105-Year-Old Cyclist Rides 14 Miles in an Hour En Route to a World Record
npr.org
npr.org
TL;DR: randonneurs ride in timed, regulated road-coarse events that start at 200 km and work up to a traditional distance of 1200 km (and beyond). It's endurance cycling and ... the kicker ... it's full of "old" people (because they seem to have the wisdom and gumption to ride smart and long). In my local club, there are definitely young riders in their 20s and 30s but the most prolific riders are over 50 and the top two are gentlemen in their 70s. "Top" as measured by most events ridden in a year and most event mileage in a year. Their average speeds put young riders to shame more often than not.
Slow and steady wins the race, for values of "race" greater than 200 km. ;-) There are local clubs all over the USA, Canada, Europe, and everywhere.
Anyways, not everyone knows about the sport of randonneuring so I just wanted to share in the context of inspiration, no-age-limits cycling -- it dates back to the 1890s and I personally think its community and values are better than regular competitive road or mountain biking, having done all of the above. Ride safe.
As it turned out, I arrived at the top of the final hill before Saint-Félicien at the same time as a small peloton of riders and journalists surrounding an old man on an electric bike...it was Robert himself. Hope I can still be doing this at his age.
Marchand is one of the oldest people on earth and he cycles. :)
NB: also requires sunscreen.
Really? Which data would that be then?
Because at least some data seems to indicate inactivity (a lack of cycling) increases age related degeneration. :)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2014.282...
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.
wait, what? That's a thing? How many members of this "group" are there? How many attempts have ever been made?
His cardio is probably better than mine.. :D
http://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/news/105-year-old-cyclist...
For example:
- athletics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_records_in_maste...
- swimming: http://www.fina.org/content/masters-records
- cycling: http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/News/16/60/58/20160502_Ma..., http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/News/16/60/57/20160713_Ma...
- cross-country skiing: http://www.world-masters-xc-skiing.com/en/rules-of-competiti... (section 601. I can’t find world records here; maybe they do not keep them?)
- rowing ergometer: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/racing/records/world
Concept2 uses 10-year ranges for ergometer records, likely because of the smaller competitor pool.
Having age groups keeps older competitors interested in taking part in races.
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.
More like "basically double" not "just above."
Unless my math is off someplace.
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 optimized aero bars setting, which is approximately the best aerodynamics possible using the relaxed post-2014 rules, the same power allows a speed of 15.15mph. Not quite 10% improvement but not far off.
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!
Get on a bike, son! :)
But, given the negligible effect it's had on my health, I want to refine my original comment to make it clear that I don't imply causation between cycling and burning calories. Clearly, I need to make additional changes.
If you're doing HIIT-type stuff, I'd recommend finding a serious lung-buster of a hilly loop near you and playing cat and mouse with your mates. One person at the bottom, give a head start of a certain distance (based on your respective abilities) to the rest of the group, and then hit the climb. The leaders need to get to the top of the hill without being caught by the chasers (not beaten to the top, just caught). The caught leaders join the chasers for the next hill and so on, until you can go no more. Kinda helps to break the monotony of riding the same (albeit convenient) routes over and over and helps everyone push each other forward.
Had to look that up [1] [2].
[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/100-old-marathoner-finishes-race-...
Edit: He became proficient with it slightly after his second birthday. He walked fairly late, too, after 16 months or so. I don't think he could have learned to pedal this early, but he's got the balance, steering, and speed control (braking and accelerating as needed) out of the way. Even knows how to ring a bell when passing people on jogging trails.
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.
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Marchand_(cyclist)
Aged 35 he finished seventh in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1946.[3] He returned to cycling in 1978[2] and continued training after his 100th birthday.
My point is that the guy has very clearly been training and seriously cycling for a long time. While you can do it on normal city streets, you are often served better to do that on dedicated bike paths or on the open road.
You can reduce the impact of cars all you want and even make your city bike friendly but that's not going to change your ability to really train. It's not crazy to think that his health benefits are from this elevated level of training and not just leisurely cycling.
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 special facilities, just sane traffic laws that are actively enforced.
