At 93 years young, Herb Bennett has had a pretty colourful life so far, and he believes he has discovered the secret to eternal youth.
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This secret can be simply summarised from a glance at two of his most prized possessions.
A beautiful Peugeot, purchased in 2003, which has an odometer reading of around 76 kilometres.
His road bike, on the other hand, has clocked more than 100,000 kilometres.
“I just love riding, I get up at about 4am every morning, and I can’t get back to sleep, so I hop on my bike,” Herb said.
“There’s no traffic on the road then, all the bad drivers are still asleep.
I’m home well before the 6am news, then have my breakfast and take my lovely wife in a cup of tea.
- Herb Bennett
“I do the same track, out around the Keys, it’s pretty quiet that way.
“It takes me about an hour and 10 minutes and is exactly 23 kilometres.
“I do it six days a week, with golf on Wednesdays.
“I’m home well before the 6am news, then have my breakfast and take my lovely wife in a cup of tea.
“That’s the way it’s been for years.”
But, it hasn’t all been smooth riding for Herb, who was involved in a serious bike accident in 1999, which saw him off the bike and into hospital, at least for a little while.
“I was run over by woman at Tuncurry one morning, I don’t know what happened, I must have gone between the wheels but the bike was smashed in half,” he said.
“It made a mess of my leg, and my shoulder was smashed up, but they didn’t pick it at the time, then when I was in Western Australia two years later I went to see a doctor, and he noticed my shoulder was smashed.
“They replaced it when I came back.”
The accident wasn’t enough to put Herb off his riding, and although he has racked up seven accidents over his time, he insists that the bike keeps him young, and nothing will stop him.
“I got a nice new bike after the 1999 crash, and I’m still riding it.
“I have a beautiful car, it’s a shame it’s just sitting in the shed while I ride my bike, but I know what’s healthier.
“I’ve never been scared of hard work, and since I retired in 1986 my riding has been that continuation of work for me.
“It’s such a beautiful area, riding gives me a chance to enjoy the greatest place in the world. I’ve been a fair few places in the world and I’ve never ever even seen another place come close to Forster.”
