Travelinguyrt

You yung'ums have enough to bragg about and rightly so, but lets hear from men AND women over 62 -65who have done mighty deeds, I know this is a bike site but lets not limit it to riding.
I've started a new interest and interested in others who have taken on other areas of the outdoors

I'm particularly curious about how they/you handle returning your mind space to regular. everyday living, and after you tell close family and friends do you feel a mental let down?

cyclingjack

Hi, I just turned 64 last July, (qualified??) commute to work 3 days a week, 11+ miles each way. (semi-retired) and still able to do a century or two this past summer. Feel pretty good, commute really helps. Just diagnosed with prostate cancer last few weeks, so we will see how that affects the cycling career. Would love to hear any reply's with common story, anybody gone through prostate treatments that can share his/her story.

Grampy™

I've got a good friend that is 65. I won't list some of his accomplishments here because quite frankly you guys would think I'm pulling your leg (to be polite ). He is my hero on a bike, and is a bit of a legend around these parts. Just because you are over 62 does not mean you can't be a strong rider.

jazzy_cyclist

Is that a tease or what? Now you have to tell us...

karterjimm

The past 9 years I have indulged in kart racing. Great fun at 100MPH with your rear end 3/4 inch off the pavement! It is a serious workout for a short time and I compare it to trying to run a 4 min. mile. A 6-7 minute race will put even a 20 something down for the count. I use my SWB 'bent for help in conditioning and try to ride as much as possible. (about 100 miles a week) My fellow racers refer to me as "always there" because when we get to the final race of the day, I am most always at the front 10% of the pack just waiting for the young-uns to make a mistake! In a typical race day, we will do 6 sprints spread over 8 hours, so recovery time is important, too.
Oh, BTW, I am 67 1/2 YO and last weekend I had my personal fastest lap.

.............jim

VegasTriker

Time after time you will read stories on this section of Bike Forums about older riders who are riding megamiles. Many are already over 60. If you consider that a good percentage of Americans are seriously overweight and get NO exercise more strenuous than pushing the TV remote button, those who lurk on this site are way out of the mainstream. While a decent amount of exercise is no guarantee that you will be healthier longer, it certainly appears to help a lot.

bcoppola

Or it could just mean that old guys are better liars.

Kidding aside, I can confirm that Karterjim ain't blowing smoke about the physical demands of kart racing. I tried karting out at a local indoor track a few years ago for just a few hours and was sore for days afterward (it was an outing for the local SCCA chapter during my brief, undistinguished foray into autocrossing with my WRX).

cyclintom

I just got back from a tour from San Leandro (just south of Oakland, CA) down the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara. We rode from campground to campground that had showers and we ate out instead of cooking except for one night when we camped at the top of the hill in Monterey and didn't want to ride down and then have to climb that mother of a hill to get back to our campsite. We carried all of our gear and the loads were about 60+ lbs or so.

We rode 375 miles in 7 days over many thousands of feet of climbing and half the time we didn't see the sun all day because of the usual morning/all day overcast/fog.

I won't be 62 until next month so I'm a little young for your poll. But the other two guys were 64 and 74. And that older guy kicked our butts most of the days. We had a fourth man with us that dropped off in San Luis Obispo to do something with his wife. He was 64 I believe


When we stopped in Cayucos there was a lot of recumbents and uprights outside of a coffee cafe. We went inside and it was a riding group from San Luis Obispo (SLO to the locals) and the average age HAD to be something like 70. What a GREAT bunch of guys. Of course it helped that they bought me coffee and a danish but what the heck!

Then after we left they came by going like young guys and telling jokes.

I've got to confess that after sleeping on the ground for a week and having to follow guys going slower than I wanted to go, I was getting a little unbearable so I feel sorry for my riding companions. But then if you can't remain MOSTLY positive despite being irritable you shouldn't be touring by bicycle nor anything else for that matter.

We met several college age guys along the way and we invariably made it into the camp grounds before they did despite stopping at restaurants and eating like pigs. Of course it was sort of the hare and tortoise story but first is first.

Big Paulie

A couple of thoughts from a 53 YO punk...

The thinnnest I ever was in my adult life was the three years a ran a kart, back in the 80's. And I was only driving once a week...so not that many hours of total "excersize" time compared to my current cycling, which is 20 plus hours a week. But, the effort of driving was so intense, it just sucked the fat outta me. The cost of karting finally got to me, so I had to hang it up.

I was climbing up the hill south of Leo Carillio State Beach in Malibu yesterday, and there was a guy somewhat heavier and appearing to be much older than me about 50 yards ahead as I began the climb. A mere 1/2 mile later, he was almost out of my sight...and I was really trying! It really gives me a sense of optimism knowing there is always room for improvement!!!

Velo Dog

The real achievement I have to report is by a friend of mine. He'll be 64 next month, and in the last three years he's gone from being a sometime runner (<10 miles a week, and often not even that) to a dedicated cyclist. He did at least a dozen "official" centuries this year, many more 100-mile training rides on his own and completed the full Death Ride. In June, at the equinox, he left Reno, Nev., at sunrise and rode to Yosemite National Park in one day, a little over 150 miles. Can't remember the total vertical gain, but the high point is Tioga Pass, over 9900 feet, and there are several climbs from a base altitude of 4500 feet over 8000-foot-plus passes.
As for me...I won't be 62 for three months, but I average about 150 mi/week, with a token century in late summer to see if I can still do it. But I'm going for it hard next year--I want to make that Yosemite ride, but over three or four days.

OBXBIKR

I'll be 69 tomorrow (Sept 23) and on August 8, I completed a 3,000 mile cross country from Seattle to Washington DC. Took aspirin once and naproxin sodium twice during the 49 day trip. We averaged about 85 miles per riding day, and had 8 rest days. Camped on all riding days and slept in college dorms for six of the eight rest days. Had good weather all the way, except for the record heat wave that followed us all the way. You can read my full account at https://earlsbigride.crazyguyonabike.com .

You have it right, returning to the real world is almost harder than doing the ride. It took me a full month before I could sit down at my desk and do any productive work and I'm still struggling to work more than three or four hours a day. Fortunately, I have my own business and some excellent employees to take up the slack.

The ride is still on my mind more than anything else. Funny how an intense experience like that stays with you long after it's physically over.