{"id":145959,"date":"2017-01-06T15:39:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T15:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=145959"},"modified":"2017-01-06T15:39:18","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T15:39:18","slug":"robert-marchand-life-105-year-old-phenomenon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2017\/01\/06\/robert-marchand-life-105-year-old-phenomenon\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Robert Marchand: Life of the 105-Year-Old Phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably already heard about Robert, the 105-year-old cycling miracle from France, who recently managed to best his own record of furthest distance (22.547 km) cycled in one hour in the 105+ category. Both 100+ and 105+ rider categories were created by UCI especially for Marchand and, not surprisingly, he dominates them both. If you feel that you\u2019ve just been challenged by a guy clocking over ten decades, prepare to take another blow \u2013 his life is even more interesting.<\/strong>
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Born on November 26, 1911 (even writing this seems surreal), in the northern French city of Amiens, he started riding when he was 14 but, due to his diminutive stature, his coach told him that he should give up cycling because he will never achieve anything on a bike. At first, he took his advice to heart and started living an eventful life that took him to Venezuela, where he worked as a truck driver and sugarcane planter near the end of the 1940s, and later he moved to Canada where he worked as a lumberjack.
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Furthermore, because it apparently wasn\u2019t enough, he was a firefighter in the 1930s and took an active part during the strikes of 1936 in France that gave birth to the modern era foundations of French employment legislation and he even managed to find himself in prison during World War II because he failed to train children of Nazi collaborators as a gym instructor.<\/p>\n

He returned to France in 1960s and made living through various odd jobs, later taking on the job as a gardener or wine dealer until 1987. Then he apparently remembered his old hobby and took up the bike again when he was 67 years old, because why not. When he was 89 he finished the 600-kilometre race between Bordeaux and Paris in 36 hours. Actually, he\u00a0rode from Bordeaux to Paris, and Paris to Roubaix several times. He also cycled to Moscow from Paris in 1992. Whew.<\/p>\n

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He set his first hour record to mark his 100th birthday. In 2012\u00a0he rode 24 kilometres and 251 metres in Aigle. Two years later he rode 10 per cent faster than he did when he was 100 years old. This veteran Frenchman who apparently doesn\u2019t know the definition of \u201cretirement\u201d also holds the record for 100-kilometres in his age group. On the track in Lyon he finished his 100 kilometre race in four hours and 15 minutes, averaging just over 23 kilometres per hour.<\/p>\n

Not so fast forward to January 4, 2017, and here comes his successful attempt at breaking his own record. When asked about his motives, he simply answered: \u201cI\u2019m not here to break any record,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m doing it to prove that at 105 years old you can still ride a bike.\u201d But his competitive spirit wasn\u2019t entirely left behind, as he noted: \u201cI did not see the sign warning me I had 10 minutes left,\u201d Marchand said after his effort. \u201cOtherwise I would have gone faster, I would have posted a better time. I\u2019m now waiting for a rival.\u201d No, he doesn\u2019t put us all to shame at all.<\/p>\n

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