Shamrock

When a twenty year old passes on roller blades and you thought you were moving at a good clip.

Papa Tom

...and she doesn't even look up from her phone to check you out.

GlennR

It's even worse when its an 80 year old that passes you... been there.

BTW... there's always someone faster.

donheff

I used to play roller hockey. A good roller blader can really move. And, no, I wasn't one of them.

MntnMan62

I get passed all the time. Often they are on mountain bikes (I ride a 19 pound 2001 vintage Motobecane Sprintour road bike). Admittedly they are often much younger than me as well. What is demoralizing is when they fly by you so fast that it seems as though I am standing still even though in my mind I imagined me climbing the Alp d'Huez.

BobbyG

You're getting old when you think someone is 20, but they're actually 40. And since when did they let 12 year olds grow beards?

FiftySix

I tell ya, the teens on the BMXers around here sure can sprint and they seem to see riders like me as a challenge.
Kinda like a dog chasing cars . . . or bikes.

gthomson

A few weeks back I was out for an early morning ride on my newest road bike (Cannondale Caad 8) and was just coming in from an hour ride and this woman on a high end Trek bike is heading the opposite way. As we passed, I noticed she stops on a joining street as I continue along. Minutes later she goes flying by me and I get a closer look she was no youngster herself. I consoled myself with the fact that she had a much nicer bike!

GlennR

My philosophy is "as long as you're moving forward, you're doing great".

Last month I took a break on a MUP and struck up a conversation with another rider. He was obese and I guess in his 50's. In talking I found he already lot 50lbs. and just started to ride again this year. He currently does 10 miles with 1 break. He used to have to stop 2-3 times. I told him he was moving in the right direction and his body will thank him.

He said when he gets home he's exhausted. I told him that's good. He asked if it gets easier, I said NO, but you do ride father and faster.

I've passed him twice since and always wave.

Elbeinlaw

I don't mind being passed by someone faster. I mind being passed by someone faster when I'm on a bike and they're WALKING.

The answer to "Does it get any easier?" is "Not if you're doing it right."

rydabent

Since when is fast the holy grail. There are other facets to cycling.

I-Like-To-Bike

Some people gain enough maturity as they get older to learn not to give a "fig" if a stranger passes them, no matter what he/she is riding or driving, and continue to ride at their own pace and in their own time.

fietsbob

Following a 20 year old in a Bikini , roller-blade skating.. though you could try to pass , but she takes up most of the concrete path
with loose sand on either side of it,

So You become patient & enjoy the Beach scenery..

flan48

Excellent post Glenn!
Best regards

thehammerdog

when ur primary focus is on what fiber food product will allow for painless movements so I can avoid the dredged burning pain on saddle.
😁

BHG6

Yes....yes I do.

My body sounds like a game of Yahtzee when I get out of bed in the morning....

bikebikebike

Depends on what causes her to take up most of the path.

downtube42

I consider "getting old" and "breathing" to be equivalent.

I suppose the OP really meant, being at a point on the inevitable downward slope of declining athletic performance, that a random young person on roller blades is faster. That's inevitable, if you keep breathing.

canklecat

There's no substitute for the confidence of youth. Or the engine.

The LeMond 50+ corollary: It doesn't get any easier. You just go slower.

Jamb

Having just returned to cycling this summer after 5 knee surgeries I'm finding my limits for sure. Both knees now titanium=bionic hehe. I thought it would be harder to get back on a bike but mostly fear I guess. I found I can't do 2 days in a row yet went too far the first time out and suffered 2 days later. Not to mention..a very sore bum. How did I ever ride from Discovery park to Nimbus Fish Hatchery and back in 1990?

Papa Tom

I know the OP's intention was tongue-in-cheek, but it's interesting how we sometimes manage to turn even our favorite activity into something to feel bad about.

The bicycle, for me, is a way to get from Point A to Point B in a way that makes me smile ear-to-ear every time. So much more joyous than driving my car.

However, I don't recall EVER being envious or feeling inadequate when I was driving and a car passed me on the highway.

OldYankee

I used to be one of those kids who would pass everyone like they were going in reverse. Whether on a bike, roller blades, running, you name it. Two speeds, full or stop. Sigh... The years have not been kind. Now I only compete with my aging body and gravity.

Shp4man

I still pass the homeless guys, beach cruiser riders and a few others. But the lycra and spandex people always are faster than me. That's the way it goes. No worries.

skidder

Very loosely related to bicycling**, but does anyone remember when a rainbow banner/rainbow flag was a symbol of the hippie movement? Seems its been re-used (or co-opt'd) by the racial equality folks in the 1980s-1990s-2000s, then the LGTBQ(?) crowd in the 2000-2010 era.

** - I saw a rainbow-shaped rainbow sticker on the rear window of a 1960s-era VW bug while out on a ride early this morning.

osco53

You know your getting old when you no longer give a fat rats tail about who passes you or who looks at you with pity.
But when you've climbed five miles without stopping even at 3 mph on your Tadpole trike that weights 45 pounds and they see you again and again
and start to stare because those younguns cant make that climb without stopping.
Then a small smile starts across your face
,
Because you know pain unlike any youngster under 30 and You can hang in the Hurt Locker for hours and love it because you know the secret to life.
Pain reminds you your still above ground