Video: 82-year old Alf and 80-year old dad ride mountain bikes
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqqJKwW5YH0
We at Mtbr firmly believe that mountain biking is the fountain of youth. It can add up to a decade in your life by giving you a sustainable form exercise and giving you a reason to venture into the outdoors. And it makes people happy too with one of the ultimate forms of play.
From Cycle Republic:
“I started mountain biking when I was 70 years old. I had just had cancer and I decided I needed some exercise to keep me well or try and get me fit again.”
“My youngest son, one day he turned up with this second hand bike and said, ‘here you are Dad, have a ride on this, see how you feel just riding the canals.’”
“While I was riding the canals, I met one or two other riders on what seemed like different bikes to mine. Mine was very old fashioned. I got talking to them and they said, ‘have you been to Cannock and tried the mountain bike courses?’ They asked me to go over with them one day, and I did, I fell off, they picked me up and that was it, I was hooked.”
Three times a week, four in summer
“You only have to look around you. Fresh air, exercise and good friends. It’s good on your body, it’s not harmful on your knees, everybody should try it.”
“When I’m riding around here and I see families riding around with their little ones and see them achieve something for the first time, a jump or a drop or getting over a hill. The look on their face is what makes it.”
Alf is 82, with a deep enthusiasm for life and the outdoors
Age, it’s just a number
“The general reaction when people see me riding is: ‘oh he’s been riding sometime.’ And when we get talking and I say I’m 82, most of them want to shake my hand or have a selfie taken with me.”
“I know lots of 70 year old riders, who are really, really good and obviously much better than me, but it’s not too late to start at 80, you don’t have to go mad, just enjoy it.”
Starting out
“My advice really if you do start taking a real interest in biking, you don’t have to do anything difficult, just ride around, with the children if you like, and soon after you’ve done it a few times, you’ll think, well, I’d like to do this a little bit more.”
“Get some experience from more experienced riders. Once you get a buzz for it you’ll want to do more. It’s just tremendous.”
A final word
“All I say is, I enjoy it and I’m OK for my age.”
https://www.cyclerepublic.com/blog/relationship-with-cycling-alf
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWamHY1gs2w
And here is a great video from MBR as one of their editors took his dad out riding on an e-bike. The greatest testimonial is after Day 1 of riding, they went out again, the very next day.
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