Well to be fair, it is pretty flat from Astoria to Seaside. :)

January of this year I turned 66. The following month I started riding again after five years off the bike. I didn't overdo it and my body responded well. Now in May I'm good for 50 miles in the hill country around Oakland, CA. My plan is to train through the summer and, after Labor Day, ride up Hwy 97 from CA into Oregon and then take Hwy 58 across the Cascades to end up in Seaside, where my brother and his wife live.

I've been retired since 2012 and my sedentary lifestyle was draining my physical and mental resources. Having been a cyclist most of my life I found this to be a terrifying experience. If it kept up I'd be elderly at 70 and geriatric at 75, if I lived that long.

So it seemed to me I had no choice but to get back on the bike, despite my "advanced" age. I'm happy to say the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. My weight and blood pressure are down, I practically spring out of a chair, I can hold my own with the medium-speed bunch in my club with no problem, and the low-grade depression that set in after retirement has taken a vacation.

Not a whole lot of years may lie before me but nevertheless I once again feel I have a future. Much of it will be devoted to eating healthy, spending quality time with my family, and riding as if my life depended on it. Because it does. I know that now.

Just got a call from Sherry at the bike shop. She's looking for folks to participate in the "Ride to Work" ride that the locals are doing this Friday. Told her I was on the "disabled" list so couldn't help. :( I remember when I lived in Atl and worked for the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition that I lead the ride each May from my part of town to downtown Atl. It was kind of fun riding with new folks thru a few unfamiliar neighborhoods.

I hear ya, dude, though I didn't take the long hiatus from riding. I'll be 66 in a few months, and my knees have never been able to tolerate running. My short but frequent and strenuous rides have kept my legs strong, my BP Under control, and my resting pulse at 50, all without medications. I refuse to be like the sedentary, one-foot-in-the-grave geezers I see all around me. It's a state of mind, and it drives the physical response.

Ok, here's a question for the older cyclists on here. I sold the wheels from my Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Team bike and ordered new wheels from PSIMet.com (he's a Bike Forums member). It'll be changing from this...

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/images/...-team/Main.jpg



to something like this (I dont have the wheels yet so don't have a real picture).

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/images/...a-ace/Main.jpg

Can I still call it a "team" bike? ;)

T W L, Love it! That is my philosophy as well. Sorry to crash as I am ONLY 60 but just love your comment and live it each day.

Its been getting hotter here so rather than sweat like a pig (with this body wrap) I decided to go to the air conditioned neighborhood clubhouse and walk on the treadmill. I only walked one mile in 20 minutes but when I got home I was ready to just sit and rest. :notamused:

Even though this hernia surgery was done laparoscopically, I have been more uncomfortable than after the prostate surgery. Maybe its because the surgeon made 3 "large" incisions whereas with the prostate surgery the urology surgeon made 5 small incisions.
I thought this hernia surgery would be a piece of cake. :o

Saw the surgeon today for my follow-up visit. He said 2 more weeks in the body wrap and them I can ditch it and get back to riding. :D He also said I can remove it at night. I'll be sleeping much better without this thing. :thumb:

Still waiting for my new wheels from PSIMet.com. So over the next two weeks I'll be replacing all cables and rebuilding the drivetrain on the Litespeed (new chainrings, new cassette, new chain) and cleaning and lubing both bikes. :beer:

Rollin' again after an auto accident 2 years ago [while in my car], which has left me with increased arthritic pain. Slowly increasing cycling distance every 6 months. Have had to make some changes to my bikes. Riding all I can for as long as I can. I like double or triple-butted chromoly steel bikes, which absorb more road vibration, and 700 x 28c to 35c tires - depending on where i ride. I'm not fast but I'm having fun.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=525666

Pigs don't sweat!!!

How is everyone dealing with the hot weather?

I'm in west central Florida. Most everyone around here rides early (before 7AM) to avoid the heat.

Yay!! My new wheels are on the way. :thumb: Got an email from Robert with the tracking number. FedEx info says they'll be here on Friday. :) Can't wait to see them and install them on the Cannondale and then wait another week before I can ride. :o :(

I'll post pics of the wheels and the bike with the new wheels installed.

After consultation with my oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center last week she has left it up to me in deciding the date of my surgery(Whipple surgery) as the spot on my pancreas hasn't grown significantly between CT scans. So I delayed it until the week after the 6Gap ride which is a ride I couldn't have done the last few years because of being grossly overweight(380 lbs) and out of shape. Now I can do half centuries+ without hardly getting winded and have dropped over 130lbs!

So sorry to hear about this. :o
I don't know how advanced your cancer is but from my prostate cancer experience, the diagnosis made me think about my future. It took my wife and myself less than five minutes to decide to remove the prostate as opposed to the other options. I'm now cancer free.

I read about the Whipple procedure and it sounds like a big deal. Are you sure you want to put off the surgery?

Easy for me to say but from everything I've heard, catching it early is rare but lucky if you do as you don't want it to spread.

I have complete faith in my oncologist's decisions as she really is tops of the specialists on this procedure. Since the spot hasn't increased in size from the last 3 CT scans oner the last 7 months, she's allowing me to choose the date. And since I've lost all this weight and have really been wanting to do the 6Gap ride, the timing was good.

A couple of years ago, my son had double hernia surgery. He said it was the toughest thing he had ever done. When they brought him out of surgery, they had to lessen the anesthetic because his blood pressure was up, and boy was he hurting. Kind of tough on the old man seeing his kid in pain. I just don't like hospitals.

Had an interesting month or so. First, we were traveling for graduations, etc., then we had a couple of weeks rain, celebrated my 70th birthday, and by the time I got to start riding again, I had become an old man again. I still work, but get off at 3:00 most afternoons and that is when I ride. The last three days, it has been over 90, so only been doing about 10 miles. Stay hydrated and keep moving, and it's OK.

I have been on Tamsulosin for some time, and I too typically only get up once. As far as I can tell, I really am not feeling any side effects.

Got the new wheels this morning. Thank you Robert at PSIMet.com. :thumb:
Here they are (naked). :eek: I'll put the cassette on the rear wheel, tubes/tires and install them on the Cannondale tomorrow morning (when it's "less hot" :o) and take more pics.

http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/o...pskvpuldvb.jpg

I'm a five year prostate cancer survivor. I had them repeat the PSA test and it remained elevated. Scheduled a biopsy ASAP, was positive. Without a minutes hesitation I scheduled surgery. It sounds scary, but the alternative is scarier. They did the DaVinci procedure. All the horror stories are most likely about the old manual procedure. I'm now 78 plus years of age, and everything works fine, no little blue pill needed. I worked in a high stress physically demanding occupation until I retired at the end of February, 2015. Don't debate it, don't hesitate. Do the surgery now. I get PSA testing annually and the most recent was this May, clean. And I thank G-d every day.

I am in the process of getting my prostate checked out due to the increase in psa and blood in urine. How long did it take you to get back on the bike after surgery? I am 72 and ride 4-5 days a week, usually ~ 5000 -5500 miles a year. thanks

I had the DaVinci procedure Dec 21, 2015, just a few days after my 71st birthday. Was off the bike until I got my bladder function under control. Didn't want to pee all over the bike or myself. :eek: Did my first ride Feb 17, 2016. Was back to my usual distance and speed within 2 months.
Good luck.

thanks, I am taking this all in, listening to everyone. I appreciate everyones input

The PSA test is good but doesn't tell the whole story. DO NOT forget the finger test. That's how my "problem" was discovered.

should have mentioned this, two nodules on either side of prostate, thanks again, I am leaning toward De Vinci, Proton therapy or seeds, I get biophys week after next , so just riding every chance I get, be areful

amen brother you give me hope to get back to normal

Its been 5 weeks since my surgery and the doc said I could ride. :D
It looked dark and gloomy when I left the house around 7:30 this morning but I was determined to get out on the Litespeed with its newly rebuilt drivetrain. It was even darker when I got to the Withlacoochee Trail but I decided to go for it. I got 2.5 miles south when it started spitting. I didn't feel like taking a spill on the wet trail so turned around and headed for the car. It was raining by the time I got back to the car and the grassy parking area was muddy. So my clean bike is dirty. :( Guess I'll clean it up later.
If there's no rain tomorrow I'll head out again for a longer ride. :fingers crossed:

I don't want to put a damper on things for you but my wife and I both worked in Radiology and Radiation Therapy for 30+ years. Seeing all those patients going thru chemo and/or radiation treatments was a real bummer. That's what helped us decide in a few short minutes to have the surgery. The cancer is gone and I was bad to normal in about 2-3 months.
Radiation can cause problems farther down the road. It can kill the cancer but does damage to other parts of the body and can cause cancer or other problems later on. We didn't want to have to worry about that. Experience told us that surgery was the only real option.