About Tom Swenson

Tom Swenson touring Long Island October, 2000

I've loved bicycles and the outdoors for as long as I can remember.   My first bicycle was a green Columbia with chrome fenders, a banana seat, a fat slick rear tire and a big 3 speed stick shift mounted on the top tube.  I used to ride this bike in the woods years before Gary Fisher and his friends invented the mountain bike.  

When I was 12, my parents bought me a Columbia 10 speed.  While other kids were content riding around the neighborhood, I was riding around neighboring towns.  At age 16, I saved some money from my part time job and bought my first "real" bicycle, a black Peugeot UO-9.  I started doing longer distance rides including my first century.  I also did a couple of short tours including a week long self contained tour of Cape Cod my senior year of high school. 

I enlisted in the Army at age 18.   One week before I reported for active duty, I was hit by a car.  I wasn't hurt.  But, my Peugeot was totaled.  I didn't own another bicycle for 14 years.   I'm not quite sure why.  As time passed, I drifted into a sedentary lifestyle and gradually gained weight.  By age 32 I weighed about 220 pounds and my cholesterol levels were dangerously high. 

Shortly after my doctor lectured me about my lard-ass life-style, my father-in-law gave me an old 10 speed he had in his basement.  This bike was way too big for me and not in the best mechanical shape.  Nevertheless, I started riding it 10 to 15 miles at a time.   Those few short rides, revived my love of cycling.  Three weeks later I purchased a Miyata mountain bike.  I started doing longer rides both on and off road.   The more I rode that bike, the better I felt.  At the end of that Summer, I signed up for a metric century called Round Quabbin.  On this ride I learned the hard way that flat handle bars and knobby tires just don't cut it on pavement.  The following Spring I bought a Cannondale R-500 road bike and joined the Seven Hills Wheelmen.  By June, I completed the King's Tour of the Quabbin, my first century as and adult   In less than a year, I lost 50 pounds and brought my cholesterol down to a healthy level. I've gained some of the weight back in recent years. However, I am still in far better shape than those years before I began cycling.

A successful day pheasant hunting with my good friend Chris Giglio (left) and his dog, Rick.

I currently ride about 4,000 to 5,000 miles a year including 6 to 12 centuries.  I commute to work on bicycle 2 to 3 times per week from April to November.  My longest single day ride to date is 143 miles.  I do several weekend trips and one major tour per year.  In addition to the Miyata and Cannondale, I own a Balance AL-450 mountain bike. and a Bilenky Midlands touring bicycle.  I am an active member of the Seven Hills Wheelmen having served the club as Rides Coordinator and currently as President.  In addition to cycling, I also enjoy hiking, in-line skating, skiing, snow shoeing, hunting and fishing.

I am 40 years old.  I live in Boylston, Massachusetts with my wife Wendy.  We have two children, Kristin (age 18) and Craig (age 12).  I make my living producing  online advertising at the Worcester Telegram, a local newspaper based in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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