RVwriter

When you get to be a geezer like I am, you can expect crazy things to go wrong with your body that will set back bike-riding to a degree you never expected.
Over the last five years, I've had to rethink my spring rides to compensate for some of those things. Prior to that, my seasonal beginning rides were simple and reasonable: a ten-mile bike-path journey (5 miles there and back), supported with two water-stops. By season's end, I was riding 20-35 miles per day with my long-term biking buddy, a retired clergyman.

Four years ago following some off-season health issues, my beginning rides were reduced to five miles, one way, with a pick-up by my wife at the end.
But even so, I gradually lengthened those trips to seven miles, then ten, and finally to 15 by season's end. I no longer tried -- or cared to try -- averaging 15 mph; I was happy to travel 9-12 mph.

In 2020, more health issues. My first ride was 1.5 mile with my wife picking me up at a parking lot. I discovered tight turns were suddenly a challenge, and safe stopping required that I lower my saddle more than it had ever been. Trip lengths increased very slowly and reached only seven miles by November. All my rides were solo because my hiking buddy now had cancer and would die the following February.

Last March, only three weeks out of the hospital, I rode just one mile and fell while turning around to ride back. I wasn't hurt, but I couldn't get to my feet and lay there until a friendly motorist stopped and helped me up. He offered to haul my bike and me back to my vehicle, but I insisted I needed to ride there. He said I was an inspiration to him! Ha!

The next day, I bought a folding cane and Velcro-taped it to my bike frame. Before season's end, I was riding 10 miles again. But I noticed that drivers were more aggressive and seemed to regard me as a target.

Another off-season health issue hit me hard and almost killed me (I lost half my body's blood supply). My weight dropped to just below what it was when I graduated from high school in 1957. I'm determined to get back on my bike as soon as the weather permits. But I'm aware my family's support of that goal has shrunk to its lowest point ever, and if I fall again and get hurt, they'll make me hang it up.

My plan: Do one-mile rides for a week or two, gradually increasing distances to (hopefully) 10 per day. Ride as often as possible with my granddaughter or one of my grandsons. Maybe inquire at the nearby old-folks village to see if anyone there wants to ride with me.

Or, I could just leave my bike hanging from the garage rafters and settle for walking around the block.
Don

PeteHski

Thanks for sharing this. I admire your determination to keep on going whatever the issues. I'm only 54 and this is both sobering and inspirational at the same time! Best of luck with your plan this season.

boozergut

Perhaps its time for a trike? Good luck this year!

Carbonfiberboy 

"Do not go gentle into that good night." and etc., Dylan Thomas, a poem for our personal times. You gotta do what you gotta do. But let's think for a minute: one mile at 10 mph is only 6 minutes. Is that worth it? Or would a half hour walk be a better choice to start with? Walking is really the best for this time. And going to the gym! The older we get, the more important gym becomes. Our Covid numbers are dropping rapidly here. I think next week the gym will be safe enough for us. Fight. I'm 6 years behind you and looking in your direction. Check out the HMB thread.

spelger

My grandfather was never a biker but did walk a lot. a spill broke his knee and then some other health issues kept him not walking far anymore. i know it bothered him a lot. He and my grandmother are part of the reason why i ride as much as i do. and your age just makes me do it as well. i turn 55 next week.

maybe consider a stationary bike or dumb trainer, hard to fall off from those and no traffic, stopping, or turning. but, no scenery either but a small price to pay to continue to ride. stay away from rollers though, you *can* fall off those.

shelbyfv

You might enjoy this thread. How to know when to stop IMO riding 10 miles isn't worth the effort of maintaining a bike and you won't be getting much exercise. Walking seems a better choice.

Bwchase

Stop riding?
Why?
76 plus and enjoy riding today every bit as much as when I was 7 years old. The same feeling or freedom, joy and happiness is experienced every time I ride.
Yes I have had to change the type of bike, the challenge degree of the road or trail and the length of the ride. But I ride because it is fun for me!
Why is walking exclusive? Run, walk, swim, do it all. Weights yep. Don't let any one talk you into when to stop.
Ride the bike, if you have hearing loss, fine, just tune out the people that hate the idea you are having fun. Ride Ride Ride.
Rant over.

downtube42

You have to make your own decision, not listen to other people. I tend to think to struggle is to live, but I'm only 61 so what do I know?

