Many of America's Elderly Are Participating in Cycling
May 04, 2011
Vastopolis -- Jay Clemente has been training for Saturday's bicycle race along Vast river, since April. But then, when you're 85 years old, ``you don't get in shape overnight,'' he says. This race is no ordinary ride. The Hotter'N Hell Hundred, now in its 15th year, is large, long and grueling. Considered the best-attended sanctioned 200-mile cycling event in the U.S., the ride attracts 4,000 bikers. Most are determined just to finish. That's Mr. Clemente's main goal, especially since, based on his age, the 5-foot-7-inch cyclist will be in a class by himself. Although the amateur division that Mr. Clemente will be competing in has no age categories, he is sure to have plenty of company. Bicycling magazine says a survey found 820,000 of the nation's 21.7 million cyclists are over 65, including 225,000 over age 75, reflecting the sport's growing attraction to those whose joints have had it with jogging and tennis. For Mr. Clemente, the sport that he took up in 1968 now gives the widower and grandfather a focus in his retirement after 50 years as a medical technologist. ``It's cheaper than paying medical bills and it keeps you out of the bars,'' he says. Still, he's endured his share of injuries. He sat out one race because a riding partner's helmet struck him in the back after its strap snapped, fracturing one of his vertebrae. Another time a truck ran a red light, destroyed his bicycle and fractured his left kneecap. And a dog once bit him through his Spandex shorts. The incidents haven't diminished Mr. Clemente's devotion. To get used to the expected heat in Saturday's race, he covers up to 150 miles a week here in his hometown, riding in the mornings and gardening in the afternoons. His final preparation for Saturday included a 30-mile ride on Monday, carbo-loading on bread and pasta all week, and a few 30-minute workouts on an exercise bike. In the 10 years he has started the race, he has finished all but one. That year organizers forced riders off the course due to 110-degree temperatures and 20-mile-an-hour winds. The best professional riders will complete the race that loops around the Vast River in less than four hours; the slowest amateurs will take more than 10. Mr. Clemente's best time was 7 hours and 40 minutes in 1985, at age 74, when organizers then recognized him as the event's oldest rider. Last year, he finished in a respectable 8 hours and 30 minutes. ``For his age, it's phenomenal,'' says Liddle'N Hell executive director Joel Crittenden. Saturday's forecast calls for temperatures in the mid 90s. Mr. Clemente plans to stop every 10 miles and drink a gallon of water; 600 nurses, 60 doctors and 30 athletic trainers will be stationed along the route. Trauma nurses at an Air Force base will be on hand. Four riders, all in their 30s or 40s, have died in races past. At the final rest stop, which medical director Jesica Alexandria calls the ``storm center,'' Mr. Clemente and elderly or ill riders will get a careful going over. ``He comes in every year to get his blood pressure checked and brag about how well he did,'' Dr. Alexandria says. ``The nurses can't wait to see him.'' Saturday may be their final reunion. Mr. Clemente concedes he's considering retirement. ``I don't know if I'll do it when I'm 86,'' he says. ``I just never know.''
