Bud Bent

I'm not talking about the bogus calculated heart rate, I mean the actual maximum you've recorded on your heart rate monitor (I'm assuming that all of us who use a heart rate monitor have pedaled long and hard enough to reach our maximum, at least once).

I used a Polar heart rate monitor regularly for a year or so when I started riding, two and a half years ago. My maximum on it had been 183, so when I was entering my information into my new Garmin Edge 305 gps (with HRM), I put 183. Then, I promptly went out and recorded a heart rate of 187 on my very first ride using the 305, while chasing some roadies.

Your maximum heart rate is supposed to get lower as you age, not higher like mine did. But, I've read that it can be different depending on how you obtain it (treadmill, running, cycling, etc), so maybe the extreme recline of my Corsa caused it to be different, or maybe it's just because I hadn't been exercising for long when I last recorded it.

Anyway, just out of curiosity, to all the bf50+'ers who do the HRM thing, what's your maximum heart rate? Mine (freshly observed) appears to be 187.

Blackberry

I got 178 on an indoor bike. I was really cranking hard. Maybe it could have gone a little higher--but at that point I didn't care.

stapfam

Age 60, like to ride at around 140 for distance riding, Treat my max as 165 and start to get near that at the end of a long stiff hill. Prefer to keep nearer 160 but sometimes I have to exceed my prefered max. Have a couple of tricky hills that take skill to ride aswell as youth. The younger riders fall off up it but I keep going and will reach over 170 to prove to the youngsters that I can still do it. Then it is lie down time before I fall down.

However at the gym--- I sometimes do a cardio- vascular session and I build up the heart rate gradually over the space of an hour or so. Last November I got up to 180 and I could still breath. With difficulty but I was still standing and still working.

RDW3261

51 years old, and I hit 186 earlier this year running. I have not check my max while riding yet.

serotta

I have found that maximum heart rate varies widely from person to person. I think the span of heart rate is more predictive. I find the span to be the difference from resting to maximum. Mine is about 60 resting and 195 maximum (I am almost 61 years old). Several of us were climbing a hill today after pacelining for over thirty minutes. I registered 181 at the top, and barely kept contact with the other 4 riders. The max in that group was 175, with a low of 159. The guy with the 159 had a resting of 43. We ranged from 38 years old to me as the old geezer in the bunch. I am usually the highest HR of the bunch at any given point in our ride, but I also have the highest resting rate.

jppe

Mine is 194-age 54.

bobby c

I'm 53 - I think I'm a bit over 190, as I've reached 190 before.

byte_speed

58 years, 159 the highest I've seen in several years. Usually stay below the low 150's.
Resting rate about 40.

Red Baron

age 60 on jun 4. I just got off a beta blocker (recent thread) and saw 207 last week. That was running, had to hit emergency stop could not wait to slow threadmill down.
Bike = 185 2 weeks ago. Saw 180 today on a short TT (9'30"). It was wet, so it was not all out effort.

I expect to lower itself in a couple of months as I was on Beta blocker for 10 yrs+ .

dendawg

56. I hit 185 on a steep but short hill.

SaiKaiTai

The highest I've seen yet is 172 but I'm also finding it harder to get there than it used to be so I'm not really sure what my max is because I don't think I've hit it yet. I run out of oxygen before I can get to it.

Trsnrtr

I've seen 176 this year, but I was far from maxed out. My 305 thinks I can do 185 and it may be right. I'll be 56 in a couple months.

Bud Bent

I guess I should have stated my age, too. I'll be 56 this coming Thursday.

Skipper

I've never gone over 184 bpm. I was 52 when I recorder that heart rate. I'm not sure what my Edge 305 thinks and I'm not sure how to find out.

SlowSpinner

I have seen over 200 four times. I think the readings are a malfunction.

Red Rider

53, calculated on a Spinning bike 191, have seen 176 & felt like I could keep going. My RHR is 42.

Dellphinus

51 in June- max is 192.

John E

Those are almost precisely my numbers, as well. He is clearly a man after my own heart.

John E

Nice spread, Red Rider! We have about the same base, but I have alot of trouble pushing much beyond 160BPM.

CB HI

It was 202 bpm about 10 years ago at 43. Since my anaerobic threshold is about the same, I suppose my MHR is 198-202. I really think VO2 max is more a factor for top performance.

Getting a good MHR reading is not that easy.

There were a couple of times my heart rate monitor read 300 to 400 bpm (seems I was riding under some poorly insulated power lines).

oilman_15106

Age 56, hit 185 on a really steep 19degree hill ,less than quarter mile, but once you think your at the top there is a curve and another steep section. Don't know if it my max or not. Two thing about HR. Neither high max or low resting HR mean your fit.

Bud Bent

Yes, I remember seeing that you can't read too much into the numbers. Still, it's interesting to see what the numbers are for other 50+'ers. Just as I suspected, most are higher than would be calculated from the standard formulas.

stonecrd

50yo I have hit 197 on a couple of occasions.

BTW - I average about 160 when I am riding.

jazzy_cyclist

Hit over 170 a few times; I think of my max as 175. I'm 56.

mud

Age 60, I started doing spinning classes last August. The first month my BPM would reach 169, since then a good spinning session will get me to mid 150's. When running I'll max out around 154 BPM.
Mud