My opinion now is I'll stop when either I can't ride or I don't want to ride. Distance and speed don't matter. This idea was strengthened when I broke my neck in the fall of 2019 and spent 3 months off the bike with my neck immobilized. That first bike ride, short as it was, felt like being alive again.

Carbonfiberboy 

I disagree about the rollers, especially for older folks. I'm 76 and love my resistance rollers. But be cautious: ride them in a doorway or between two posts you've set up on your garage. Your shoulders should be in the doorway or next to the posts. Balance is a key thing we lose. Do everything you can to retain your sense of balance. Put on your pants, socks, and shoes while standing. Takes practice so be careful. Brush your teeth standing on one leg. Anything you can do to stay fit. Come up stairs on your toes, Tie your shoes standing with locked knees. Stretch and do air squats and pushups every morning. Anything. It's war.

John E

My four-day-per-week routine is to walk (25 mins at 4mph) to the local YMCA, lift weights for another 25 mins, then walk back. My local Y moved a bunch of weight equipment to the partly sheltered courtyard a year ago, making it pretty COVID-safe.
The other three days are for bicycling, including grocery store and other errands (like an Einstein Bros. bagel run ).

Since I go the Y at 6 am, right when they open, social distancing is easy. Likewise with errand runs at 6 or 7 am.

Wildwood

70yo here.
Riding with others is a good idea.
Riding safely is a good idea.
Leg strength/endurance and cardio do not have to be gained on the public roads.
Indoor cycling is improved greatly.
Walking is excellent exercise, esp striding w/ light hand weights

Sounds like you have fought health problems to hang in there.
Think hard about maximizing the return on your resolved prior health problems.
Bad decisions can be life changing.

I gave up ski patrol & wilderness rangering for safety reasons. Not road cycling yet, but I acknowledge the opportunity to find a new activity. And my local mountain hikes can be physically challenging without becoming a trail runner.

Find your new, when you can't do.
I play with grandchildren. Rolling around on the floor, lifting them up, running in the yard, playing tag, laughing. That stuff wears me out.


PS - I'm just starting to seriously face those health issues we all would wish to avoid. So I think my trajectory may be like yours. And the insurance fraud USA calls a HealthCare system is increasingly unsupportive for the elderly.

GhostRider62

Good for you, RVwriter. You can do it.

One my most inspirational cycling memories was checking into a youth hostel as a youngster and there was a couple also signing in. They were 76/77 years old and riding a tandem around Europe. They lamented that they only can do about 50 miles per day now and sometimes have to take a rest day. They seemed very old to me at the time.

There is a guy in my little town who started walking about 2 years ago. He is writing a book about local history. Anyway, he was pretty darned fat 2 years ago. Now, he is lean and walks fast. I often see him 5 miles from his house! IIRC, he is in his mid 70's and I would not recognize him side by side with his old self. I have an Aunt older than you. She walks every day and goes to the gym to lift weights most days. Another aunt who still dances competitively (she was a rocket)

downtube42

A system that's good at keeping people alive for a long time, with zero concern about quality of life. An acquaintance in the industry tells me Ensure is the worst thing ever invented. "You can keep a person alive for a long time with Ensure", she says.

Random11

Let us know how your progress is going. Right now, I feel like that's what I'd do if I were in your position, but you have a few years on me (I'm 71) so I'm speculating on how I'd feel in a dozen years, if I make it that long. Keep us informed!

philbob57

RVwriter, I wish you the best. I'm sorry for the health issues you've faced, and I admire your commitment.

I can ride without pain on the road and on a trainer. My right hip starts hurting about 50 yards into any walk. My shoulders hurt when stressed - arthritis in one, chromium in the other. I get a hell of a lot more exercise on a bike than I can from walking or swimming, even though bike maintenance takes some effort. Just sayin'....

