I got back to cycling seriously after quadruple bypass surgery three years ago. After surgery, I could barely spin the pedals on a stationary bike with no resistance - bypass surgery knocks you flat. Fortunately, as a former endurance athlete I knew how to get fit. What I didn't realize is the time it would take to reach my age-limited peak. In fact, I'm not sure I am there yet. Sometime during the first year of riding I realized that it would take another season to reach my peak. Then after the second season I wondered whether I would ever get better (I was doing pretty good.) Last season I actually started doing some gravel racing.

So now I'm 67 and feel I still have some room to improve. The gains are marginal once you reach a certain point, but then you can focus on building certain strengths like hill climbing. Frankly, I never imagined I would be doing 30 mile rides in well under 2 hours in hilly terrain and 50 mile gravel races with several thousand feet of climbing. Frankly, at this point, it takes a 30 mile ride to get that sweet endorphin feeling. I can still go home and work around the house the rest of the day. The next day I have no soreness. In fact, I rarely have any pain anywhere - something that at my age makes me feel very grateful to be alive and healthy.