woodenidol

2 years ago I had just finished 6 months of chemo for colon cancer. Could barely ride ride 3 miles, which upon completion I slept for 2 hours. A year later I had just completed 3 months of chemo, after having the lower lob of my right lung removed.

As of today I have 2432 miles in this year. I commute 88 miles to work everyweek and just rode a 50 miler yesterday. I should finish the year with about 5k miles. Feel good, but Im still not very fast, frown. lol.

Getting old sucks, but beats the alternative. smile

Pat

In my case, my weight is about right ... 187 at 6'0" well maybe now that I have shrunk to 5'11 and 7/8". I am in good aerobic shape. I can do a century without trouble and in a decent group still do one at an average of 20 mph+ which isn't too bad at 58 years old. I used to be able to crank out solo 20 mph centuries. So now I am looking to keep what I got and not lose anything or at least lose what I got as slow as possible.

Daspydyr 

This is my first year returning to riding. Last year a 45 minute 7 mile ride left me useless for an hour. So far this weekend I have 35 miles on Saturday and 20 more on Sunday before church and that included changing a tube out. I have high hopes of getting a Century on my resume next October.

DnvrFox

sjordan1959

My average speed is up. I am still slow at 12 MPH avg for 20 -40+ miles, but last year I was happy to get about 10 MPH.

cyclinfool

This mornings training ride went very well. It was 78 degrees at 6AM and my biking buddy was not back from vacation so I rode alone. This route is our normal morning ride. There is a spot at the crest of the last hill before we cool down that I always check the average speed. It is usually just under 17. One morning about three years ago when there were three of us riding we saw a pair of young turks and we went after them. This was for the last 5 miles of the ride, we set up a pace line and pulled hard, My buddies were stronger and dropped me at the base of the last hill, I crested the hill that day with an average of 18.5, the best I have ever done. Two years ago when I bought my Tarmac I would alternate mornings doing this ride as hard as I could solo between the Simoncini and the Tarmac, the best I could ever do solo on either bike was 17.1. This morning I crested at 17.6 on the Simoncini, I guess I am still improving, although very slowly.

The Weak Link

That truly is a remarkable story. Have you chronicled it somewhere on the web? It would make better reading than "I crushed souls and had a high average speed" kind of thing. Anywho, it might inspire me to get better at ignoring the chronic fatigue thing.

Road Fan

electric motor?

Or just new, improved 50+ legs ...

Loose Chain

Starting on Jan. 1 I went from 210 to 163 pounds as of last Monday, 56yo. I don't need to drop any more weight unless I decided to take up running in order to complete a triathlon. I swim 3 to 4 miles per week and average about 75 miles on the bike per week plus time on our stair stepper thing.

I have always ridden, just upped the intensity and dropped back on food intake. My 1984 Pinarello appreciates the weight loss and thanks me for finally having removed the stupid 25mm tires that barely scrapped under the crown from her svelte body.

Road Fan

No illnesses, so no recoveries, and sadly still no job and really not that much riding. But I seem to be stronger, since I've put a lot of climbing into my rides and regularly choose the 30# touring bike, and I'm definitely ascending faster - I'm doing some of my old ride faster than before and without seeing heart rates as high as I used to. Mrs. Road Fan is also stronger since she resumed her daily morning rides, but for the first year we've ridden together I'm usually riding faster than she is.

I had hoped to have done a 57 mile first birthday ride and at least one metric by now, but I haven't yet. Tomorrow I'm riding the One Hell of a Ride, west of Ann Arbor and near Hell, Michigan. It's rolling terrain and I'm in the 60 mile route group. I have done several high 30s and one 40 in the past month so I'm not too worried.

I've been on exercise and diet orders for my lipids and cholesterols. Not, as I said, a lot of aerobic, but I've been doing core work usually two to three times a week. I'm down from 187 last January to 180, and I've weighed 180 for the past three months. There's more work to do, since I do need to get at least a few hours per week, and to drop down another 30#. Then I'll be at 155#, 5'6" (minus shrinkage), and in need of a lot of new pants!

cranky old dude

I have finally come to the realization that I'm in a good place cycling wise. I think I'm where I'm meant to be.

Though I still track my miles, I no longer set out to cover any specific distance on any given day. Instead, I look to spend a specific amount of time on my bikes. Depending on the family scheduling needs and/or my mood I generally tell my bride that I'll be back around such and such a time. I may set out for as little as two hours to as much as all day. The miles end up at where ever they end up.

