Fifty Plus (50+) - Ever think about dialing it back?

After a fall yesterday at 19mph and breaking three ribs I've been reflecting on road bikes.
I think I could be just as happy on my hybrid going 12 mph, doing some light touring. As opposed to flat out on the road bike for 40 miles.

In my 60's and no health issues. I know it's kind of wussy, but at some point we all have to slow down. Right?

I do have health issues and I'm 71 and I don't want to dial back at all. If anything I'd like to get faster and ride longer. Usually my daily ride is 35 to 42 miles. Some days I hammer and other days I cruise.

If you think you would be happier just taking it easy, there's nothing wrong with that either.

Oh, I had a bad fall at age 66, going in the low twenty's and had to stay off the bike for a few weeks. I had 3 cracked ribs and a lot of road rash, but couldn't wait to start riding again.YMMV.

At 71, I don't want to "dial it back" - instead I have found a riding style, mode and frequency that suits my goals for where I am in life. That is different from what I did and my goals when I started at 58. Certainly my riding style and goals do not include how fast and far I can go. Instead, they include regular and frequent opportunities to ride my bicycle for enjoyment and fitness. Each of us finds our own "niche" for our particular time in life. I also do flexibility, resistance, and other cardio exercises such as swimming and walking.

I think you must find the answer to your own question consistent with your happiness, goals, fitness, etc. Fortunately, we are all different. YMMV

I cant dial back. The knob is broke off.

Pain can make us have some crazy thoughts. Heal well. :)

Slow down..Get a camera and look for pics to snap.
You can ride slow on a road bike..I do.

Things don't have dials anymore. Everything is digital. ;)
I'm 66 and no dialing back for me. I'm still trying to get back to what I could do at 58. :o

After a fall yesterday at 19mph and breaking three ribs I've been reflecting on road bikes.
I think I could be just as happy on my hybrid going 12 mph, doing some light touring. As opposed to flat out on the road bike for 40 miles.

In my 60's and no health issues. I know it's kind of wussy, but at some point we all have to slow down. Right?

Three broken ribs will give you cause to reflect. Been there, (three over the right kidney). It wasn't a bike crash. Still, it caused me to re-examine some things and I made some life decisions based on the experience.

In your examination of things, do not forget to consider that perhaps the reason you're in your 60s with no health issues, is exactly because of flat-out 40-mile rides.

Noodling around the neighborhood on a bike yields one kind of fitness--which is still more fit than the vast majority of Americans of any age. However, flat-out over 40 miles yields a different kind.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping it turned up to 11.
http://stereogum.com/img/spinaltap_11.jpg

Thanks for all the food for thought. Luckily I have plenty of time to digest it.:)

I realize that the two things I love are cycling and the high from getting into the zone at a hard pace. High speed doesn't do anything for me, though. Maybe that's why I like riding into the wind.

Possibly I could get that same cardio zone from an elliptical or stair master and leave the bike for pleasure.
Anyway, no hurry.

I am going to fight it off as long as I can. I like to ride as fast as I can for as long as I can some days, and others I want to ride as long as I can. But cutting back? not so much.

New member here, age 60. I've been cycling since I was a kid but living in Idaho the last 17 years (vs. California before), it's seasonal. I never dialed it forward enough to dial back. I just ride for the fun of it. Never liked going fast, never liked riding flat out. I'm a smell the roses type. My riding usually includes stops to look around and enjoy the place I'm in.

The most difficult thing for me to do is dial it back for recovery rides. We are all different though. Ride to your comfort level. There are plenty of ways to get cardio and resistance training in to maintain peak fitness.

Pain can make us have some crazy thoughts. Heal well. :)

+1 Heal quickly and then revisit your thinking.

Possibly I could get that same cardio zone from an elliptical or stair master
and leave the bike for pleasure.
Anyway, no
hurry.


If the cardio stuff you are doing on your bike isn't pleasure, then why . . . . ?

I hope by the time I get into my 60's I will be able to hold 19mph.
Take your time, like stated above you are in good health because you are active.
Heal well, you will know what to do when the time comes.

After a fall yesterday at 19mph and breaking three ribs I've been reflecting on road bikes.
I think I could be just as happy on my hybrid going 12 mph, doing some light touring. As opposed to flat out on the road bike for 40 miles.

In my 60's and no health issues. I know it's kind of wussy, but at some point we all have to slow down. Right?

Have you woken up from you dream yet?

Age will naturally slow us down. Those hard rides I used to do are no longer attempted. Still found a different form of hard ride to do but You ain't gonna get me out for 12 hours offroad with 100 miles of torture again. Might try the 65 miler though sometime if I can get the training in.

