By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Many cyclists ride for fun, but Marion Reservoir resident Bob Hoopes travels 3,000 miles a year.

It’s a way for him to enjoy the great outdoors and stay fit, he said.

“You have to get some health benefit, too, from getting off your rear end and out of the vehicle, he said.

He said he would ride more if he could.

“I’d like to do around 5,000 miles, but I have a lot of other activities I do that take away from riding,” he said.

When he was living in Wichita he biked a 5,000-mile trip to San Diego, up to Vancouver, Canada, and then back to Wichita.

“We just lived on the bikes for four or five months,” he said. “It was a great way to see the country.”

That was not his only long ride. He took a four-month, 3,000-mile trip with stops in St. Augustine, Florida, and Richmond, Virginia.

The hospitality he has encountered along the way has been a welcome surprise, Hoopes said.

“Going on my cross-country trips, I’ve found people are really kind,” he said. “It kind of restores your faith in humanity. They really like to do things, and they’ll buy you lunch.”

Hoopes said he averages around 30 miles a day, and one of his favorite stretches is 180th Rd. between Old Mill and Limestone Rds.

“It’s only three miles, but that’s a neat dirt road and it’s seldom used,” he said.

Hoopes prefers the decreased traffic of dirt roads, saying it’s safer and allows him to enjoy the scenery.

“It’s beautiful to ride the Flint Hills,” he said. “You can go out there and ride those old dirt roads. You might go 30 miles and only see a couple cars. I’m not very keen on riding the highway.”

One advantage of biking is that there are a number of categories, from road races to trail riding, Hoopes said.

“There are all kinds of things, it just depends on what you like to do,” he said. “I enjoy living like a nomad and doing those trips.”