DowneasTTer

Hi Don, I don't get on the Forums much anymore. But, was sure glad to see your post. I hope both you and Pam are doing better. Since the last time we rode on the Withlacoochee Cilla had a cyclist run into her going downhill on a blind corner (other rider not Cilla) on the Farmington River Rail Trail in Ct. The impact broke her collar bone in several places and had to have metal put in to hold it together. The following year she fell on it again and broke the collar bone and the metal. But she's back to riding again. Are you guys planning on coming back down to FL in the future? Would love to get together for a ride and some FOOD. Bye for now
Bruce

Fredo76

Being only 63, maybe I am simply unequipped to understand these suggestions. My father died at 85, three months after a fall, in his own house, where he hit his head. I can understand an intense desire to keep doing what you have always done and love doing. But from your description of your trials, I think bicycling is very likely to kill you off.

"...Or, I could just leave my bike hanging from the garage rafters and settle for walking around the block."

^^^ This. Or get a tricycle.

I think the suggestion of rollers is insane, and borderline perverse. Sorry if I seem rude. Life is precious, more precious than bicycling.

stevel610 

What a story. Having worked in geriatric Healthcare the last 15 years, the emotional perseverance you are undergoing are not uncommon. Just from your writing I think you know the answer.

I am all in favour of people doing as much as they can for as long as they can. I doubt I will even be able to get on a trike or bike at 83! So I think you have done a great job.

If you want to keep riding a trike might be a possibility. (that's actually my plan when I'm no longer steady on two wheels.).

But with the other health issues you are experiencing I can understand your family's concerne. Can't tell you the number of broken hips broken wrists cracked heads of patients I have seen because they thought they could do a little more than they were still able to.

Good luck with your decision.

PeteHski

It's a fine line. If you stop and don't keep active, that's a proven death sentence right there! So if you do stop riding, you have to stay active in some other form. So there will always be some risk of injury, whatever you do. What science tells us is that if you don't use it then you lose it - and very rapidly if you are over 80! I read somewhere reputable that if you are bed-ridden for for just 1 week in that age group then you typically lose enough muscular strength to even stand up. The fittest, strongest old guys I know are lifelong farmers. They just keep on going right till the very end. Our neighbour Charlie is in his early 80s and still farming. He's in the fields pretty much from dawn to dusk. I'm pretty sure his bones are pretty strong for his age. It's like comparing free-range chickens to their sedentary battery relatives.

stevel610 

I agree with losing it if you don't use it. What I was trying to allude to is peoples bodies tend to degrade faster than their confidence of what they can do.

In this case it appears th OP's body is telling him it isn't able to safely ride a two wheeler, yet he isn't ready yet.

thanks for your comment.

PeteHski

Maybe, maybe not, but the OP is only talking about riding 1 mile to start off with. Last season he was still managing 10 mile rides. Seems pretty reasonable to me. Bodies degrade fastest of all when sitting around doing nothing. Maybe the OP should consider an alternative to cycling i.e. walking, but it appears to me that cycling is what actually motivates him to keep going. I expect I'll feel the same way when that time comes as I find walking very boring.

