An 82-year-old Dutch woman is still riding the same bicycle she was given nearly seven decades ago when she was 13.

Jo Goosens still uses the 1950s black Gazelle her parents gave her to cycle from her home in Liessel to secondary school in Deurne every day.

Cycling has a cherished role in the Dutch psyche and Mrs Goosens’ marathon stint in the saddle has made national news.

Many of her peers have turned to e-bikes as they have grown older but not Mrs Goosens, who gives the cycles powered by electric motors short shrift.

“It’s crazy. They ride so fast with them and some of them don’t pay attention,” she said.

Replacing her trusty bicycle never crossed Mrs Goosens’ mind. The original frame, front wheel, and Philips headlight still grace it.

“I only buy something new when I need it. I’ve been driving the same Volvo for years. I’ve always polished it. Every year I turn the bike upside down to grease everything,” Mrs Goosens said of a bike that remains shiny and rust-free.

“My bike mechanic also says that I shouldn’t get rid of it,” she said, adding: “I still do my shopping with it.”

Over the years, Mrs Goosens, whose husband died in 1992, has had to make some repairs.

“The rear wheel has been replaced. My husband once put gears on it and that had to be done with a different wheel,” she told the AD newspaper.

“There is a different chain guard on it. The old one was made of fabric. A few years ago a new dynamo was put on. The previous one was slipping.”

Unsurprisingly, Mrs Goosens can’t recall how much her reliable ride cost but she does remember the shop where it was bought.

“My parents bought it from Doris Aarts, who had a bike shop on a farm, on the Loon in Liessel,” she said.

“They bought three at the same time, with the other two for my two sisters. There were seven girls and two boys at home.”

‘I went outside and the bike was gone’

The lengthy relationship with the bike was very nearly cut short.

It was once stolen and Mrs Goosens, who now lives in Deurne, was without it for a fortnight.

“I worked at the outpatient clinic of the old hospital in Kruisstraat. After my shift, I went outside and the bike was gone,” she said.

After 14 days, Mrs Goosens went shopping with her bike key in her pocket “as if I had a premonition”.

She spotted her missing bike outside an electronics shop and waited to confront the thief. After showing the woman her bike key, they went to the police station together.

The cycle was returned to its rightful owner, where it has stayed since.

“‘How am I supposed to get home now?’,” Mrs Goosens said she asked the woman she suspected of pinching her bicycle.

“‘Maybe she’ll take you’ – a police officer said and pointed at me.”

Did Mrs Goosens give the woman a lift on her beloved bike?

“Of course not,” she added.