Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
I don't see it. If I should become so feeble that I can't pedal, I won't be able to ride safely. My view is that it's not necessary to be able to climb 10% grades for the rest of one's life. For sure, e-bikes are not welcome on local group rides. Not forbidden, just no one wants to be near them. Meanwhile I do the same rides I've always done, just in smaller gears. There's one pass I used to climb in 30 X 23. Now I'm down to 26 X 27. I'm thinking of getting a 30T cassette! OMG. Maybe that's not necessary yet. The summer's training rides will tell the tale. I redid my metric for weekly exertion, using climbing gain instead of hours this year, more climbing IOW. I'll see how that works out. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, it's a lifestyle.
That's pretty much me too. I plan to keep riding a bicycle as long as I can, getting lower gears or foregoing the really nasty climbs until that is no longer possible. With the right gearing, I can climb just about everything there is to climb ... just not as fast as I might like to. That has always been the case, and should be the case for a long time to come. The only thing that should change is that I'll need lower and lower gears as the years go on and younger people will pull away from me and I'll be riding with a different group ... nothing new.
I may change my tune if my knees or my heart blows up, but that's is something I'll consider when that day comes, and that day is not today.
To mix my quotes to my own dubious purposes:
I know not what course others may take, but as for me, do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light.