+1!! When I think about all my friends who have passed away or are too sick to enjoy themselves anymore, my main goal is just to enjoy myself while I am still able! IMO, the less pressure you put on yourself, them the more fun you will have. Actually I do have one current goal, to climb (on foot not cycling) all 41 6000 ft peaks east of the Mississippi. We have been seriously working on them for about a year and a half and have two summits remaining.

Have you considered randonneuring, i.e. non-competitive distance riding? There are a couple of rides coming up in Little Rock on October 20; http://ultra.greengoblin.com/ for info. More info at Randonneurs USA , http://www.rusa.org/ .

Another goal for the non-competitive cyclist is the UMCA Year-Rounder: 12 centuries in 12 months gets you a big ugly medal. I did this last year (no mean feat with New England winters) averaging a leisurely 10 hours per century. More info at http://www.ultracycling.com/standings/umcrules.html .

John Moore
Manchester NH

Yeah, but I'm a lot more mediocre than you.

Since the OP lives in Little Rock, that would be easy. San Diego would be hard. St Louis is mediocre - pretty much any way you care to look at it.

Do you have pictures you took on those centuries? Do those faster riders? Is the goal a concrete time to show a level of fitness, or do you want to ride to enjoy yourself? There will always be someone faster, someone with a bigger house, someone with more money, etc, etc, etc. It's YOUR bike, it's YOUR time, and it's YOUR decision. Make it for YOU.

To answer the original question: Too late buddy, you are already way way past mediocre! Assuming by mediocre, you mean average person that rides a bicycle. If that's not what you mean, then you need to expand what the definition of mediocre really is. Just being able to ride a century makes you beyond mediocre IMHO.

You have company with that drive.
I have a good friend who is same age, same upbringing and similar lifestyles. His main exercise is weight lifting. He is very strong and his body shows what he does.
On a recent hiking outing which included a serious hike and rock climbing, it became clear that weight lifting did not prepare him for such hiking. His GF is a serious swimmer. She had no issues nor did I or my wife who does biking, treadmill, Curves.

The point I am trying to make is that lots of biking is good for your CV system which in turn frees you up to do other things such as adventure traveling.

I have never written so many comments on one subject, but here we go again. First, I picked the word mediocre because my brother, who simply leaves me behind any time he wants: considers himself "average" after riding with "good" riders. That is the only reason I picked this word. Maybe if I had picked a letter between A & F it would have been better.
A funny thing happened yesterday during a 30 mile ride with a group. At the half way point we were taking a rest when a rider came to join us. He is riding with no "accepted riding costume", tennis shoes and some type of comfort bike. He was asked how he did in our recent century (the 100 mile ride that took me 6 hours 30 minutes) and he answered 5 hours 27 minutes. I had already heard about his ride, so I knew he was telling it straight. He thinks we are silly for paying all that money for those funny clothes and plastic (carbon fiber) bikes. I am still trying to determine how I can get to "mediocre".

You do realize that the bicycle and clothing manufacturers, and the Interntaional Association of LBS's will do all in their power to debunk that story, and anyone who spreads it. I would keep a sharp lookout for people on bicycles riding with medieval armor and lances!

If this gets out, it will cost millions in sales of team kit and Seven's.


DF, that was great.

I actually got away from using bike shorts. I do at least 50 miles a day and found Hydro Dry shorts from Best Buy for $20 work just as well or better. They are much more easy to keep clean and wash. Are cooler and look fine. I do have a comfy saddle. Terry Touring.

His name didn't happen to be Fred, did it?

Your turn Retro Grouch.

BikeArkansas and I both did the Joe Weber Arky 100. He did it in 6 hours and 15 minutes, I took 8 hours and 30 minutes. :eek:

But that's just the point. There are so many levels of "mediocre." We can speak of mediocre pro tour riders, those domestiques who toil to help the stars of the team do well. Compared to local racers, they are monster riders. A mediocre local racer is a monster compared to most of your recreational riders. A mediocre recreational rider is still a monster in the general population. 5 hours and 27 minutes might be a good time for a recreational rider, but it would be mighty disappointing for a mediocre local racer. I guess my point is that you really need to define what you mean. If you ask, "How can I get to the point of doing a century in less than 6 hours," we might be able to point you toward specific training regimens that appear periodically in places like Bicycling Magazine. My thinking is that if you can find specific goals, such as being able to ride at 18 miles per hour for an hour, or being able to do a sub-6-hour century, then you can find ways to work toward those goals and be justifiably proud of your accomplishments. You can toot your horn here and read the "oohs" and "ahhs" of your 50+ peers. Or maybe your goal is more to make good friends riding and just have a great time. That's just as good a goal as the others. You can measure your success by your enjoyment of the activity and your improved health and vitality.

It sounds like you are enjoying your cycling and riding pretty darn well as it is.

-soma5

I think this is the real answer. I need to set a specific goal, which I have never done for riding a bike. My goal has been to simply get to where I can ride with the groups I have joined. This is a hard goal to pin down because the group will change and the rides will change.
It seems I need this specific goal. What I would like to do is ride a century in less than six hours, but more specifically I want my moving time to be 5 hours. This goal is way above my current riding ability, so it could take up to two years to accomplish this, if at all. I know that my weight is much too high to make this goal. I know that I must get better on the hills so that I do not knock my time down so badly on the inclines. With all that in mind, I think I am off on a quest of probably two years to achieve the 5 hour ride time in a century. Thanks to everyone to help me decide what I really want in a goal.

I enjoyed reading this post. It matches what I know perfectly. Some on this 50+ should read it and try to understand that there are all kinds of bikers on this 50+ also.
I resent that someone decided that his/her level of biking or lifestyle is somehow superior to someone else. It really is disturbing if someone cannot reach a level and then demonizes those who strive and succeed at those accomplishments.
The people who are accomplishing certain goals rarely expect others to do the same. They know the extreme effort needed and understand that others do not want to do it. It is the ones who set lower goals (or different goals) and as a defense mechanism for their self esteem calling performance oriented bikers names.

No offense intended, but it would have been better to choose a letter instead of the word "mediocre." As other posters have made clear, the word has no meaning here. And any attempt at definition brings us into the realm of goals and standards.

I don't know, but dwelling on such things as mediocrity seems a surefire way to get to unhappiness. Ride your bike. If you are enjoying riding, then you are above average. Your posts read as if you aren't enjoying riding. If you aren't, then work to fix whatever is wrong with your riding.