I haven't found my limits yet.

I burned myself out with adrenal fatigue from running and it took me two years to recover. That's why I just ride, now. I find cycling easier than running, so I am not afraid of pushing it a bit, but I am not training for races while cycling...When running I was.
So, my long rides are like this (I'll be 60 in three weeks): At first, I ride at about 60-75% exertion. After about 15-20 miles, I bump that up to about 85%. On the way home, I meter my energy to allow me to get home without any errors in reflexes, balance or judgement from fatugue.
I would not be trying for a P.R. without a really good reason (race) to do it. The only race I can see myself riding in is a velo, but there is no velodrome here.., yet.

Occasionally exploring my constantly changing limits ...

I am always going to be slow. Even if I went 100% for speed training, devoted my entire life to it ... I would be the slower of the faster old fat guys. I am not a natural athlete in mind or body and I am finally mature enough to accept and admit that.

So I ride however I feel, which occasionally includes pushing, distance or speed or effort or all of these ... and sometimes includes riding at a slightly quick but comfortable pace ... with little rests whenever I want. After all the only prize i will ever win is the time riding ... and if I am thinking of something else then, I get nothing.

Like [MENTION=160128]1989Pre[/MENTION] I try to save a little so I am not making stupid errors on the last leg ... having made that mistake few times and gotten really lucky, i'd rather not push my luck.

And I have to admit, there are plenty of times on the last straight stretch off road before the last turn into my neighborhood I think "Now push just a Little longer," and then I shut down out of pure laziness. That bugs me only because I won't commit either to resting or pushing ... but otherwise I really don't care.

Not saying anyone should do it my way ... but I ride for smiles.I like seeing bigger-than-usual numbers after a ride, but still, those are just numbers. The ride is over, and knowing I averaged .2 mph quicker than last week is not that big a thrill (still a good feeling though )

I spent more than 20 years racing motorcycles - Formula1, Superbike, 250cc GP, 100 to 1100cc Production bikes and having won 4 amateur championships and dozens of races I finally retired at age 45. This was after a string of 14 race weekends either winning or finishing on the podium. When that streak was finally broken (after nearly 3 years) I just did not have any more competitive juices left. Still don't even now at age 63. I ride to enjoy the outdoors - both mountain biking and some road and bike paths - and almost always feel better about the day after riding. I do enjoy watching some of the local races (enjoyed round 1 of the GA cyclocross series this past weekend) but I don't think I'll ever ride for personal bests or pin on a number in a race. So, I know my limits are only mental but that is where I'm at now....

I recognize my limit when I get there, but it's a moving target so I never know where it'll be until it's too late. Remember: growing old may be mandatory, but growing up will always be optional.

One's limit is defined at that which one cannot go beyond. Hence it's impossible to exceed one's limits. I'm more about checking to see where those limits are than trying not to uh, exceed them. Limits are always a moving target, changing with fitness and age, plus there are many limits to check on, so that can occupy a good deal of time and energy and in the process, generate a lot of fun. The problem is, as Caloso says, that I can't seem to actually find them, which is undoubtedly a good thing.

I don't know ... I found the limit of the speed at which I can crash on pavement without doing serious shoulder injury. Took me a couple attempts to dial it in, but I nailed it.

In unrelated news, I found a few of the limits beyond which physical exertion will cause near-unconsciousness and cause my heart to pause a while between beats. I haven't completely quantified that last one ... and I don't hope to.

I avoid mental limits by simply not thinking deeply.

This book has probably been recommended here before. Maybe by me. https://www.amazon.com/Friel-Cycling...SIN=B004WIQJDS
I've been reading it since I was 45. I did back off a bit at 52 when I was worried about an increasing risk of ayortic aneurism due to an abnormal heart. My heart surgeon fixed me up over three surgeries so that I could get back to exercising in the style to which I've been accustomed.

I pushed myself a lot as a teenager on a bicycle, then 40 years of work (full time that is) so now I like to take it a lot easier, after all I have nothing to prove to anyone, my retirement life is mine to enjoy at the speed I feel most comfortable

That sounds like perfect advice for just about anything. Sadly, it's more than 42 characters, so it can't be the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Dude, 42 is the answer to the Old universe, where there were still books. The new universe has a new answer: 142.

if you can't tweet it it doesn't matter.

Books ... I'd laugh if i even knew what a book was. Is that like a Macbook?

I'm on 7.5 mg's of Warfarin daily for DVT's (blood clots). I ride 17 miles each Saturday morning. I'd like to push it up a little (both time and mileage) but don't want the risk of a clot breaking free and then having a heart attack or stroke. Momma would be pissed at me if any thing happened and I'd be upset if I fell over and put a scratch or three on my old vintage Peugeot.
Jon

Do yourself a really big favor. Ask your doctor for a heart stress test. It's the only truly safe way to find out what your limits are (heart wise, anyway) and if something bad is going to happen, that's the place for it.

After years of century rides, racing, and daily commutes, I had a heart attack at 42. All along, I had a heart artery with a partial blockage and never knew it. I now have a heart stent, and at 65 years old, still ride, but I watch my speed and climbs now a lot more closely.

look up stroke while cycling, or cycling stroke

cpl years ago, after entering my stats into his computer, my Doc declared I had a 6% chance of dropping dead. if I smoked it would be 12%

so yeah, our 20s are long gone

You won’t know your limits until you reach them.

My heart gets checked about every 4-ish years, or so.

This is true semantically but untrue, really ... and since reality affects me a lot more than semantics ...

Because in reality, the closer we approach our limits, the more impact the forces against us have and the less impact our forces will have proportionally.

