ESTERO, Fla. - Cascades is a quiet 55 and older community in Estero.
With residents regularly walking and biking, it's a fairly active community.
But 80-year-old Frank Schuler has taken the word "active" to a whole new level.
“Last January I started this and I put myself down for a goal of 3500 miles and as of this morning I’m about five miles short of 3500 miles,” explains Schuler.
Yup, you read that right - three thousand five hundred miles in one year.
But how did he do it?
Frank says the key is baby steps.
“I travel the distance around it each day, do the cul-de-sacs roughly three to four times, and end up doing between ten to twelve miles each day,” says Frank, explaining his routine.
And as for why, Frank says he just needed a challenge.
“I just enjoy getting out and getting the fresh air and doing some exercise instead of just being a couch potato,” he says.
To put it in perspective, riding 3500 miles is like walking the length of the court of the Suncoast Credit Union Arena roughly 200,000 times!
But Frank says if he can do it, so can others his age.
“I’ll be 81 in February and I don’t know that many guys that are over the age of 80 that are out riding their bikes," he says.
He could have been in the weight room at the community gym, but he says he'd rather be outside engaging with his neighbors.
“I’m on the board of directors here so I talk to a lot of people, see some of their problems and some of their concerns as to what they’d like to see done in the community,” he explains.
He's always been involved with his community, one way or another.
“If it wasn’t a school board or a county board or something like that, I’ve always been involved and helped people out to try to do things to better the community,” he says.
But don't think that Frank is stopping here...he already has plans for next year!
“My one grandson tells me I should up it to 4000 miles…I think I’m going to up it but not that far.”
