If you were wondering if cycling is the kind of activity you can maintain long into your retirement, you have to look no further than Robert Marchand, shown here.
Marchand, shown in an Associated Press photo by Laurent Cipriani, is being scrummed after riding 100 kilometres in four hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds. The big news in this, as reported by the Associated Press today, is that Marchand is 100 years old.
He set off at noon today at a track in Lyon, France, and covered the distance at an average pace of 23.3 km/h, which would be a decent four-hour pace for any recreational rider half his age.
It's not as fast as he can go: last Feburary in Switzerland, he set a pace of 24.251 km/h for the world hour record in his age group.
According to the Associated Press report, David Lappartient, head of the French cycling federation, says there isn't a category for centenarians who ride 100 km, but they're going to create one for Marchand.
Vive le France. Vive Robert Marchand.
My goal in life for a long time is to live to 100 and then end it by being shot by an irate husband for messing with his wife. If that doesn't work out though being able to go for a nice bike ride at 100 would be awful nice too.
Posted by: David Hendry | September 28, 2012 at 11:52 PM