CERRILLOS, Chile (Reuters) — This Chilean grandmother is putting the limits of old age to the test, pedalling hundreds of kilometres every week to sell her hen’s eggs in town to scrape a living.
Elena Galvez is 90 and lives alone with her hens in the dusty rural suburb of Cerillos. With poverty rife in the neighbourhood, she collects eggs and whatever she can muster from her four cows and calf to sell in town.
“Around here, I don’t sell much, because around here, people don’t buy much. I sell in Rengo, La Chimba, round here, over there. Then I bring the birds, and now I am not milking, when I have milk, I make cheese and I am going to sell around here, and beyond (areas with more people),” Galvez told Reuters.
This grandmother’s mode of transport is her sturdy old bike. Since she was 47 years old, she’s been turning heads in her small farm community by riding into urban areas to sell produce.
Riding some 30 km (18 miles) a day, this sprightly grandmother is at ease pedalling away.
“Without my bicycle, I have no life. Yesterday I went to Rengo on foot. My feet hurt so much. But when I am on my bike, nothing hurts. I don’t get tired on my bike. I am happy on my bike. On
foot, I can’t go far, my feet end up hurting,” she added.
Galvez is nearing half a century on her bicycle. She says her secret to her health and longevity is the old-fashioned push bike.
“I was recently given an electrical bike, and my friends tell me not to use it, because I am getting old. Because you don’t use that pedals for that bike. I am going tighten up, and that’s how I’ll get old, so I won’t go on that. I go slowly, but on long trips, I use this (the mechanical bike),” she said.
Despite living alone, this humble grandmother counts her neighbours as family. In turn she is loved amongst locals who see her as an example for others.
“It’s a treasure. At her age, having her in Cerrillos, with her activity, with what she says, the work she does in her home, for instance she has cows, chicken. She’s a woman who’s excellent to have in town,” said neighbour, Arturo Pinto.
Chile is renowned for the longest mountain range, the Andes, dotting the breadth of the country with hills and curves that would leave any seasoned rider out of breath.
But Galvez is unfazed by her unique daily commute.
“I have gone up to 30 kilometres (18 miles) a day, I arrive close to Requinoa, all around, by Santa Amalia, by the hill, by other there, I come. But the the hardest trip, the worst part of everything, is seeing the animals in Tricahue.”
All the heavy work on Galvez’s small farm is done on by herself, including the heavy lifting of bales of hay and tending to her animals.
She told Reuters she wouldn’t be able to pull off what she does without her trusty push bike.
“It’s my compadre, my friend. I am nothing without her,” she added.
Despite Galvez being on the other side of 90, this grandmother shows no signs of slowing down.