My Return
 

I have not been active BUT, I will try to be active in the future!!
I have three bikes, Road, Touring and, Mountain setup up as my city bike!!
I am retired, 78 (12/24/41" and live in Guiguinto, Bulacan, The Philippines!!

I TRY to ride 34k MWF in a closed/safe area, Manila Memorial Park-Plaridel.
I am there when the gate opens in the morning. (first light)

Welcome back here from there. Good job planning on getting out. :thumb:

Overdoing it, need to regain perspective?
 

It's so refreshing to see comments from riders our age who have the right perspective, that what matters most is getting out and doing it, not how fast, how pretty.


I wish I could have that mindset. I'm training for a 50-miler in late-March and increasing both my total weekly mileage and my one long ride each week. Currently riding 80 miles per week and my long ride today was 38 miles. My training plan (yes, I have one) might be a bit excessive -- I peak in the two weeks before my half-century with long rides of 46 and 48 miles, with weekly totals approaching/exceeding 100 miles.


Man am I burned out. I see it in my performance. I'm never fast, but my weekly average pace is dropping, my legs feel heavy, and rides that I feel totally jazzed about are few and far between.


Anyone have similar problems? I think I'm going to drop a few shorter rides this week and make an attempt to recover. As for the pace obsession, not sure what to do about that. I'm a 65 year old guy who only rides 14-15 mph, so any obsession over speed is really pretty silly. And the notion that every ride is going to be better/faster than the last one -- where did that come from???

In the words of Toby Keith.

possibly,over training,take a few days off ride easy, then resume training,

New Mantra
 

I am 67 years old and the past year and a half I have really been feeling the effects of aging. I am experiencing a lot more aches and pains, lower/shorter levels of energy, reduced mental acuity and really bad memory. I am not complaining, as it is the cost of being fortunate enough to live this long. I still feel I am in better health and conditioning than most people about this age. My Mom passed this past August at the age of 90, she had been in relatively good health until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in November of 2018. She, for years, said that getting old is not for the weak.

I have come up with a new man mantra for myself, which I repeat often on a daily basis: "If I want to keep actively living my life, getting old is hard. If I just want to get old, that is easy." That seems to really help me accept the aging process and keep motivated to stay active, and reduce the mental stress of the aches and pains. Now, if I can just keep remembering that.

Bicycles have been a long term, important part of my life and health. People often ask me me, How long do you think you can keep doing it? My stock answer: "If I make it into my 80's, I hope to still be pedaling."

I like that! And I've heard it said -- You can't control aging, but you an control getting old.

What keeps me going is the thought that among the male population aged 65 and greater, those of us who ride are the exception, not the rule. Seriously, all my peers are couch potatoes. I will not let that happen. Okay, in my 80s I may be on a tricycle riding 4 mph, but it'll be carbon, with clipless pedals and good components!!!!

I guess I consider myself lucky at my end. I will be 69 at the end of April. No joint problems and no meds. What hurts my training is working retail and standing on concrete all day. Today was a perfect example. Was warm enough outside today when I came home but I was exhausted from lack of sleep last night. With that being said I am driving to SC this weekend to do a 75 mile gravel bike race. My training was going pretty good until a cold snap here i n the tundra land in Pa. I don't use power meters or anything like that and just go out and ride. My goal is to ride a 50 mile gravel bike race in all 50 States. I have something like 17 or 18 in in a little bit over 2 years. I am doing a 150 mile gravel bike ride called Gravel Worlds in Nebraska in August. We are all different and that is what makes cycling interesting. I plan on getting back in shape to do all the crazy ultra gravel bike race. Just go ride.

listen to your body
 

Nothing wrong with having a training plan and goal. I know personally I have pushed too hard and too long only to get fatigued and have to essentially start over. The key for me is to listen to what your body is telling you. if you have been training hard for three or four days, you need to rest and cross train. accumulated fatigue is a bigger concern for us then it is for younger folks. I have found that heart rate monitoring is beneficial in helping me get adequate rest and not over train. it’s nice having the time to devote to our passions after so many years of family and work responsibilities. The downside is a decline in physical strength, endurance and ability. balance and a realistic understanding of our capabilities will prevent injuries and over training . our focus needs to be participating in what we love before performance.

