I :love: my Medicare Advantage Plan. Six years ago I had double hernia surgery, and my total copays for everything including pre-op testing and office visits with the general surgeon plus any meds was about $220. I am now beginning testosterone supplement therapy and my cost is zero, because my PCP says I need it and my copay for office visits at my PCP is zero. The only place where I'm running into a problem is with expensive drugs such as my Statin which is only partially covered by my medical plan, so I'm considering using online coupons from GoodRx instead, which will cut my cost in half.

You're on a statin?? You're too healthy for a statin. :beer:

Yeah, in spite of a low fat diet, my LDL cholesterol is a bit high and there's heart disease in my family history (dad died at 51 from a heart attack). I'm taking the minimum statin dose of 5mg and also baby aspirin as a blood thinner. An MRI taken ten years ago for a kidney stone also showed abdominal arteriosclerosis, so we're watching that as well. Still, my vigorous exercise routine is helpful, and I don't have high blood pressure problems, so hopefully my modest drug dosages should keep me healthy for the forseeable future.

[MENTION=168526]TejanoTrackie[/MENTION]

My dad had his first heart attack at 53 and had a total of four. I too inherited my dad's bad heart. Consequently my cardiologist put me on a low dose statin in 2008 when I was 64 even though my cholesterol had always been ~165 and my LDL was good. It got my cholesterol down to 95. Who has cholesterol that low? :twitchy: Then in 2014 my cardiologist wanted me to have a hearth cath and he put a stent in my mid-LAD. Those daily statin drugs did a lot of good. :notamused:

I started doing a LOT of research on "new thinking" about heart health and heart healthy diets. I've learned a lot and stopped taking the statin in 2015. Low fat diets do not work for many heart patients. I always watched what I ate and have learned that many fats are very healthy (olive oil, real butter, avocados and avocado oil, coconut oil, dark chocolate (70% or higher) and many others). I've learned that diet drinks, diet sweeteners and wheat products are on the list of things to avoid.
I'm not saying this diet is right for you and your body. I just passing this on because my wife and I both spent 30+ years in healthcare and are more pro-active about researching things we read about or something our doctors recommend.

It's your life and your body but wanted to share my thoughts.

Thanks for your input and pov. My bad cholesterol levels are a lot higher than yours were, so it seems reasonable to bring them down a bit. As to diet, I'm aware of good fats like olive oil and fish, and definitely avoid diet drinks and other junk foods. I've already outlived my dad by 20 years, so everything beyond this point is a bonus. :)

I guess someone died and left Retro Grouch in charge to make what ever rules he wants. I say post if you want to, hang out here if you want to. I can't see what harm it it would do to anyone, so I say go for it.

I guess I can introduce myself and yes I am 66

Zurichman is my handle because I luv Lemond bikes and have a 1998 Lemond Zurich with 20,000 miles on it
other bikes include
2006 Lemond Victoirre with 19,000 miles on it I call her Victoria Secret
recently purchased a 2016 Raleigh Tamland 1 and plan on doing some ultra gravel grinding riding/races now

I guess I might have to admit to getting older as I came down with a nasty bout of painful shingles last Thursday. I am a little pissed as I asked my Doc to give me a shingles shot last check up and he wouldn't give it to me.

I came to cycling in 1992 after a running injury 2 weeks before the Boston Marathon. I had surgery and they botched it. My first ride on a bike was the Hanover Cyclist Labor Day Century ride and I became lost 2 miles from the finish line and have been lost on the bike ever since.

some accomplishments
1990 some Cochise COUNTY Cycling Classis a 272 mile ride in the desert
8 time finisher of the Lancaster Nightmare Tour a 178 mile ride with 16,000 - 18,000 ft. of climbing
2004 Rocky Mountain 1200k finisher
2005 Furnace Creek 508 2 man team Mahi Mahi Furnace Creek 508
2006 RAAM(Race Across America) 4 man team finisher Team Cyclonauts 8 days 10hrs 43 minutes
Cascades 1200k finsher
best one day ride 3 years ago 24 hrs. of Booty 301 mile in 22 hrs running time. I quit with 2 hr to go as I meet my 300 mile goal

hardest one day rides
Highlander Century Tour in the Finger Lakes NY
Assault on Mt. Mitchell

I still want to go out and do all the hard climbing rides including climbing Mt. Washing and a couple of the CA. Triple Crown 200 mile double rides. They rate them in degree of difficulty.

