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These retirees spend more time in the saddle each year than all but the pros.<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Matt-de-Neef-150x150.jpg\")
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Ann & Gordon Longridge and Matt de Neef (feature image)<\/p>\n
Venture out to Melbourne\u2019s hilly east on any given day and there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll come across Ann Longridge. Pedalling slowly but steadily on her flatbar Liv, usually covered head to toe, she cuts a distinctive figure despite her short stature. And once you notice her, you\u2019ll keep noticing her \u2013 sometimes riding on her own, sometimes with her husband Gordon, other times in a larger group. Out on the bike almost every single day.<\/p>\n
I first came across Ann back in August 2020, via an automated email from Strava. \u201cThere it goes!\u201d read the email. \u201cAnn Longridge nabbed your Local Legend<\/a> title.\u201d Seeing her profile picture was a lightbulb moment \u2013 so this was the rider I was seeing out on the roads of Ringwood East several times a week while I was training up for an Everesting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the next six years, I kept seeing Ann what seemed like every few days. The sort of frequency that\u2019s only possible if someone is out riding a lot. It made me wonder: how much was Ann riding? And so one day in early September 2026, I reached out to her via social media to find out. To ask if she\u2019d be willing to tell her story.<\/p>\n On a beautifully sunny spring day we meet at a small but bustling cafe in the Melbourne suburb of Heathmont, in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. Ann, her husband Gordon \u2013 both of them 75 \u2013 and their four-year-old granddaughter Madison arrive bang on time and we step inside for morning tea. Ann thoughtfully hands me a printout of a previous interview she\u2019s done, for some background reading.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Madison busies herself with some drawing, Ann and Gordon tell me what cycling means to them and how it became such a huge part of their lives. Because while it\u2019s Ann I normally see out riding, and who I was keen to speak with initially, it turns out her cycling story is very much entwined with Gordon\u2019s. Together, they each ride an extraordinary number of kilometres every year \u2013 more than all but the most die-hard of cyclists, and those who do it for a living. All without the performance mindset that such riders normally have.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only
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