No.

If anything I'm doing more, and faster, and different (just tried track racing last week for the first time and can't wait to do it again). I wake up every day, another day closer to 57, feeling compelled to find what else life has to offer, both off and on the bike. I'm driven by curiosity -- how do I know what I can do unless I try?

I've had a couple of broken bones -- the broken wrist kept me off the road for weeks -- and I didn't deal with them well. By the time I could ride solo again I'd rediscovered the beauty of a casual social ride, which I use to balance out the hammerfests and racing rides.

It's all about balance in life. I hope you find yours, and hope you have a speedy recovery.

I dunno. I'm a lot younger than some of you and am relatively new to riding, but I've concluded that to keep going I need a mix of attitudes- sometimes I need to hammer and sometimes I need to take a gentle ride. Trying to put myself in the OP's cleats, I can see a time when the mix might shift to a greater proportion gentle rides, but I can't see a time when I'd want it to be 100% easy. THere will always be some days when I want to hammer. Until I can't.

Just got ran over by a car on Wednesday, I'm 56. Broken clavicle, rib and punctured lung. Was supposed to be racing today and tomorrow. Will be on the trainer soon, no plans to slow down.

Just got ran over by a car on Wednesday, I'm 56. Broken clavicle, rib and punctured lung. Was supposed to be racing today and tomorrow. Will be on the trainer soon, no plans to slow down.

Wow. Hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

Dial up----dial back???? Again dont over think. Do what you can do and keep doing it as long as you can. Do what is comfortable. Dont be driven by what you think others think. The thing is as cyclist for the most part we generally are in better shape than the ave guy.

Thanks for all the food for thought. Luckily I have plenty of time to digest it.:)

I realize that the two things I love are cycling and the high from getting into the zone at a hard pace. High speed doesn't do anything for me, though. Maybe that's why I like riding into the wind.
Possibly I could get that same cardio zone from an elliptical or stair master and leave the bike for pleasure.
Anyway, no hurry.

Why not just ride uphill?!?!

Your speed will be less and you will be "In the Zone" for that exhilerating high!!

You don't pedal with your ribs.

Getting older has made me more careful, but I'm on track for the most miles ever this year. My father started jogging in the sixties, before jogging was cool, and now at 81, he is healthy as a horse (except for the arthritis that 30+ years of running caused). That my goal.

Since everyone here has different thoughts on what you should do, I think you should listen to yourself and do what you tells you to do. It's natural for us to feel a setback after something like this so there is no reason to think that you are wussy. I bet half the population of the area you live in doesn't ride as much as you do nor can they keep up with you.

If you still feel this way after you are able to start riding, then by all means, ride the hybrid. If you start missing the road bike, get back on it and take it easy getting back where you left off. If not, there's nothing wrong with a hybrid. Just remember, you can fall and hurt yourself just as bad on a hybrid as you can on a road bike. Knowing that, just do what is comfortable for you at the time and don't use the fall as an excuse.

Possibly I could get that same cardio zone from an elliptical or stair master...

OK, now I'm starting to worry about you. You are becoming delirious! Need to back off on the pain meds a bit? ;)

I think therefore I strive.

You don't pedal with your ribs.

No, but you breathe with them.

I was sofa-spud when mine were broken, so I can't say how long it was to get on a bike. But, it was months before I could draw a deep breath without sharp pain, years before they were entirely pain-free, and I was only 42 at the time.

When I am touring I take my time because I have all day to get to my destination. Slower means I can go further. However when I do a ride from home I invariably ride faster than I should. Testosterone kicks in and I have to pass that kid up ahead, then I have to maintain that ridiculous speed so she doesn't pass me. Will I ever grow up? Not if I can help it. Of course that kid never knows how much I hurt once I get home.

I have an old Trek hybrid and an old Spalding ATB. Some days I just take the Spalding for a
fun ride, to the store, out to lunch, just up and down the street. Most days the Trek is " to
the max". You need to mix it up sometimes.

Dial it back? I never dialed it up to begin with. For me, riding is for pleasure, not fitness. If I'm having to work it rapidly ceases to be fun.

Why not just ride uphill?!?!

Your speed will be less and you will be "In the Zone" for that exhilerating high!!

Lenny - you read my mind (or I yours).

Start riding hills for that aerobic workout.

I suspect you will ride slow and cautious for a few months after your recovery but then as you work back into it things will return to normal. You will have an added bit of experience that hopefully will prevent a future mishap.

To your question, yes - I consider dialing it back from time to time but then I realize that to extend the quality of life as long as possible I need to work harder at it each year, minimize risks in your life but keep the intensity high.

