Alan Bickerton – canada
“Keep riding and above all keep smiling and stay healthy”
80 Years, 100,000 Kilometres, and One Big Climb at a Time 🚴♂️
In 2015, for his 70th birthday, Alan Bickerton received what would become a life-changing gift: a Wahoo trainer and a Kinomap subscription. Living in Ontario, where outdoor riding is limited to just a few months a year, it transformed how he stayed active year-round.
Since then, Alan has turned indoor riding into an adventure. Every season, he sets out on imaginary journeys, tracking his distances like cross-country rides from his home in Ontario to Vancouver (4,827 km), or coast-to-coast from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC (7,500 km each way). He even sends updates to friends “along the route.”
But his goals go far beyond fun. In 2021, amid lockdowns, he set out to ride 40,080 km, the distance around the Earth, and did it over 659 days, despite recovering from appendix surgery. Then came the next target: reaching 100,000 km and 800,000 metres of climbing before the end of his 80th year in 2025.
In April, he joined thousands in the Everesting x Strava 30 Day Challenge. Logging 11,481 metres of elevation, he reached 130% of the challenge goal and added another impressive achievement to his year of riding.
While he now prefers gentler gradients, he’s still no stranger to the sharp stuff, taking on short bursts at 12–15% like they’re part of the routine.
Alan proves that progress doesn’t have an age limit. That structure, joy, and purpose can come from consistent effort and that even the most ambitious goals are built one ride at a time.
“Keep riding and above all keep smiling and stay healthy” he says.
Thank you Alan for being an inspiration to all of us.