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

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91–100 of 114 posts

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

#91
post #18

You don't stop cycling because you get old, you get old because you stop cycling! :)

Data fails to support your conjecture. Marchand is one of the oldest people on earth and he cycles. :)

He may be old, but he has not aged.

NB: also requires sunscreen.

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

#92
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.

I know, that's that's why I put it separate. I should have said "the only processed food he eats is bread".

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

#93
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't seen "steps to make bicycle commuting more friendly" in my city. Maybe people don't want to bike on ice in -5F weather :P

I do. Dress warm and live in a place that aggressively salts when possible. While road salt is ineffective in extreme cold, snowfalls are pretty rare at those temperatures too. I can generally bike right through the winter here in Hamilton, Canada.

Even with salt though, you wind up with sludge on the sides of the road (i.e. the bike lane).

Kudos to you, by the way.

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

#94

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.

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…

Sure.

Just like programming is study, practice, desire to learn, plus a healthy does of innate talent.

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There are likely quite a few generically blessed individuals that would live to 105 if they had the same practices.

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

#95
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is terrible advice

You should see my three-year-old on his coaster bike. I can no longer keep up with him, even running. I haven't transitioned him to pedals yet, but I have to feel there's something to the idea that the balance is the hard part and once you're confident in that you can pedal while you do it. Edit: He became proficient with it slightly after his second birthday. He walked fairly late, too, after 16 months or so. I don'…

I got my niece a tiny one for Christmas. She's one. She loves it! As soon as her feet can touch the ground astride it, she'll be unstoppable!

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

#96
post #32

I remember reading that there is a correlation with height and longevity [1]. He is only 5' tall. His height is probably easier on his heart. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071721/

Makes sense. The heart wouldn't need to be as strong to circulate blood, and by extension not need to be as large or need as much nourishment either.

That may make sense, but appears to be mostly wrong.

The linked paper doesn't draw conclusions (it's just a survey paper), but does point to studies showing a positive correlation between cancer, rapid growth, and height.

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

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest issue is lack of physical barriers between bicyclists and cars. I'm too afraid to take a bike because of it. I already don't trust other drivers when in a car. I also dislike it when riding a car because you frequently get weird issues around turn lanes etc that are shared with bikes that behave completely differently from cars.

Being afraid is natural, but it's not unduly dangerous to ride on city streets, even in large cities. Just look up the statistics for cycling injuries/deaths in your city. You are very, very unlikely to suffer a major injury. Having said that, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, you want to be predictable. That generally means following all the traffic rules. When riding in stop and go traffic, keep…

but it's not unduly dangerous to ride on city streets, even in large cities.

I love cycling (I cycle a lot), but unfortunately this isn't true. In the US, you are roughly twice as likely to die as in a car[1]. It is much, much, much safer than motorcycling! (Somewhat old data, though)

[1] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/166/2/212.full

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

#98

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.

Cycling instead of driving costs an extra hour per day of commute time... Time that I depend on for higher-intensity exercise..

It's hard to be sure if you are being consciously ironic or not.

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

#99
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience aerodynamics are noticeable even at 15mph. There's a calculator for estimating bicycle power at: http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/PowerSpeedScenarios.aspx Assuming Marchand (52kg) rode a UCI weight limit bike (6.8kg), and assuming he rode on the hoods for the whole hour (the position shown in the photos), and keeping all other assumptions default, his 14mph ride required about 69W of power. With the op…

Yes but it's worth noting that for a person of any age it's harder to generate the same power in a fully aero position because you are choking the engine!

In my experience, the tucked TT position is just as much about generating power as it is being aero. Granted time trials aren't my strongest event when bike racing, being in an aggressive position seated far more forward on the saddle allows me to generate more down force – at least it feels that way. In two similar events a few years ago I went from ~24mph to ~26mph by just adding aero bars to my road bike, and further improvements when I got a full TT bike. I know there are a lot of factors (wind, road conditions, etc.), but sitting in the aero bars really feel far more powerful than sitting upright on the hoods or even in the drops.

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

#100
Outliers (or, are they?) like this guy make me question my beliefs about nutrition and fitness. Two days back, my uncle (who is pushing 93) was telling my mom that he's NOW finding it a tad difficult to do his daily cycle rides of 10 kms. All his life he's smoked a cigar everyday, had a couple of glasses of Scotch and basically eaten whatever he's wished.

And here I am, struggling with early metabolic syndrome despite eating low-carb, doing a fair bit of HIIT + lifting and feeling guilty every time I have a drink.

Go Figure!

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