Where There's a Wheel: How three bike-riding buddies conquered the last continent
By: John Hanc Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: July 2005
At a Chilean scientific base on a remote island in Antarctica, in the midst of an international footrace, a grandma from Iowa was looking for a bicycle.
It happened during the running of the seventh Antarctica Marathon, a 26.2-mile contest on King George Island, located just off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. In her search, 70-year-old Shirl Kenney of Cedar Rapids was demonstrating the persistence that would allow her and two bike-riding buddies, Joan Irwin, 72, of Lead, S.D., and Sharlene Anderson, 56, of La Verne, Calif., to set an unofficial world record in the most unlikely of circumstances.
The three women—who among them have 17 grandchildren (Anderson is expecting her first grandchild in September)—are believed to be the first people to bicycle on all seven continents. “It was sheer perseverance,” says Anderson, a college math professor.
Clearly, these aren’t your average grandmothers. While lots of older people enjoy bicycling (more than 1 million men and women over 55 regularly rode either a stationary or road bike in 2003, according to a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association), few are pedaling toward such distant horizons. Avid cyclists for years, the three women met on a yearlong, around-the-world bike trip in 2000. Riding an average of 80 miles per day through 45 countries and six continents, Kenney, Anderson and Irwin forged a friendship that would be rekindled last year when Anderson decided to run in the Antarctica Marathon.
Over lunch at the Los Angeles airport, Anderson told Kenney, a retired kindergarten teacher, about her plan and impulsively added, “Want to come with me?” Kenney’s immediate response was: “What a crazy idea! I would love to!”
Once home in Iowa, Kenney quickly recruited Irwin, a retired school psychologist. The two older women would act as Anderson’s “support crew,” and, of course, they’d all share the rare privilege of seeing Antarctica.
Getting there was itself a marathon: first, an 11-hour flight to Buenos Aires followed by three more hours to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the Western Hemisphere. Then the marathon’s group of 227 boarded two converted Russian spy ships for a two-day crossing of the Drake Passage into Antarctica. It was late February, and glaciers and icebergs, penguins and seals dazzled the three friends.
The trio delighted their generally younger shipmates. “They were well liked,” says Kal Bittianda, a runner from Manhattan. “Definitely characters ... risk takers with no lack of spirit.”
When the idea of the three women trying to bike on the “last continent” came up, it was rejected by the marathon organizers: there are strict rules about what can and cannot be done in this environmentally fragile part of the world.
That didn’t stop them.
Pedaling is their passion, not to mention a route to something even more important than travel—their health. “Bicycling is an excellent form of cardiovascular activity for seniors,” says University of Illinois exercise physiologist Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko. Even at the modest pace of 12 miles per hour, a cyclist burns about 300 calories in 30 minutes; and it’s a low-impact exercise that’s easy on the joints. Don’t forget to wear a helmet, ride safely and start slowly if you’re mounting a two-wheeler for the first time since grade school.
For the three women, the benefits are obvious. Even when not training for swim-bike-run triathlons, Anderson rides four days a week, with a weekly long ride of 35 to 50 miles. (She also runs 30 to 35 miles a week and swims twice a week.)
By comparison, Kenney trains sporadically unless preparing for a bike tour. But when she does, every mile generates “a euphoric feeling,” she says. “It’s peaceful, and the thoughts just come.”
On the day of the Antarctica Marathon, Anderson ran along muddy trails, across fields of loose rock and up and down a steep glacier, as course monitors Kenney and Irwin pointed runners in the right direction. Waiting near the Chilean base, Kenney began to inquire whether anyone knew of an available bicycle. Finally, an English-speaking man in a military uniform gave her a lead. Because families stay on the base during the summer, he explained, the base gym kept a children’s bike.
“My eyes widened,” Kenney recalls. “I asked, ‘How do I get permission to ride it?’ And he said, ‘I gave you permission.’ ”
With the officer’s blessing, Kenney headed for the indoor gym. She found the little bike and rode it up and down a 40-foot-long corridor. Then she rushed off to tell Irwin, who was soon pedaling, too.
Meanwhile, Anderson was nearing the finish of her long race. With about a quarter mile to go, she heard her two friends excitedly calling to her: “Come back when you’re done! We’ve got something to show you!”
After crossing the finish line (in 6 hours 42 minutes) and too tired to argue, she trudged back to the gym. The sight of the bike re-energized her. She briefly toured the corridor and, Anderson says, “felt like the three of us had done something extraordinary.”
Irwin had a slightly different reaction. “It was a bit of a lark,” she says, “but it was a bike ride!” And so what if the Guinness Book of World Records wasn’t there to document it? “I don’t really care that it’s not official. We’ve done it and that’s what counts.”
“It’s a really impressive achievement,” agrees Andy Clarke, executive director of the Washington-based League of American Bicyclists. “These three women are great examples of bicycling’s ability to reach across ages and continents.”
They also teach another important lesson: Never underestimate the power of a bicycle-riding grandma ... or three.
Worldly Advice
Talk someone else into exercising with you. Train and learn together. Encourage each other.
—Sharlene Anderson, 56, La Verne, Calif.
Do things with your grandchildren, active things.
—Shirl Kenney, 70, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Find something you love. I love bike touring because it’s such a great way to see the world and get your exercise and have fun.
—Joan Irwin, 72, Lead, S.D.
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