Is it a particularly European belief that Americans are unenlightened savages? I mean, we are, but you don't have to assume it.
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.
Some of us do cycle, too. There are miles and miles of good trails running through some cities you wouldn't expect.
Also, more pertinent to Plano, what if you want to replace your car entirely? Grocery stores are still pretty spaced out and you are SoL if you want to get into Dallas proper! The DART is incredibly slow, so that's out, and biking from Plano to a night on the town with your friends is Deep Ellum or Greenville Ave is a tall, dangerous order.
Keep it 214!
That depends on how Asia and Africa see America ;)
Certainly made urban, young, progressive America quite a but more impressive when I visited!
[1] See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html
What city is that?
Maybe people don't want to bike on ice in -5F weather :P
Kudos to you, by the way.
It's hard to be sure if you are being consciously ironic or not.
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 your place and don't pass on the right. When turning left, take the whole lane (or walk your bike across the intersection if you are nervous to do that). Realise that you have really good power to weight ratio, so there is no reason at all not to use a whole lane at low speeds. Don't ride on sidewalks. Don't dart in and out of parked cars, etc. Keep your gears in good condition and make sure you are in an appropriate gear to accelerate when you need to.
The biggest danger in a city is riding beside large vehicles (like trucks or busses). Avoid riding beside them, even in multi-lane situations -- either ride in front, or slow down and ride behind them. Keep enough space between you and them that they can see you in the mirror (there is a blind spot directly behind the vehicle). Normal cars are not a problem, it's just vehicles that make wide turns.
The next biggest problem is people opening doors when exiting a parked car. Generally speaking, take a lane when passing a parked car. If you can't do that (because of traffic), slow down to the point where you can stop if required.
After that, the worst thing is usually stupid drivers that overtake you and immediately make a right hand turn. Not much you can do about that, so be sure that you are ready to brake when you get to intersections or entrance ways. Make sure your brakes are in good condition and learn how to brake effectively (front brake is where almost all your braking power comes from, shift your weight back to stop from going over your handle bars). You can brake considerably faster than a car, so it's not actually that dangerous if you are paying attention.
Most important is to practice in order to get your confidence up. Make a very short circuit that you can ride every day. Maybe walk it a few times first so that you are super comfortable with it. Ride at whatever speed you are comfortable with and don't feel bad if you want to pull over and take a break. It won't take you long until you can try riding in other places.
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)
If you ride your bike 3 times a day, every day for 70 years, you have about a 1.6% chance of dying. This is not unduly dangerous.
Injuries for cyclists thus are far more likely. Even collisions at lower speed that basically leave a car dented and the occupants uninjured will result in injuries for cyclists: The classic dooring accident, run over by a turning car, etc. Even overtaking the cyclist with too little safety distance can lead to a fatal accident [1]
The stats in Berlin (2015) indicate that while cyclists are involved in about 4% of all accidents, they make up 21% of persons killed (pedestrians are even worse off: 1.33% involvement, but roughly 40% of all persons killed). They also make up more than 30% of all injured (30% of major injuries). Pedestrians make up for 13% of the injuries (24% of major injuries). So the group of soft targets that is involved in roughly 5% of accidents suffers 60% of all fatalities, 54% of nmajor injuries and 43% of all injuries.[2]
[1] see incident 10 on this list http://adfc-berlin.de/radverkehr/sicherheit/aktionen/62-geis... (sorry, german only) [2] data taken from https://www.berlin.de/polizei/aufgaben/verkehrssicherheit/ve... (sorry, german only)
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 without knowing 100% picture of your health state
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.
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.
Edit: I found this about Jeanne Louise Calment from Arles, France who lived to 122:
>>An interesting side question is how Jeanne Louise Calment managed to achieve such an advanced age? She smoked until the age of 117 and reportedly ate a couple of pounds of chocolate a week. She also rode her bike until the age of 100 and lived on her own until 110. Go figure.<<
You'd think the smoking and sugar from all that chocolate would cancel out the benefits of riding her bicycle.
[1]http://www.genealogyintime.com/GenealogyResources/Articles/h...