103 Year-Old Man Still Rides Bike

Octavio Orduño is 103 years old and still rides his bike regularly in the Long Beach, California town where he lives. He often rides three to six miles to a farmer’s market and sometimes to a park or the beach. Currently he rides a trike, because he fell several times when he was riding a two-wheeler.

His wife doesn’t want him to ride anymore, but he says riding every day is what keeps him going. His wife is 81, but he jokingly says she’s too old for him. They have been married 59 years.

Even with the trike some accidents have taken place, such as the time he hit a curb at 30 mph and flipped over. There has been some talk of getting him an electric wheelchair, but he won’t have it. People who suggest such a replacement are not understanding the importance of regular cardiovascular exercise for maintaining physical and mental health. The activity clearly is also enriching for him, and presents some slightly new challenges every time he rides due to negotiating traffic, remembering routes, and making choices while rolling. The first enhancement would to get him to wear a helmet, which is conspicuously absent in the video.

He may be the oldest cyclist in the world. A woman who is believed to the longest-lived human that has been confirmed, at 122 years old, rode a bike up to the age of 88. At the rate he is going, Octavio might outlive her.

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Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

4:00PM PDT on Jun 28, 2011

Just be sure the bones stay strong.

June 28
send a green star

Judith V.

9:51AM PDT on Jun 23, 2011

At HIS age, people are telling HIM what to do for activity? Leave the man alone, for gosh sakes! And when THEY get to 103, if it happens, then they can be the 'boss' here.