Originally Posted by
howsteepisit
As I approach my 70th birthday, I have been feeling kind of bad about getting older fatter and slower. Still riding about 5000 miles a year, and good lord willing and the creek don't rise I think 6000 is well in sight for this year. But I am for sure a lot slower and fatter than in my bike prime. And this feels bad on occasion. So today, at the mid-point of a 50-mile ride, I stopped at a coffee kiosk to have a Mocha and a break. The 20ish barista asked where i was from and told her I was halfway through a 50-miles ride. She gave me one of those looks and said "that's kind of far" Told her that's mid-range for me, and I have been riding like this since I was 15/16 years old. and I thought about this some, and realized that even slower than i was its still Kind of far. My now mantra!
We are the exact same age and started cycling at the same time. I also hear the "where ya goin'? and Where ya'd start?" Half of the time they look incredulous and half I don't thing they believe it.
And I doubt you are much slower. For frame of reference, I briefly flirted with racing in the Senior Olympics. But those guys in their 70's are faster than I was in my 20's! As Greg Lemond said, "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster."