Tom S. Flournoy (Age 69)
Memorial service info
Tom Flournoy died in his sleep the morning of October 27, 2024. He was 69.
Tom was born in Washington, DC. After graduating from Woodbridge Senior High School and Old Dominion University, he launched a successful career as a Professional Engineer, specializing in transportation projects from planning to final design. Projects he worked on included roadways, highways, bridges, transit facilities, commuter rail, and bike and pedestrian facilities. Many, if not most, were in the Washington, DC area, including Arlington County, which became Tom’s home in 1989. In his last position as VP at STV Inc., Tom was instrumental in starting and growing STV’s DC office, which is still thriving.
Tom was justifiably proud of his career as an engineer, during which he acted as a mentor to many younger engineers, launching them on successful careers of their own. He liked to tell stories of the time he went to Saudi Arabia to teach bridge engineering classes, and when traveling, he made sure to point out interesting bridges, some of which he had worked on. But proud as he was of it, Tom’s career was not the only focus of his life.
Upon retirement in 2015, Tom reflected, “I became rewired and self-contained, which is another great word. In bicycle touring it means you aren’t dependent. You are self-contained and not relying on SAG (support and gear). And that is how I will approach the coming years, rewired and self-contained! This is not meant to exclude my great friends, past, present and future, but more the independent spirit that I learned a long time ago when I rode solo across Italy in 1991!”
Since his retirement, Tom’s life focused on two great passions: opera and cycling.
Tom’s love of opera developed somewhat late in life, but it was intense. Among his favorites were La Boheme, Lakme, Billy Budd, and, last but not least, Wagner’s Ring Cycle. He was a long-time subscriber to the Washington National Opera. Most often with his partner Laurent, he also attended performances at many of the great opera houses of the US and Europe, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Paris, London, Vienna, and Prague. His most recent opera trip was to Berlin, to see the Deutsche Oper’s Ring Cycle. He was with Laurent at the Washington National Opera’s Wagner tribute on October 26.
First and foremost, though, Tom was an avid cyclist, especially long-distance cycle touring. A few years ago, he said, “I feel ageless, or used to. Age does creep up on us. Feeling ageless may sound like an old metaphor but I attribute that feeling to my love of cycling and, in particular, my love of long-distance cycle touring.”
Indeed, Tom loved going on long bike tours that often lasted weeks, either on his own or with friends, especially, in the last few years, with his close friend Mark. Tom’s first big bike tour was in 1988, when he first went to France with his then significant other, Doug Wolfer, and two friends. They biked from Paris to Chartres, to the Loire Valley, and onto Vichy, Lyon, Dijon, and back to Paris. As Tom put it, after that trip, he was hooked. Since then, he returned to France several times and also toured in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and, most recently, the Balkans from Vienna to Bucharest via Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria.
In the US, Tom toured in Montana and Wyoming (an extension of Cycle Montana), Rhode Island and Massachusetts (Providence to Provincetown), North Carolina and Virginia (Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway), Tennessee to Louisiana (Natchez Trace Parkway and the Mississippi River Trail to New Orleans), Vermont and New York (around Lake Champlain), the entire east coast from Key West to Halifax (Canada), and a circular loop through Canada starting in Vermont that took him through Montréal, up the P’tit Train du Nord Rail Trail, back down to Ottawa, and then around lake Ontario, across the Erie Canal, down the Hudson River to New York, and from there, through New Jersey and Delaware to home, in Arlington. Tom also biked extensively in Florida, accumulating over 3,800 miles in that state alone. Tom’s “Heartlands Tour” took him from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA, down the Ohio River to Cairo, IL, and from there, up the Mississippi to Iowa and then on to Chicago, IL. Tom documented many of these trips on Crazy Guy on a Bike
Tom also did many local rides in the DMV area. Some of his favorites took him to Rock Creek Park, Hains Point, and the surrounding suburbs of Virginia and Maryland. For extended local rides, he loved to head out west to the Marshall area to enjoy the mountains. His favorite section was riding on Carter’s Run. He also loved to ride in Poolesville, where he would occasionally challenge himself up Sugar Loaf Mountain. Regardless of the ride location, it almost always had to be on his favorite terrain: uphill. The longer, the better.
He was a strong rider, especially when the road went up. He was also a data geek. Since 2012, when he first started recording rides on Ride with GPS, he logged 1,533 rides with a distance of over 55,439 miles. He also climbed 2,597,322 feet, including conquering two of the famed Swiss passes, Simplonpass and Grimselpass, at the ripe age of 61 on a fully-loaded touring bike.
Cycling was Tom’s passion; he also wanted it to be his legacy. So, in 2019, he set up the “Bonsource Cyclist Fund” through the Arlington Community Foundation. Bonsource was Tom’s cycling “handle” or “nickname” for many years. It was his username on Crazy Guy on a Bike (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/Bonsource) and Ride with GPS (https://ridewithgps.com/users/206638).
The goals and objectives of the Bonsource Cyclist Fund are to support and encourage access to bicycling for people of all ages through, primarily, infrastructure projects, but also through tangible and intangible programs. These could be infrastructure improvements that make a significant contribution to the bicycling network and are in need of funding in whole or in part; support for more routine but necessary infrastructure improvements; the renovation of maintenance or existing bicycle infrastructure; and programs that encourage people to enjoy bicycling or promote bicycling in general.
In the same spirit, over the last few years, Tom helped to instill a love of cycling in local youth. He volunteered as a mentor and ride leader for Phoenix Bikes, a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate youth, promote bicycling, and build community. He was also a frequent “driver” for Arlington’s Escuela Key Bicibús (East), one of three routes that helps elementary age students get to their school by bicycle.
Tom was pre-deceased by his parents, John and Margaret Flournoy, his brother Kenneth, and his partner Doug Wolfer. He is survived by his partner, Laurent Cartayrade; close friend Mark Nguyen; and his immediate family, including his twin brother Doug, his brother John, and his sisters Mary Beth and Trudy.
We will celebrate Tom’s life on November 23, 2024, from 1 to 6 PM, at the Lyon Park Community Center, 414 North Fillmore Street, in Arlington, VA. We’ll share stories and memories, and remember him together. If you have a bicycling jersey, no matter how loud, feel free to wear it in his honor. With those who want to join, we will ride the 1.2 miles from his residence at Hyde Park, 4141 North Henderson Road, to the celebration. We’ll leave at 12:45 PM.
Contribution in his memory can be made to the Bonsource Cyclist Fund (https://bit.ly/bonsource).
The following memorial event is planned.
Celebration of Life
Nov. 23, 2024 from 1-6 PM
Lyon Park Community Center
414 N. Fillmore Street, Arlington, Virginia, 22201
