Robert Marchand has spun himself into the record books.
The 105-year-old Frenchman set a new world record on Wednesday when he cycled 22.547 kilometers (about 14 miles) in an hour, according to the Associated Press.
The centenarian completed 92 laps while a crowd chanted “Robert! Robert!” at Velodrome National, a state-of-the-art indoor track outside Paris that hosts elite cycling events.
Marchand said he didn’t even see the 10-minute warning sign during the event.
“Otherwise I would have gone faster,” he told the AP. “I would have posted a better time. I’m now waiting for a rival.”
Speaking to Eurosport, he elaborated on his feelings about the win.
“I am not here to be champion. I am here to prove that at 105 years old you can still ride a bike,” he said.
As if his record-breaking race weren’t magnificent in its own right, Marchand hasn’t even been cycling constantly his whole life. Having worked as a firefighter, a truck driver and a lumberjack, he only took up cycling again when he was 68 years old. Since then, he’s managed feats like riding from Moscow to Paris (about 1,800 miles by car).
Marchand’s coach and friend Gerard Mistler told the AP that the cyclist can attribute his athleticism to eating fruits and vegetables, not smoking, drinking wine in moderation, exercising daily and going to bed at 9 p.m.
Oh, and reading.
“Reading a lot keeps his mind alert,” Mistler said. “He does not watch much TV, apart from the Tour de France stages.”
Well, excuse us. We’ll just be readjusting our 2017 resolutions while we still can.
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