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Antonio, at the gates of the residence before setting off on his morning ride. CASIMIRO MORENO
Cycling fanatic celebrates 99th birthday by going for daily spin on his bike

Cycling fanatic celebrates 99th birthday by going for daily spin on his bike

Antonio Delgado man leaves his retirement home in Badajoz and cycles five kilometres every day, unless the weather is bad, and he shows no sign of slowing down

María Isabel Hidalgo

Badajoz

Wednesday, 30 October 2024, 19:25

A Spanish man living in the west of the country in Badajoz has celebrated his 99th birthday cycling, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

Antonio Delgado two plastic cycle clips on the bottoms of his jeans, as he doesn't want to stain them with the grease that comes off the chain of his bicycle. At 99 years of age, it is clear that he will not stop riding his bike as this activity keeps him agile and pedalling takes him back to his childhood, when he first rode along the roads of Badajoz with his brothers.

Many of the paths that Antonio cycled along in his youth are now unrecognisable to him. However, the cycling path he rides along every day, which links the La Granadilla retirement home, where he has lived for just under a decade, with Valdepasillas, is certainly recognisable to the 99-year-old. "Every morning I take the bike and go to the Carrefour. But if the weather is bad I don't go out and do the static exercise in the gym we have here, which I also enjoy," he said.

He can complete the flat route, which is five kilometres up and back, in just under an hour, proof that he is still in good physical shape. "Now I can't run like I used to. I've cycled a lot, it's a great sport and I'll enjoy it as long as I can."

Antonio continues to enjoy his passion, although age, and his children's fear of a fall, has meant that he does not change gears, and only cycles in one gear. "My son has duck-taped the gears so I don't change them," he said. These were precautions he didn't count on when, at the age of five, he rode for the first time on the Orbea he had at home. It belonged to his brother Aurelio, who was older than him, so the first few times he rode it he sat on the frame in order to reach the pedals. Antonio learned to ride alone, because at that time his parents, like those of his friends, did not have time to teach their children to ride a bicycle, as he was able to do later with the four children he had with his wife.

The destination of his routes was in Olivenza and Zafra, where he accompanied his brother, who was going to visit his girlfriend. But before covering all these kilometres, he spent his childhood riding his bike in the Plaza de San Andrés. "We used to go there with our friends to play the hooligan. We would race or bother the police so that they would chase us."

His first bicycle

He got his first bike when he was just 20 years old. His brother, who had exchanged his Orbea for a BH racing bike, left him money to buy a new frame that they themselves would convert into a bike with all its features. But when they went to Pablo Moreno's shop, who was in charge of selling BH in the city, he gave him the opportunity to buy a new one and pay for it in instalments. "I was lucky, I had already started working and I was able to do it little by little with the money I was earning at the time."

For him, his agility is due to working in the countryside, a job which he said "is more complicated than many people think". He said this is what has given him the energy to remain so agile. In fact, he boasts of still being able to touch the tips of his toes. He demonstrates this in the residence's gym, where he spends his mornings when he is not out on his bike.

"If it's too windy or the weather prevents me from doing so, I go to the gym and do the exercises that the guy there tells me to do," he said. With a walker, which he pushes when he gets off his bike, and which he uses to carry a few belongings rather than to help him walk, Antonio said the secret to feeling young at his age is in the mind. "I rely on faith, having a clear conscience and not having hurt anyone in my life."

Unlike today's cyclists, Antonio doesn't know about energy gels or energy bars. What gives him strength before riding through Granadilla is a piece of toast with olive oil and a coffee. "I try not to eat too much, it's better to be a little hungry than full, so I don't force myself. And I eat a lot of vegetables, which is what I like best."

He said that he does not feel as energetic as he did six or seven years ago, when he came to the residence by choice. "I came because I had to go home to my children, and I didn't want to be an impediment in their lives or their plans. I didn't want them to stop doing things to take care of me," Antonio said.

Luckily for him, they let him take his bike to his new home, where it remains on one of the bike racks at the entrance. Antonio goes there every day under the watchful eye of the other residents who stroll through the garden and applaud him as he passes.

"My son has duct-taped the gears so I can't play with them".

On the way back from his walk, Antonio remembered his youngest son, who died in a traffic accident. A hard blow from which he said he has not been able to recover.

In his new life in La Granadilla, Antonio has made new friends, he also said he has fallen in love again, and now shares his days with Carmen, who also lives in the nursing home.

Almost a century has passed since Antonio, who was known to his friends as 'Arroyo el de la huerta', began to ride his bicycle around the plots of land that he now looks at from the window of his room, and where he waits with enthusiasm his 100th birthday next October.

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