The cyclists in the Yellow Jackets Biking Club are easy to see because, well, they sport yellow jackets. (They have been known to occasionally don orange, however).
They can be spotted on Thursday and Saturday mornings cruising along Doheny Beach or along the bike path parallel to Los Patrones Parkway.
The starting and ending point for this dedicated group of cyclists is the clubhouse at the Reata Glen senior living community in Mission Viejo. The Yellow Jackets don’t let something as trivial as age stop them from trekking 12 to 16 miles on any given day.
Mel Clisby, the 90-year-old founder and oldest member of the Yellow Jackets, can attest to that.
Clisby, who owned an insurance agency for 36 years before retiring, started the cycling group five years ago almost immediately after moving into Reata Glen, which had also just opened at the time.
He also started a bocce ball group and participates in a walking group outside of Reata Glen.
One of the youngest members is Bill Webster, who just turned 78 in November.
Webster, a retired emergency room physician, joined the group four years ago, shortly after moving into the Reata Glen.
“I hadn’t ridden the bike in years and years and years,” Webster said. “But as I looked around and got to know the community, I saw more and more of these great bike paths we have around here, which are just fantastic, and so I decided to get myself an e-bike.”
Mike Wolter, 74, a retired salesman, had already been into riding when he moved to Reata Glen, so connecting up with a riding group was a no brainer.
“I love the fact that we can ride on bike paths,” Wolter said. “And I like to ride to the beach, who doesn’t? But I like to ride inland, too, and get out in the fresh air and sunshine. It’s just a great place to ride bikes.”
Involvement in the Yellow Jackets is as much about nourishing the soul as it is about exercise, its members said.
“This group in particular is really important, because we laugh a lot,” Clisby said. “That’s a big factor.”
When the ride is finished, the good-natured banter commences.
“The fun thing is we ride out to the end of the ride, whether it’s the beach or whether it’s inland, and then we stop, and then we discuss, and then we tell jokes and we give each other a bad time,” Webster said. “We talk about the world and how we think it should be done.”
For Clisby, the riding group was also an invaluable source of comfort during one of the most difficult periods of his life.
“It certainly helped when my wife passed away because everybody here was so fantastic,” he said. “Just great people. Just wonderful people.”
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