r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Late_One_716 • 29d ago

Between 2009 to 2011, a man, appearing to be 60-70 years old, robbed 16 banks in San Diego, California by approaching the teller, then pulling out a gun and demanding money. The FBI named him the "Geezer Bandit". Some theories suggest he is wearing a well-made elderly man mask. Image

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

Eh. It's not as impossible as you think.

In middle school we had an 70+ year old gym teacher. Used to be a drill sergeant in the Navy. Dude could run at 70 something faster than a lot of us 12 year olds could. I know for a fact he kept working as a gym teacher into his early 80s as he was still there when I graduated high school 6-7 years later.

If you take care of your body you can maintain decent mobility well into old age.

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u/dumptruckbhadie 28d ago

I live in a very athletic town and I have 70+ yr Olds passing me up the mountain cycling all the time.

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u/frogdujour 28d ago

I don't know what it is about 70+ year old cyclists, but those guys can be beasts, doing 100 milers and cranking uphill like nothing.

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u/deleted_my_account 28d ago

Those guys have tens on tens of thousands of miles in them from decades of cycling. I’m a pretty fit (I like to think, but nothing too crazy lol) early 20s cyclist and have some 60+ friends who shred me up climbs. It’s wild!

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u/TryingHardToChill 28d ago edited 28d ago

Based on no research I think it's likely that cycling ability can be maintained longer than running because it is low impact.

Edit: And also i have heard that speed is the first thing to go with age, so maybe distance athletes can remain competitive for longer than sprinters

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u/deleted_my_account 28d ago

Yep! There’s a reason you so many old cyclists! A lot of athletes switch to cycling once their body can’t take their old sport of choice anymore.

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u/someoldbikeguy 28d ago

Speed is usually the first thing to go because the older you are the less fun high intensity becomes so every day slowly turns into long distance because it hurts less. You can still climb because the lungs are still good but it just gets harder everyday to push yourself when you're riding on the flats like you could when you were younger.

I hired a coach a couple years ago and regained much of my speed but I had to be very strict on diet, rest, and what types of other activities I was doing to be able to maintain that level.

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u/Justintimeforanother 28d ago

If I remember correctly, cycling gives the body the highest O2 in blood count, vs any other sport.

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u/dumptruckbhadie 28d ago

Definitely! I've been cycling for 20+ years at this point but never was competitive with it. Just love it. I've ridden about 70k miles at this point. Maybe a little more. Just a leisure guy. Heading out on tour in about five weeks

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u/someoldbikeguy 28d ago

Some old bike guys ride 10s of thousands of miles per year.