BIOGRAPHY

The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s mission places health as its number one priority

Tom Lais  

651 261 7054        

Tdlaist54@icloud.com

I like to ride bikes, camp, and hike.    What else do you need to know?

My mission is to ride a bike and share the experience.

I am not alone:

The Mayo Clinic Doctors have said that sitting is the new tobacco.   We have designed activity out of our jobs and our recreation.   The automobile and computer,  while great inventions, don’t afford us much in the way of movement.  Worse yet they absorb a lot of time.   Let’s face it, our office jobs and even our modern day manufacturing careers are not what our bodies need to stay healthy.

“The Minnesota Department of Transportation is an agency dedicated to supporting a multimodal transportation system that maximizes the health of people, the environment and our economy. Bicycling is an integral part of this transportation system. Bicycling maximizes the health of people by creating opportunities for physical activity through daily travel and recreational pursuits. Bicycling maximizes the health of the environment by reducing the number of trips taken by carbon-emitting motor vehicles. Bicycling maximizes the health of our economy by facilitating tourism and offering a low-cost transportation alternative to motor vehicles.

1954 

The year I was born.   Things were different then.  No Freeways, no cell phone, no internet, no computers, and relatively little Television. As children we walked to school.  In fact we walked or biked to almost anywhere we wanted to go.   I enjoyed the out of doors.  These memories stick with me.

1972

I was selected as an AFS student and lived in Costa Rica.  I learned Spanish and how to live a simpler life in the tropics.    People walked and met in the town square.  Cars were less prevalent.  The system worked

1976

I graduated from St. John’s University where I learned accounting and business.  I also learned a set of values.  The campus was located in the middle of woods and lakes.   I valued the outdoors already and continued to value it there.

1978

I moved from Ashland Wisconsin to Billings Montana.  I walked to work,  and I walked all over the place.  When I was not at work I was in the mountains.  I frequented Yellowstone National Park.  I was also fortunate to work on the Indian Lands and learn their views of the world and spirituality.   They were not different from the values I learned in Costa Rica and at St. John’s.

1986

Moved with my wife and kids to Spain.   I lived in a rural community in the northern Spain.    While I did not appreciate the smoking that most Spaniards seemed to habitualy engage in,  I did walk and hiked in the mountains.    The food was great too

1992

Returned to Minneapolis/ St. Paul MN  to work in health care administration.   In the process of administering accounts and the like, I was also lucky to talk to many physicians and nurses.   A common theme was that utilization, not inflation, was increasing our cost of care.   Drivers of utilization were inactivity,  eating, and contaminants in our environment.

2006

Got my first bike.   Then things came together.   My pedigree includes competing n endurance bike marathons,  long distance road trips, training with highly skilled and recognized professional coaches, obtaining a certificate to teach bike safety,  and presenting at the first International Winter Bike Congress in Oulu Finland.

2016

Launching “Destination Based Exercise”  a consulting group to help organizations, study, teach, design, implement, and manage bicycling as transportation.     Connecting the dots between health and movement.    Also bringing focus to organizations and people who see the opportunities afforded to them through bicycle transportation.

2017

Finished the Tour De Afrique, An 11,200 Kilometer bike  tour from Cairo Egypt to Cape Town South Africa.    I did not EFI but road 99% of the trip.  My downfall was extreme heat and roads that my bike simply was not built to take.

 

 

Call me, or E mail. I love to engage in bicycling –  Warning _ may be on my bike!!