My bikes have become a vehicle of enjoying some relaxing free time (pun intended) that, as a byproduct of the sheer pleasure drived from riding, tend to help me stay healthy. I ride at what ever pace feels good at the time, be it fast or slow, and I tend to enjoy every hour I spend riding.

I don't quite remember when or how I got to this point. What I do know is that I really, really like it...a lot.

So, as imeasurable as it is, my accomplishment is having reached that place with my cycling where I derive great pleasure and enjoyment from every ride (including commutes).

Sculptor7

Have just done a 23 mile ride at AVS 14 mph. That's up for me but today had headwind halfway and I always do less in windy conditions so feel pretty good. On fairly flat ground, neutral conditions I know I can do 15 mph. Don't think its all due to the new bike but I am sure it helps. Finally bought some bike shoes so now the next thing is clipless pedals.

DnvrFox

+1000

You said it for me, also, except I don't track my miles!

Road Fan

Some new accomplishments today: Rode my age (57), Mrs. Road Fan rode her age (she won't even tell me, lol!), and we both rode a metric century! Not feeling too bad at all, but my butt has some new issues. I think the saddle needs to come down a little. Mrs. is great, having taken over my old Brooks B72 for her hybrid bike.

The occasion was the One Hell of a Ride organized ride, sponsored by the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society. Distances of 15, 25, 39, 64, 75, and 100 miles are available. The organization and production are very detailed and very thorough. Anyone who is insecure about surviving such an event should start with this one. Plus the terrain was beautiful. Lots of smiles made the miles go quickly (no, we did not cover the ground in record time!).

There were LOADS of 50 plussers participating. Any from this forum? [END OF THREAD HIJACK]

Neil_B

Five years ago I couldn't walk a city block without stopping for breath. Now I can hike a few miles and ride a metric century if I feel like it. I dropped a lot of weight and put some back on, but that's coming off again. Meanwhile, I'm preparing for my first backpacking trip in August, during my three weeks visiting PA state parks.

Glades2

After very little or no riding since 1996 (after 19 years of club cycling), starting in 2007 I'd ride 10K once a week on a set course at a county park (sounds better than saying 6 miles), but starting 18 months ago that was increased to a 10K on Saturday and Sunday, and in the past 12 months that was increased to a combination of 10K Saturday and 12.5, 15, 17.5 or 20K on Sunday (depending on weather, etc.), so have been aiming for a total of 50K (31.07) for each weekend, with the hope of riding a 50K ride and then the 100K (metric century). It's incredible that 18 years ago my old cycling group and I would ride 32 miles round trip for breakfast, and it was done with little or no advanced preparation or fanfare (but I was 18 years younger at the time - lol), and rode approximately 30 metric centuries and 7 centuries when in my 20s and early-mid 30s, so it's a matter of restoring the confidence I had when younger...

kr32

I guess all the so called junk miles I do everyday, I do not have any goals and do not train for anything in particular, paid off because I did back to back Sunday Centuries. 101 last Sunday and 104 today. I guess I am getting better at long distances.

Glades2

Yes, that's how I did it 30 years ago - just rode for the fun of it, without any goals or preparation, and did the long rides without too much suffering (usually - lol). Still, it's been a moral booster for me to now be able to at least have a set goal and "train" so to speak for it, and much better than my not riding at all, as was the case 10 years ago (though I was still a cyclist in spirit). The one problem is the lack of a riding group - my old group were my present age 25 years ago, and most are now beyond riding age, so it's been a problem, since the young cyclists are mostly into the extreme/peloton kind of cycling, and I never had the heart/lung capacity for that kind of pace (anything over 17 is beyond my comfort zone, but I can ride 15 all day)...

Bikewer

No really serious stuff here, but I had quite a layoff (well over a year) due to angina/stents/etc followed by knee surgery last fall. (just a torn cartilage) Been taking it easy; riding my patrol bike around campus in low gears....
Finally got brave enough to dig my roadster out and head for the local park. My usual circuit is about 2.5 miles around with two hills per "leg". A good workout if you do 4-5 laps at speed.
After a couple of weeks of granny-ing up the hills I decided to push it a bit and stayed in a higher gear. Felt good! Went over at a nice 14 mph (I used to hold 18 + when I was a lad of 50!)
and the heartrate stayed in the "aerobic" range.
No knee pain.... All's well so far.

XR2

I doubled my usual distance last night. No negative results either. Surprising how fast the body remembers.

kr32

A 2mph gain is great, it is not easy to do that, I have found anyway. congrats!

Same thing, doubling your distance is great. Funny how once you do something like that the miles just start to come. Congrats as well!

chinarider

200 miles this week; first time I've hit that milestone.