A good push will take you from 18-20 mph .... try breaking the wind to go from 38-40 mph.

You might not collapse and die, but a 100-mile ride might leave you unable to walk, unable to sleep from cramps and muscle pains, might leave blisters, might drain you so deeply you cannot even ride for a few days .... but a 50-mile ride might be easy, and a 75-mile ride, just taking you to the edge of your comfort zone. (Please do everyone a favor and insert appropriate distances instead of derailing the discussion by bragging about your ability to ride triple-centuries. I know some folks can, and you know that is entirely Not the point here.)

You can say, "I didn't stop pedaling and collapse, so I didn't reach my limit ... " at which point we are back to semantics, debating the definition of "limit."

Obviously the "limit" is death. There is no other hard limit ... because if you are still alive, you still might surpass any other limit (with the exception of the question, "How young can you be?")

But only ... well, I will not say fools and idiots, those terms are too strong ... only certain people Really live at the limit of life and death ... and they usually take the most care to survive. (BASE jumpers come to mind.)

(Whoops, let me clarify this. I do Not mean the people who lead extreme lives are fools and idiots, not at all. The people who willfully misinterpret terms in conversation in order to appear tough and potent was the group I was trying to describe ... Sorry. See disclaimer below regarding insufficient coffee consumption.)

The less .... again it is hard to find a term which is not too negative ... certain other people really try to explain that since they didn't die, they have not found their limits.

For instance, for each of us here, there is a certain weight we cannot lift. Maybe you could do one ounce more on a different day but for each of us, at some point we will simply not be able to lift the weight. Is that not a "limit?" You can claim, "I have not reached a 'limit.' I might lift more tomorrow," but the fact is, you have reached your limit.

I can ride so far and so fast on any given day. If I ride as far and as fast as i can, I have reached my limit ... sorry but there it is.

Some days my limits are determined by how much free time I have, or by weather conditions. During some of the extreme weather we have been having lately, I went riding just to see ... and when I was facing wind gusts of 35-40 mph, and the rain was so hard I couldn't see the road, which was covered with storm-blown debris, I decided that was the limit of how long I could safely ride. I could have stayed out there as the storm got much worse ... so ... did i reach my "limit"?

I have seen video of some cycling race, I think in Spain, where riders faced 100-kph winds or some such. They were trying to climb a hill and were literally being blown off their bikes. The winds were strong enough that bikes were sailing like kites.

Was that a "limit"? The limit of how hard a headwind into which a rider could advance? Those folks sure thought so.

Sorry to be so long-winded ... I haven't finished the first cup of coffee ... let me wrap this up.

When discussing "limits," it is helpful if people define at the start if we are discussing "practical limits" or "conceptual limits." The one has very useful practical applications ... like helping people go a little harder while avoiding injury and death.

The other is purely for personal motivational purposes. Fact is, we face practical limits all the time, every day. The boundaries of what we can do give our life structure--because we have to achieve whatever we can, within the limits reality imposes. We can go as far as possible, and find new directions and all that ... this is not defeatism ... but it is reality.

I can flap my arms as hard as I want but I am not flying.

This thread started out with a rational discussion of how hard to push without having a stroke or heart attack. Telling a person "Go for it!" is great. I guess. And then, if someone were to take that advice, I suppose you could claim limited liability, because you were just ranting on the internet after all. Saved by the limits!

Given choice of how I am going to die - I'll opt for "on my bike."

Hitting your limits very very rarely results in a stroke or heart attack. If you want to reach your potential you have to push yourself. FTP test is your limit but you will improve that unless you are at your limit but you won’t know it until you push yourself. Limit also does not mean physical you can reach your mental limit long before your physical limit.

When I first started running using Work Of Breathing as a reliable measure of effort was a common thing. Over the years I have carried that measure into most other activities.

The goal is to stay aerobic for all except emergencies or very short overload periods.

Easy Breathing: Mild effort, able to sustain for long periods,

Harder Breathing But Able To Carry On Conversation Without Gasping: Maximum sustainable effort. Still aerobic.

Heavy Breathing with Gasping to talk: Maximum effort for short periods. Borderline aerobic.

Heavy Breathing, Cannot Talk, Frequent Gasps: Anerobic, heavy stress on body. Not sustainable. High likelihood of damage to body.

Gasping To Breath: Anerobic, Not Sustainable, Hope the bear chasing you runs down very soon.

More reliable than any machine and handles the day to day body fitness.

Having been down the stress test road I have to throw in a big caution flag about the usual stress test.

False positives are rampant. Often they result in negative life changes that are unnecessary, and harmful. Besides they are only a snapshot.

Nuclear stress tests are another matter. They are more reliable but also are snapshots.

Personally, if I had some reasonable suspicion there was a significant blockage in my cardiovascular system I'd want a complete workup, including an echocardiogram.

I've been packing some chewable baby aspirin in my seat bag in case of chest pain.

I've found that if I don't ride a race pace I'm enjoying time on the bike a lot more and end up with more time and miles on the bike. I can ride all day at a more moderate level. Let's face it, riding fast, hard and in the upper HR zones is hard, and requires a lot of training to ride well at that level..........just a matter of what your motives are.

I guess it's a matter of personal choice.

(1) Take a stress test. If you receive a 'false positive' it will usually lead to more tests, which may or may not lead to treatment options that may prevent a more serious issue.

(2) Opt not to take a stress test. Find out on that long climb, out alone in the middle of nowhere, that you do have an issue.

In my experience, I had zero suspicion that I had a problem. That is, until I had one.

I'd prefer being shot dead at 90 by a jealous husband