Fifty Plus (50+) - Of lifetime goals and inner peace

Hello fellow mature cyclists,

Between Facebook, Twitter, and Bike Forums, I've been hard-pressed to keep up with all of the sub forums that interest me.

As some of you know, I have been racing bicycles since the mid-1970s and now, as a 50+ Master bike racer, I have been setting various yearly goals to keep up my interest level in the sport. I don't set stretch goals that are unachievable by my average racing capabilities as I get depressed when I can't achieve any goals. :o

However, there has been one lifetime goal that I was beginning to think that I would never achieve -- ride a 40 Km (24.8 mile) individual time trial (ITT) in less than 1 hour. (When I started racing bicycles the distance was actually a full 25 miles but sometime in the early 1980s the US governing body for the sport decided to go metric.)

So jumping to the end of the story, I finally did it. I would have been happy with 59 minutes and 59 seconds (59:59) but somehow, after doing about a half dozen ITTs in the 1 hour 15 seconds to 1 hour 30 seconds range, I did an official 40 KM ITT in 58:30. :beer:

The back story is that there is a "championship" ITT each year under the auspices of California Bicycle Racing (CBR). For some reason, the timing of this race changes each year. This year it was in April. In 2009 it was in November. This year's event kind of snuck up on me and I registered for the race on the next to last day of registration. On top of that, I hadn't ridden my TT bike in about a month. Fortunately, I had been training pretty well this spring.

The course is the original SoCal district championship TT course: Avenue E in Lancaster which borders the southern edge of Edwards Air Force Base. The course is flat and is an out-and-back, east-west configuration. I started racing on this course in 1980 and it typically has a strong tailwind on the way out (east) and an equally strong headwind on the way back. Race day was fairly typical with the winds being slightly lighter than normal.

I knew the wind was not as strong as usual since I could "only" hold 27-29 MPH on the way out (29-30 mph is usual). At the turnaround I was determined to keep my speed above 20 MPH into the headwind. A motivating factor was a couple of other 50-54 racers passed me and were, shall we say, not really following the rules of an ITT. Anyway, that motivated me even more. I managed to keep my speed above 22 MPH with a couple of peeks at 25 MPH. When I hit the last kilometer I was pretty sure I was going to go under an hour but I still gave it everything I had, crossed the line, and hit my computer.

I was happy. :)

Great job. You never know when or how your body is going to act. Keep setting new goals. I read somewhere, maybe here, that in training for an event we should ease up the last week or so then do the event. Goals are what keeps me motivated. I don't want to just wander around without a plan. In reading BF i realize that it takes time to build up our bodies for cycling. Just started riding a road bike last July and am having a ball pushing myself to see what i can do. Keep up the fun.

Congratulations. I don't ride for speed but I am impressed at what those of you who do can achieve.

Great story Cleave and congratulations. I keep trying to get faster, even at the age of 70 and it is working. I don't Know if I want to keep riding with groups though. I have met some pretty self center riders since riding with groups and I think it's taking away the joy of riding. I know you don't mind that kind of riding and maybe it takes a little time to adjust to it, but at the age of 70 I don't know if I need to group ride and to get any faster. Anyhow great job and keep doing what you love to do.:thumb:

Congratulations!

That's not a goal that I can identify with very well but I always think that it's neat to see people achieve what they set out to do. The more difficult, elusive and seemingly impossible the goal, the sweeter the victory when you accomplish it. Good job!

Congratulations on meeting and, it appears, surpassing the goal by a nice margin, Cleave; and you did it by the book as well.

Good job, Cleave! What's next, the hour record?

Sweet! *head nod*

Hello All,

Thanks for the encouraging words. If there is a small morale to this story it is that you can do things in your 50s that you weren't able to accomplish when you were younger. It's not that it gets easier (in fact it's probably a bit harder), but wisdom does count for something in athletic performance.

Well done - quite an achievement.. I don't know what it takes to maintain that kind of speed for an hour having never done it but I can just imagine how hard it is.
Now here is the problem you face, what's you next goal?

Very fine. 25 miles in even time is a pretty good number at any age.

Nice work! I am completely devoid of natural athletic ability, and I respect those who have it and develop it to full potential.

Very, very well done sir. I'm betting that you rode that 40k not only using your physical skills but the mental lessons learned over the years as well. Very impressive.

We had a series of 40k's at our Speedway time trials in Charlotte 2 years ago and sold out the slots in the first one. By the time we got to the last one we only had about 1/3 of that participating. I think the novelty wore off and everyone that participated learned what a grueling event it was. Because it was just like running 2 different races at the same time (our mainstay has been the 10 miler) we opted to not continue it. I was unable to ride one-in fact never have done one-but would like to given the right scenario.

Great Job Cleave! That is an awesome time.

Good job Cleave! You have every reason to be proud.:beer:

Cleave, I am really happy for you. A sub 60 minute 40K TT is the gold standard. Congratulations.

Hello All,

Thanks for the encouraging words. If there is a small morale to this story it is that you can do things in your 50s that you weren't able to accomplish when you were younger. It's not that it gets easier (in fact it's probably a bit harder), but wisdom does count for something in athletic performance.

