Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Are you worried about wearing yourself out?

Just wondering if any of you has ever thought of the fact that by riding 10,000 miles per year we might be wearing out our joints, cartilages, etc... faster than cyclists who do, say, half of that. I guess the human body, though it can adapt remarkably well to a lot of situations, might not be supposed to do this sort of things? Do you guys know people who have been doing long distance events for 40 years or more?

It's the studies on cyclists' loss of bone density that have me worried. At 58, I'm bothered by things going on inside my body that I can not see or feel, until I fall and break a hip. Bone density is no where as easy to monitor as blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid levels or other common problems in older guys.

On the plus side, chocolate milk has shown to be a great sports drink. Yummy.

Just wondering if any of you has ever thought of the fact that by riding 10,000 miles per year we might be wearing out our joints, cartilages, etc... faster than cyclists who do, say, half of that. I guess the human body, though it can adapt remarkably well to a lot of situations, might not be supposed to do this sort of things? Do you guys know people who have been doing long distance events for 40 years or more?

I don't know personally know anyone who's being doing long distance for 40 years or more but I know that John (http://www.blayleys.com/about/john.htm) and Pamela (http://www.blayleys.com/about/pamela.htm) Blayley have each been putting in 10,000 miles a year for 20 years and in the time that I've known them, neither of them seem the worse for it. I think it's a matter of holding and maintaining conditioning. Unlike machines, our bodies don't have a finite amount of "health" that we use up through our life. If anything, our bodies are able to repair themselves if they are trained to do so.

Age is just a sign of the body being less adept at repairing itself; but that isn't accelerated by exercise. If anything, it's accelerated by unhealthy diets and living in polluted environments.

"Are you worried about wearing yourself out? "

In a word, no. Since I started doing centuries, and then rando'ing, over the past 5 years, I have fewer aches and pains than before. FWIW, I turn 54 two weeks from tomorrow.

Scott P
Bend, OR

ps - I'd rather wear myself out than leave a perfectly preserved corpse.

"Are you worried about wearing yourself out? "
ps - I'd rather wear myself out than leave a perfectly preserved corpse.

Well said bobby,

I actually feel like I'm buiding myself up by doing these long rides, even though I may not feel that way, exactly, when the ride is "just over." A day or two later, no problem! There are lots of things I worry about occasionally, but wearing myself out is not one of them.

Rick / OCRR

I'm more worried about daily tennis taking it's toll on my knees. But what's life for?
If I stopped doing everything fun I could still catch something, or have a airplane fall on me.

When i worry about life it usually revolves around something bad happening involving an automobile.

At age 75 and over a quarter million miles on bicycles I feel just great!
Still ride 100+ miles a week.
Your chances of getting hit by a car are better than wearing out your body cycling . . .

Just wondering if any of you has ever thought of the fact that by riding 10,000 miles per year we might be wearing out our joints, cartilages, etc... faster than cyclists who do, say, half of that. I guess the human body, though it can adapt remarkably well to a lot of situations, might not be supposed to do this sort of things? Do you guys know people who have been doing long distance events for 40 years or more?


I think you will "wear-out" your body quicker sitting in a cubicle stressing over deadlines and dickheads
than you will pushing your physical limits on a bicycle.

I am more worried about wearing my self out working ,,, I wished I had the time to ride oven 2500 miles in a year.

I've been doing this since 2001 ... and yeah, I have days where I feel pretty worn out, but overall, I'm still going. I just wish my teeth would quit falling out of my head.