Let’s do a little math… 260,000 miles in 40 years equals 6,500 miles per year. This person would have to ride their bike everyday irrespective of weather, holidays or illness nearly 18 miles a day.
Not only has Elena Galvez ridden 18 miles a day, but runs a small farm on her own. Everyday Galvez takes the journey into town to sell eggs, but instead of calling a taxi or asking a friend to drive her, she pulls out her beloved bicycle and rides nine miles each way!
When she needed to walk she would get tired, “I don’t get tired on my bike. I am happy on my bike.”
Galvez is currently 90 years old and lives alone on her farm in Cerrillos, Chile. Having ridden her bike nearly half her life, 43 years, making the 18 mile trip into town part of her daily routine, she has amassed over 260,000 miles of riding.
Galvez says her bike became one of her friends, and it’s no wonder! They have traveled a distance that would circle the equator more than ten times. Let’s hope we are all in this kind of shape at 90!
