Tom S. Flournoy (69 years old)
Memorial Service Information

Tom Flournoy died in his sleep on the morning of October 27, 2024. He was 69 years old.

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 roads, highways, bridges, transit facilities, commuter rail, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Many, if not most, were in the Washington, D.C. area, including Arlington County, which became Tom’s home in 1989. In his final position as vice president at STV Inc., Tom played an instrumental role in the creation and growth of STV’s DC office, which is still thriving.

Tom was rightly proud of his engineering career, during which he acted as a mentor to many young engineers, launching them into their own successful careers. He loved telling stories about the time he went to Saudi Arabia to teach bridge engineering courses, and on his travels he made sure to point out interesting bridges, some of which he had worked on. But as proud as he was, Tom’s career wasn’t his life’s only focus.

Upon his retirement in 2015, Tom said: “I became self-reliant and self-reliant, which is another good word. In cycle touring, this means that you are not dependent. You are independent and do not rely on SAG (support and equipment). And this is how I will approach the years to come, rewired and empowered! This is not meant to exclude my great friends, past, present and future, but rather the spirit of independence that I acquired long ago when I crossed Italy solo in 1991!

Since his retirement, Tom’s life has 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 Bohème, Lakmé, 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 has also attended performances at many major opera houses in the United States 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 tribute to Wagner on October 26.

But above all, Tom was an avid cyclist, particularly long-distance cycle touring. A few years ago he said: “I feel ageless, or at least I used to. Age invades us. Feeling ageless may sound like an old metaphor, but I attribute this feeling to my love of cycling and, in particular, my love of long-distance cycle touring.

Indeed, Tom loved going on long bike rides that often lasted weeks, alone or with friends, especially in recent years with his close friend Mark. Tom’s first big bike trip took place in 1988, when he first traveled to France with his then-partner, Doug Wolfer, and two friends. They cycled from Paris to Chartres, in the Loire Valley, then to Vichy, Lyon, Dijon and back to Paris. Like Tom said, after that trip he was hooked. Since then, he has returned to France several times and has also toured Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal and, more recently, the Balkans from Vienna to Bucharest. by Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

In the United States, Tom has toured Montana and Wyoming (an extension of Cycle Montana), Rhode Island and Massachusetts (Providence to Provincetown), North Carolina and Virginia (Skyline Drive and 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 which took it through Montreal, up the P’tit Train du Nord Rail Trail, back down to Ottawa, then around Lake Ontario, across the Erie Canal, down the Hudson River to New York, and from there through New Jersey and Delaware to my home in Arlington. Tom has also cycled extensively in Florida, racking up over 3,800 miles in that state alone. Tom’s “Heartlands Tour” took him from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, down the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, and from there up the Mississippi to Iowa, then to Chicago , Illinois. Tom documented several 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 surrounding suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. For long local walks, he loved heading west to the Marshall area to enjoy the mountains. His favorite section was Carter’s Run. He also enjoyed riding in Poolesville, where he would occasionally challenge himself to climb Sugar Loaf Mountain. Whatever the location of the hike, it almost always had to be on his favorite terrain: the climb. The longer, the better.

He was a good driver, especially when the road went uphill. He was also a data geek. Since 2012 when he started recording rides on Ride with GPS, he has logged 1,533 rides with a distance of over 55,439 miles. He also climbed 2,597,322 feet, including conquering two of Switzerland’s famous passes, the Simplonpass and the Grimselpass, at the age of 61 on a fully equipped touring bike.

Cycling was Tom’s passion; he also wanted it to be his legacy. So, in 2019, he created the “Bonsource Cyclist Fund” via the Arlington Community Foundation. Bonsource was Tom’s “nickname” or “nickname” for many years. This was his username on Crazy Guy on a Bike (and Ride with GPS (

The goals and objectives of the Bonsource Cycling Fund are to support and promote access to cycling for people of all ages through, primarily, infrastructure projects, but also tangible and intangible programs. These may include infrastructure improvements that make a significant contribution to the cycling network and require funding in whole or in part; support for more routine but necessary infrastructure improvements; the renovation of maintenance or existing cycling infrastructure; and programs that encourage people to love cycling or promote cycling in general.

In the same spirit, over the past few years, Tom has helped instill a love of cycling in local youth. He volunteered as a mentor and ride leader for Phoenix Bikes, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate youth, promote biking, and build community. He was also a frequent “driver” for Arlington’s Escuela Key Bicibús (East), one of three routes that help elementary school students bike to school.

Tom is predeceased 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 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Lyon Park Community Center, 414 North Fillmore Street, in Arlington, Virginia. We will share stories and memories and remember him together. If you own a cycling jersey, no matter how loud, don’t hesitate to wear it in his honor. Along with those who wish to join us, we will walk the 1.2 miles from his residence in Hyde Park, 4141 North Henderson Road, to the celebration. We will leave at 12:45 p.m.

A donation in his memory can be made to the Bonsource Cycling Fund (

>> Donation link

The following commemorative event is planned.

Celebration of life
November 23, 2024 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Lyon Park Community Center
414 N. Fillmore Street, Arlington, Virginia, 22201