By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
When you think of bicycle towns in the United States or even around Florida, perhaps Lakeland doesn’t jump to the top of the list.
That didn’t matter to the vibrant Beth Geohagan.
Beth started a bicycle touring business a decade ago in her beloved Lakeland, a medium-sized city in the heart of Polk County on Interstate 4 halfway between Tampa and Orlando.
It was called BeFly Bike Tours and the bike tours were pure Beth — full of joy, smiles and love for her hometown.
Beth explained to the Lakelander in 2015 why she started BeFly tours.
“I love my Lakeland, and I express my affection for this city by inviting people to explore its streets and buildings and natural wonders via two wheels. The fact that my guests connect with the beauty here with a bicycle is no trivial matter.
“The bicycle moves at the perfect speed for people to soak up the sights and learn about architecture, history, and culture while moving at a pace that covers the practical ground necessary in a city that offers so much.”
Beth’s BeFly tours offered a variety of two-hour bike rides and they all started somewhere around downtown Lakeland. The bike tours and their names were like Beth — unique, whimsical and witty. They were called, Lake Hopping, Park Hopping, Art is in Heart, Brick and Mortar, Blast From the Past, and I Love You.
Designed by Beth, the eight bicycles in the BeFly fleet were colorful beach cruisers, easy to ride so that the people on the two-wheelers could enjoy everything around them.
Beth’s energetic personality shined through during her bicycle tours in Lakeland. She helped Lakeland’s downtown businesses by including them in her bike tours.
Even though I worked on bicycle issues in Tampa from 2006-2012, I never met Beth in Florida.
In 2012 when Beth started BeFly Bike Tours, I was off to Las Vegas to work for the local daily newspaper.
When I found out Beth had started a bike tour business in Lakeland, I reached out to find out about the woman who had the gumption to start the two-wheel tour enterprise. Bonding over bicycles, we became good friends.
In fact, Beth visited Las Vegas in 2014 and she even biked the famed Red Rock Loop 15 miles west of the Strip. Even though Beth was a flatlander from Florida, she biked the hilly, steep Loop with a heavy hybrid bicycle. No easy feat.
In 2016, I visited Beth in Lakeland and tagged along on one of her bike tours that was bought by a young couple.
Beth led the pair, Jennifer and Bruce, on the “I Love You” tour. She took the couple around Lakeland before settling them in for a romantic dinner on Lake Mirror at a table and chairs that she had arranged before the bike ride began.
Beth loved bicycling. She never wore Lycra shorts or a bike jersey. Instead, Beth wore fashionable skirts and dresses, showing the world that bicycling didn’t require any special clothing
Beth had a spontaneous and free spirit streak to her personality. And bicycling allowed that spirit to be set free.
Beth also liked CyclingSavvy, which taught skills to bicyclists so they could be drivers of vehicles to bike anywhere they wanted.
Beth showed how it was done when she bicycled in traffic on the Las Vegas Strip. It was a cool sight to see Beth in a pretty red dress pedaling amid the motorized vehicles along Las Vegas Boulevard.
Beth was more than just bicycling. She also taught swimming and water safety classes to kids and was quite talented at this.
Beth was teaching swim classes this year, in fact.
A lover of butterflies, she also had a wonderful touch with flowers and plants, displaying an impressive collection of gorgeous flora.
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On May 23, Beth unexpectedly passed away. Beth was 44 and had a son.
Beth left behind a heart-broken family and many deeply-saddened friends.
If you were lucky to have known Beth and her radiant smile, you will always keep her memory close to your heart.