In 1940, on his 14th birthday, Gene Roelfsema received his first bike — a one-speed Schwinn that cost $30.

It was a magical moment — the beginning of a beautiful symbiotic relationship between man and machine spanning eight decades. And then he fell.

“Well, I remember that I took a nice fall on that first day,” Roelfsema said with a chuckle. “But I brushed myself off, and I got back up. And I’ve been doing that ever since.”

Eight decades and countless falls later, Roelfsema has traded his one-speed Schwinn for a multi-gear Trek. He doesn’t go as fast as he used to — his 94-year-old heart isn’t made to go 20 to 25 miles per hour, Roelfsema said. But Roelfsema still takes to his neighborhood streets most afternoons.

Donning a bright red helmet, he rides in the middle gear while smiling at neighbors and challenging kids a fraction of his age to bike races.

“Gene is just a really friendly person,” neighbor Patrick Akers said. “He’s always active, always positive. I think it just brings smiles to all our faces to see him riding his bike and challenging the kids to bicycle races. I think he’s the person we all want to be when we’re in our 90s.”

Roelfsema is a World War II veteran whose relationship with Sheridan dates back almost as far as his relationship with cycling. The Iowa native first visited the city as a 17-year-old sailor in 1943.

“I went to the depot, and I had never run into so many girls,” Roelfsema said. “So, after the war, when my girlfriend told me to get lost, guess where I came?”

Roelfsema, who is a retired Natrona County science teacher, has made cycling a part of his life wherever he’s lived, but he said that few towns are as cyclist-friendly as Sheridan.

“I think Sheridan is a biker’s paradise,” Roelfsema said.

Roelfsema is well known in his neighborhood off Hill Pond Drive, and he frequently uses his daily bike rides as a chance to catch up with old friends.

“I don’t have any aches or pains, which is unusual for someone my age,” Roelfsema said. “But I find it helps my mental attitude as well. Going out each day, I run into all sorts of familiar strangers, and there are a bunch of real nice people riding bikes and walking.”

Roelfsema attributes a lot of his longevity to the health and mental benefits of cycling.

“When President Eisenhower’s doctor Paul Dudley White was treating him back in the 1950s, he told the president that if you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to ride a bicycle,” Roelfsema said. “There’s a lot of truth to that — it’s just good for my mental health. I feel good when I get through. It feels like I’ve done something. It keeps me young.”

Roelfsema admitted the cycling life wasn’t perfect — that fall he took at age 14 was the first of many — but also preached its values for young and old.

“I think they should definitely try it, although I would prefer it if they would be purists and not do all this electric bicycle stuff,” he said. “You don’t necessarily need to bike every day — you can alternate it with running or other activities. But if you get out every day, it will definitely keep you from aging too rapidly. It’s worked for me.”