I am 66 and many of you have heard me whine about my not being able to ride long distances. I usually ride around a local lake where one lap is 6 miles. There is a lot of having to slow for tight turns, obstacles at bridges, tight turns at humped bridges and just constant climbing up and down. It is almost impossible to just ride. There are younger people who smoke me around the path so I know it’s me.
When I finish a lap I don’t feel exhausted, but I usually don’t feel like another lap. I am not winded and it isn’t like it’s hard to walk and I am not in pain.
Am I simply wussing out?
Do y’all feel wiped out after a 20-30 mile ride?
I have posted pics of this mup before showing the bridges with 90° turns and bollards. I have been averaging 12.5mph. It is tough for me to get a higher average speed so I really don’t try to.
I just don’t have anyone to ride with so I can’t ask “aren’t you tired?” 😄

I think this is terrain related. When I do "laps" it feels like work, especially doing a 1 hour loop twice - ack.
Can you add a bulge to your loop for extra miles?

Not on this trail but I am about to start going to a river trail that is out and back rather than a loop.
I rode it once and it is right at 15 miles. I nay try that Thursday.

Find another route, one you enjoy riding. Riding should be fun, and we tend to repeat things that are fun whereas we avoid things that are not fun. Make it fun.

I seem to have plenty of stamina, even on longer rides. That may be at least partly due to the more than half a century I spent as a distance runner (before knee problems made me quit).

I've always liked out and backs, as a cyclist and previously as a runner. Once you've done half your ride, you have to finish. And, on the way back, you're always getting closer to your goal.

The river trail has a few dips and a generally sloping path down river but a lot flatter than the lake.
I think the biggest drawback is having to slow to almost a stop then start again over and over.
It nay be easier once I lose weight. I have been up, down and back up.
Being 67 in a month lugging around 250lbs takes a lot of the fun out of it. It just doesn’t come off nearly as fast or easy as it went on.

So in gonna maybe be a dick so perhaps stop reading now.

I'll be 66 this fall. I weigh 210. A week and a half ago, I did a 400km ride (252 miles) with 10,000 feet of climbing, finishing in 19 hours. I'm not a gifted natural athlete, but I'm very fit. Point being, it's not your age, stop considering age. You are carrying unnecessary weight (so am I), which makes it harder, but it's not your weight. It's fitness. Cardiovascular health and muscle mass. Increasing fitness takes time and repetition. Only your doctor can advise if you are healthy enough for taking on an exercise regiment.

My cardiologists says I am good. Pulmonologist says the same.
I retired from a city public works dept. at 62. I was used up and literally dragging my feet at the end after 20 years.
I played 3rd base on my softball team until after 50. 2 nights a week in league and one or two tournaments on weekends. It was nothing.
Now I feel wrung out.
I will figure it out and get back to being fit.
You aren’t being a dick and my hide is way too thick to hurt my ferlings! 😄

Have you considered using a stationary trainer? Maybe even Zwift? It would allow you to pedal at a constant load for as long as you want. I used one sometimes before I retired.
I know what you mean about trying to put out a steady effort with all the "interruptions". It's one thing I like about long climbs, just finding that rhythm.

If I'm tired from a hard ride sometimes I'll take the mountain bike and just noodle around the neighborhood, go in a creek bed, etc. Then I don't mind the interruptions.

My feeling - and experience - is if you want to maintain good biking shape, you have to do things other than biking; mainly strength and aerobic training.

No, maybe and yes.

All depends on how hard you ride that 20-30 miles. I can feel more trashed from a 30 mile all out hammerfest than I do after a relaxed 100 mile ride.

Don't focus on speed, or others speed - ride within yourself, ride easy, and ride for more time. Time is more important than miles.

I have a gym membership if I want to ride indoors.
Getting into a rhythm is what I want to do- thank you. The other trail is flatter even if it is slightly inclined due to the river channel, and is straighter.

I would break the ride up into segments where I vary my tempo and even introduce HIIT type intervals lasting 20+ seconds where I am out of the saddle. If you are riding a steady state lap, you are plateaued and will not see improvement. Just my 2 cents.