Vintage Schwinn

May I suggest that you immediately switch to a three wheeler, and also ride on very low traffic, under 35mph speed limit, quiet neighborhood streets, or even better, a closed course or limited traffic paved roads within a park where automobile speed limit is 18mph to 20 mph maximum. A college campus can sometimes offer that type of enviroment in early afternoon to 4:30pm. You would not want to engage in such activity while the majority of classes are happening, between 7:30 am and 1:00 pm, or while the evening classes commence after 5pm. A trike will allow you to continue to ride as far and as much as you wish to, without the same worry & risk. You should also make it a point to ride in a safer enviroment where you are not doing battle with SUV's traveling past you at 45mph. Here is why: You cannot afford to take on that level of risk. For example, say some encroaching approaching SUV driver closes too closely and forces you farther to the right near the curb and gutter......... ....if you hit the curb or road debris, or a pothole, or a beer bottle or dead oppossum or whatever and go down (lay the bike down and/or crash) near the sidewalk, the odds are you are gonna be on the ground , sadly like that now 40 year old commercial, "I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up" !................ no joke, if you go down, you'd be super lucky if you can get up and get back under your own power. The bigger reality is that if you were to break your hip, the consequences from being layed up and lack of mobility could prove catastrophic in a severe decine in health in which most people cannot recover from. You have to weigh and consider the odds. Yes, one cannot just view the age number as the same for everyone of that same birth year. Chuck Norris & Ringo Starr will both turn 82 in 2022, yet both appear to be more physically fit than most 45 year olds today. Former football great Joe Montana, 65 years old, doesn't appear nearly as fit as either and he at least 16 years younger than both of them. Mr. Montana certainly does not appear unfit or out of shape today, but it just gives you some perspective as to the great shape of Mr. Starr & Mr. Norris today.
I'm simply saying that in order to stay active enjoying what you love doing, you cannot sustain a catastrophic injury.
You're foolish if you don't consider the three wheel option (trike) and a better choice of safer, less traffic streets with low speed limits.
Another thing that you should possibly consider is assuming that Covid mitigates somewhat by the fall 2022 and winter of 2022-2023, you should consider possibly escaping to the warmth of South Florida for a week or two, perhaps three weeks, while Indiana is cold and dreary in mid to late Jan and early February. This would allow you to enjoy outdoor activity in the warmth of South Florida. Hawaii might be nice too. Hey, it's Summer in the Southern Hemisphere when it is Winter here, so Rio de Janeiro, Brazil could be nice but if you're not already fluent in Portuguese, then Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa all speak something you can understand but the flight is about 22 hours in the air, getting there.
Keep biking, just go do it on three wheels. You might also consider swimming, if Covid subsides substantially enough and your doctor agrees that its okay. It may be too risky now, given that the Omicron infection rate transmission has been incredibly high this winter, but if things get better, enough so that, using an indoor swimming facility, isn't too risky for exposure to Covid-19 virus transmission, then the low impact and terrific benefit from aquatic exercise might be very beneficial if your doctor thinks so. Assuming the Pandemic situation gets better, aquatic exercise (swimming) in a heated indoor poor during the winter can be extremely helpful in keeping someone active and fit, when the winter weather outside keeps most inside.
Don't quit riding! Just adopt a life on three wheels philosophy of doing it. Get other younger family members to join you if they want to. Don't look at it as if some family members are against you in your current biking situation. They love you, and do not want you to get hurt, and they want you to be around for a long time, physically capable and active, to enjoy many more years of fun times with family & friends. Their concerns are very real.
Don't stop or slow down. Just maybe look at it like maybe a veteran championship race car driver does when they decide to retire from racing.......I bet if you were to ask Mario about the prospect of getting too beat up and not able to recover from a possible serious injury like someone young was probably somewhat of a motivating factor. The race car drivers know something about risk as some are not fortunate enough to walk away and retire.
Do not cling to the belief that, oh heck, I'll cling to riding two wheels until I can't because.. , such a choice could prove disastrous and leave you badly injured and disabled, if you have any minor spill, and that same minor spill, could be substantial enough to prove fatal. I'm certainly not trying to discourage you from riding. I am simply trying to persuade you to continue riding in such a way that allows you to do it in such a way that is still fun, but far less hazardous to your physical health. Get away from traffic streets with SUVs & cars traveling at speeds above 30+ mph. Get yourself a three wheeler that you like. Keep those pedals turning. Get other family members and friends to join you on your rides, and to help you find destination locations where you can ride a good number of miles on something like paved park roads or university campus streets where the posted speed limit for automobiles is 15mph to 20 mph. Sure, you might have to have a friend or family member with a pickup truck, join you, so you can drive with the bicycles to the destination place to ride at, then park the truck, unload the bikes, then ride as many miles as you all wish to, and then after finishing the ride, load the bikes back in the truck, and driving back home...etc.
Nobody is saying just sit on the front porch in a rocking chair watching the traffic go by! Your dedication, determination and activity is tremendous. You just can't potentially derail that with a possible catastrophic injury if something causes your two wheeler to go down. Three is the magic number of wheels for you. Ride On.

shelbyfv

I agree. A 'bent trike would be great, but only if you have greenways or MUPs to ride. They are too low to be safe in traffic, IMO.

fat biker

This bunch we have here continues to both inspire and educate me.

My heartfelt thanks, one and all.

fat biker, not quite as fat as before.

fat biker

This bunch we have here continues to both inspire and educate me.

My heartfelt thanks, one and all.

fat biker, not quite as fat as before.