I've often assumed that past a certain age, a workbike operator like myself would become too feeble and have to retire. I noticed, however, in the chapter on Beijing operators in Tony Wheeler's "Chasing Rickshaws" that many of the operators there looked rather elderly. (I'm assuming one reason they keep working in China is they simply can't afford NOT to.) Then a friend of mine gave me the following article from the 7/17/1999 edition of the Omaha World-Herald: Secret to Long Life? Pedal, Pedal, Pedal Hanoi, Vietnam (AP) - Pham Quang Giang pedals 25 miles a day and hasn't seen a doctor in 34 years - not bad for a 95-year old who spends much of his time maneuvering through Hanoi's chaotic traffic. He doesn't have to work. In fact, his 12 surviving children would be happy to support him. But Giang chooses to be independent, so his legs keep pumping away at his "cyclo," Vietnams three-wheel bicycle taxi. Family members have sold his cyclo three times since 1985. Rejecting their advice he should take it easy, he asked them to buy it back each time. "I don't want to rely on them. As long as I can work, I will," Giang said, a broad smile showing off all his own teeth in a face with few wrinkles. Giang has been married four times. He has a 72-year old son and a 30-year-old daughter among his 16 children--four were killed in action in the wars against the French and the Americans. And he has 101 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 1981 at age 77, Giang made a 1,100-mile trip on his cyclo from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. It took two months and 11 days. His trips are much shorter these days, but he said passengers trust him because old cyclo drivers have a reputation for being careful. "Sometimes passengers feel sorry for me, but then they see me pedaling, and they say they made a wrong judgment" he said. Asked the secrets for his longevity and good shape, Giang said he has none except: "Always stay happy and be optimistic. You should wipe from your mind all things that may bother you" Born in 1904 in the central province of Quang Nam, Giang grew up in a poor fishing and farming village. He joined the army of the then French colony at 29 but shifted to the Viet Minh, the communist revolutionary army, in 1945. He moved to communist North Vietnam in 1955, a year after the Geneva agreement that divided the country, and worked as a state employee until his retirement in l965 as a manager at a beer company in Hanoi. The city government gave Giang a cyclo in 1978 as a means to support his newly adopted three orphans. He used it to deliver beer, which was rationed to some State-owned food stores around the capital. When rationing ended, he shifted to passengers in the mid-1980s as Vietnam began moving to a market economy. Giang now lives with his fourth wife and two sons. His day starts at 5 a.m. with exercise and meditation followed by a shower and breakfast. He then heads to the main railway station at 8 a.m. to wait for passengers. He has lunch at a sidewalk restaurant and returns home around 6 p.m. On average, he earns the equivalent of $36 a month--not bad in a country where the per-capita income is less than $30 a month. Giang said he occasionally is stopped by police for using streets where cyclos are banned, but they let him go after seeing the age on his I.D. (The article had a few picture of Mr. Giang, one showing him doing his morning stretches, the other carrying a passenger in his cyclo. I'd be glad to e-mail them to whomever is interested.) -jim =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Jim Gregory & Joan Stein Bikes At Work, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] 216 N. Hazel Ames, IA 50010-5948 515-233-6120 providers of bicycle delivery services & equipment since 1991 http://www.bikesatwork.com
