Fifty Plus (50+) - Lesser Achiever rides half his age!

Two weeks ago I posted that I had ridden 18 miles, breaking 12 miles for the first time since I was 23 years old.

Today I can report that I did half my age, 26 miles. This is an all-time high for me, breaking my previous high of 22 miles - set when I was a teenager.

It was all rail trail, approximately 23 on dirt/gravel surfaces. About 18-20 miles was into an 8-10 mph headwind - I did not appreciate that.

Elasped time to complete, including all stops, almost exactly 3 hours. As my goal was to complete it within 4 hours, with hopes that I could do it in 3.5, I was very pleased to finish in 3.

Riding attire was a green Target C9 jersey, some clearance socks from Nashbar, Borah padded undershorts, Target C9 long, lightweight khaki pants, reflective Fred strap on right ankle, and sneakers. Contemplated installing my PowerGrips straps but decided not too as I didn't want to risk them being uncomfortable.

First 10 miles were a breeze, except for the wind. Then I started tiring on a long 3% incline with the wind taking its toll. Then I got up to the train tunnel (980' long, curved, near pitch black in the middle), walking the bike through about half of it. When I came out the other side, rested a bit and now heading down a 3% slope, I caught my second wind and never had problems again.

To the best of my knowledge, my pulse rate never hit 100, and I completed the entire ride consuming only 16 ounces of water (out of my 24 ounce bottle). I never got thirsty. It was a nice, cool 56 when I started out, climbing to the low 70s by the time I finished. Did drink a lot of water later at lunch.

I hereby promote myself to Recreational Rider, Class 2.

My wife met me in the beautiful small town of New Glarus, Wisconsin, where we had lunch.

I can also state that I hit my first weight reduction goal. Starting from mid-Sept last year, I am now down 15 pounds, hoping to be down 25 by Oct 1. Biking is a big part of my weight loss program.

Congratulations Tom!

You're right around where I was last year at this time. I broke 30 miles in June, did my first 50-miler in August, and just over 70 miles each on rides in October and November.

You're on the right track. Keep it up!

The Magic Eight-Ball sees shaved legs and bib shorts in your future.

Outstanding. Glad to hear your having fun.

Two weeks ago I posted that I had ridden 18 miles, breaking 12 miles for the first time since I was 23 years old.

Today I can report that I did half my age, 26 miles. This is an all-time high for me, breaking my previous high of 22 miles - set when I was a teenager.

It was all rail trail, approximately 23 on dirt/gravel surfaces. About 18-20 miles was into an 8-10 mph headwind - I did not appreciate that..

Congratulations!

For me, riding into headwinds is worse than climbing hills. At lease you can see the end of the hill:)

Congratulations. Those headwinds on hills can be challenging.

I like the architecture in New Glarus. What a great place to end your ride.

You'd better take that Eight-Ball in for its tuneup!

tsl, you're a better man than I'll ever be. No plans to ever do a 70 and a 50 is unlikely. I might attempt something in the 35-40 range.

All I really wanted to be able to do is to take a comfortable 10-15 mile ride. Where I could go out for an hour to an hour and a half and enjoy the ride & nature. I'm getting there now.

This ride started out as my attempt to ride to my favorite little town. This is a goal I established last year. The shortest route to that town (via bike path) is 18 miles. But once I got down to the short cut over to the town, I was feeling good so I decided to take the scenic route, which added 4 miles.

Then once I got to town, 30 minutes early, I decided to go for 26. That town has some nice paved paths and I'd been on gravel all morning. So I did two laps on a 1 mile ride out to a park, giving me my 26. I finished with a very modest "sprint" over the last two tenths.

I only used 4 gears over the entire 26 miles - the middle four cogs on the rear with the middle crank on the front. How many do you need on a rail trail with a slope range of plus or minus 3 degrees?

Congratulations!

For me, riding into headwinds is worse than climbing hills. At lease you can see the end of the hill:)

I figure that at my speed into an 8-10 mph headwind, that I'm running into about the same amount of wind as most riders in this forum are hitting on a perfectly calm day! :)

Congratulations on establishing a new record... always a good feeling.

This record will fall soon.

The Magic Eight-Ball sees shaved legs and bib shorts in your future.
+1 :beer:

Way to go, Tom!

tsl, you're a better man than I'll ever be. No plans to ever do a 70 and a 50 is unlikely. I might attempt something in the 35-40 range.

I didn't plan any of them. Not that they were accidental either, (Whoops! I just rode my bike 70 miles How'd that happen?), but I wasn't "training" for long rides, and didn't have goals set for them. Hell, I even rode them all in cargo shorts from Sam's Club!

The 50-miler in August was a group ride that got rained out. A gal who showed up and I just rode our bikes around the countryside in the rain for an afternoon.

