Get back on a bike at any age

I haven’t been on a bicycle since I was a kid, but I couldn’t say no when my dad offered to give me a free bike from his garage in September. I had no idea where to start, but I know Indy’s got a big biking community.

So on a chilly fall morning, I walked my bike over to the Monon Trail to meet up with Don Schlegel, a 67-year-old retired teacher who lives on the north side and rides a silver recumbent bike that he says “feels like riding a lawn chair.” He’s my bike buddy, a mentor through Central Indiana Cycling’s Bike Buddies program that matches new riders with experienced ones.

I was crossing my fingers, hoping for a very patient bike buddy. I was nervous to get back on a bike. The night before we met up, I bought a helmet that makes me look like a blueberry, and I probably should’ve gotten my bike checked out before trying to ride it. Instead, I showed up with leaves and cobwebs in the spokes of my wheels.

Don Schlegel, volunteer mentor for the Bike Buddies program in Central Indiana helps Sophie Young, Mirror Indy service reporter, tune up bike on Oct. 9, 2026 on the Monon Trail near Broad Ripple. Credit: Miguel Dominguez/Mirror Indy

Schlegel got right to work. He told me he likes to start with the ABCs: air, brakes and chains. We spent 30 minutes on the A. He squished my front tire between his fingers, and it was more like a yeasted donut from Long’s Bakery than the hard, road-ready pressure tires that bikes are apparently supposed to have.

He pulled out a bag of tools from the back of his bike and replaced the tube inside my front tire. I was happy to rest for a second and hype myself up before getting on the bike. I don’t have a great track record with two-wheeled vehicles. I faceplanted and got a concussion the one time I tried an electric scooter in college.

After the quick tune-up, we did loops around the Indy Art Center’s parking lot. I learned how to brake pretty quickly when I veered off into the trees and cursed under my breath. Schlegel kept reminding me not to grip the handlebars too tightly, to find the balance on my seat.

I found it made me more comfortable to ask him questions while we rode around the parking lot for 15 minutes. He told me about his career teaching history to middle schoolers and high schoolers. He shared that he volunteers with Cycling Without Age , a global nonprofit that gives rides to seniors who can’t ride bikes anymore. He goes around to Indianapolis nursing homes with a bike that’s part tricycle, part rickshaw.

Don Schlegel, volunteer mentor for the Bike Buddies and Sophie Young, Mirror Indy service reporter ride their bikes Oct. 9, 2026 on the Monon Trail. Credit: Miguel Dominguez/Mirror Indy

Schlegel shared that biking is a big part of his retirement. He’s been part of Bike Buddies for the past five or six years.

“I’ve always been on a bike, I thought I had enough experience and being retired, I had enough time where I thought it was a way for me to give back,” he said.

I started the day wobbly. But with his help, I ended it by biking to Perk Up, a coffee shop a few hundred feet away, where I bought him a “booberry” latte and told him the dream I’m taking baby steps toward — biking to the Indy 500.

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Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org .

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