Steve Jones remembers the day in 2004 when his brother suggested they ride bikes across Iowa.
Jones assumed his brother was referring to their motorcycles. When Jones learned his brother actually wanted to ride bicycles, he had one response.
“Are you crazy?”
Flash forward to today, and Jones — a customer services supervisor at the Blair, NE, Post Office — is in the midst of his 13th bike ride across the Hawkeye State.
“The first five miles is usually the hardest part because your body is saying, ‘We don’t have to do this,’ Jones told the Pilot-Tribune & Enterprise this week. “It requires perseverance and drive, especially when you’re training.”
The annual ride is a week-long journey covering more than 450 miles and includes eight overnight towns.
Jones looks forward to seeing the same people on the ride each year.
He also appreciates the changing scenery — which beats watching TV.
“I don’t golf. I don’t fish,” he said. “I like riding bikes.”