Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
I'm over 70 and my bicycling mileage and speed is whatever it is but have no concerns about how it might compare with others who choose to itemize and track such things. I am happy that I am healthy enough to ride almost every day, year round as much as I wish; to the swimming pool at the gym, shopping, library in town, or on occasion with my son who tows my grandchildren in a trailer.
I have all the time in the world and consider myself lucky to be free of any need to set, meet or compare arbitrary "performance" metrics/goals to enjoy my bicycling.
YMMV
I agree that the marks I set for myself are arbitrary, and the main criteria I use for them are whether they will motivate me to do more activity than if I didn't have them, and can I meet them without making myself miserable. It's for my own amusement, so I definitely avoid making comparison with other people a real issue. That's why I don't measure things on Strava, I don't even want to be tempted to see how I "stack up".
This is definitely one of those areas where you can't tell people "you're doing it wrong". I enjoy setting and meeting my arbitrary marks--y'know, like "this would be a fun day to have a lunch two states over and come home"