The first 70 miler was when a guy a few years older than me invited me to join him for a metric century. My damned fool head thought "39 miles and change". No, 39 and change is the number of inches in a meter. Doh! I was still 10 miles from home when the cyclometer ticked off 62.14 miles...

Compare that to my first ride, March 29, 2006 when I had to stop and rest halfway home from the LBS with my brand new bike. It's just 0.67 miles away.

I'm just sayin' the only limits you have, are the ones you impose on yourself.

I'm just sayin' the only limits you have, are the ones you impose on yourself.
That does it, I'm getting on my bike and kicking Landis' juiced up @ss. Then I'll get to date Cheryl Crow.

The first 70 miler was when a guy a few years older than me invited me to join him for a metric century. My damned fool head thought "39 miles and change". No, 39 and change is the number of inches in a meter. Doh! I was still 10 miles from home when the cyclometer ticked off 62.14 miles...

Compare that to my first ride, March 29, 2006 when I had to stop and rest halfway home from the LBS with my brand new bike. It's just 0.67 miles away.

I'm just sayin' the only limits you have, are the ones you impose on yourself.

I would have noticed my ride was going beyond 39 miles a long way before I got to 62!

I can identify with your first ride story. I was absolutely whipped and beaten before I got to the 1.5 mile mark last September. And after 2.5 mles (having already taken 2 rest stops), I then took a 30 minute rest stop. Completing the 4 mile ride took something like 1.5 hours.

Good going Tom.:beer:

I definitely think JT's 8-ball is on to something. Don't fight it, it's out of your control.:)

I like the architecture in New Glarus. What a great place to end your ride.

I visit there frequently, as it is only 15 miles from where I live. As you probably know, it is the trailhead for the Sugar River Trail and has a wonderful old train depot converted to a trail HQ.

What impressed me so much was how much activity there was at the depot. The parking lot was nearly filled. The trail going out to about 5 miles from there was packed with families, church groups, scouts, older couples, and more seriously equipped riders. At three miles out from the trailhead, as I came in, I passed a young mother and her small child - who was riding a bike with training wheels on it - heading out away from town.

As I waited at the depot for my wife to show up, there were cyclists everywhere. Four guys out on road ride stopped to use the restroom and fill up on water - two looked to be around 60. One had a beautiful black Waterford. Then two older couples came by on ultra-comfort bikes. Then some families.

Then, my timing was quite poor, 7 women were preparing to go out and one asked me for a little assistance. It was when I was over there helping them, that my wife pulled into the parking lot. They were planning on making the roundtrip to Brodhead and back, a total of 46 miles. Five of the seven were riding near identical Trek 7500 hybrids.

I thought the atmosphere was great. Clearly a case where a bike trail brings a lot of people to a small town. The restaurant where we ate was packed with people in biking gear.

Good going Tom, I guess it one of those things, first you want 20, then 25, and so on. As long as it's fun who cares.

So, hit on by 7 women with the old "a little assistance" ploy eh? Sounds like one fine ride to me, way to go Tom, reading your stuff always makes me feel good. Thanks for posting.

So, hit on by 7 women with the old "a little assistance" ploy eh? Sounds like one fine ride to me, way to go Tom, reading your stuff always makes me feel good. Thanks for posting.
I think he was ready to ride off with them when his wife pulled up.

He hasn't mentioned the part about sleeping on the couch tonight.:p :D

Congratulations. Nothing "lesser" about your achievement.

Great job. I have got to get over there and ride some of those trails. I hear nothing but great things about them.

Sounds like the perfect day to me.

Congrats. Sounds like we share the same tastes in riding apparel. I miss the many rail-trails we had when living in NE Md., and the many mtb.trails just north of us, around Shrewsbury and York, Pa. Keep going and you'll ride your age before you know it!

I thought the atmosphere was great. Clearly a case where a bike trail brings a lot of people to a small town. The restaurant where we ate was packed with people in biking gear.
It's exciting to see more and more bikers hit the roads. Freeranger and I must have seen at least 40 other bikers on our ride yesterday. Not a one of them overtook us, a testiment either to our blinding speed, or to the fact that we were lost and continuously going the wrong way.

The Magic Eight-Ball sees shaved legs and bib shorts in your future.



.........riding a Pinnarello with aero-bars on a double century. :D


Congrats Tom.

Great Job! That 26 will turn into 40 pretty quick.

Does Pinnarello offer a model with a gasoline motor?

Next: a metric age, 56 = 32.

You read my mind. That is my next goal. 52.6 km = 32.7 miles.

Honor my European heritage.

I do wish that I could speed it up a tad, to make the miles go by a little quicker. Riding 32.7 miles will take somewhere around 3.5 to 3.75 hours. Many people in this forum could cover 50-60 miles in the same amount of time.

You read my mind. That is my next goal. 52.6 km = 32.7 miles.

Honor my European heritage.

