Forty years of bicycling keeps 70-year-old Virginia grandmother on the road to good health and happiness

Jet, Dec 15, 2003

To say age is only a number for Mary Drake Jackson is an under statement. At 70, the Virginia grandmother is accomplishing feats on her bicycle that would be tough for people half her age.

Without breaking much of sweat, Jackson routinely bikes about 20 miles a day at least three days a week, alternating bicycling with days in the gym. In fact, her stamina is at such a high level that she even rides with a touring company that specializes in challenging 12-day excursions abroad. These expeditions require Jackson and other bikers to ride 40 to 50 miles a day, from sunup to sundown, throughout the countrysides of such far away places as France, Poland, the Netherlands, and Bermuda.

It doesn't faze her that many times her fellow riders are one-third her age. They get a kick out of her and she gets a kick out of them. "If they bike with me, they see the gray hair and they make little sly comments," she says. "But I just look at them and smile. It gets me motivated. I think to myself, 'Those little smart jerks. They think they are something.' It inspires me. I don't go out of my way and hurt myself. I just keep my pace. And soon they respect my abilities."

In addition to exercise and friendly competition, Jackson says bicycling has also provided quality time for her and her husband, William L. Jackson, to be together. Although he doesn't ride as far as she does, the time the couple-celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next year--does spend cycling together is a great way for the two to connect with each other and nature. "There's something about riding on a bicycle. It gives me a great appreciation of the world we live in," she says.

As a girl growing up in Kentucky, Jackson says she loved bike riding. "My parents never bought me one," she recalls. "But I would borrow my brother's bike--and he would always have a fit."

She started her routine of bicycling in her late 30s. Already an avid runner, bike riding not only provided needed therapy for her injured knee, but was also transportation to and from work. "I needed to get to work. There was no transportation. We only had one car. We couldn't afford another car. So I rode my bike back and forth to work for about 10 years," notes Jackson, who has worked various part-time jobs in addition to her role as homemaker. "I would have about 6 miles to ride to work and 6 miles back. I would ride in the rain. I really liked it."

Soon she joined a local bike club. It wasn't long before she joined several touring companies that bicycle abroad. "One of the nice things about biking is you can do it by yourself or with other people. Sometimes if you are waiting to do something with someone you can never find the time that both of you can do it. With biking you can just get out there and do it yourself. And quite honestly, I don't have many friends my age who ride bikes."

She has three sons and eight grandchildren, ranging in age from 11 to 17. She says that they think her bicycling is great. "They just laugh and say, 'Where are you off to next?' she laughs. "When my grandkids bike with me, they always say, 'How much farther grandmother?' And I say, 'We just started.' They say, 'Oh, my legs.' And I say, 'Look how old I am, and look how young you are.' I can out-bike them and they are so much younger. It's sort of a challenge and a good thing for them to recognize that just because I am up in age does not mean that I can't get out and do things that are good for the body. I can keep up with them in some things, not everything. But I can exceed them in biking."

She takes no medications, outside of eye drops to keep her early-stage glaucoma at bay. "I go to the doctor's office and the nurses say, 'That's all you're taking?' And I say, 'Yep that's all.' And they say, 'Aren't you blessed.' I truly I am. Because most women who are 70 take so many pills every day."

She credits meditation for helping her keep an inner peace, which in turn helps keep her body grounded. "Meditation helps me to get centered and it helps me to get focused, and reminds me to be grateful for that day, and for the blessings that I have," she said. "I have a very strong spiritual life. The inner spirit within us helps calm our fears, and gives us encouragement to go on and do the things that we need to do. If you don't have inner peace, it's pretty hard to keep the body calm."

Although her husband says she'll probably ride well into her 80s, she says, if all goes well, she has a good shot at riding into her 90s. "I feel as good as I do when I was 40. Mentally, physically and emotionally, I feel like I'm 40," she boasts. "Biking has kept me young. It has kept my body in good shape. You burn off a lot of calories. It's good for toning your stomach and inner thigh muscles. In many ways, I can out-walk, out-bike, and out-live most people who are 40, in the sense of enjoying life. I hope that I can bike forever. Age is not a factor. I just think positive. If something hinders me, then I'll adjust to it."