retiredcoach12

bruce19

To give you some perspective and comparison....I am an ex-college football player. I do not have the cyclist body. Well, maybe a track guy. Down to 5'9" and 185 lbs. I am 72 yrs. old. On a 40 mile ride with,say, 2000-2500 ft. of climbing I can count on 14-15 mph. On a 1 mile flat Strava segment I have a PB of 24.4 mph. On a 6.5 mile TT (270 ft. of elevation) I have done 18.1 mph for a PB.And, like you, I ride about 70 miles/week. This is on a road bike. Having said all that, my idea of reasonable is whatever makes me want to get back on the bike after a ride. My experience is that people who have been runners seem to be better at distances and climbing than I am. I was always the guy who could break a run or steal home. After that....not so much. I hope that helps a bit. My take on what you are doing is that you are doing very well.

DiabloScott

I think that's a fine goal for now. you might enjoy a more ambitious objective (speed or distance) once in a while to see how it feels and maybe adjust your goals based on that.

Shp4man

Holy crap, coach. Honest answer? No, we old farts, at least this one, don't have lofty goals like yours. I wish I could ride with you, you would improve my outlook on fitness.

indyfabz

I rode across the country self-contained with a 76 year old man who turned 77 during the tour.

bruce19

Damn. That's impressive. Did you keep any data like total distance, average days, mph, etc? I would think that days of big climbs, big headwinds, heat etc. would make it a daunting trip. And, why Pete Pensyres' RAAM record was so impressive.

https://www.ultracycling.com/pete-penseyres/

"An unorthodox diet and sleep deprivation helped ultramarathon cyclist Pete Penseyres break the course record in the Race Across AMerica, pedaling into Atlantic City, N.J., Monday night at 9:47 Eastern Daylight Time--8 days 9 hours and 47 minutes after leaving Huntington Beach July 6. "...15.4 mph

How does anyone do that?

indyfabz

That was in '99. There was no Strava or Zwift. Shoot. Only the group leader had a cell phone. People rode at different paces. Often times my computer would show a 12.4 mph average at the end of the day. Hit a top sustained pedaling speed of 32.5 mph on the flats of North Central Montana during a 20 mile stretch with a very strong tailwind. Eventually went into the red for too long and had to dial it back to 28. Top descending speed was 49 mph going into Ticonderoga, NY. Near the top of Brandon Gap in VT my computer said I was going 0 mph. I didn't want to stop so I made a u turn, went back down maybe 30' to catch my breath and get my momentum back then swung around again and made it to the top without stopping.

I rode home to Philly and then on to the NJ coast and back to Philly. My computer logged about 6,000 miles, which included side trips and things like trips to grocery stores.

Probably the most epic day was crossing the North Cascades Highway. Close to a 30 mile trip from camp to the second pass with absolutely nothing along the way in terms of services. Once we made it to the top the next town was a 16 mile descent way. It was cold. It started raining before the summit of the first pass (Rainy). The rain then turned to snow, which continued all the way to Washington Pass, where the snow was plowed some 6' on the side of the road. Took this near Washington Pass.

bruce19

What a great experience. Nice to have photos like that and the memories that go with them.

TimothyH

The spirit of Yogi Berra is alive and well.

bruce19

I played baseball in college for a coach that had pitched for the 1961 Yankees. Art Ditmar was his name. He once said that Yogi was asked what he would do if he found a wallet with a million dollars in it. Yogi said, "If the guy who lost it was poor, I'd give it back."

rutan74

Reasonable is what is reasonable to you. It is tough to compare.

The Assault on Mt Mitchell here in NC just ended a couple of weeks ago. This is the hardest century in the SE and one of the top 10 in the country. 102 miles with 11k of climbing. 6k of that comes in the last 25 miles. OK. I've done it at 59 and that was 3 years ago. This year, 2 guys over 70 did it. Note that there is a time cutoff of 11 hours. One guy did it in 7+ hours and the other was just over 9 hours. That is pretty impressive since I can personally vouch for the fact that this is one beast of a ride. Absolute suffer fest to say the least.

So, all this means is that it is tough to compare oneself with others. It might be fun and interesting, but there are tons of factors to consider and in my opinion some of it can be pretty depressing if you constantly chase those age games.

Do what feels right to you. Fact is there will always be someone faster or that goes farther than you. Just do what you can. As you said, be realistic too. You are not 20 something. It is OK to age and slow down. Just be glad that you can get out there and do what you do.

TiHabanero

"You are not 20 something. It is OK to age and slow down. Just be glad that you can get out there and do what you do." Just came to this realization last year. Trying to stick with the kids became fruitless and frustrating. Enjoy riding much more going at my own pace. Life ain't a race anymore.

caloso

Here's a contrary view: Don't just be glad that you can get out there. There's always an opportunity for improvement, whether that's riding longer, faster, more often.

You've exercised a long time, but from your description, you're relatively new as a rider. So you have lots of room for improvement. You've achieved a goal and now you know you can do it. There's no reason not to set another, more ambitious goal You've been a coach, and more importantly, you've been an athlete for a long time and you know that the only way to improve is to train for it.

BlazingPedals

A metric a year sounds like a fine goal. And, there's no reason you can't do more if you feel like it.

jppe