Road Cycling - How old (young (c: ) are you?

NOTE: This poll is for ROAD BIKERS only

Please do not participate if you are not a road rider. No I'm not trying to be elitist (I ride MTBs too!!)... I just want this poll to be an "accurate" survey of road riders' ages.

I have a feeling that the median age will be in the 30s somewhere, with a rapid fall off on the left side (short-tailed) and a more gradual fall off on the right side (long-tailed). My feeling is that the money factor is what keeps most young folk away from road bikes. currently i am the only one of all my friends that road bikes.... and of all my "acquaintances" i only know 1 road biker!! (i'm 23).

Hey people...VOTE.

I don't want to be the only mature (old) rider on this thing.

It is interesting how few riders are in their early-mid 30's. That is the prime of life if you take care of your body. At the same time, it is the age when most people coast from the magnificence of their twenties into mid-life flab.

I watched it happen to my friends. This poll bears true to what I have seen. People hit the thirty-year-old zone, have kids, get busy with their careers, enjoy a bit richer food, get less excersize, and their bodies often go to hell.

Suddenly at 40, they look at themselves and say "what happened?!".

The poll also shows the pick-up at 40 where some people, after figuring things out a bit get back into the groove and start taking better care of themselves.

What is a bit unnerving is that the polls show a sharp drop off in the fifties:( what happens there?

With only 18 votes so far, it is not appropriate to make any generalizations.

Also, at best, this poll is representative only of Bikeforums.net active membership, if that. You can not generalize to the larger biking world.

I would have voted earlier, but YOU STILL CAN NOT VOTE IF YOU HAVE AOL, and I had to fire up IE.

Also, I have started a new thread in "general discussion" on being "old."

hmmn, smallest of the sampling group is 30 - 36 ?
not too surprizing. Mike I think I'd add raising kids as
a prime reason that there are not alot of riders in
that age group. By the time mom and dad are approaching
40's the kids are out doing their own thing. Late 20's
one parent watches kids, other can do "stuff". In the
30's its little league, soccer, scouts, football etc.

Now who is gonna do the statistics on this study?

Marty

I ride on roads about 95% of the time. Do not race, just ride mostly by myself to relieve stress, to watch animals, to exercise, etc.

Is this the type of person you were wanting for the poll or do they have to race?

Originally posted by lotek
hmmn, smallest of the sampling group is 30 - 36 ?
not too surprizing. Mike I think I'd add raising kids as
a prime reason that there are not alot of riders in
that age group. By the time mom and dad are approaching
40's the kids are out doing their own thing. Late 20's
one parent watches kids, other can do "stuff". In the
30's its little league, soccer, scouts, football etc.

Now who is gonna do the statistics on this study?

Marty

I agree with you on this. I am 38 and my kids are 5, 3, & 2. I find it very hard to find the time to put in the miles that I would like to. I have been into cycling for many years and I have seen it go from whenever I felt like it, to whenever I was able to, to (wife) "are you crazy thinking you are going to take off for two hours on that bike and leave me with these kids..." It's really not that bad but time management is deffinately a factor with me. Raising a family just takes a lot of it, and that's that. My kids love to ride thier bikes, too, so it's only a matter of time until they can go on longer rides with me. I also think money plays a part because with road cycling you need quite a bit of disposable income in order to afford these machines that we all love. Well, that's all I have for now, and Happy Holidays to all!

Road biking is an expensive sport

I just spent $1500 on a Cannondale R1000....all my friends think I'm nuts :D

It's kind of hard to save a lot of money when you're a teenager (I'm 18)...most of it goes to food, food, and more food

Im 31 and have two kids. I have it really nice. I commute year round, road bike for the warm weather, touring bike - not so nice weather, and mountain bike for the snow. The route is 10 miles each way - all bike path. So on the weekends, I get up early and road ride with my friends. I went from 200 pounds to 165. Its interesting to see all my friends in my age group getting really chubby. It feels good to reverse the trend!

Originally posted by detrieux
I ride on roads about 95% of the time. Do not race, just ride mostly by myself to relieve stress, to watch animals, to exercise, etc.

Is this the type of person you were wanting for the poll or do they have to race?

yep that's exactly the kind of person i'm asking for (and I am)... but road racers can participate too LOL ;).

Why didn't you start this poll 2 weeks ago??. I could have answered 51-57. Now I have to answer 58-64. :( :rolleyes:



It is interesting how few riders are in their early-mid 30's.
When I was in my 30s I was busy raising kids and trying to feed my growing family. I did manage to scrape up $25 to buy a used 3 speed when I was 34. Didn't have enough $$$ to buy a good bike until I was 41. Bought a brand new Schwinn LeTour. Wish I still had it. :(



Road biking is an expensive sport.
At our family Christmas dinner my cousin (who makes a MUCH better salary that me) was commenting about the prices of nice bikes. He just couldn't understand why anyone would spend $1800 on a bike. I tried explaining some of the reasons to him. Afterward he asked what kind of bike I had and how much it cost. Not sure what he was thinking when I told him about my Litespeed. :D