At least, that's this "old guy's" perspective as I continue through the second half of the 40s.
So naturally, gotta give a shout-out to some "older gents" who not only deserve respect for what they have accomplished, but what they are STILL accomplishing in their 40s, 50s, 70s, and beyond.
Chris Horner, 42
Source: USA Today
The three grand tours in professional road bicycle racing are Il Giro in Italy, the Tour de France, and La Vuelta in Spain. All races are three weeks long, and have the riders covering more than 2,000 kilometers, with mixed terrain, including several mountain stages that are particularly grueling.
Maybe one of the most exciting grand tour bike races in recent memory was the 2013 edition. This race became the crowning professional achievement for Horner, who at 41 became the oldest winner of a grand tour, and he did it in epic fashion. It was on the mountain stages that Horner won the race, proving he was the strongest rider in the peloton.
So great was the effort, so compelling was the result, that cycling website Velo News named Horner the Rider of the Year for 2013. BRAVO!
Jens Voigt, 42
Source: Veloimages/steephill.tv
Jens Voigt has been racing his bike a long time. What started out as a means for his parents to help him expend some of his enormous reservoir of energy as a youth, right up today, he likes nothing more than to peddle his two-wheel stead to the front and ride faster than everyone else.
This season Voigt demonstrated once again that his basic philosophy encapsulated by the simple phrase he tells himself when racing, "Shut up, legs!" is still effective.
He took the 66th win of his career in May 2013 at the Tour of California. He was 41 at the time.
Asked if his innate racing sense is something he can mentor a younger rider to do, Voigt replied, “I have a big engine; I can handle a big work load. I’m willing to work hard. I think this instinct is just part of who I am. It’s hard to teach because the decision-making is done in just a split second. It’s like a voice talking in your head, saying, ‘Go now! Go now! Go now!’ And then listening to the voice. I try to teach the boys to be brave, be courageous. On Sunday night if you have some energy left, it’s too late. There is no stage on Monday. Get it all out now. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated.”
Last year after the California time- trial which had Voigt on the podium in second place, he commented that he enjoyed every moment because he didn’t know how many more opportunities he would have to be there before his career was over. But last August he produced a stage win in Colorado and won a race in Germany two weeks ago, along with today’s win, making podiums look like a regular thing for 41-year old Voigt.
“I like to call this the ‘Indian Summer’ of my career, not the twilight,” he laughed. “Think how beautiful it is in Indian Summer. That’s where I am, in the Indian Summer of my career. Yes, I hate to admit it, I am getting older, and my career will come to an end one day. For the second year in a row I am the oldest licensed holder in the world. The oldest bike rider! But age is just a number, apparently.
"I think that you can’t only talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. If you can do that, there is no reason to stop or slow down or give it up.” Asked about earning himself another year’s contract with the win, he answered an emphatic, “I hope so! If someone asks me if I am ready to sign again for another year, I say ‘Hell yeah!’ ”
Great attitude, great life approach, great inspiration for us all. Thanks, Jens!“I like to call this the ‘Indian Summer’ of my career, not the twilight,” he laughed. “Think how beautiful it is in Indian Summer. That’s where I am, in the Indian Summer of my career. Yes, I hate to admit it, I am getting older, and my career will come to an end one day. For the second year in a row I am the oldest licensed holder in the world. The oldest bike rider! But age is just a number, apparently.
"I think that you can’t only talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. If you can do that, there is no reason to stop or slow down or give it up.” Asked about earning himself another year’s contract with the win, he answered an emphatic, “I hope so! If someone asks me if I am ready to sign again for another year, I say ‘Hell yeah!’ ”
Gary Stevens, 50
When I heard the news about Steven's Preakness win earlier this year, I knew nothing about him. I don't really follow horse racing, though I admire the work and team effort that somehow brings world-class trainers, riders, and horses together to push their combined limits to the maximum.
Reading on Wikipedia about Stevens, I came to understand his career accomplishments, and most impressive to me, his win at 50 years of age of the prestigious Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the three races combination that makes up the Triple Crown in horse racing.
Coming back in 2013, he won the Preakness Stakes on the horse, Oxbow, and added additional wins to his lifetime total.
Reading on Wikipedia about Stevens, I came to understand his career accomplishments, and most impressive to me, his win at 50 years of age of the prestigious Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the three races combination that makes up the Triple Crown in horse racing.
In 1993, Gary Stevens became the youngest jockey to surpass $100 million in earnings.
He won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times, and he's won eight Breeders' Cup races, making him the fourth-leading money winner in Breeders' Cup history so far. At the time of his 2005 retirement, his mounts had collected 4,888 winners in the USA and over 5,000 wins when including overseas victories.
He won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times, and he's won eight Breeders' Cup races, making him the fourth-leading money winner in Breeders' Cup history so far. At the time of his 2005 retirement, his mounts had collected 4,888 winners in the USA and over 5,000 wins when including overseas victories.
Coming back in 2013, he won the Preakness Stakes on the horse, Oxbow, and added additional wins to his lifetime total.
Stevens had been in the winner's circle three times each during his career at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
A great inspiration throughout his career, right up today, showing his peers how it's done.
Wayne Lukas, 77
A great inspiration throughout his career, right up today, showing his peers how it's done.
Wayne Lukas, 77
Source: www.cleavland.com
Born and raised on a small farm, D. Wayne Lukas grew up with an interest in horses. He began training quarter horses in California in 1968 and after ten years of considerable achievement that saw him train 24 world champions, he switched to training thoroughbred race horses.
The first trainer to earn more than $100 million in purse money, he has been the year's top money winner 14 times. Lukas got his big break in 1980 when he won the Preakness Stakes on Codex.
His horses have won the Kentucky Derby four times, the Preakness Stakes on six occasions, and have claimed victory four times in the Belmont Stakes, including winning all three of the Classics in 1995 with Thunder Gulch (Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes) and Timber Country (Preakness), making him the first trainer to sweep the Triple Crown Classic races with two different horses in a season. In 2013, he surpassed Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons for the most Triple Crown race victories with 14.
With a keen sense of the practical and the business of horses and racing, Lukas will hopefully carry on for many more years. Everyone around him will benefit.
David Perlman, 94
Source: The Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle Science Editor David Perlman is 94 and chasing down stories 72 years after he first got into the business. He’s been at his current post for six decades – and counting.
“It’s being able to work and at something you really like,” he enthused. “I mean, I have fun all the time, working, you know, discovering things that make good stories.”
Perlman's simple philosophy should be inspiration to all the "old guys" (and gals!) out there who think they are in their twilight...or worse, have nothing more to contribute.
Find your passion (or find a new one), hone your skills, never stop learning, trying, believing you have something to offer.
You do. We all do. Old and young alike.
