Drove up to the Burlington area here in VT, USA for the first ride of the season yesterday. Our backroads are too muddy, so I stuck to the pavement. 30 miles, about 1700’ climbing. In my 70s, the first ride of the season always feels like a test: have I lost strength/aerobic fitness compared to last year?

Not sure exactly where it fits in as far as strength vs aerobic fitness but, in my experience, it was RPMs for me that took the biggest hit, due to a layoff (recovery from a revision TKA) and getting'm back (took ~6 months) seems to correspond with a notable increase in performance. I guess the increase in RPMs could have been the result of increased strength and that actually challenged aerobic fitness. Whatever, I was surprised that an increase in speed when it did finally come on, did so rather quickly. Left me thinking there could be some psychology involved too.

Headed out for a mtn bike ride around noon after a 2 week layoff due to travels.

Guess I'm old school- still ride w/ tubes in skinny tires on a road bike.

Posting in the 65+ thread automatically qualifies you as Old School. Regardless of any other consideration.

Bikes - I ride with tubes in all my tires. I call it Smart School, maybe old, too. Skinny tires are what? I ride the spectrum from 22mm - 32mm (clincher + tubular) for road bikes. Probably replace the 22m tubulars with 24mm, when I wear those tires out. On smooth roads or almost any of the paved bike trails = 22mm is just fine. 25-27 most roads. Hard packed 'off-road' trails feel most secure beginning at 30mm (sometimes a bit muddy or extra gravelly in spots). 32mm Schwalbe Marathons on the road tandem. Heck, on the 30pound e-road bike 38mm RHerse (Barlow Pass). 2.1" Billy Bonkers on 26" rigid mtb. Butt, ... I hear fat tires are moving to 3" - 75mm at 8psi and riders swearing it's faster and they feel better at the end of a ride having had zero vibration. . That's progress.

Flying into the great beyond. Riding a Will Power

Victoria Rubino, 25 (rear) & 28 (front)...

On latest bike I did the opposite = 25mm front, 27mm rear. Responsive handling with a bit 'o cush for the tush. Veloflex tubulars (Roubaix and Vlaanderen)

On my rig, going from 25 to 28 on the front increased stability- e.g., could ride with no hands, otherwise... way too twitchy. Amazing what adding 3 mm of trail made in handling.

On my road bikes I have 21mm with tubes. No more tubless. MTB's have 35mm with goop.Pressure depends on where I am riding.

My personal criteria = if the bike will not hold a straight line, no-handed, it is not a keeper - regardless of tire width. Conditions = no wind, flat road, slow-ish speeds.
edit: the no-handed test is done on a 'bare' bike - water bottle permitted, no baggage.

for me, on a drop bar bike that regularly descends twisty roads at speed - it's a test that everything is as it should be. Confirmation that frame, headset, fork and wheels are aligned.

Thinking it's probably something you can expect on any of the current tall frame road bikes that likely are not made with the idea of going to shorter cranks and, as that requires raising the seat post, which in turn shifts body weight back, increasing tire size by 3 mm to increase the trail has for me been a practical work around. Going back years, my old Trek, even with slack head tube angle, still had issues with loaded panniers on the rear and the only thing that made it rideable was a loaded handlebar bag.

Is this a print or original? I like it !

Original.
Many years ago, a young man who worked nightshift saw me riding often when he drove to work. I saw his wild and crazy drawings (for a guy who printed stuff on t-shirts) and asked him to draw something for me. This was his first paid artwork. If he becomes famous ... ..... now if I could only remember his name....?!?

edit:
Makes one wonder the images conjured in other people's minds when they see you out and about. I gave him no inputs, other than a drawing with bicycles.

I did not have long hair or a beard at the time.

...so true– about a year ago, put my bike in the turtle of an SUV. Drove to the beginning of a ride that begins at a parking lot in a campground, thinking I had my bag with accessories and when I got there.. I didn't. Went anyway and was feeling weird riding without a helmet. No gloves... just cycling shorts and a t-shirt. No beard but definitely white hair flying. Never got so much attention cruising through the campground.

Guess that, at 74, I'm lucky enough to keep riding under pedal power only. And while I still maintain a decent pace and don't do too badly on hills, I can't keep the pace or tackle hills like a motor assisted bike. The quandary I'm facing is: I used to ride with a group, and while many rode e-bikes, there were still a few of us that preferred pedal power. Now, other than 2 riders, I'm the only one relying on pedal power. I don't mind riding solo(and have been for a couple of years), but I enjoy the comradery of riding with others, discussing various topics, solving the world's problems, etc. While I don't kid myself that I can ride like 30 years ago, I'm fit, work out regularly, no medical issues. I feel like an e-bike would not keep my fitness up like a pedal powered bike will. Feel like destined to be a solo rider. Just wondering--how many in a similar circumstance?

