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Comment by usaphp | Hacker News Reader

I don't want to nitpick but 100 kilometers a day for a 70 year old, sounds pretty impossible...thats about 7 hours of non stop riding every day at a modest speed, even a fit college student won't be able to bike for 7 hours straight.

Edit: I do agree that a fit student can do a 7 hour bike tour, but i still staand by my opinion that for 70 year old it seems to be impossible.

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A 60 mile ride on flat roads at a leisurely pace of 12mph would take about 5 hours. College cyclists ride at 20-25 mph. Pros ride at 30+. On my weekend rides were I average 19mph on the flats I regularly get passed by some very old riders. The point is: 100km a day is a difficult but achievable goal for a reasonably fit 70 year old.

I am 52, and I do 27 miles each Saturday on a longboard. It takes around 2:20 to do it. When I am 70 I may not be on the longboard for those distances, but no problem on abike i'd bet.

Get involved in cycling communities and you realise that this, while not particularly easy, is not particularly hard either. Especially for spryer-than-average 70-year-old.

An average unfit person of almost any age, can, within a couple of weeks of regular riding, achieve 100 km in a day.

Woooh. An unfit 55 - 70 year old isn't going to do 100km's after a couple of weeks. They'll blister and cramp out at a minimum even if it's really flat terrain. However, they could get there in a couple of months with the right training/dedication.

Disagree, hell an unfit person can normally walk 30-40k+ a day and biking is much easier and faster. Perhaps you're confusing km with miles?

Get involved in cycling communities and be comfortably shown up by someone three times your age and you realise that [...]

I've known people in a bicycle club in their 70s who ride 100 mile rides a time or two a year. This being an antique bicycle club, that's 100 miles on an antique high wheeled bicycle. Fixed gear, and quite heavy.

Outliers for sure, but those are just those who I personally know. My own parents, 71 for him and 68 (with an artificial knee) for her, will be touring Hungary next year. I don't think it'll be 100K per day, but it should be a healthy daily distance.

100k a day is.. routine, not even challenging for anyone who cycles regularly. They say cycling is a sport where you can peak around 50. The guys I cycle with are all well over 50 and some of them can seriously outpace me (I'm 31) I am sometimes overtaken at sportives by very old brown skinned skinny men on bikes. I'd say one of those guys would be able to do 200k a day np. (last sportive I did was 190k with 4 category 1 climbs in one day)

"They say cycling is a sport where you can peak around 50" - I doubt there is any sport with a significant physical component (i.e. not golf) where you can peak at 50.

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fitness-coach/Am-I-too-...

My parents ride with a group some of whom are in their mid 60s, and have no problem doing 100-150km/day. They are outliers, but it's by no means impossible.

The worst part about a random person riding for 7 hours straight is being unused to sitting on a bike for that long. If you ride all the time it gets much easier.

I (32, not in good shape at all) started biking last year for the first time in years and was able to do 60 miles (100km) my second time out. with hills. It's about 5 hours at a very slow pace, but we did it in 3 1/2. My father (72) rides regularly with a large group of older bikers and does 150km twice a season, but 80-100km every weekend. My mother-in-law (60) recently got back from her second cross-country bike tour where she did 130km 6 days a week for a month.

Its really not that crazy. Its probably 5-6 hrs at a modest speed. Doable if you break it up. If its not too crazy hilly you just need some reasonable fitness and a conditioned rear end.

Similar to other comments, my father (68), rides to and from work which is 30km+, then for fun, will also include another 2-3 hour ride after work. My understanding is eventually you get into the zone, 100km is easy work.

If we were talking 90, then I could see why 100km a day might seem hard. However for some, 70 can still be considered youthful.

I disagree about the college student thing. I didn't train at all and biked from DC to Pittsburgh, doing 80 miles a day about. It one of those things where you can push yourself a lot further than you think.

do you know many 70 year olds? My father-in-law runs 100 meter dashes with other old folks. He is 70 and can probably outrun me at 41 - and I exercise regularly.

e-bikes are becoming popular in Europe,and they can get up to a speed of 35kph, so they could cover 100Km within 3.5 hours, easily.

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