You are never too old to know better as well.
That can be the only conclusion you can draw from the decision the hardy crew of Midway Motors made to enter the Tour of Southland this year.
New Zealand’s hardest cycling tour, it is a week of pain administered stage after gruelling stage. The distance is only part of the challenge.
It is the wind and rain and variable conditions which add another element of insanity to the whole endeavour.
Strangely, it is awfully popular and the group of Dunedin mates have decided to team up to give it a crack.
Andrew Ellis, Paul Gough, Chris Henderson, Andy Connelly, Glen Todd, Chris Harvey and manager Ray Dunstan have signed up. The average riding age is a sprightly 51.
The tour gets under way on October 30.
There are three newbies in the pack. Henderson, Todd and Connelly are all tour rookies.
The other three have no excuse — they know what they are in for.
Henderson is sort of bankrolling the madness. He has moved the car racing budget into the team kitty.
"We probably have the oldest aggregate age in the Tour," Henderson said.
"Our youngest bloke is 40. I’m 50 and this is the first time I’ve ever done it. I’m a 50-year-old virgin."
For clarity, he is still talking about the tour.
"It is something I’ve had on the bucket list. I’ve always stayed here and watched the live commentary and wondered whether I could ever complete it.
"Chris Harvey did it last year and Andrew Ellis completed it last year as well, so I thought, you know what, let’s give it a crack."
While Henderson is competing on his first tour, he is an accomplished club rider.
His brother Greg Henderson is a former scratch race world champion and Commonwealth Games medal winner.
Henderson said the team’s only goal was to finish, but there are some very competitive guys in the team.
They have also been training really hard and putting in the miles.
"We all trained hard for our nationals in April and have just kept going right through the winter."
Those friendships will endure long after the aches and pains have gone.