Now wanting to do the Kanza 200. When I get in my high 70's I might do the Seagull Century. Nah it's way too expensive to do a flat century ride. Yes I do have a bucket list goal for my 100th birthday and going out to climb Pikes Peak with some friends this July.

Zman

How do you get the tag line at the bottom of all your post?

Mine is

If it was easy it wouldn't be a memory. You just hope you don't have all your memories in the same ride. Been there dun that. Zman

I am 8 years out and didn't have surgery had a procedure called brachytherapy 1 tx on Monday 2 on Tuesday 1 on Weds and discharged back to work the following Monday. I can't remember how long I was off the bike but it was a long time and about 2 years until I felt like I had my full strength back.


Zman

[MENTION=458798]Zurichman2[/MENTION]

You can add commentary and quotes to your signature. Go to Bike Forums > User CP > Edit Signature. They will appear at the bottom of all your posts.

Welcome to the 65+ thread.

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^^^ Glad to see you figured it out. :) :thumb:

Did my last ride for a while today. I'm having hernia surgery to repair a hernia that was repaired last May. Depending on what the doc has to do to fix it (he said there are 2 options depending on what he finds once he gets in there) I'm guessing I'll be off the bike for 6-8 weeks. The only good thing about this is summer will be about half over when I get back out there.
The neighborhood exercise center is air conditioned so I'll miss the 90+ degree temps with 90+ humidity. :) But I'll still try to work up a sweat on the treadmill and elliptical trainer.

In 3 weeks I will turn 69. My 50+ jersey seems passe. I thought of putting masking tape over the 5 in the shape of a 7, BUt it would be better to get a 70+ jersey for next year's (and later) rides. Still using my touring bike. Mind you a folder is nice around town.

Anyone have a source for jerseys?

Apologies for this question, but I have not had getting another jersey until I did a search on the 50+ forum. This question has probably been discussed lots, but I don't have the time to do a bunch of searches through "various discussions".

If anyone knows a source/sources please reply kindly. No need for flames - I am not interested in watching flames (my son is training to be a firefighter in Canada). Thank you from Doha, Qatar (currently 43C and too hot to bicycle during the day).

TT congrats on your "first place" track finish. I'm surprised some of the old time Matrix masters aren't racing track. Yo was but did a face plant several years ago and may not be racing. I thought Skip Sperry raced some on the track. I also take statins. In Jan. we started a high fat, medium protein, low carb diet. I lost 10 lbs and ate like a pig. But it caught up with me and I started taking in some carbs and gained 5 lbs back. The idea is to train the body to process fat for fuel and not carbs. At low to medium intensity exercise I think it works. I don't know how well it works for 2 hr+ higher intensity exercise. I suspect not well.

Since September I've been doing lots of my rides on a trainer using TrainerRoad programs. My HR is 6-10 bpm lower for same workout at same cadence so it seems to be working.

Uh oh, you been spying on me? How did you know I needed a thread like this one? ;)

Non Cycling Forums for the 65+ crowd
 

I'm 73ish, still in decent shape, ride about 6k per year when I am not recovering from surgeries. I ride mostly solo, but I have a few cycling buddies who mostly still work so those are weekend rides. Those cycling friends as well as most of my other friends are in their early to mid-fifties with a scattering of early 60's folks. My wife is 6 years younger than I am.

As I have passed 70 and had my share of ups and downs, I find there are few peers with whom I can share life experiences and converse about this stage of life. I do benefit from the 50+ cycling forum and this 65+ subform. However, I find myself browsing the web these days for other forums where folks who are in my age bracket share experiences and ask questions about the issues that come up in this part of life. Most of the forums I have found seem to have very limited participation or the focus is on single dating later in life and such stuff as that.

Anyway, just curious if anyone has a senior, retiree, or other forum you visit that you find interesting?

Your avatar suggests you are riding with 2 TKAs (revisions?). If so, do know how much bend you've managed to obtain/maintain and how that may have figured into your selection of crank length.

