Inspiration - Priceless

[GSAstuto]

Today I went out for a quick ride with a buddy. Just to shake some of the cobwebs and lactic acid remaining from our GW jaunt in the hills. On the road I passed an elderly guy riding a fixie (trackbike) and PULLING A TIRE!! We finished our sprints then headed back. There he was and we had a short chat with him. Turns out he is 81years old! And has ridden competitive piste bike most his life. His father (or grandfather) had an cycle atelier and he rides a beautiful old Venus lugless. Check out my blog for a short video I snagged from my keitai. Look at his riding form - its awesome. Almost perfect fit on the bike and pedal stroke with full ankle flexing. Oh, and did I say he was pulling a frigging tire!

 

[Edogawakikkoman]

Nice find... I have a 78 year old guy near here like that...has his age hanging of his seat.
Added a link to your blog as well on mine if that is OK.

 

[TOM]

鉄老年

Tim...this is wonderful !! Very precious footage you made there. What an incredible man. I want to be like him when I'm 81 !!!!

 

[Phil]

Thanks for posting that, Tim. Funny coincidence, but I came across a couple of young keirin riders (prob. still in keirin school) on a local bike path two days ago, and they were doing exactly the same thing, dragging a tire along at a steady, slow cadence. Wish I'd had my camera...

(And as another aside, when we lived in Ryogoku we lived next door to the Hakkaku Beya (a sumo stable), and every morning the wrestlers would take breathers out on the street during asa-keiko, or even do some stretching and exercises up and down the street--one of which involved dragging a massive tire around.)

 

[GSAstuto]

My first thought was he must have been a Keirin rider, however he said that in fact he was not - he was a track (piste) rider. He actually had started riding before Keirin was founded. I'm hoping to catch him again soon - and perhaps he'd agree to a small dinner or lunch. I'm sure he has a 1000 stories!