I do wish that I could speed it up a tad, to make the miles go by a little quicker. Riding 32.7 miles will take somewhere around 3.5 to 3.75 hours. Many people in this forum could cover 50-60 miles in the same amount of time.
It gives you more time to enjoy the ride. Take lots of pictures!

Today I can report that I did half my age, 26 miles. This is an all-time high for me, breaking my previous high of 22 miles - set when I was a teenager.

Congratulations. Isn't it nice to outdo your teenaged self?

There is always someone who is faster or who can ride farther. Personal bests are the best kinds of records. Congragulations and keep pushing your PBs at a pace you are happy with.

You read my mind. That is my next goal. 52.6 km = 32.7 miles.

Honor my European heritage.

I do wish that I could speed it up a tad, to make the miles go by a little quicker. Riding 32.7 miles will take somewhere around 3.5 to 3.75 hours. Many people in this forum could cover 50-60 miles in the same amount of time.

Not me..My 56 miler last year took 4:31, a whooping avg of about 12mph.

Congratulations. Nothing "lesser" about your achievement.

Just face it- what were you doing 5 years ago? Any distance and any stage of riding is good. Just yesterday It was pointed out that I am too old to be riding a bike any distance. On the news recently- there was a feature on a rider called Longstaff. Some of you may recognise the name from the bikes- but he is now 80 and regularly out on his bike- like every day- and doing more milage than I do in a week.

Just face it- what were you doing 5 years ago?

Five years ago I hadn't riden a bike in 10 years.

8 months ago, it took me 1.5 hours to complete a 4 mile ride - with about 50 minutes of that time taken in rest stops.

I do feel very good about having completed a 26 mile ride. And I am very confident that I will break 30 sometime this summer, maybe 35, and perhaps take a shot this fall at 40. But even if my high for the year ends up at 30, I will be pretty happy about it. I know I could have done at least 30 on Saturday, because I wasn't spent when I finished.

Plus, it was a great experience. Very peaceful and relaxing.

I'm thinking of taking a day in September, whenever a perfect riding day pops up, getting on the trail beside my house, head south and go as far as I can, with my wife coming down to get me and go out to dinner. Doing my best to make her drive as far as possible. It's 34 miles to the Illinois border. I'd love to tell her that she has to come to Illinois to get me.

It's 34 miles to the Illinois border. I'd love to tell her that she has to come to Illinois to get me.

Then next year you can say as you leave the house "Honey, I'm riding to Illinois and back, see ya in a few"

Then next year you can say as you leave the house "Honey, I'm riding to Illinois and back, see ya in a few"

I might have to pack a tent for that trip.

Great job.....Drink water. It will only help you as your miles increase.

Here's my experience, for what it's worth.

Got my first bike (in twenty years) in June, '05 and took a maiden voyage of five miles that wiped me out. I mean it really, really wiped me out.

People on this forum were talking about Riding your Age. The idea of riding 54 miles in one day both scared the daylights out of me (it felt very intimidating) and also sort of inspired me (it felt like it would be an amazing achievement).

Four months later, in October, I rode my age. On a mountain bike, with knobby tires, going 'round and 'round on a six mile loop (on paved streets).

Since then, I've only done about three rides over fifty miles, and my longest is 63. The idea of doing a century feels just like the original idea of riding my age felt -- intimidating and inspiring.

I may do one someday. I may not. It's really not about how far one can ride, it's about how fun it is to ride. But it's also fun to have goals and even without goals, to go out and do something you just can't believe you did.

By the way, I was equally tired from my first five mile ride and my first half century. :D

Here's my experience, for what it's worth.


People on this forum were talking about Riding your Age. The idea of riding 54 miles in one day both scared the daylights out of me (it felt very intimidating) and also sort of inspired me (it felt like it would be an amazing achievement).

Four months later, in October, I rode my age. On a mountain bike, with knobby tires, going 'round and 'round on a six mile loop (on paved streets).

Since then, I've only done about three rides over fifty miles, and my longest is 63. The idea of doing a century feels just like the original idea of riding my age felt -- intimidating and inspiring.

By the way, I was equally tired from my first five mile ride and my first half century. :D


So you have done a Metric century- You didn't tell us sbout it so I apoligise about trying to force you into doing one

So when are you going to a hundred miler then?

So you have done a Metric century- You didn't tell us sbout it so I apoligise about trying to force you into doing one

So when are you going to a hundred miler then?

I did my metric century almost a year ago, on July 5th, 2006, to honor and celebrate my parents 63rd wedding anniversary. I rode 63 miles at the same location as my first Ride My Age -- around Coronado "Island" (really a peninsula). Now their 64th anniversary is coming up. Think I'll get 'em a houseplant his time.

As for the hunert, I dunno. I want the Roobay to have all the kinks worked out first, that's for sure.