I have been wanting to respond to this thread for several weeks now but just seemed to be better at lurking. However, I decided to use this to introduce myself to the folks on this 50+ forum. I'm 52 years old and have been a cyclist all my life. I love the bikes, the mechanics of the bikes and how I feel when riding a bike. On to the questions...
1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?
I have several bikes, some going way back but my two favorites are my road bike, a Giant TCR C1 full carbon and my old Gary Fisher hardtail Mountain Bike. I live in a "beach town" near marinas and boardwalks etc and the mountain bike with cross tires on it is nice for just getting around town. The road bike is well nice for those long club rides that I enjoy too. I also have a 1980 Nishiki that has been totally retored frame up. It is like looking at a brand new 1980s bike with Suntour Superb Pro groupo. I have had several people want to buy it and convert to a fix wheel but I just can't seem to do that to the Suntour group.
2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?
Historically I have been like a YoYo with fitness and diet. Gaining and losing when and where I had the time. Again, I find myself at the highest weight levels of my life, the most stress and anxiety at work and little home life to do anything after work. However, lately I have forced myself to take some time off work during the holidays and I just started back on a riding schedule again. I began taking a multi-vitamin in the morning and Vitamin D since my Doc told me I had nearly none in my blood workup and needed the D. Since getting over a cold at Christmas and beginning riding last week I'm feeling pretty good today. I go back to work next Monday, so I need to really try hard to make all of this work together for this new year. I have a 50 mile commute each way in the morning and evening. So fitting riding in is going to be a challenge to say the least.
3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
When I'm eating right and riding, I feel great and don't feel like I have slowed too much, but when my weight is up, I'm tired and stressed I feel older than my 72 year old dad.
4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?
I too have been biking all my life and not just as a kid jumping on the Schwinn to visit my buddy down the street. Even as a 12 year old I was very focused on cycling. I had a close friend that would go on extended bike rides with me every day during the summers when school was out. We both had nice road bikes back then in the early seventies. The bike frames were made of good old fashioned Chrome-Moly by a French company called Fontan. These bikes were very similar to the Peugeot U08 but a little less expensive for us young guys. Those bikes really got us into another level of cycling for young people. We both completed our first century rides when we were 14 or 15 years old. It was an old Baltimore chapter of the League of American Wheel-man organized event called the Hunt Valley Hundred. I'll never forget that ride as long as I live. We arrived at the parking lot start and lots of people were asking us if we trained for the ride and we just looked at them like they were crazy. ("what the heck is training") We rode our bikes every day about ten to twenty miles and we saw the century just as a really long ride... like five or six regular daily rides all stuck together. I rode all through high school and college, stopping for this and that part of my life to get over with. Then again in 2006 I had several friends and acquaintances I knew that had been diagnosed with cancer, and felt like I wanted to help somehow. I decided to get involved with Team In Training. I did the 2007 Lake Tahoe Century with some dear friends in mind. The training for that ride got me back in shape and moved me into riding with groups of people and a local cycling club. Since 2007 my riding has started and stopped numerous times but I still love the feel of the wind on my face and the challenge of finishing a good climb. I'm back in the saddle again now, hoping to stick with it and lose some weight and get back with my riding group again soon.
5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.
When I'm back in the saddle it seems like I'm always working to lose weight and gain mileage. I mostly enjoy our local cycling club rides with other people. When I was riding regularly with them we were riding a B to BB paces. I like the 20-25 mile evening training rides that work up to the longer 50-60 weekend rides. A few years ago I think I completed three centuries that summer which was good for me. I'd like to do at least three this year if I can pull it back together early this winter. My first organized charity ride is scheduled for April 27th, its a metric century. I also enjoy just riding my mountain bike around town where I live. Its a small town on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay not too far from our Nation's Capitol. During the summer its nice to just ride down to the marina or a local pub for some lunch and a beer.
6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?
When I'm on - I can be riding 100 to 150 miles per week - but I'm not too much a statistics guy or tracking mileage over the long haul. I basically stick to a training schedule and if it call for a 10% increase each week or every other week I'll slap another few miles on to get to where I need to be. My biggest obstacle is being consistent and riding all the time. I often let work and life get in the way instead of putting my riding and my fitness first.