Originally Posted by
Biker395
Ah, I feel your pain.
Last weekend, I had a mini-Waterloo myself. It was a good 10F cooler, and this time, we started at sea level, so that the worst of the climbing was in the cool morning air.
All the same, the more I climbed, the tireder my legs got, and by the time we got to Triunfo Pass (roughly 4000 feet of climbing), I was pretty beat. No ... not "Lay down on the roadside staring at the trees and contemplating the meaning of life" tired. Not "Flag down a passerby to come and get me" tired. But I was substantially more tired than I ordinarily would be after a climb like that. My legs also felt tired and dead ... something that is not typical for me, even on much longer rides with much more climbing.
The next day it was clear that the head cold or sinus infection I had earlier in the week had NOT cleared, as all the coughing and snot blowing returned (no, not the 'Rona ... at least I tested negative).
So maybe that was it? I rode, if at all, mostly short flat rides all this week, and as of today feel much better.
Or was it that I am just going too hard? I noticed that I got a lot of Strava PRs on Saturday. This is not a climb I do all THAT often, but at least 10 times or so in my history, so there is that. Maybe my friend is just that much faster than she used to be.
Or is it OFD (Old Fart Disease)?
I have a wellness physical coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm going to press for a more complete physical this time and really get on the cardiologist for a full work up. Every time I see one, I get the feeling that whatever my problems may be, the pale compared to the other cases they are dealing with. But I plan to be a squeaky wheel this time.
Think you have quite a way to go until OFD, especially since you were not completely free of your illness. Another week and you will be killing it again.
A little story. There is a guy here on Strava that held just about every segment lead in the 65-69 category. My mission was to try to beat his times and have been about 70% successful but the remaining times he posted are way out of reach. Two years ago, I ran into him while cycling and we chatted for quite a while. Told him how much I admired his segment records and KOMs. He related that used to road race, but didn’t go into the specifics. Even though he was 70, he was riding a new S-WORKs in full kit. (Now we get to the crux of this writing) I asked how he was doing these days and he said that after he turned 70, even though he still cycles, lifts weights and hikes up mountain sides, his cycling has fallen apart. And checking out the segment leaders in th 70+ group, he only has a handful of bests versus his utter dominance earlier.
Now that I am six months into my 70th year, I am finding recovery is absolutely necessary after a hard ride. And after a really hard day, two days are necessary. I also go to the gym, gets lots of sleep, don’t drink but maybe a glass of wine every other week, and eat pretty healthy. However, his words about turning 70 still echo. I know we are all different and age at different rates, but I am seeing a decline, no matter how hard I fight. Yes, I got a few real KOMs last year on some out of the way segments, and am bagging bracket KOMs (70 to 74) currently, but it really takes it out of me rather than just soft pedaling around. If I was less competitive and love climbing it would not be an issue. But old habits die hard and not without struggle, and a day or two off. All I can say is FO OFD.
