No birthday ride for me today, but my wife did take me out for a pedicure (not my first time :twitchy:). Very relaxing. :)
When we got home my new paddle was waiting. Didn't order it for a bday present. Just something I need for my new activity -- dragon boat racing. And my new Tifosi cycling sunglasses came in the mail. :) I'll wear them tomorrow when I go out with the Withlacoochee Trail Riders.

i plan on doing this trail this winter, will be comming from Knoxville, and would like to find a motel in the middle of the trail. Any suggestions? thanks

$210 a mile...

and worth every penny!

And much more Fun than sitting in a Dr's office.

Just read the last 11 pages of this thread after being directed to it from a post I just made in the 50+ thread. Wonderful place this is!! Great reading all the cool posts from fellow, um, mature riders. I'm 66 and back riding for 8 months after a looong hiatus. It's been great being back on my Merlin Extralight that I built in the early 90's. I'm very pleased to be close to my riding level of 20 years ago. I'm thrilled to be back into it in a serious way and bought myself a new high end bike.....a Giant Propel Advanced 2. I'm not riding at a level yet to fully realize the benefits of this aero bike, but I fell in love and said "What the hell, it can't hurt to have aero". I'll be visiting regularly and look forward to reading more interesting tales.

You don't consider the Merlin to be a high end bike? When I bought my Litespeed in 2001 I couldn't afford the price jump to a Merlin.

Turned 81 this month.
Got in just over 5,000 miles so far (12-22-13) this year.
Still riding tandem with my wife (she's *only* 78) and still ride my single couple times a week.
Life is good!

fantastic, I envy your weather

Trek Domane
 

Liked your comment on the Domane. I got one about a year ago and fitted it with a BionX kit. What a fabulous combination. I know the purists look down on us old guys using some assist, but at 71 with some health issues, the motor lets me get 30+ miles from time to time without putting me out for a week. The Domane is a great bike and the BionX makes it even better.

Wondering how many of you have tried the "Strava" upgrade. I am 71 and embarrassed after comparing my times on routes with others over 65. The only thing I seem to be good at is descending. Hopefully I can find ways to up my fitness that I am not using? My current tools are weight work-outs once per week with 1 hr. spin class, 150 mi per week minimum with around 8000 feet total climbing, at least one peloton ride for speed. At this rate I may never return to the TT. Getting old should be better! But I do enjoy seeing the scenery I never saw before about age 66, just saw back wheels.

69 here. I tried Strava. Too complicated and some info I'm interested in, some I'm not. So I use the CycleMeter app on my iPhone. :thumb:

Ha, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you!! :thumb: :thumb:

You know, we might need a thread of 70 and older.. That would give us some distance from the YOUNGER CROWD!!! ;)

If I read correctly, a "happy belated birthday" is in order here!! :beer:

BTW, you are still a youngster to us elders... ;)

Ya da man!! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Super man with wife!! :beer:

Unfortunately, my 954 Honda sits in the garage due to neck issues. I may have to turn it in for a "BMW gentleman's bike"....instead of the "Desmo" I wanted.

You two bless all our socks off, have a great birthday month and Merry Christmas
R&J

71 (today) here and am going to try the strava this coming season (mainly so I know the feet of climbs vs guessing) I have an edge here as the designer of the website my club has is a geek and has already explained much of what I need to know about using this. I did some respectable times on the road race courses last season and just may try cat 5 (first time competing in 30 years)next season. Here's my view..the older we get the less competition in our age group. "outlast the competition"!

:lol:
When I lived in Atlanta I was usually the oldest rider in a group.
Now that I live in Florida I'm one of the younger riders and many of the 70+ crowd can whip my butt. :rolleyes:

Back when I was racing 50+ I used to tell myself "these guys will die out and then I can win". Guess what! All they did was retire early and really train. Nobody died and I still didn't win crits and road races, they still did..

I've found the same thing with my running. I used to think I'd place higher in my AG (age group) after 60, but what has happened is that all the more casual runners have dropped out and only the real athletes are keeping with it. So now I am sometimes in the bottom half of the field, but if I were 10 years younger with the same time, I'd be in the upper third! Maybe I should just start lying about my age...

Happy Birthday zonatandem. 81 -- WOW!!. :thumb: I hope I live that long. My dad died at 71 and my mother at 80. :(

I should have died a long time ago, since my dad died at 51 from a coronary and my mom at 54 from cancer. I'm 67-1/2 with no serious health issues.

Anyway, this week I'm going to test ride a Cervelo R3 to see if I want to get my first ever full carbon bike after a lifetime of riding only metallic bikes.

Ron, I plan on comming down and do that trail, where would be the best place to stay, sort of in the middle of the trail? 16 degrees in Knoxville, no riding in sight

We're in the middle of snow-bird season so many places are booked. Not sure how many days or weeks you will be here but try searching for weekly rentals in Inverness, Hernando, or Floral City. We stayed in Hernando in Feb-March 2012. We liked the area so much we moved here.
We rented a place on Lake Tsala Apopka in Hernando. It was 1.5 miles to the bike trail. I rode past a few pastures and the local post office to get to the trail.
Here are a few houses in the area where we stayed. Nice places.
http://www.lakesidevacationsvillas.net/

This places looks like one of the houses that was close to where we stayed.
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-ren...paign=10781999

Good luck and let us know when you'll be here. We can set up a BF ride with other members in the area.

FYI: It was cold today thanks to the cold weather up north. The high was ~48F and windy. Tomorrow will be nicer. Supposed to be ~70F with light winds so I'll be riding. :)