At 92, He Took On One of the Toughest Gravel Races in the World. Here’s What Happened Next

A winner of more than 30 national titles across mountain biking, road racing, and cyclocross, 92-year-old Fred Schmid is no stranger to riding in extreme conditions. Just four years ago, he lined up for UNBOUND, the grueling 200-mile gravel race known for testing even elite athletes. By mile 115, Schmid began to feel dizzy, lightheaded, and was sweating profusely—the unmistakable signs of heat exhaustion starting to take hold. 

He just attempted the race again, and while he didn't finish, tough rides are nothing new for Schmid. He's biked all across the globe, starting long before the prevalence of podiums and race bibs. His love for cycling goes back nearly a century, to a childhood spent in Tanzania, where bikes were rare and grit was essential. 

"Bicycles were hard to come by in this remote area, but my father, a Swiss-American, thought we should have them and managed to get my brother and me 24-inch Raleighs," he told Men's Journal. "We rode them on native foot paths and on farm roads of the 2,400-acre coffee plantation my father managed." 

Schmid recalls teaching himself to ride on rugged farm roads, weaving through patches of goat-head thorns that constantly punctured his tires. After a few too many flats, he learned to patch them himself—a skill that would come in handy more than once.

"My brother and I were racing each other as seven to eight-year-olds with my father following us in the car," he remembers. "I asked how fast we were going, and he said 15 mph. I thought that was amazing and wanted to do more."

While Schmid loved cycling, the rubber shortage during WWII made bike tires nearly impossible to find. For a while, he and his brother rode on wheelchair tires until those wore out, eventually graduating to their parents’ full-sized bikes. When the family moved to the U.S. in 1948, their father deemed the roads too dangerous for riding, and like many childhood passions, cycling slowly faded into the background. Though his interest never fully disappeared, Schmid didn’t ride again for decades—until, at age 61, his wife gave him a nudge back into the saddle.

"By then, we lived in Texas, which has lots of dirt farm roads," he says. "It was much like my childhood, and I wanted to go exploring. Suzanne bought me a [mountain bike] for Christmas, a Cannondale SuperV, and I haven’t stopped since." 

Schmid’s grit and determination didn’t suddenly appear in his 60s. For most of his life, he stayed active through his work as a land surveyor—a job that kept him constantly moving, even when he wasn’t training for a race.

"I was a land surveyor for 50 years and spent endless hours marching through swamps, carrying heavy equipment, cutting bush, and driving stakes as well as working calculations. I never wanted to be thought of as a slacker and tried to do my best." 

While Schmid admits he’s slowed down with age, the riding community—and a refusal to sit still and dwell on limitations—has kept him going.

"When you ride, you share the experience with a community of friends who also ride," he adds. "Whether it’s local weekly rides or competitions all over the country, you see these people you like, and the companionship is terrific. Even though I’m getting slower, the perceived effort is the same as when I was younger. So the challenge is just as great."

He also has a solid support system. One of his close friends who's “so much stronger” and a few years younger, is always game to join him on a ride. And to keep making progress, Schmid works with a coach from Carmichael Training Systems (CTS), who creates personalized plans and helps him improve where it counts.

"I’ve always admired endurance adventurers and explorers (like Joshua Slocum or Ernest Shackleton) and wanted to emulate those efforts," he says. "As I get older, the chance of my completing in Unbound 200 diminishes. But the fire still burns in my breast."

While he didn’t finish this year’s Life Time UNBOUND Gravel event, Schmid is quick to point out that he’s not in it for podiums—though he’s proud of what he’s accomplished over the years. At the end of the day, it all comes back to his simple love of the sport and the joy he’s felt on two wheels since childhood.

"I love seeing the countryside and the wildlife. I like riding at night, alone in a little bubble of light," he says. "I look forward to the feed zones. I tell myself what percentage of the course I’ve completed. Basically, I just have an adventure. It’s a pretty good life."