79-Year-Old Rides Bike 250 Miles

Lyle White

based on a news article in the Grand Haven Tribune

Lyle White of Grand Haven, dismayed over the large number of his friends who were moving to nursing homes, determined that he would keep active for as long as possible. He prayed about this situation often.

When his good friend Chuck also ended up in a home, he believed that God told him the only way to prevent the same fate for himself was to ride his bike to Mackinac City. He began getting in shape with rides near home, but was pretty sure that his family wouldn't understand.

So on the morning of April 1, he headed north. He made it as far as Coopersville before a family member called his cell phone, and tried to convince him to turn back, which he declined to do.

He rode 47 miles the first day. His wife was the most upset, but with frequent phone calls he convinced her that he would be all right, and he kept going. Stops were Newaygo, Baldwin, Mesick, and Kalkaska. Next came Boyne City, and Petoskey, but when he reached Pellston winter had one last word for Michigan and he was snowed in for a day.

The final 17 miles, to Mackinac City were ridden in wind, and on ice. White admits that the journey was difficult for someone his age. He ached every day and took numerous rest stops beside the road. When he was a mere 65 years old, he rode from Grand Haven to Marquette. He knows the the effects of age are impossible to hold off forever, but White says that you can't argue with God when he tells you to do something.
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