I just read
this article about George Koenig, a local 78-year-old bike rider who was on the USA Olympic road racing team for the Summer Games in Rome in 1960, and I thought you'd all enjoy it. It's by Karen Kefauver, who writes a column about bikes called "Spin City" in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
"I've always liked bikes and I am glad that I discovered how wonderful they are. Now bicycles are cult items that you can buy for $15,000. Where I came from, the kids don't want yachts or airplanes as their toys, they want bicycles. They are young and want to go out and go hard. But I was the first guy out there beating myself up and I am glad I got to ride with many very accomplished riders in the area."
This is so great. I want to be this motivated and fit when I'm 78 years old, it's amazing! I met a man in his early '70s on the 17 bus the other day and we talked about cycling and exercise in general. He's part of a San Jose bicycle club (anyone heard of it?) that has a couple thousand members. He said there's multiple rides each day so you always have a selection of rides to choose from. It sounded like there was a really wide range in age, fitness and skill level for the members of the club so you can fit in with the pack whatever abilities you have. It sounds really cool, especially for people who might not want to go on rides alone but are intimidated by the kinds of people who tend to go on longer rides (stereotypes of young rich men with spandex kind of thing). The man I met doesn't drive, and rides or buses between San Jose and Santa Cruz (he lives in both places). What an inspiration!
ReplyDelete