A group of Taiwanese seniors made Burnaby their first stop in a 2,000-kilometer bike ride to promote their home country as a haven of healthy aging.
The cyclists, whose average age is 72, visited Burnaby city hall on Monday on the first leg of their journey.
"Burnaby has developed many programs that enable our seniors to participate fully in community activities and to lead to healthy and active lifestyles," said Mayor Derek Corrigan in a media release. "We share with Taiwan the objectives of the Golden Generation cycling tour, and we are thrilled and very honoured to have the participating cyclists make Burnaby the first stop in their 2,000-kilometre west coast tour."
The trip is called the Golden Generation Thousand Miles Ride Tour, and there are 42 seniors from Taiwan who are participating - the oldest is 93. Fan Ko-Chin, a Taiwanese TV producer, is following the cyclists and making a documentary, which will be released in June. The 21-day bike tour ends in San Jose, at Google's California headquarters.
On Monday, Corrigan and local councillors met with the group, to present them with certificates and send them off on a safe journey. The agile and active group broke into a sporty dance in council chambers, and the mayor and councillors joined in.
The bike tour is meant to inspire more seniors to embrace new challenges, and the cyclists are acting as unofficial ambassadors, representing the active older generation in Taiwan.
Burnaby Coun. Richard Chang is volunteering as a driver with the group, and the NOW caught up with him on the phone Wednesday evening, as the cyclists were approaching Seattle. Chang said the group was doing "not bad."
"They are quite experienced (cyclists). They are not just like a bunch of seniors that have no experience at all," he said.
Chang got involved with the cycling group, because he's friends with the president of a Taiwan-based seniors' charity promoting the ride, and Chang plans to follow the group all the way to San Jose.
At 93, Lien Chaing is the oldest cyclist, and he's doing well, according to Chang.
"He's fine. Once he feels tired, we ask him to sit in my car anytime," Chang said. "He just can ride as long as he wants."
According to Chang, some of the cyclists are also from Japan and Singapore.
"The spirit is they want to come to North America and the States because they think no one has done this before. The funny thing is none of them speak English very well," Chang said. "They are not just riding a bike. Every other day, they go to a seniors' house and (tell) the Canadian seniors they should come out and have a wonderful life. ... They are inviting them to come to Taiwan to go biking with them."
Even the mayor has an invite to go cycling in Taiwan, once he retires, Chang said.
