Leo Tolstoy only learned to ride a bicycle at the age of… 67!
Think you're too old to learn something new? Let Leo Tolstoy prove you wrong!
At the age of 67 – yes, you read that right! – the great Russian writer decided it was time to learn how to ride a bicycle!
That wasn’t his first adventure into the world of hobbies and innovation. Tolstoy was a total tech enthusiast of his time: he took photographs with a camera, listened to music on a gramophone and even owned and used a telephone.
When he wasn’t writing masterpieces, he was staying active with long walks (which often tired out his guests at his Yasnaya Polyana Estate) and played ‘gorodki’ (a Russian folk sport. Similar in concept to bowling and also somewhat to horseshoes) and tennis.
In 1895, he took cycling lessons at the Moscow Manege and was gifted a stylish British bicycle by the Moscow Cyclists’ Club. That very same ‘Starley’ bike is now on display at his estate museum in Khamovniki.
Tolstoy loved cycling through Moscow (he even had a special permit!) and wrote that riding “sinlessly, childishly delights” him. Though he eventually returned to horseback and walking, his spirit of curiosity never faded.