New member here, age 60. I've been cycling since I was a kid but living in Idaho the last 17 years (vs. California before), it's seasonal. I never dialed it forward enough to dial back. I just ride for the fun of it. Never liked going fast, never liked riding flat out. I'm a smell the roses type. My riding usually includes stops to look around and enjoy the place I'm in.

+1 i ride rhe same way. I am not dialing back but I never push flat out either. Different strokes...

Wish we had some mountains in the Midwest!
On the few hills we have, you're over them in 20 seconds.
Count your blessings, you Easterners/Westerners.

I dialed it back this morning, planned an eighty and cut it at 77.5miles, in under five hours.

I feel so guilty. Please don't think bad of me.

After a fall yesterday at 19mph and breaking three ribs I've been reflecting . . . .

With three broken ribs no wonder you are reflecting. Thinking must be much less painful than breathing. Best wishes for a smooth recovery.

I like riding as fast as my motor will go but am way dialed back on aggression. I do corners at about the same speed as the sweet old lady and her small dog and slow for obstacles bigger than a quarter.

... I know it's kind of wussy, but at some point we all have to slow down. Right?

WRONG!!! Why ever give in voluntarily? To he!! with that!

Look here, Christie, we ALL lose the competition with The Reaper...one activity at a time. Why hand it over to the b@stard without taking a swing at his head? Force HIM to take YOU out of the saddle rather than taking yourself out.

WRONG!!! ...

Whoa, that was a mite strong.

Thing is, I've ducked The Reaper...spectacularly...twice and am therefore a tad "tetchy" on the issue of giving him an inch voluntarily.

Please forgive.

In the end, why hold back on any aspect of life?

As Virgil taught us [see sig], Fortune Favors the Bold!

Thats good stuff Billy Bones,,,I cant dial anything back now Mrs. Freedom just started riding and shes CrAzE fast.

Ya, I dialed it back today, 15 miles in 45 minutes into a slight headwind on my way back home. Hit 28 mph for a time on the flats. 66 years old. Looked at the computer and thought, I have got to dial it back.

Whoa, that was a mite strong.

Thing is, I've ducked The Reaper...spectacularly...twice and am therefore a tad "tetchy" on the issue of giving him an inch voluntarily.

Please forgive.

In the end, why hold back on any aspect of life?

As Virgil taught us [see sig], Fortune Favors the Bold!

I don't think it was too strong at all, there are three ways of getting older:

You can admit defeat, sit in your chair in front of the TV and die, and you will probably do it quickly.

Fight age as much and as hard as you can with "I will never surrender!!!!!!!" as a mantra (not as good as Virgil, but pretty close).

Attempt to realise the balance between those two extremes. Some things as you get older don't make sense anymore, some things do. I surpassed last years riding total in April, so anything now is a bonus.... I wanted to surpass the previous year each month, I missed that in June, but will try again for July....

Gawd, and here I thought I was the quintessential "stuborn old f@r+". Don't anybody dial back, then. Common sense does not prevail. I'll think about you guys when I hear the sirens. About one hour a day is all I want to spend on sweaty aerobics, if that's ok. Cycling is fun and I already spent some of my youth trying to overdo myself into an early grave and it didn't work. My generation...etc.etc.

. . . (.@r)I'll think about you guys when I hear the sirens. . . .

Hey Stone'...I hear you loud and clear [tho' not likely to hear the sirens], but even at the risk of "negative outcomes", I'll chose a good hard terminal "THUD" as I hit the trail for the last time versus the "stay alive at all costs" that is the ruinously expensive mantra of our current [and so-called] health care system...complete with feeding tubes, IVs, wonder medications, family debt, and health care staff committed to heroic effort to provide me another week of assisted breath.

Regarding "dialing back"...that happens organically as a matter of biology. No need to take explicit action.

Jes' sayin'.

To answer your question, no.

And fyi, last year I had a a low speed crash (<10mph) and ended up with a broken rib. Dialing it back won't necessarily keep you safe. Riding assertively with care and awareness just might...

Like you I had a crash that caused some significant injuries. I am signed up to ride the 2011 Tour de cure in DFW on the 23rd which I plan to do, but afterwards I will probably return to my simple one hour a day simply as a form of exercise for awhile...

I did get back on the bike yesterday, after the crash on Tuesday morning... Found the ride difficult, not from physical issues by psychological ones...

Hope we both work through it!

Meanwhile, I'm keeping it turned up to 11.
http://stereogum.com/img/spinaltap_11.jpg[/QUOTE

I wish my dail had an 11.;)