I would modify that to-"You can still do things later in life that you managed to when younger"

We have a hard ride in the south here that is 100 miles with 10,000ft of climbing and it is offroad. Up to 97 I had attempted this ride 7 times and failed once. Then in 99 had a bypass. I was actually in training for my 8th attempt when that came about. Then a couple of other problems and in 2002 I decided to attempt the ride again. 6 months to get ultra fit and Stuart and I did it in 2003. It hurt but I did it.Can't even say I enjoyed it but we decided to do it again in 2004---and 2005---and 2006. 06 though and the weather was against us and we failed.

Since then I have gone out on the Ride day to direct riders through a tricky map reading section. Seeing all those youngsters at the end of their energy makes me realise that I was sensible to stop doing the ride when I did. 58 was old enough to say- Been there- done that and got the T-Shirt. no need to do it again.

Sir, a nice job indeed.

nice job. inspirational. intriguing title.

Somehow I missed this thread before. Congrats on reaching a pretty high standard Cleve. You should be proud of your hard work.

Congrats on reaching a very impressive goal!

Way to go! Seeing that time was a real kick, I'm sure. I could do that, too if the course was all downhill.

Your mention of all the places you post made me think of the story where the old Jewish guy goes into the Catholic confessional.

"Father Murphy it's Irving Goldfarb."

"Well, Hello Mr. Goldfarb what brings you to confession?"

"I've met a beautiful young lady who adores me and we make mad passionate love sometimes several times a night""

"That's really good for you, Mr. Goldfarb but you're Jewish and this is a Catholic confessional. Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling everybody who'll listen"

Impressive. Well done! and yes, it's all about goals.
Thanks for posting that.

:thumb:

Familiar tale. Back in my racing days, my big goal was to break the hour. That kept me going for a lot of years. When I finally did it, (59:37 at Masters Nats 1992), I just kinda ran out of steam - no other big goals, so why bother?

SP
Bend, OR

Way to go! :thumb: :beer:

Hello All,

Thanks for the encouraging words. If there is a small morale to this story it is that you can do things in your 50s that you weren't able to accomplish when you were younger. It's not that it gets easier (in fact it's probably a bit harder), but wisdom does count for something in athletic performance.

True dat.

Thanks for posting this. You continue to inspire me to keep pushing my limiting beliefs; I appreciate that very much.

Your TT time is impressive. I'm looking forward to your report on the Sr. Games.

YES!! :thumb:

Hi,

I am amazed and thankful for all of the positive responses. I just hope that this story can help some of you reach a bit further than what you think is attainable.


I would modify that to-"You can still do things later in life that you managed to when younger"

We have a hard ride in the south here that is 100 miles with 10,000ft of climbing and it is offroad. Up to 97 I had attempted this ride 7 times and failed once. Then in 99 had a bypass. I was actually in training for my 8th attempt when that came about. Then a couple of other problems and in 2002 I decided to attempt the ride again. 6 months to get ultra fit and Stuart and I did it in 2003. It hurt but I did it.Can't even say I enjoyed it but we decided to do it again in 2004---and 2005---and 2006. 06 though and the weather was against us and we failed.

Since then I have gone out on the Ride day to direct riders through a tricky map reading section. Seeing all those youngsters at the end of their energy makes me realise that I was sensible to stop doing the ride when I did. 58 was old enough to say- Been there- done that and got the T-Shirt. no need to do it again.

Hi stapfam, there are a few things that I can still do on my bike that I could when I was younger but that wasn't my point. ;) There are definitely a number of local rides and a couple of races that are in the 'been there, done that' category for me too. One general "challenge" that falls into that category is racing in the rain. I've forfeited pre-entry fees a couple of times in the last few years because I don't need any epic rain race stories any longer.


nice job. inspirational. intriguing title.

Hello rumrunn6, the second half of the title refers to the immense feeling of personal satisfaction in achieving this lifelong goal. As I wrote, my performance was not great as compared to other 50+ racers that day, but it was my PR and goal achievement that meant so much to me.


Way to go! Seeing that time was a real kick, I'm sure. I could do that, too if the course was all downhill.

Your mention of all the places you post made me think of the story where the old Jewish guy goes into the Catholic confessional.

"Father Murphy it's Irving Goldfarb."

"Well, Hello Mr. Goldfarb what brings you to confession?"

"I've met a beautiful young lady who adores me and we make mad passionate love sometimes several times a night""

"That's really good for you, Mr. Goldfarb but you're Jewish and this is a Catholic confessional. Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling everybody who'll listen"

Hi ahsposo, yes that is an old but favored joke for me.


Familiar tale. Back in my racing days, my big goal was to break the hour. That kept me going for a lot of years. When I finally did it, (59:37 at Masters Nats 1992), I just kinda ran out of steam - no other big goals, so why bother?

SP
Bend, OR

Hello bobbycorno, goals are important for me but they are not the only reason why I race. I love riding fast and there's no way for me to ride fast other than racing. Also, I like being at this level of fitness and I don't have the self discipline to ride this hard without racing on the weekends to motivate me.


True dat.

Thanks for posting this. You continue to inspire me to keep pushing my limiting beliefs; I appreciate that very much.

Your TT time is impressive. I'm looking forward to your report on the Sr. Games.

Hi Red Rider, I'll try to post my Senior Games report this weekend. There's a good side story about my strength as a 2 minute coach.

Man, you are one BAD dude!:thumb:..congrats!