Same– a 12 mile round trip in an hour or less may be a satisfying accomplishment that's meaningless on an e-bike or in a group drafting on other riders.

cycling priorities evolve.
like well aging humans.
2 hour ride with class1, no throttle, rear wheel motored road e-bike, is just as aerobic as a 1 hour ride of shorter distance. (i have a big hill home and hilly routes in abundance, so I use that as an excuse.) Used to have the EU standard on controller which would cut out at 12-13mph. That was adequate.

When mixed with substantial non-motored rides, I have seen no loss of muscle. 1 ebike + a dozen road ready traditional bikes.

Roll On - any way you can!

16 - 18 mile one-way "commute".

Not if one rides by HR, a power meter being useless on an e-bike (AFAIK). You get the same workout but more distance. Or you can dial it down to Z2 and ride for more hours than possible without the motor assist. The latter is what most e-bike users find. I ride with an 81 y.o woman who uses an e-bike and is staying quite fit.

I ride a conventional tandem with my wife. At 69, my wife and I rode doubles and RAMROD on the tandem, but now we're down to like 25 miles in 2 hours, bummer. Frustrating. But an e-tandem that we'd like to own is $12,000. Not much time to amortize it.

I'm working on 74 right now but have had medical issues in the past that have seriously hampered my style. Double stroke in 99 that seriously hampered progress. Doc told me I was lucky to still be able to walk and talk after that. Haven't actually been on a Bike for a while now, but still with you guys and gals in spirit. I can still ride, but nowhere near like I used to, so I'm living vicariously right now through reading the posts here. So far my Bikes are all pedal powered but I've been seriously eyeballing E-Bikes. I appreciate the posts, so keep it up.

I’m in a similar situation at 76. Not saying it won’t happen someday, but I feel fortunate that I can still ride my regular bike. I rarely ride with anyone else, so keeping up is not an issue. I’m still riding distances that would drain an e-bike battery. Eventually making it up the hills may be a problem, but I think I can eke out an additional granny gear or two with another cassette. I like my bike too much - and I love the convenience of just tossing it in the back of the car.

Just turned 76 a week ago. Been riding (again) since late spring of '23. Mild heart attack spring of '06 put a dent in what riding I'd been doing, but that was confined to bike path stuff & only in warmer weather months May - Sept. Rehab got me back onto the bike I'd owned and ridden since Easter '72, then we moved late in 2013 to an area that offered much greater terrain challenges to bike riding so I just stopped.

Wasn't until two years ago I decided it was either ride it or sell it so I started in once again, then discovered how much I'd been missing. I'm still unwilling to endure cold, wet rides so I limit myself to April - November outdoor miles, leaving the rest of the year for using my Wahoo trainer. That's been a game-changer, being able to ride (usually to Rouvy) pretty much anytime I want regardless of outdoor weather.

Never did any group rides; there's a no-drop group here that does 20-30 miles on Thursday afternoons I'm going to start with once my work schedule changes next month, so I have Thursday afternoons off. Limitations on time windows for extended rides has kept me under 25 miles so far. I'm curious if opportunities for drafting might increase that w/o too much additional time to do maybe 30-35 miles in a couple or three hours. We'll see....

Latest study I read on the minimum amount of exercise needed per week (93,000 sample) found that 150 minutes was required and that it didn't matter if you got it daily or all at one time, so... that'd be ~30 mi/wk on a bike. Personally, I like to get my schedule broken up into a ride every 3 days... works out to be 1,500 or more mi/yr.

Ballenxj I have several friends riding e-bikes out of medical necessity. All are enjoying being able to continue to ride. The day may come when I need one, would not hesitate at that point. Been lately thinking of adding a few teeth to the rear cassette, going to see how it goes as I get more riding in this year. Last year, I was still riding up a steep hill that I've seen some much younger than I, walk it. Haven't tried it yet this year.

Waiting for my dog to be groomed, in a town I'm not in much, and dropped in to a big bike shop there (Road 'N Rock). Saw an off road bike with a single sprocket in the front. It looked smaller than my 34 on the back and had a cluster on the back with low gear big as a 40+ ... Googled when I got home and amazed to see there are off-road bikes that are 1050 and the 10 is the ring in the front!

We both are my friend. Rode on 19s, then 23s. 25 look fat to me.