DANG! That's a pretty cool bucket list. :thumb: Congrats on the no meds and joint problems. :)

Zurichman, very impressed with how well you're feeling and riding. That's some pretty ambitious riding you've got coming up! Good luck and have fun.

Hi All
My birthday next week and I'll still be 65+. Decided it was about time I got the bikes out of the shed and started to ride a pushbike again. I've stopped riding motorcycles but want to remain on two wheels.
First task was to pump the tyres up and then clean the bike.
Then i have to get my head round riding a cycle on the road. Scared me last time
I'll let you know how I get on

I'm 67, no aches or pains. I don't want to brag, but with my fiancee, 61, I ride 200+ miles on a good week if weather allows us to get out 5 of 7 days. We don't ride fast, average 13 mph, plus or minus, depending on the wind. Racing is overrated. Distance riding is our world. Our daily rides are training for our long term goals.

She, a lifelong pavement bike rider, recently asked me for a bike which she can ride on gravel and dirt, hauling her own luggage. Destination rides, including segments of the Great Divide, have been in our conversations, along with self supported and fully supported bicycling vacations. We don't know how long we can keep it going, but we have recently declared that our "short ride" is now 42 miles, up from the former 36 miles. Her idea.

Wow! Very ambitious riding schedule and riding plans. I'm very impressed, though I'm not sure your cycling accomplishments and plans quite go with your user name... :-)

As I've said before, some who are Dead do not lack life, and some who are Grandpa have no children. A good bit depends on your motivation. A life growing up (and a career) on the farm gave me a seemingly rare perspective on riding my bike 40 miles. It's not that far. And at my current stage of life, I basically have nothing better to do. It's a lifestyle, not a hobby. I could be fishing instead, of course, but....

New 80+ facebook group
 

For those on facebook there is a new group. The Royal Academy of Octogenerian Cyclist. You might want to check them out.

Still kicking...
 

Fell in love with cycling when I was 13 and the romance is still alive 59 years later. Oh there have been periods when I've been off the bike for years at a time. Life, including work, family, and other interests sometimes got in the way, and every single time, it had lead to a significant degradation of my health. One of those times was when I started working for NASA and the work and associated pressure totally consumed me. After the first 12 years, I resembled a marine mammal and was according to my doctor a disaster waiting to happen. Didn't have to wait long. The MI I have blocked off my main right coronary artery and took two stents to revascularize. That, my friends was quire the wake up call. Cleaned up my diet, quit smoking, and made time to to ride again. Took me 6 months to get my weight back down under 190 and develop enough strength and endurance to start riding with a group of 50+ guys that were pretty hard core. Another 6 months, and I could easily stay with the guys even on hammerfest rides up Mount Diablo (3800+ feet up) My weight was down to 160 by that time, all my blood work, particularly my lipid panels, was perfect, and my B/P was 110-120/60/75. So imagine everyone's surprise when while waiting to meet my posse in front of a Peet's Coffee, I quietly dropped dead. Yeah, that's right... no pulse, no respiration, nothing. Luckily, there were bystanders witjh CPR skills who thumped on me until EMS showed up. Took 2 jolts with a defibrillator to get me back, but they did. After a angiogram, the cardiologist told me that I should be well and truly dead. Seems I had the well known "widow maker", a complete blockage of the left anterior descending coronary artery, which typically kills 97% of the people it happens to. I was also told flat out that the ONLY thing that saved my ass. Long story short, 2 months later I was back on the bike, riding with my Old Farts group, and feeling as strong as ever. That was 8 years ago, and I'm still fit. The lesson I learned from all of this is riding is essential to my continued life and health. If I spend a little more time smelling the flowers on a ride, it's only because I've developed a better appreciation for the beauty of life. So ride on....