I have had two TKRs (no revisions), one in Jan 2015 and the other in August 2015. I have about 135+ in the January knee and about 125+ in the August knee. I did lots of research about crank length and decided that it probably does not make much difference for me, but I did switch from 172.5 to 170 cranks before surgery in hopes it might help prevent or delay surgery, which it did not. But, I have kept the 170 cranks and have no plans to go back to 172.5s....

One more thought about this. I was concerned before surgery that I might now have the range of motion for cycling after surgery and so I looked at lots of options for modified and custom cranks "just in case" I did not come out of surgery with enough range of motion to cycle close to what I had before. I convinced myself that there are options to continue cycling with a limited range of motion using custom or modified cranks. Fortunately, it is not an issue for me now, but not everyone comes out of surgery with a desired range of motion and if not, there are options.

[MENTION=342154]bowzette[/MENTION] - Good to hear from you again. Skip Sparry came out last year, but this year could not because of some heart related issues, so I was the only 70+ track participant this year. Other roadies like Richard Vincent don't seem to be interested in doing track. I have a purpose built road fixed gear bike now for doing longer rides.

https://m.imgur.com/a/cyWA6

Okay, sounds like you got good results. Thanks for the info. My thought is that 120 might be about the least you'd like to see but I am not sure how little it could be to still be able to ride--e.g., 165s... although I do know that >90 is absolutely necessary.

Nashbar and Performance bike have some close out jerseys that might fit the bill. If you get on Voler email list there might be some deals there. I have around 65+ at my end from different rides that I have been on. A clue from my end would be buy a full zipper jersey. At our age they are much easier to get off than pulling them over your head when fully sweated. :lol: Hincappie I know makes some pretty sweet full zipper jersey's as I have one from a ride and is probably the best jersey I own.

Zman

I'm into the long fixed rides. I did 50 miles Saturday at 16.5 looking to do this course at 17. I got to get a bit more fit and try 75" instead of 70". Only 1300' of elevation. I save the geared bikes for group rides. I have been riding a Wahoo Kickr using TrainerRoad a lot. I hate the wind and this place is as windy as Dallas!

Senior Park Pass, get em before they go up.
 

For all you oldsters 62 and up, get your senior pass for $10. before October 1st when they go up to $80. :twitchy:
Scroll down to second article in this link.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact....LETTER.BLOCK32

Low Carb, high fat and moderate protein helps a great deal. I lost 54lbs in past 9 mths.still a way from 180lb.but working on it. My T2diabetis has been reversed. Thanks to this diet and my Fuji road bike. Don't be surprised you keep losing weight.O my cholesterol has also corrested.

[MENTION=204218]metalheart44[/MENTION] - 6k mi/yr + surgical recovery times is good beyond words.


I can't find any decent discussion sites - everything turns to dating or drugs or PT or politics. My hobbies are outdoor in nature, but the hiking/skiing/kayaking sites are no good for wide participation. Even the local Pub51 is usually empty and pictureless.


But we try.

The whole ecology of aging gets lost in the dispersion of experience into particular topics. I guess that is what I was looking for and it does not seem to be easy to find. At least my dogs listen to me when I need to talk things through......

I'm wondering if anyone is looking into the niche market self-powered vehicles. I've cross trained with Trikkes, StreetStrider, now Me-Mover, each has their own unique body enhancing aspects.
I've read that doing the same exercise continuously loses benefits we once had. I use my Cannondale road bicycle along with the Me-Mover and have found that my endurance has increased along with leg strength which at 79 years of age is very welcome. The Me-Mover requires more energy to propel than a bicycle and also works the core, unlike bicycles. It took me about 10 days to feel comfortable on longer rides to 40 miles, and you do feel it big time. In my opinion, it's one of the best cross training machines for aerobics on the market, besides it's a kick to stand and give my butt some breathing room.

No one around here sells the MeMover but my favorite shop sells the ElliptiGo. I've been thinking about getting one of those but I keep asking myself (and so does my wife who usually supports my cycling 100%) why do I want to spend $1000 - $3000 for another exercise thingy? I already have my wonderful Litespeed :love: and a Cannondale CF high end road bike. :twitchy:

But I'm still thinking about it. :rolleyes:

Saw the surgeon today for my post-surgery follow-up. He said I have to continue to wear the body wrap for 4 more weeks and I can start riding in mid-July. :eek: :o