Fifty Plus (50+) - Finally got the wife out on her bike

I am an extremely athletic person married to an extremely non-athletic person. I am lucky that everything I do I catch on quickly and become good at. She....well....THINKS she is the opposite. But mainly her problem is she tries something once, isn't good at it(and who is the first time) and quits.
Got her a bike when we were first married and the tires rotted. I finally threw the bike out some 20 years later and she insisted on a new bike a few years ago. It has maybe 10 miles on it.
I got my daughter a road bike a few weeks ago and we have been riding. I think my plan worked as my wife showed interest in riding, probably by sheer jealously. You know how women are(don't reply, you know how you are :) ).
Anyway maybe she will keep riding.
And, no I don't ride hard or fast or long when with her. I pedal, coast a long time and pedal a few more times every minute or so ;). So it's not that.

Be careful about that coasting. I have a loud freewheel, and it drives my wife NUTS to hear me coasting and coasting and coasting behind her when she is pedaling away. (Honestly, I don't know how she can keep pedaling and still go so slowly. Maybe I should get her some new tires and wheels.)

At any rate, I've become very good at soft pedaling...

My wife wouldn't know what all the clicking was anyway...

Keep her experience positive, try short ride to a destination, like an ice cream shop, or stop for a slurpie at a 7-11. Or a park and have a drink and a snack. Gradually build the distance. And get a cruiser.
Pretty soon she'll be like my wife, able to drop you when ever she wants(except on hills).

I don't see myself as a person who is at all competitive. My wife, however, believes I'm very competitive. She won't do many things with me, because of this belief. Nor will she put herself in a situation in which she feels patronized by my attempts to function at a lesser level to accommodate her abilities. I think I'm being considerate. Who's right? I suspect it's somewhere in the middle. We've been married over 32 years, and I don't suspect it will change. Could any similar dynamics be taking place in your household?

The good news is that there are lots of things we do together and enjoy greatly... just not of a sporting nature.

It sounds like you and your wife will always have widely disparate abilities on bikes. Maybe a tandem is in your future.

I don't see myself as a person who is at all competitive. My wife, however, believes I'm very competitive. She won't do many things with me, because of this belief. Nor will she put herself in a situation in which she feels patronized by my attempts to function at a lesser level to accommodate her abilities. I think I'm being considerate. Who's right? I suspect it's somewhere in the middle. We've been married over 32 years, and I don't suspect it will change. Could any similar dynamics be taking place in your household?

The good news is that there are lots of things we do together and enjoy greatly... just not of a sporting nature.

My wife of 28 years is fit and athletic, but only rides her bike in warm weather. So springtime is toughest for us to match up. By fall, we're in synch.

We've found that it's best for her to lead and me to follow, spinning in a low gear and soft pedaling. As her bike fitness improves over a month or two, so does her pace. Will she ever ride in a 20+ mph paceline for 50 miles? No. Can we still enjoy touring and "destination" rides for brunch or fun? Yes.

She hasn't been on the bike yet this year, and we're planning a ~300 mile tour between our home in VA and some friends in Newark, DE (and back) in late June.:innocent:

This should be interesting...

Went on a ride with my wife late yesterday evening. At 63 she has become quite the cycling grandmother, or make that great grandmother a few weeks ago. We rode a number of miles hovering around the 20 MPH pace. Also, she is attending a full day seminar this weekend that will focus on bike handling and some climbing tips.

Two years ago she would barely go more than 8 miles. Last Saturday she rode a hilly metric century. She was so tired at the finish I helped her off her bike, but she says it was so much fun.

It seems the key was getting her to attend a ride or two with the local bike club. She fell in with some other lady cyclists, and much to her surprise, she was not horrible at this sport. Of course, she really likes what it has done to her body. A trim body with nice muscular legs. With all these positives and her improvement, she now rides more with the "guys" because she likes their speed more.

All this story is just to let you husbands, "It can happen".

It sounds like you and your wife will always have widely disparate abilities on bikes. Maybe a tandem is in your future.

