Not many 81-year-olds can lay claim to pedalling 100 kilometres each week on a bike to stay active but Prospect Vale's David Meadows is one of them.
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His beloved bike was stolen on May 7 and for most it could have been enough to stop them in their tracks but Mr Meadows has vowed to continue his trips into town, to friends places and to his daughter's house in Perth.
This time aboard a brand new bike, a far cry from his first bike, which he saved up for almost a year to purchase, in 1947 or the second one which he built at 13-years-old.
Mr Meadows has been riding since 1945, a career spanning 75 years which has seen him compete in races up to 320 kilometres long.
"You would not believe next month is my 82nd birthday," he said.
"I ride nearly everyday... but when I was much younger we would think nothing of running down to Hobart."
Geard Cycles has been his go to bike shop since his family immigrated from England in the 1980s.
Store manager Doug Miller said Mr Meadows was definitely one of the oldest riders they had at the shop.
"David's great, he comes in quite often and we fix his punctures and bits and pieces along the way," he said.
"It's good that he's out there enjoying it."
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Mr Meadows even helped build Launceston's Silverdome in 1984 and added to the state's riding history in more ways than one.
"I did have the pleasure of setting the track record for the velodrome," he said.
"I was the project manager and I asked Michael Geard if he would like to do it, as an honour, and he said 'no we want you to do it but on our bike'.
"I was the first person to come off going around those high banks."
After his bike was stolen he went to Geard's to get back in the saddle but the bike he wanted had sold out across Australia. Instead, he fell in love with another.
"The best they could offer me was August... well I thought I can't wait until August," he said.
"[The store] said we have a better one in store, well I fell in love with it."
Geard Cycles' owner Ian Lee said it was excellent to see Mr Meadows was still riding.
"Despite having his bike stolen numerous times, despite COVID-19 it hasn't put the brakes on his cycling passion," he said.
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