Here are some links I found regarding improving balance for we older folk:

Do these exercises to maintain balance as you age ? The Denver Post

Why does balance decline with age? - Ask Doctor K - Ask Doctor K, Harvard Medical School

Improve Your Balance at Any Age - Next Avenue

Age-related dizziness and imbalance | Vestibular Disorders Association

Maintaining Balance With Age

How to Improve Your Balance as You Age

Joe

Trikes may help prevent falls while riding, but they do nothing to maintain balance like a 2-wheeler does. So they don't decrease your chances of falling all the times you're not riding. OTOH, a lowracer helps maintain balance, is low enough that head injuries from falling are not a concern, and they're fast. Butt surfing at 20+ mph is still painful, though, as I found out a few weeks ago.

While some degradation due to age is unavoidable we should emphasize that balance problems are not necessarily inevitable at less than advanced ages, and probably should be considered an anomaly for an active person in their 50's.

Break it down simply: 1) the action of our muscles on our skeletons hold us up. 2) The muscles are coordinated by the nervous system, which processes 3) information from the senses and 4) the inner ear.

Pretty much in that order for our purposes. Muscles that are weak from disuse cannot maintain balance no matter how well the rest of the system works. So that is first and foremost. Secondly, coordination is a matter of training. Essentially use it or lose it but fortunately these parts, very commonly major contributors to balance issues for the middle-aged and older, can be trained and balance regained. Quite easily, a matter of exercise and practice and no reason to accept it as "getting old". Along with strength exercise, yoga is good. Even walking is good, better with specific balance exercises while walking. Standing on one foot. Just practice balance.

Sensory inputs and middle ear, obviously we're looking mostly at medical interventions. Beyond getting glasses, and a healthy diet may improve things. Other equilibrium issues such as blood pressure, diabetes, nerve degeneration and so on, see a doctor.

I hope this provides a little clarity.

Oh man! I wish that you hadn't posted that.

I've had more than my share of falls, broken bones and minor concussions. Don't tell Mrs. Grouch but I 've gotten to the point of judging the success of my rides by absence of falls. There may be a tadpole in my future.

Agreed. The OP's statement that "falls are the leading cause of death for folks 65 and older" is very misleading. The leading causes of death are things like coronary disease, diabetes related ailments, cancer, etc. Most of these can be significantly reduced by remaining active and doing so is a huge net benefit even if the activities create a small increase in the risk of falling.

Falls may be the leading cause of impact-related deaths, but even that is largely because the senior citizen group tends to avoid most other sources - we tend not to get into violent confrontations with others, drive less and generally more carefully, etc.

I'm always amused by the 'Fallen and can't get up' ads which ominously cite that a third of seniors will fall in the next year. I fall at least a few times each year (although rarely while bicycling) and plan to keep doing activities which make that likely for as long as I can - hopefully many more years.

I tried to make the correction in the #1 posting but the forum wouldn't let me!?

I was called on this in another thread and made the correction. It was oversight based on the fact that we usually don't talk about 'normal' death in BF.

Joe

Adding that 3rd wheel of a Trike , delta or tadpole will extend your cycling enjoyment of exercise .

fietsbob:
You are right and I may be a candidate for three wheels sometime in the near future.
I am having balance problems and I'll have to see if they can be corrected. If they get worse, I may need to transistion to three (tadpole) wheels.

Joe

Thanks for providing the link of the video; "What I Like About Texas". Spent a lot of time in Texas in an earlier part of my life. Great place. Almost as great a place as the state of my birth, Oklahoma. Good luck in the future, 10 Wheels, and keep the forked end down.

And thanks to you, "Joe Minton" for providing those information links.

Changing shoes and socks while standing up is an activity that should help with balance skills maintenance. (One foot at a time, I might add.)

Although I own and ride tadpole trikes, I wouldn't dismiss delta trikes completely. Greenspeed and Hase Ketterweisel make high quality ($$$$) delta trikes. Trike stability is determined by the location of the center of gravity more than by how many wheels do the steering. There are some entry-level, high-seating tadpole trikes that are far less stable than my friends' delta Ketts. I'm far more concerned about breaking a hip in a bike crash than brain damage. I can wear a protective helmet which helps protect my brain but there is nothing that I can wear to avoid the nasty hematoma I had the last time I crashed a two wheeled recumbent.

janMMat: I tried to do that but just fell over --- LOL

VegasTriker: As long as the CG stays within the triangle formed by the tires' contact patches, the trike will not turn over. The low CG delta example certainly could be less likely to turn over than the high CG tadple. However, an equally low CG tadpole would be even less likely to lift a wheel. However, however --- if the CG is low enough not to lift a wheel in normal use, it does not matter which configuration is chosen.

Joe

So far I've only hit my head backcountry skiing. Did you know that most backcountry skiers who wear helmets have had head injuries? Now I wear a helmet for all skiing except Nordic. Yeah, balance. Hard and fast Alpine skiing will sure as heck help. Same with biking. Large doses, taken as frequently as possible.

I will say that I don't MTB due to risk. Road biking falls should be extremely rare. I've fallen three times in 62 years. One loss of skin, one rib jarred loose at the front end, one honorable blood on calf. None due to balance. The skiing fall was due to lack of skiing for the previous 20 years. Not going to let that happen again. Met a guy Alpine skiing at 92, and skiing very well, too.

Also the farther the long side of 25 you are, the more difficult it is to recover from a given TBI.

J.