103-Year-Old Cyclist May Be World’s Oldest

We support cycling a lot around here, since it’s both one of the greenest things you can do (in place of driving) and it’s a lot of fun.

But while we’ve written posts on 5 reasons to bike commute, 5 hidden benefits of bike commuting, various bike events, and some super cool bikes, sometimes we skim over that fun part.

I guess it’s sort of implied. But the story I’m about to tell you a little about brought that key benefit to the forefront of my mind recently.

A certain 103-year-old man — Octavio Orduño of Long Beach, California — may be the oldest bicyclist in the world.

While Octavio, a former aerospace mechanic, has had his share of crashes (especially as he has gotten a bit older), he isn’t close to giving in to his wife and giving up bicycling.

“It keeps me going,” he says. “Sometimes I feel stronger than the year before.”

Octavio has a certain routine that he rides nearly every day — to the park, then to the beach, and then to the farmers market.

And while he has given in and actually switched from a bicycle to a tricycle (a pretty sweet-lookin’ one, I might add), that hasn’t slowed him down too much.

The LA Times reports:

Not long ago, on his way out of the garage, his foot slipped going uphill and he flipped over. His face hit the concrete. The bike landed on his leg. He lay on the ground for half an hour before a neighbor came to his rescue.

Once, he and the tricycle came home in a police car.

“That time, I thought I was clear, so I let it roll,” he says. “I think I was going about 30 miles an hour when I went over the curb and some guys came to help me.”

A day or two later, he was back on the street, “like nothing ever happened,” Alicia said.

 

Octavio doesn’t go on his joy rides to help the environment, to save money, or even to improve his health — he rides his bicycle so much because he loves it, because it’s fun!

“I can ride this bike all day long,” Octavio says.

I’ll bet Octavio would love to have a go on the Bond Bike.

Check out Octavio in action:

photo via