FAMILY TOGETHER HITS ROAD

An apt motto for the Pulley household might be: "The family that rides together, abides together."

Not content to vegetate in front of the television, Gene and Judy Pulley have instead tried to foster a shared family interest in cycling.

It's appropriate that in their home's living room where one might expect to look under the couch cushions to find a lost remote among potato chip crumbs, there are bicycles instead.

"I started about six years ago because a co-worker, who was an avid cyclist, talked me into it," said Judy Pulley. "The others kind of thought it was something they'd like to do."

At one time, Judy, Gene, son Jeff and daughter Kim all cycled together.

Jeff, 21, remains a cyclist. But a 600-cc Kawasaki now is his bike of choice.

But mom, dad and Kim, 17, continue to devote up to three days a week, nine months a year, to cycling as avid members of Cape Girardeau's Velo Bicycle Club.

It wasn't always a family affair, though. Judy remembers well the first few times her husband ventured out on one of the Velo road trips.

"There were times when he first started riding when he'd get about halfway through the ride and he didn't think he could finish," Judy said. "He would complain so much that I'd have to ask him why he was even doing it.

"But you always feel good when you finish, like you've really accomplished something."

Judy's first ride, with that co-worker, Pat Boyd, was a mellow 35-40 miles. "I thought it would kill me," she said.

"You actually build up to it," added Gene, who has rode "centuries" -- or 100-mile rides --since his pallid beginning. "You start with shorter rides, then you build up.

"When you ride 100 miles, you literally ride 10 to 15 minutes at a time."

The toughest ride is on flat land, where it's constant pedaling, particularly if there's any kind of head wind.

Kim remembers well a brutal 68-mile trip across the flat Bootheel in a steady downpour.

Judy recalls the "Hilly 100" in Bloomington, Ind., a 100-mile ride in the late fall.

"By the time the ride was over, the temperature was in the upper 20s," she said. "It took me forever to warm up."

But the suffering is shared. It's a bond that helps to build a strong family. The Pulleys share other interests as well.

Gene, Jeff and Kim all are soccer buffs and regularly referee matches in Shawnee Park. And Judy and Kim have begun roller-blading, as if cycling wasn't sufficient exercise.

But they don't plan on quitting cycling anytime soon.

"I would hate to have to give it up," said Judy. "I guess maybe we could take up walking, but that's pretty boring.

"Cycling is a good stress reliever," she added. "You can forget about work for a while, but you kind of trade one stress for another. Traffic is always a concern, and you can never forget about that."

Gene said he used to play softball for exercise. Now he prefers cycling to other types of workouts.

"Softball hardly prepares you for cycling," he said. "You don't really get into too good of shape running from the dugout to the pitcher's mound."

But softball certainly is safer than cycling. Shortly after buying his first helmet, he took a spill.

"Kim told me she not only saw my head bounce off the ground, she heard it," he said. "We're strong advocates of helmets."

Aside from the potential for spills, there is the ever-present danger of traffic.

"Some drivers just can't see you," Gene said. "But others have bumper stickers that say, `So many bikers... So little time.'"

The Pulleys guess they have $3,000 to $3,500 invested in bicycles and riding equipment. And although they load up their Jeep to make bike trips throughout the Midwest, most of their riding is done in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Judy said she rides up to 2,000 miles in a nine-month season, while her husband does about 1,000 miles. The key to cycling, Gene said, is mental preparation.

"If you psyche yourself for 30 miles, and you ride 40, that last 10 miles becomes awfully long," he said. "But if you psyche yourself for 40, it's not a big deal."

Trying to scale the big hills around Southeast Missouri has to be the toughest challenge for a Velo Club cyclist, right? Not exactly.

"Hills aren't so bad," said Gene. "Most of them have a top. Dogs can be a factor, though."