You sure don’t look it. Better start smoking so you can look appropriately

65 years young, posing a few days ago in my new birthday kit:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f993d6462.jpeg

Did RAMROD a couple of times back in the late 80s and rode many of the same roads. Have always wanted to do the ride up to Sunrise (where I have hiked extensively as well as out of Paradise) but was told the road these days is not in good repair with too many vehicles, so I will have to pass.

Liar! Early 50s at best and mid 50s at worst. :D

I don't know.....that's a lot of wrinkles. :eek:

Hope I looked better than that at 50...
(the sangria talking)

Flattery will get you everywhere. :)

There is a 1/3 mile long fairly steep grade on my commuting path, going down hill on the way to work, thankfully, but coming back home is not so much fun. I always managed to climb it, albeit at a lower pace, but every so often younger riders would pass me almost at twice the pace of mine. One day a whipper snapper passed me, turned back to look at me and commented “tough, isn’t it?” - without a second thought I commented “not at all, but I forgot my latex suit today and my cotton shirt and shorts are getting in the way!”
The young slowed down and said he’ll remember my unexpected response.

That was a few years ago… I’m still bicycling up that hill and every now and then I see younger bicyclists getting off their bicycles and walk up a few blocks.

I suppose all this talk about age and looks is just for fun!
If not, I would stay out from this thread.

Until I was a little over half-a-century old, my BMI was under or at 21 but lately it has been creeping up and I’m keeping it under 23, which isn’t too bad. [Couldn’t care less about the looks; never owned those latex tights and never will - in humble opinion, they look ridiculous on grown men huffing and puffing trying to go up a slight hill at the “speedy” 6-8 miles/hr with all the aerodynamic advantages the tights offer (apologies for forgetting the proper names of contraptions). 😉]

It's all for fun Alan.

Happy birthday, Scorpio. Nov 1 here. They say Scorpio and Aries have a natural ability of regeneration, so that may help when we hit our later years

Today I turn 68 and the wife turns 62. We'd love some regeneration.

Their real purpose is to keep bees from flying up your shorts.

Perfect, I finally understand the purpose of tights! 😁

That’s great! 😃

As for feeling wise, I made this mistake only in my younger days, soon after getting into a university.
Thankfully, as I learned more, I realized how little I knew… and I’m still learning.

Happy Birthdays!

May you live a long healthy and happy lives.

We all remember wool shorts with a chamoi crotch...

Not all of us.....

No? Lycra didn't hit cycling 'til the '70s...

​​​​​​Talking about road biking (not what paperboys wore riding a one-speed balloon tire bike in the '60s).


​

I had a 10 speed road bike that I rode on the roads where I lived, back in the late 60's early 70's, but we wore cutoff denim jeans and t shirts. Now I've progressed to cotton shorts and fluorescent t shirts. :thumb:

Yep. I remember vividly when the first Giordana shorts shipment arrived at the shop from Gita Sports Inc.

From a quick search:
"Assos constructed the first pair of Lycra cycling shorts for the Ti-Raleigh team in 1976, and Castelli popularized the trend with its own made-for-public version a year later, a black one-size-fits-all pair of shorts. Cotton and wool shorts became obsolete."

I had a single speed in the 60s - the mechanism to climb small hills was to use strength combined with gravity by standing on pedals and push as hard as a BMI of 18 could manage. 😉
In the late 70s I bought my first multi-gear bicycle, a 3x7 Bianchi, suited for touring.
Always wore only cotton clothes and like you, cutoffs were good for summer. In recent decades, I too switched to fluorescent cotton t-shirts. In winter, I take advantage of multiple layers of more modern fabrics but outer layer is never too tight. I stop bicycling in winter when the temp gets around -10F; this is when breathing can become uncomfortable if the air isn’t pre-warmed by a layer of bank-robber gear (face mask). Below freezing, with fresh snow, bicycling is exhilarating with right kind of clothes and bicycle!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...af257f535.jpeg
Going to work in winter

My first try in uploading a photo on this forum. I wasn’t sure it would work but it did.
It is probably the wrong thread or section of the forum. I’d appreciate someone’s guidance in moving this photo to a more suitable area.
This photo is several years old but winter bicycle riding hasn’t changed drastically. There are times when I think that I could use a little bit of that global warming thingy around here but it doesn’t seem to happen. 😉🤪

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...426a3fc69.jpeg
The next winter


