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105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

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31–40 of 114 posts

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#31
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it it all necessary, but without great genes to provide rock solid joints, cardiovascular system and lack of debiliating diseases ala alzheimer or Parkinson it wouldn't be possible. For every guy like him, there are thousands and thousands who exercise almost same, have almost as good diet and die in +- normal age, many even earlier (ie cancer, weak heart and so on). At the end it's all about managing probabilities w…

Yes longevity is basically not taking stupid risks and genetic luck on your side. Exercise and eating healthy is about making the longevity you have enjoyable.

Exercise and eating healthy is a bit more important that that - unless you are including in "stupid risks" eating unhealthily and/or being sedentary (long term).

One useful way to think about it is that genetics mostly gives you an upper bound on longevity. How you live your life can shorten that substantially.

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#33

Mind blown. His diet that consists mainly of fruits and vegetables along with his lean body are likely major factors that contribute to his youth like health at 105.

I think I saw a variation on this article that said he started cycling regularly when he was 68. Our city has been taking steps to make bicycle commuting more friendly, but they haven't gone far enough. I really hope we end this absurdity with having too many cars; they are ruining everywhere nice.

I really hope we can end this absurdity with prioritizing slow methods of transportation. Cycling instead of driving costs an extra hour per day of commute time, and I am already living in the most premium (read: close to work) location I can afford. Time that I depend on for higher-intensity exercise and more thoughtful dinner prep.

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#34

Mind blown. His diet that consists mainly of fruits and vegetables along with his lean body are likely major factors that contribute to his youth like health at 105.

My grandpa is 96 years old and never owned a car. He rides his bike a few miles almost daily. His diet includes a lot of pork, some fish, veggies, and a crazy amount of bread. He has been lean all his life. He worked hard in the farm, most of his food was from it. So no proceeded food, a lot of physical activities and low stress. Genetics may have something to do with it, my ancestors old passed away around 100 years…

Bread is a processed food.

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I saw a variation on this article that said he started cycling regularly when he was 68. Our city has been taking steps to make bicycle commuting more friendly, but they haven't gone far enough. I really hope we end this absurdity with having too many cars; they are ruining everywhere nice.

I really hope we can end this absurdity with prioritizing slow methods of transportation. Cycling instead of driving costs an extra hour per day of commute time, and I am already living in the most premium (read: close to work) location I can afford. Time that I depend on for higher-intensity exercise and more thoughtful dinner prep.

We're already pretty darn well optimized for cars. As a friend of mine often says... "just lie down until that feeling goes away."

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#37
post #14

This guy ran a marathon under 3 hours at 70, and under 4 hours at 85. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Whitlock

This guy is a cardio machine.

Kudos to Ed for finding a passion like this in his life. I hope some film maker gets a chance to interview him, and to capture some footage of his feats.

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#38

I am a 19 year-old and I don't even know how to cycle

Good way to learn is to get a bicycle (borrow maybe?), remove pedals and cruise to build up confidence. Lower the seat, start at a flat ground and just push yourself (as kids do). Then you can move on a slight downhill to gain some speed and learn to operate the brakes. Once that becomes easy you can move onto pedaling.. which is cycling!

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#39
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My grandpa is 96 years old and never owned a car. He rides his bike a few miles almost daily. His diet includes a lot of pork, some fish, veggies, and a crazy amount of bread. He has been lean all his life. He worked hard in the farm, most of his food was from it. So no proceeded food, a lot of physical activities and low stress. Genetics may have something to do with it, my ancestors old passed away around 100 years…

Bread is a processed food.

Indeed, bread is a processed food. Would you elaborate on your comment? I can understand it in one of two ways: it's pedantic with nothing more implied; it's implying there's no meaningful distinction between bread and, say, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Doritos, or TV dinners. Or do you mean something else?

Re: 105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If he's been doing serious road biking since that age it's probably not something that he's doing on regular streets. Of course he rides on regular streets, he's French. Seeing an elderly woman riding to the shops or a group of lycra-clad pensioners attacking a mountain pass is perfectly normal there. It is a peculiarly American belief that bicycles are somehow incompatible with motor vehicles. Cyclists need no spec…

You can drive to Plano, Texas and find packs of bikers attacking the open road as well. That's not a video of Marchand in lycra speeding down a Paris boulevard. Is it a particularly European belief that Americans are unenlightened savages? I mean, we are, but you don't have to assume it.

I don't believe that Americans are unenlightened savages. I believe that they have a very limited cycling culture, due largely to the dominance of car culture. America was fortunate enough to be the richest country on earth during the 20th century, so it developed a car culture sooner and more pervasively than any other country. At a time when cars were an unaffordable luxury for most Europeans, many Americans regarded cars as a basic necessity.

The public discourse about cycling in America is dominated by myths, because very few Americans have practical experience of regular cycling. Those who do cycle tend to be self-taught, because of the limited availability of cycle training and the lack of a strong tradition of club cycling. America is having to rebuild a culture of cycling from scratch, for no other reason than the ubiquity of the motorcar.

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