This thread is prompted by an ongoing theme which showed up again in a recent thread, specific to accepting pain is going to be present on a Century ride.

Let me start by addressing the recumbents. I have no problem if you want to ride recumbents. Good for you. I personally do not even consider them as bicycles in the traditional sense, but I don't mean that as an insult. When I, or most people for that matter, think of riding a bike, I think of upright, two wheeled, typical diamond frame bicycle. And further, I see some people around here riding recumbents. Admittedly, they look very cozy and comfortable...and very much even more dangerous than a traditional road or hybrid bike, for no other reason than reduced visibility. Simply no way I would ride in traffic with my uppermost point being about 3 feet above the road. At 6'2" on my large frame road bike, I am at eye level with most motorists. Does that make me more visible? In my mind at least, yes. I'm also not sure how those pedal over some of our significant climbs in this mountainous region I call home. So no, I'm not against recumbents, if you like them, great.

And so on to my point, which is specific to upright, traditional, bicycles. I regularly read about "pain" while riding. I personally experience pain while riding. I suffer arthritis in my neck, have lower back pain, carpal tunnel issues, knee pain, and various & sundry pains on usually a normal daily basis and so why would this not carry over to riding? One or more of these crop up on most rides of any distance. Obviously, pain on bikes, at least in our age group, is very common based on the number of threads addressing various pain issues.

But then I often see a typical response such as...
"Why would anyone ride a bike that causes pain". This response is particularly irritating because it is typically in response to a question about, saddle pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, or a myriad of other aches and pains one experiences while riding. I always want to answer that question with...
"Well duh Sherlock, that's the point of the question, no one WANTS to ride a bike that causes pain, that's why they are on here looking for suggestions of eliminating that pain."

And so all this long winded preface to a couple simple questions.

Is it a reasonable expectation for us, as we get older, to ride with absolutely no pain whatsoever?
Is it a reasonable expectation to be able to ride any distance, or until the "tank" runs out, without any pain whatsoever?
I can ride 20 miles, 30 miles, even 40 miles without pain...most days. But when I get into the 55-65 mile days my neck hurts. Usually my butt is getting sore, and I start experiencing hand-arm fatigue and some hand numbness, oftentimes other things start adding to the list.

Some would say my bike doesn't fit. What determines that? If a person can ride 30-40 miles comfortably does their bike fit? If they start experiencing pain at 50-60 miles does their bike not fit? Point is, I have a difficult time believing people are riding Centuries or other long sub-century rides without experiencing any pains. And if they are they should thank God for their good fortune. I just have a hard time believing that is an achievable goal for most of us, or for me, and so I accept that I will have some limitations based on my level of pain tolerance. As long as I know I'm not causing damage, I'll keep going as long as I can.