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c4d420ee0.jpeg
Commuting in winter on a bike path

More of the same, next year too…

[Commuting on a Litespeed titanium bicycle with all XTR components - 26” wheels custom laced on 32h XTR hubs. The original titanium straight handlebar replaced with slightly curved bar for a more upright posture, two bright headlamps in the front (one used on blinking setting and the other on at ~75% setting), one bright blinking red light in the rear that is supposed to be visible to even the criminally drunk. 😉]

Yup did the same. Brown Schwinn Varsity, cut offs and t shirt and sneakers. When started riding longer distances a cycling friend of mine suggested cycling shorts with a ‘gasp’ chamois. Tried them and was instantly hooked on the all day comfort, but still wore t shirts. Same friend later told me that cotton t shirts were not the best for keeping cool and created drag flapping in the wind. Bought an on-sale jersey at REI. Now I had pockets again to carry my stuff, and he was right about cooling. He had been a serious cyclist for a couple of decades before we met.

Then found some cycling shoes which were glorified sneakers with stiffer soles that worked with the toe-straps but never felt really secure. Same friend chimed, now that we were doing 50-60 mile rides, that I was wasting energy with my flexi-shoes and should buy some proper cycling shoes. So I did and the cleats nicely locked into the pedals and toe straps.

On one ride had a bad flat which the frame pump I carried would not overcome. A nice cyclist came to my rescue with all the tools and a patch to get me up and going. The next day I went to the LBS and bought an under-seat bag, tire irons (no more flat headed screw driver), a tube and patch kit.

After being regularly dropped on climbs and wearing myself out on my 32 lb bike, I bought a 12 speed Bianchi with the svelte weight of 28 lbs. I felt like I was flying after losing 4 lbs. And so the saga continued eventually to Look clipless pedals and more cycling gear.

Fast forward 40 years and now I buy good quality cycling gear (on sale if possible), have a carbon bike with carbon aero wheels, power meter and a bike computer (Garmin 830) that can do everything but wipe my…you get the picture. With all this new equipment and a far lighter bike, I can ride about 1-2 MPH slower than in my 30s when I was at my peak - pushing the first Bianchi.

”Times change and so have I” and I still enjoy cycling just as much - except for the part of running out of air on long very steep (my definition is 15*+) climbs and having to take more rest days and….and…

2nd post here. I guess a test post.
 

Will see what happens, if anything.

I lovely day to ride. One more tomorrow.
I was out on local Stone Bridge Trail today. And connected Long Prairie Trail. Between Roscoe and Harvard, IL

I tried to post a couple pics. I'm not allowed to until I acrue a few posts. That's fine.
Old Guy

Is that you Todd? Welcome. Yup you need 10 posts before posting pics.

In my subjective assessment you are doing much better than most people I know, including I.
Just today, I was out of breath on about 8 degree uphill grade. I had not been there for quite some time and the problem with this stretch is that just for a short distance around the bend, there is this illusion that finally, it’s leveling off but as soon as you are about halfway done with the curve, you see another stretch that keeps going upward. This happens about 4 times, this distance is no more than a mile but at my age, being able to do it without getting off the bike is a resounding success!

My plan is to keep at it as long as I can!

Me too? Having a 1-to-1 and a regular ride schedule has been de rigueur...

I haven't posted much on this forum. My cycling concerns are more about getting 'er done than anything else. "Lets get 'er done" is rando-speak for get back on your frigging bike and ride. I'm trying hard not to back it off too much as I age. This is me on RAMROD in 2018. My 2019 photo didn't come out. Then the club missed the two Covid years and didn't contract for photos in '22 and my heart wouldn't allow me to ride it in '23. My bib # in the photo is 10, meaning that out of 800 riders there were 9 riders older than I when I was 74. I had a good ride that year. Mt. Rainier in the background of course. I'm turning so that I just miss the photographer. He kept saying, "Keep coming, keep coming." I use a Camelbak on that ride so I stay hydrated and only have to stop at 3 rest stops.

I don't know if I'll ever ride it again. I don't think I can get sufficiently trained up for '24, maybe by '25. Hard to say. My riding buddies say I'm coming back really fast. I have another heart procedure, an ablation, Dec. 22. If that goes well, it should fix my last issue, vTach. I might miss a couple weeks of cycling, etc., though. Then 6 weeks of work to get back to where I was before the procedure.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...71795daa9.jpeg