'So much to see': Destin man bicycles 2,000 miles through seven countries in Europe

DESTIN — For someone who took up bicycling later in life, Tom Catanese has racked up a lot of miles in the saddle.

The 63-year-old Destin resident took up cycling 13 years ago at the age of 50 to help stay in shape. Since then, he estimates he has pedaled about 50,000 miles in more than 55 countries.

Last month Catanese completed an organized bicycle trip with the company Bike-Dreams that took he and about 30 other cyclists some 2,000 miles through seven countries in the Balkans region of Europe. The tour started Sept. 6 in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and ended in Athens, Greece, on Oct. 17.

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“Slovenia is so beautiful; it was absolutely amazing,” Catanese said. “The first thing we did was hit the mountains, and some of those climbs were painfully steep.”

The 43-day trip included 36 days of cycling and seven rest days. The tour company made arrangements for the cyclists to have dinner and stay overnight in locations spread out along the route, and provided a van and support staff.

They pedaled an average of 63 miles each day and would average climbs of 4,750 feet per day.

Catanese, who is used bicycling in the low elevations of Florida, knew the trip would be a challenge. Before packing up his bike, he had his mechanic put “as many granny gears on the bike as it could hold.”

While that helped a little, Catanese credits his fellow cyclists and the tour staff with giving him the support he needed to get through the difficult first couple of weeks of the trip. Eventually, he got accustomed to the daily climbs and fell into a regular routine in which could focus on what he enjoys most: exploring the world on two wheels.

“It was painful but, it keeps pulling you in,” Catanese said. “When you see the beauty of these countries, it keeps pulling you in; you want to keep on going.”

Catanese said the trip was routed through some of the most scenic parts of the countries they visited, and his bicycle provided the ideal way to really immerse himself in the experience.

“There’s so much to see and experience and learn,” he said. “The thing about cycling is you learn about the history of where you're cycling. You learn about the geography and the people.”

The bicyclists continued to ride up and down mountains as they made their way south toward Greece.

“You use up all your energy for the day, you sleep well, and get up early and start again,” Catanese said. “Some times you’re camping on a mountain, sometimes you’re camping under olive trees near the Adriatic Sea. We were always eating very well, but I probably burned 5,000 calories a day, easy.”

Catanese estimated he probably dropped 10 to 15 pounds by the time the group finished the tour in Athens.

It was the latest in more than a half-dozen long-range bicycle trips Catanese has taken in areas ranging from Europe and Scotland to China and Vietnam.

“Wherever I go, I’m just thankful that I’m there,” he said. “There are places I will never go to again in my lifetime, and I always feel blessed that I was able to do it.”

And above all, Catanese hopes his journeys will help inspire others.

“If you go somewhere, just rent a bicycle and ride. It’s good exercise and you get to see so much.”

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Avid Destin bicyclist competes 2,000 trip through the Balkans