GREENFIELD — Just last month, Sheldon and Martha Hall were riding their tandem bike through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
This week, they’ll likely bike a few miles along the Pennsy Trail.
The retired Greenfield couple have been cycling together ever since their parents set them up on a blind date 30 years ago.
The date in question? A 100-mile century ride — a badge of honor among devoted cyclists — in Hope, Indiana.
The couple married two years later, and have been biking thousands of miles together ever since.
The Halls ride as much as they can, even while on vacation. They frequently drive out to the West Coast to visit a son who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, stopping along picturesque parks along the way.
They’ve also biked through Europe when visiting another son in Sweden.
Last year, they road 180 days, racking up 4,000 miles.
In the warmer months, they’ll ride two to four hours a day, four to five days a week.
“Sometime we just ride on the Pennsy Trail, come home and say, ‘That’s better than going to the gym for an hour and a half.’ We like being outside,” said Sheldon, 71.
“It’s a great way to see the world,” said his wife, Martha, 69.
When they’re not traveling, the retired teachers are frequently seen riding their teal blue tandem bike throughout the back roads of Hancock County and along the Pennsy Trail. They prefer the closeness and camaraderie that comes from riding a two-seater, rather than two bicycles.
“I haven’t ridden a single for miles in the last seven years,” said Martha, who takes the backseat while her husband rides in the front.
Sheldon said riding a two-seater is a great way to have better conversation with your fellow rider. Plus, it feels safer, too.
“You’ve got four eyes and four ears on one bike instead of two. It has more of a team effect,” he said.
The Halls are active in a subgroup of the Central Indiana Bicycling Association called Hoosiers Out On Tandem, or HOOTs, consisting of couples from all over the state.
“A lot of our socializing is when we get together with other tandem teams,” Sheldon said. “About all of our friends ride, and a lot of our trips are planned around riding. It’s a big part of our lives.”
He and his wife never hesitate to strap their bike onto the back of their Toyota Sienna minivan and meet up for rides with friends.
The couple has biked through all 92 counties in Indiana, and they pedaled their way around Lake Michigan in 2006.
Three years later, they completed the Ride Across Indiana event, known as RAIN, a 160-mile course that runs mostly along the Old National Road, from Terre Haute to Richmond.
“You see things differently traveling by bike,” Martha said. “You see things you wouldn’t otherwise see driving by car, because you’re going slower.”
It’s also a fun pastime and the best form of exercise for people with bad knees, said Martha, a former runner who had one knee replaced 10 years ago and has ongoing arthritis in the other.
She took up cycling 30 years ago as a way to keep up with her two active kids. She soon worked her way up to doing a week-long ride.
Sheldon started bicycling long distances after going through a divorce in his mid-30s.
The couple is passionate about sharing their love of cycling with others, and they encourage people of all ages to pick up the hobby and get pedaling, even if it’s just around the block to start.
“You can ride from Greenfield to New Pal on back roads that are relatively low traffic. The main thing is to make yourself visible,” Martha said.
She and her husband wear matching high-visibility green jerseys and helmets. There’s a flashing light on the back of Martha’s helmet, and a flashing light on the back of their bike.
The couple wear rear-view mirrors attached to their glasses, which they prefer over mirrors that attach to a bike. “The mirrors are an absolute necessity. It’s like riding blind without them,” Martha said.
It’s safest to pick back roads with low traffic, she said.
“That’s not hard to do in Hancock County, especially with the Pennsy Trail. You can ride it end to end and get out into roads with light traffic at either end. The trail changed our life,” Martha said.
It also helps to have a destination. “Sometimes we ride to Carthage or Knightstown or Morristown. If you have a destination, then you feel like you’ve been somewhere, and it makes the ride more fun,” she said.
She and Sheldon take turns picking interesting destinations with friends. They’ve taken several friends to visit the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, and the oldest iron bridge in Hancock County, and they’ve had friends take them biking out to Shelby County to visit the ASSphalt Acres miniature donkey farm.
The Halls serve on the Hancock County Trails Plan steering committee, on the subcommittee focused on educating the public about bike safety, and providing programs targeting improved safety and biking and walking clubs for kids.
The Halls hope to help Hancock County become designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, and they are working with the Greenfield Parks Department to host group rides for seniors along the Pennsy Trail this summer.
The couple is also active with the Ghost Bike Project, which places bicycles painted white at the sight where bicyclists have been killed by motor vehicles. They’ve placed three in Hancock County and have helped with the placement of 12 or so in Marion County.
“That project is to raise awareness of the need for bicycle infrastructure and adequate safety precautions,” said Martha, who advocates for good shoulders, lighting and curbs along roadways for cyclists.
Last year, the couple planned to speak at local schools about bicycle safety, but the program was delayed due to COVID. They hope to resume the effort soon, working with Bicycle Indiana, a statewide nonprofit working to make bicycle riding safer throughout the state.
“With the obesity and health problems our country is having, riding is a good way to keep your fitness up, and it’s also a good way to commute,” said Sheldon, whose son bikes to work within the Bay Area each day.
“It’s also a great way to see the outdoors,” he said.
He and his wife marvel at the interesting things they come across when pedaling down the road, like a field full of crosses marking a plane crash from years ago, or the sight of petrified wood making its way out of the ground.
They also meet interesting people along the way. They once pulled to the side of the road and struck up a conversion with a semi driver pulling a load of manure that ended up being the farm manager for Fair Oaks dairy farm.
“You find interesting things like that in Indiana,” Martha said.
The couple think that exploring the world on two wheels is the ideal way to spend their retirement.
They’ve been pedaling daily ever since they retired 13 years ago. Before that, Martha was a special education teacher for the Indianapolis Public Schools. Sheldon rounded out his career teaching biology and genetics at Lawrence Central High School.
They do a variety of short and long trips each month, often cruising the back roads throughout Hancock and surrounding counties.
For longer rides, they make sure to take enough water, as well as a couple of energy bars.
When riding 40 or miles along back roads, they plan a place to stop and eat, but when biking along a developed route like through the towns around Lake Michigan, they stop and explore local shops and restaurants.
They can go up to 40 miles without stopping if they push themselves, they said.
“You just have to gradually build your distance, adding no more than 10% to your mileage each week,” Sheldon said.
While some long-distance cyclists like to camp, the Halls prefer to stay at motels along their route. When biking through Europe, they take a much more leisurely speed, stopping frequently to enjoy the scenery or a glass of wine.
No matter the distance, wearing padded bicycle shorts and adjusting your seat to just the right height is essential, Sheldon said.
This month the Halls are taking part in the 30-day nationwide challenge that encourages cyclists to ride every day in the month of April, regardless of the weather.
“We can watch the weather and try to pick a time when there’s a gap in the weather,” said Martha, who admits to not being a big fan of riding in windy, rainy, cold weather. “That’s one of the benefits of being retired.”