Personally I can't agree with..... "what matters most is getting out and doing it, not how fast."

My desire to maintain maximum speed along with longer distances ridden became more of a challenge for every ride since my diagnosis of *Gleason 10 PCa* then having a *bilateral Orchiectomy* followed by experimental *Cryoablation + immunotherapy injection.* My pursuit of the Quality of Life existence rather than the Quantity of Life has little room for a "slow down to smell the roses" mantra.

OTG -- you are to be commended for overcoming those challenges and maintaining such a great zest for cycling. I can especially appreciate your perseverance -- I volunteer at a hospital and frequently see people who it looks like have just given up.

A number of riders my age or older that I see on the roads flat blow the doors off me, and I hold them in the highest regard. And there are (probably) some people who I can out-perform, if we're measuring speed and distance, or even just being on a bike to begin with. Everyone has specific motivations for why they ride. Yours are clearly defined, and perhaps for some of us they're less clear. But as long as we all ride, whether it's for a sunny day, or for max performance, if we both enjoyed our rides -- that's really what it's all about, IMHO.

It never occurred to me to fret about the things I could do at 32 and I can't do at 72. Thing is, despite some lapses, I've taken pretty good care of myself and I'm frequently mistaken for a man 10 years younger. Been away from riding for a few years up until about a year ago. So I've got some speed and endurance to recover, which means training. The goals I've set are appropriate to me, but I consider my age less of a factor than how I feel. Certainly they're more modest than the ones I had 40 years ago, but so long as I continue to see improvement in my metrics, I'll keep pushing with no concern whatsoever for who passes me or who I pass. There are always plenty of both. Just like 40 years ago... :)

bmcer,
I'm 70.5 and I also have people thinking I'm ten years younger...probably because I still have most my hair and have not gained much weight.
Still, I've found it weird that I now have to actually figure in my age with my athletic endeavors....which are modest. Historically I never thought a ride was "too long"...maybe it would take me a bit longer and I would have to bring extra water but never that I couldn't make it or ride three days in a row, etc.

Now I really have to consider those things and it's a bummer. I'm getting used to it but it makes me wish I had enjoyed and taken more advantage of my younger years. But I suppose almost all older people feel that way. Making your goals an improvement in YOUR metrics is a wise way to approach it for sure. Now where did I leave my prune juice?

Only a fool would try to convince themselves that the passage of 4 decades doesn't bring with it physical changes that must be accounted for. But I'd be an even bigger fool not to take full advantage of the capabilities I still have. My wife has a serious neuro-muscular disorder that is progressive. It's reached the point where she is effectively a paraplegic. But she still volunteers and the local humane society, paints and draws, and attends her "Silver Sneakers" exercise class twice a week. She taught me by example that a person is defined by their abilities, not their disabilities.

Covid-19
 

We are all in the most vulnerable population for serious health risks if we contract the novel Coronavirus. I would like to know how you are dealing with this problem and how it is affecting your daily lives. I’m still riding my bike and going to the grocery store, but not much else. In two weeks I’m having a colonoscopy and endoscopy to try and find the root cause of my recently diagnosed iron deficiency anemia, and am crossing my fingers that it’s not colorectal cancer, which would require chemotherapy that suppresses my immune system. This would make me more vulnerable to this virus, and potentially leave me either ill or cause death.

Well, I need some help from an LBS, and they're closed, doing service by appointment and not calling back. I imagine they're swamped.

I drive a school bus and am off until at least at least March 30th, for now, with pay. I am spending a lot of time at home, doing chores, working on bikes, reading and watching videos, and riding my bikes. I am in south-coastal Delaware, Sussex County, and the first case of confirmed Covid 19 in the county was announced yesterday. The whole state of Delaware was up to 25 confirmed cases as of this morning. I am naturally somewhat isolated, when not working, as I do not do much socializing anymore. I have an appointment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, April 1st, for some neurological testing. I will be contacting them in the next day or 2 to check on that scheduling.