• A group of Caloosa Riders bicycle club members, including Jeff Brim, make their way east on Daniels Parkway on Monday morning. The group was heading out on a trip to Key West. Some were going to ride back in a car and others were going to return on the ferry. ANDREW WEST/The News-Press

IF YOU GO • What: Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club • When: 8 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, leaving from Buckingham Park, Fort Myers, or Pelican Park, Cape Coral. • Costs: Individual $15, families $20 • Info: 540-1260 or www.caloosariders.com

Riding for fun — seriously

Caloosa Riders take recreational, long-distance trips

The Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club, a recreational group, should have a disclaimer for newcomers getting involved with some of the veteran riders. It would read, "Be Careful Who You Follow.''

During a normal week, on Tuesday, Thursday or weekend mornings, the riders take an easy-going, 30-mile ride around Cape Coral or the Buckingham area.

Then you have folks such as Dutch Vanderkuyp, George Sampson, Bud Elder and Chad Folden, all from Cape Coral, who will take you on a ride that will last three or four months — not hours or days.

Then you have Michael Grussemeyer.

Grussemeyer is a long-distance rider and if he starts talking about doing a Brevet, realize that you will be on your bicycle for anywhere from 125 to 375 miles.

Last week, this group of long-distance riders, joined by another two dozen cyclists, all between the ages of 55 and 75, spent four days taking a leisurely, 302-mile trip to Key West. For this group of Caloosa Riders, the trip was a simple extension of their daily rides back home.

The venture for the Caloosa Riders was also the unofficial start of the local winter bicycle season that is highlighted by the 100-mile Tour de Cape in January and the Royal Palm Classic in March.

"Several of us were looking for a challenge, then someone said let's ride to the Keys and someone else said that sounds good, let's go,'' Grussemeyer, 63, said. "We had no accidents, only five flats and the only weather problem was a constant head wind.''

George Sampson of Cape Coral made his first long-distance ride with the club members, who returned home by the ferry from Key West to Fort Myers or in a car.

The trip started at the shopping center on Ben C. Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway and Daniels Road, headed through Lehigh Acres on Route 82 and then south on Route 29 to Everglades City on the first day. They reached Homestead on the second day, Long Key the third and rode into Key West on the fourth, camping every night, except for in Everglades City, where the mosquitoes forced them into a hotel.

"This was my first trip and I would do it again in a minute,'' said Sampson, 66, who moved here from Cincinnati in February and, like Grussemeyer, has had recent heart surgery.

"The trip was inspiring, being able to see everything so up close, unlike when you're in a car,'' Sampson said.

"This is a different kind of exercise, something you must build up for,'' said Sampson, who now has a 100-mile ride scheduled for June 2005, in Monterey, Calif., for Juvenile Diabetes.

The group of riders carried their own supplies, but Sampson's wife, Wayne, offered water or other beverages and snacks every 15-20 miles.

"Michael (Grussemeyer) has already mentioned doing a Brevet and I said, 'Not yet,' '' George Sampson said.

Folden, Elder and Vanderkuyp have been on some very, very long bicycle rides.

Folden rode 5,300 miles from Yorktown, Va., to Florence, Ore., and down the West Coast to Berkley, Calif., in 2002. Elder's resume includes a journey from Florida to Toronto in 1999, the same 3,500-mile trip that Vanderkuyp made a year later.

"That was a recreational ride for fun, where you still challenge your body and, regardless of the pace, you're maintaining a good fitness program,'' said Vanderkuyp, a Dutchman who moved to the area nearly 20 years ago from Suriname, South America, which was once a Dutch colony.

"I enjoy riding now as much as when I was a kid,'' said Elder, 71. "You're out in the open, seeing the countryside much better than in a car at 70 mph.

"I'm sure some of the guys new at this got more than they bargained for, certainly a new experience for them,'' Folden said. "The heat was worse than usual, unusually hot.

"This is fun once in a while, but I don't have the body now to be going 20 mph all the time. I like to go at a slower pace and I certainly will not be doing Brevets with Michael. He's all by himself in that category.''

"It's fun and a challenge to see if you can survive the hardship of distance,'' said Grussemeyer, who will participate in the 750-mile Gold Rush race in July in California.

Grussemeyer is the regional Brevet administrator for South Central Florida and has organized four races of anywhere from 125 to 375 miles around Clermont from January through April. A Brevet, loosely translated, means to go on a long trip on foot or bicycle. The French also call it Brevet's Randonnee's.

"The Brevets each must be completed within a specific time limit, the longest being 750 miles in under 90 hours,'' Grussemeyer said. "We use two headlights and two taillights for night riding and (they) are run like automobile road rallies, with checkpoints and controls.''

"What we did last week was a fun club ride,'' said Grussemeyer, who made the trip the weekend before by himself. "I'm a little more serious about long-distance riding.''