An 84-year-old Biking 150 Miles 84歳老太太騎完150英哩車賽

(photo from CNN)

84歳蔡老太太 (Lan Yin Tsai, 小名”Eiko”) 身著裙裝及高跟鞋完成150英哩 (240公里) 為多發性硬化症 (multiple sclerosis；MS)研究而辦的慈善自行車賽。騎著單速的淑女車，如果不是籃子及安全帽上的號碼，恐怕沒有人會知道她是比賽的選手之一。而她已經這樣參加了26年。

蔡老太太原是台灣人，在日本學得shiatsu 按摩，早年在醫院裡為病人，包括罹患癌症的病人，按摩以紓解疼痛。26年前，幫一位MS病人按摩時得知這個慈善自行車比賽。

至於為何穿裙子及高跟鞋比賽，她回說這是她的習慣，平常就是這樣騎。

雖然每次都是晚了其他選手好幾小時才抵達終點，但她一定會完成比賽。真是讓人佩服。

詳細報導請見 CNN。

我們現在自行車賽很多，參加人員也是動輒好幾千人。如果有些可以將部份報名費做慈善捐款的話，不是很好？自己健康，也可以幫助別人。

=== 節錄CNN報導並翻譯 === (歡迎轉貼，取內文請著名出處，謝謝。)

“I always try to tell people, whatever you can do, keep doing it, keep doing it,” she says. “And that’s why I do MS. When I start something, I don’t want to just quit.”

“我總是告訴別人，無論你做什麼，就一直做下去，一直做下去。”她說。”而這就是我為何參加MS。當我開始做了，我就不想要放棄。”

And why the nice dress and high heels? Tsai says that’s just her normal biking outfit.

“I went to church, so I always dressed up and would ride my bicycle,” she says. “So that’s why I do it that way — I do it that way naturally. That’s the way I ride my bike.”

那為何穿裙子跟高跟鞋呢？蔡說這只是她平常騎單車的打扮。
“我有上教堂，我總是打扮整齊且騎著我的腳踏車。”她說。”所以這是為何我是這樣來比賽–我都是這樣做。我就是這樣騎腳踏車的。”

“When the last rider comes in, [the MS society] usually has like a police car or fire truck with sirens going off. And usually my grandmother is the last person,” says Sim with a laugh. “So the people who know about her, they just sit around waiting for multiple hours after most people have finished. And she’ll just ride in, and people are cheering, taking pictures, asking for autographs. It’s like being with a celebrity.”

“當最後一位車手抵達，[MS單位]總是會有個警車或是消防車放出警鈴。而我祖母總是最後一個。”Sim笑著說。”所以知道她的人就會坐在那等著，在大部分人都完成了後等上好幾個小時。然後她就騎進來了，大家都會歡呼，照相，要求簽名照。好像是個名人一樣。”

“I have the most pressure out of anyone on the tour,” Sim adds jokingly. “I know I can’t quit, because my grandmother’s behind me somewhere!”

“我是參加者當中最有壓力的人”Sim開玩笑說著。”我知道我不能放棄，因為我祖母就在我後面哪個地方騎著！”

“I think because of her personality and her demeanor, it really gives people hope. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, as long as you’re persistent, you’ll be able to come up with a cure,” he says. “She’s a pretty remarkable woman. And I’m just hoping the genes pass down.”

“我想因為她的人格及行為，所以可以帶給人們希望。不論你是誰或是從哪來，只要你堅持下去，你總會找出解決之道。”他(Sim)說。”她真是個非凡的女性。而我只希望這樣的基因有傳遞下去。”

[Update 2015/10/27]
現在90歲的蔡老太太 (Lan Yin Tsai)還是繼續騎車參加這慈善活動，真是令人佩服！(see Bicycling)