No, I think she secretly likes to have the time to herself when I'm out riding. We do other things together, just not ride.

Went on a ride with my wife late yesterday evening. At 63 she has become quite the cycling grandmother, or make that great grandmother a few weeks ago. We rode a number of miles hovering around the 20 MPH pace. Also, she is attending a full day seminar this weekend that will focus on bike handling and some climbing tips.

Two years ago she would barely go more than 8 miles. Last Saturday she rode a hilly metric century. She was so tired at the finish I helped her off her bike, but she says it was so much fun.

It seems the key was getting her to attend a ride or two with the local bike club. She fell in with some other lady cyclists, and much to her surprise, she was not horrible at this sport. Of course, she really likes what it has done to her body. A trim body with nice muscular legs. With all these positives and her improvement, she now rides more with the "guys" because she likes their speed more.

All this story is just to let you husbands, "It can happen".

I just got a new bike - a Specialized Vita Sport. I've ridden a few times, but I'm slow at this point. I'm just curious if your wife did any special training, or just kept at it, adding time, distance and difficulty from time to time. I'm 60.

My wife is SLOW!!!!! She actually appreciates the fact that I will ride "HER PACE" when we ride together and not complain. I have ZERO hopes that she will EVER be able to ride a my pace. I'm SLOW next to most of you, my avg. is 11-12 mph., her's is 7-8 mph. Doesn't matter if were just joy riding or if we are out for multi-day rides, her pace is the same. LOL, weither she SPINS or MASHES, the SPEED doesn't change. The ONLY place I go ahead of her is up "HILLS", then I wait for her at the top, letting her take the lead on the down hill.

She is the SLOWEST rider when we ride "Social Rides" with the local bicycle club, some folks complain, she tell's them to "Bite Off" and rides HER PACE. She doesn't have a "competitive" bone in her body, doesn't feel any pressure to go faster. She will RIDE all day but at her PACE! ;) She's no faster on her old DF hybrid than she is on her CLWB Recumbent. It's either ride her pace or ride alone, I'll ride her pace! :D

I just got a new bike - a Specialized Vita Sport. I've ridden a few times, but I'm slow at this point. I'm just curious if your wife did any special training, or just kept at it, adding time, distance and difficulty from time to time. I'm 60.

Good question. She was working on some extra workouts long before she really started riding her bike. One morning I heard her complain that she was not losing any weight and she was not improving on her workouts, not even mentioning how slow she was on her bike. I had heard enough, so much so, I told her the truth. That can get a man into trouble.

I told me wife she was not working hard enough to improve at anything. I told her that reading a book while working out on the stationary bike or the eliptical machine was a waste of good reading time. It was doing nothing for her fitness. She got a little upset, maybe threw a thing or two at me. I then told her that when I am climbing a hill on my bike I am putting forward all the effort I could find. I would be sweating, sucking air so hard my lungs felt like they would bust. My legs would hurt.

I then ask her when she last took a deep breath, or her legs hurt or when was the last time she was sweating so hard her entire outfit was wet. She walked off, I went to work.

A couple hours later she called me to tell me she got on the machines and worked them so hard she was doing all the things I said. This meant the aching legs, the heavy breathing and the sweat. She said he hated to admit it, but I was right. She said she felt better after that workout than she had in years.

She took this over to her cycling. The rest is history.

201735My wife has no issues keeping up with whatever pace we ride . . . oh, yeah, we ride a tandem!

This what I do also I have a tandem so when she wants to take a ride she will ride and I don't have to worry about were she is :)
We do ride at a slower pace and make stops for her but she will ride 35+ miles but that about the limit for her but at least she will so it.
If it were a single bike forget it! I'd be lucky to get 5 miles out and no roads for sure but on the tandem we hit the road and go, but when she wants to take a break we stop, that's one thing you must do on a tandem is keep the stroker happy no mater what or you will soon be alone :)
and you do what ever you need to do to make them comfortable on the bike no mater what you think of it.