It's just about ego, Pepperbelly. You're simply not driven hard enough by your mental internals. Which is fine. We don't all have to be nuts. I'm an admitted nutcase, can't help myself. I've always been driven to do more. Which has worked out for me. As I say, I trained hard for 30 years for my open heart surgery, amazing the docs with my recovery. Recovery was always a primary goal of my riding. I started running a mile every day when I was 12. Whatever. Some people do extremely hard rock climbs, no rope. Some people are ballet dancers, can't help themselves from excelling. When I was 17, I saw a very fit looking bearded guy walk out of a library. I said, "I'll be that guy." And I am. But not everyone has to do this. It's stupid, really. Dates back to when we chased down our food on foot and were lucky to come back from the experience. Not necessary now. It's a matter of perspective.

All that said, if you want to get stronger and build endurance, just ride around that frigging lake until you either cramp or can't turn the pedals anymore. And then do a post-mortem to figure out why you cramped and what muscles failed you and need to be strengthened. Or maybe you just needed to eat more on the bike. Yeah, it's self-torture, what one does. Some folks don't like it, others love it. I've rolled around in ditches, watching the little animals run up and down my legs under the skin. That's what it takes. But of course I'm way out on the far end of the spectrum. You don't have to go that far, but the further out you go, the better your results. It's just life choices..

Another thought: Sure, there are many theories about drills to increase endurance and they probably work, but basically endurance increases when you endure. That's why it's called that. Fresh terrain helps - as it is said, see hill, ride up it.

To increase stamina and endurance you need to start increasing the distance.

Pepper... I didnt read all the comments, but great for you to keep on riding. I am just 59 and wish I can still ride in 10yrs. So you are doing and inspire. I did a comment to mix it up. finds different routes. Ride on brother!

It sounds like I need to keep pushing my limit- assuming I am at my limit.
It probably is mental. I am not exhausted when I stop. One lap is just a convenient time to stop riding. I may just be stopping before it gets hard.
Pushing myself weightlifting was easy- 50 years ago! 😄

Go by time not miles. My wife and I mtn bike ride 3x weekly. Usually around 2 hrs if we don’t goof off. 98% single track. No cars just rocks.

Were thinking about extending our ride a bit. When tired slo down and mix up the pace. It aids in recovery. I’m 72.

Most importantly, make it enjoyable.

I think with this 6 mile loop it’s just too easy for me to stop at that distance.

As others have said, focus on increasing the time. Don't worry about the miles, don't worry about the speed, either. When I decided to start mountain biking again, 10 years ago, having been off the bike for 20 year, I started pedaling on a stationary bike I had in my house. 20 minutes was hard, but I did that, and worked my way up to 30 minutes and then increased my effort at 30 minutes until I felt confident I could hang with a beginner ride locally. Riding outside, the focus has always been keep progressing to ride the same loop(s) faster while continuing to increase the riding time with longer rides/weeks. Time in the saddle is more important than the speed, though.

Maybe try backing down on the speed and focus on getting 2 laps, that should take about an hour, and get comfortable doing that much. Or go 1/4 of the way around on your second lap and then turn around, will give you 1.5 laps.

Yes, sometimes I have miles to go, and it's hot as hell or the wind's blowing in my face, and my legs are fatigued and I'd rather be done. But I'm not done, I have to finish...then I'm done. So, when you get to that point, back off the effort a little and set small goals for yourself...look forward to getting to the next gate. Stop and walk for a minute, sometimes that helps, something I've had to do at the end of a long ride and then I get into deep sand...dying. My Friday loop is 44 miles these days. I ride it home, and I get 22 miles from home with no shortcut back, so I don't have the choice to just call it a day. I'm 55, and down to just under 200#, and was up to 220# a couple years ago.

Well, that's definitely a problem you need to solve, for yourself. Too many excuses, for me. Why don't you turn around 100 yards from the end of the loop, and go all the way back around?

Do it twice then. Won’t take long to get to 3 loops.

And hydrate. Very important. Not with whisky like I do either. Wines ok, beer on occasion and then only a good stout.

I think maybe what diminishes our drive to do more is that it gets harder to do more than it used to. Do you have an area of relatively good riding roads where you can do out and backs? When I was starting over in my early 50s, I'd ride away from home until I was tired, then ride back, this long ride just once a week. Another trick is to increase your weekly total mileage by 5%/week. Some say 10%, but that compounding gets away from one too quickly. Getting better at 10%/week is not realistic. This involves a process of planning and then execution. However one does it, that's what one does. In any case, don't just ride around that lake.

I won’t ride on the roads near me. It has become too built up and the roads have a huge a huge amount of traffic- cars and 18 wheel trucks. It just doesn’t feel safe.