In this inspiring UltraCycling Magazine interview, we meet Ling Ky of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—a man who redefined the meaning of retirement. At age 59, Ling traded boardrooms for bike saddles, launching into the world of ultra-distance cycling with a quiet determination that’s taken him across continents. Now 65, he’s conquered legendary events like the 2022 London-Edinburgh-London, the grueling Trans-Am, the epic Perth-to-Sydney ride, and the rugged Tour Divide.
As this episode airs, Ling is embarking on his second London-Edinburgh-London, proving that passion knows no age limit. With stories of resilience, cultural encounters, and the meditative rhythm of long-distance rides, Ling shares how cycling became not just a sport, but a soulful second act.
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[Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Welcome to the Ultraycling Magazine Show. Tell me about the tour divide, Ling. Oh, is is a very different type of u uh race is it’s not about riding a race. It’s more about more like adventure. Uh something that is very that I never seen before. Uh I’ve seen a lot of bad roads, but this this type of roads and trail is a lot different than what I actually imagined. uh a lot of roads are not are not ridable is actually a hiking trails that we have to push and hike a a bike that is very heavy throughout the entire journey. This is what I experienced at this tour device. Uh probably I rank like fitness and and things like that are very low down in the list. It it means that uh uh a lot of people with very high fitness will not be able to get through this right. Uh I believe the experience and exposure counts a lot on this uh race. Uh your decision making whether to take risk or no risk counts a lot as well. If you try to take risk to to write this adventure probably you make some u uh callous mistake it can end your write your adventure very fast. This is what I saw on the right. So how did you do? Yeah, I I I think I did um okay, I did okay. Actually, I can do better, but I decided not to ride at night because if I do that, probably I’m not be able to reach Mexico because uh those trails are treacherous. It means that if if you try to do it at night, you can make some callous mistake and that may end up uh scratching the whole ride. Tell me a little bit about your cycling background, Ling, how you got into it and and oh the things you’ve done is it all started uh when I reach the age of 59 when I going to start retiring you know. So what I did is uh I I I need to keep myself active. So I I go through because I I’m a sportsman. I I play uh volleyball during the young age. I I selected to represent my country as well at that time. But due due to uh work career so I skipped that. So I continue working until the age of 59. So at the time before I want to retire I and thinking what I what am I going to do after I retire I need to keep myself active. So I eventually choose cycling as my uh as my hobby to continue after my retirement. So I I started off with uh 14 bike Bronton bike. I did my first uh senior uh super randoner on series on the Bronton from 200 300 400 600 kilometer on my Bronton. So after I completed that then I I then the actually the pandemic came. So fortunately during the pandemic I still are able to cycle despite my country having lockdown I still be able to cycle. Then I started to to train and then come to London to to do the London edibert London in 2022. This is where my first international event took part. So I’m I am happy I completed that event and after that I start to go uh longer and longer. I joined the Japanese Odyssey. Uh I I joined the Paris breast Paris and then I I did the transm as well and trans transm that is uh crossing from Atoria to Yorktown in Virginia. So I did that uh in 2023 uh no in 2024 and I also did uh the crossing of Australia from Perth to Sydney uh 2 months after crossing America uh that is LRM 4000 I also decided that means uh do I have did all the uh what I call the pave road race. So at what at that time I also feel disorientated. It means that uh uh I I try to to find some something more interesting. So I got into this uh tour divide right and this is uh something very different that I have no experience in uh doing gravel right. So with within uh 8 months I managed to get myself ready to do the tour divide and I quite happy I got got it through in in 27 days. Well your comments raised a lot of questions for me here. First of all retired retired from what what were you doing? Ling uh uh corporate uh work engineering uh my I I’m doing a full-time work that means uh I I work as a full-time as a corporate guy. Yeah. Corporate engineering guy. Okay. Very good. So you’re getting ready for London. You’ve did uh Paris Press Paris. How many times for Paris Press Paris? Uh one time. One time. So you did it in 2023, correct? Uh yes. Yes. I still holding the the the fastest time for for my Malaysian team. You mentioned you ride a Brmpton. For people who may not know, that’s a folding bike, is it not? Do you still ride that 16inch wheel folding bike? What are you riding now for London Edinburgh London? Oh, I’m riding a gi giant define define. What kind of things you got in your future? What are you looking forward to doing in the in the days ahead? Lang. Oh, I just um are trying to enjoy the ride in London, Edward, London. Yeah, this is my second time now. The reason I come back here is because this this race is very special to me. It started my international exposure. So after this experience I I I got to take part in many uh much bigger rights after LA what do you plan to do next ling oh I uh the last two year I was in America so the next two year I will be in Europe that mean uh next year I’m planning to do the the north cap to tarifa and that is the longest uh pave road uh road race north cap Cap to where? Tarifa. Tarifa in Spain. North Cape to the southern tip of Spain. Correct. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh they hold it every two years. That they’re holding it every two years. Any other races in your dreams? Uh following uh two 2027 I will be doing the transcontinental. And you mentioned you retired at 59. What is your age now, Ling? Few months to 65. Well, I turned 90 yesterday, Ling. Oh, congratulation. Well, you don’t look uh 90. You don’t looks 90. You looks probably around 70. Well, Ling, I have to announce to everybody. He said that and I didn’t pay him anything to say it. So, thank you, Link. Well, we’ve done done pretty well, Ling. Well, listen, we’re glad to get acquainted with you here and don’t make yourself scarce. Welcome to Ultra Cycling Magazine. We’ll be watching and perhaps scheduling you here. Oh, maybe for a longer live show at some time in the future. Okay. Okay. Definitely. Okay. Good luck. When see it starts uh the second, August 2nd, does it the LE? Uh third August. Yeah. Third August. Yeah. Okay, thank you so much for being with us, Ling. Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is Gregory Zuber thanking you for watching and sharing Music.