

“I even ride in the winter as long as a path is shoveled,” he said.

Koehler began bike riding serious distances in 1987 at the tender age of 75 after his wife had died and he was looking for something to do.

“I’ve ridden some 50 mile rides. I used to ride 36 miles every other day before I moved to Washington,” he said.

Koehler has ridden anywhere from 2,530 miles to 5,225 miles a year with an average of 3,758 miles each year for the past 15 years.

He has pedaled his bike 56,383 miles or the equivalent of more than two times around the earth.

He measures his mileage with an electronic speedometer/odometer on his handlebars and records his yearly mileage in a little notebook

Koehler’s daily routine includes three laps around the lake at Stony Creek which totals around 18 miles.

The bike ride is followed by a stroll through the Washington Meijer store and a salad lunch in the cafeteria.

His speedometer also records his average speed which he reports is more than 12 mph but he said he has often traveled at a clip of more than 17 mph.

“I go pretty fast when I can,” he said.
If you want to join Koehler for a lap or two, don’t expect to find him riding on a one speed cruiser bike with wide handlebars, fenders and a big cushy seat.

He owns a modern racing style bike complete with 12 gears and skinny tires.

He wears a helmet and a bicycling jersey while he rides. His feet are strapped to the pedals with toe clips and straps just like a bike racer.

He restricts most of his riding to Stony Creek although he has ridden on organized bicycle tours and with bicycle clubs.

“I’d rather ride alone,” he says and winks. “They (other bike riders) are a little too slow for me.”

Koehler said that he has noticed himself slowing down a little the past few years.

“I used to ride a bike to keep ahead of father time. Now he’s got a bike, too, and he’s catching up with me,” he said.

He said that he rarely rides more than 20 miles a day now and that some of the hills in the park seem more difficult to ride over.

“I think some of the hills in the park are getting bigger,” he said.

He said that his hip joint has been deteriorating the past few years and bothers him occasionally while walking but never while bike riding.

Even with the hip complaint, he still walks at the same pace as someone one third his age and he rarely has the need to visit the doctor.

Koehler was never athletic during his adult years and spent 46 years working as a pattern maker for automotive industry.

“When I was in school I did do some high jumping and played soccer. When you’re a kid, you do a lot of running around,” he said.

Upon retirement, he cared for his wife, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

He has been asked by several other occasional bike riders in the park if he ever gets bored doing laps at Stony Creek.

“I just take it easy and enjoy myself. There is always something that I haven’t seen before,” he said.

Published October 9, 2002

A funky little wind-powered speedometer. It seemed to be right for a bike called "Jet Pilot."