We don’t often report national news unless it’s specifically related to the P-O – there are other sites far more capable than us for doing this (The Local, The Connexion, Languedoc Living…) so we stick to what we do best – but this lovely story just has to be passed on.
A young-at-heart gentleman has just set a new record for cycling just over 14 miles in one hour – at 105 years old!
Robert Marchand, ex fireman, pedalled for 22.547 kilometres around the national velodrome in the banlieue of Paris, cheered on by hundreds of spectators and hanging on to the record in the over-100s category, set in 2012 by himself!
When asked “Est-ce que vous essaierez de battre un record à 107 ans?”, he replied “ “Ca, c’est une autre histoire. J’ai déjà réussi à vivre jusqu’à 105 ans. On met neuf mois pour arriver au monde et puis on met trente secondes pour claquer.” (claquer – kick the bucket)
At the end, he told reporters that he had missed the sign alerting him that there were ten minutes to go “Je croyais que j’avais encore des kilomètres à parcourir, j’aurais pu aller plus vite”. (j’aurais pu – I could have)
He added “Si vous arrêtez, vous êtes foutu”. À mon âge, il faut jamais arrêter” (foutu – boogered)
