In local news today, a 76yo cyclist was hit by a CSX train, but it sounds like he was amazingly not injured all that seriously. The train was traveling at "only" 15mph, but something that size doesn't have to be going very fast at all to do some serious damage! I always wonder why people don't see something that large bearing down on them.


OTOH, there's another local suburb that has a very active downtown that unfortunately has a major track running right through it at grade level (with lights, gates, and bells). Seems like every year some pedestrian is killed by a (slow moving) freight train due to either being drunk (lots of bars in the area) or looking down at their smartphone and with earbuds in their ears...

Fitness and acclimation are the primary factors. To the extent that fitness drops with age, heat tolerance would be affected; however for an active senior this should not be significant. My take is that you (and I) have not yet acclimated well to this rather early heat wave in NC. As we progress into real summer our tolerance will improve.

Hello DougG,
I drink lots of cranberry juice for the bladder and prostate issues. (Doctors orders) Please tell me exactly what are electrolytes.?
Regards.

"Electrolytes are minerals in your body that have an electric charge. They are in your blood, urine, tissues, and other body fluids." Read all about it: https://medlineplus.gov/fluidandelectrolytebalance.html

New member here. 67 y/o male, 5'10" 235#. I have a new Huffy Cranbrook on the UPS truck for delivery this afternoon, along with an EyeGlow "Stylish Adult Road Bike Helmet." I haven't routinely ridden a bike for decades. Wish me luck.
I'm just looking for some mild exercise and a little fun in my neighborhood -- not going way across town or on busy streets. Do you folks ever carry pepper spray or "stun guns" while riding? I'm more worried about random dogs than random people bothering me. I think carrying my gun would be over the top and unwise for a lot of reasons.

In nearly 200,000 miles on road bikes I have never carried a weapon or spray but people are a much greater threat than dogs. A lot of the loose dogs will stop chasing if you yell "NO" at them.
I have, however, been in a paceline when a large dog bolted from the roadside and straight into the third rider, ejecting him from his bike and onto the road.

Good luck, btw.

You must live in a rough neighborhood. For dogs, I carry a spray made for that purpose. Never had to use it because getting off the bike and reasoning with the dog has always defused the situation. I’m mindful that more aggressive tactics, if not absolutely warranted, could lead to a confrontation with the dog’s owner. I don’t have a spray for that.

I have a police whistle I can wear around my neck. Handy that way. The sound is supposed to deter them, though I haven't had to use it.

Strangely enough, it’s illegal in Indiana and other locations to use a whistle when bicycling. Probably going back to olden times when police used whistles.
i have carried Halt for dogs in the past but only used it a couple of times. Very few dog problems in recent years. Amazing how many dogs out in Hoosier country land are contained by invisible fences. Can’t remember a single issue with Indianapolis urban/suburban dogs for a long time.

Yesterday I was riding on a bike trail in a large park in my city.

I came around a corner to find a big coyote on the path. I didn`t have much time to think. I figured he`d get scared and run off. He didn`t, he just stepped off the path, and I came riding right by him. It didn`t dawn on me until a few minutes had passed that he could of easily ran up to my bike and taken a bite out my leg.

They have attacked many dogs in the area, and last year a buck pierced a black lab with it`s antlers.

I lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for 12 years or so. The typical temps during summer months, day after day, was 93F and the relative humidity was also 93%. At first I thought I was going to die. I did, mostly, get used to the heat eventually. I played tennis regularly in those days three or four times each week. I could play tennis all day but I did drink a great deal of water and never had a problem with cramping but I did sweat buckets. One of my frequent tennis partners was a born and bred Southern boy. When i was sweating copiously, he would get a light sheen on his brow.

On one occasion, work for several people at our composite shop took us for one week to Mississippi State University at Starkville which had a large autoclave to cook a project under pressure. The campus was several hours drive further North and not being subject to the temperature moderating influence of the Gulf of Mexico was hotter by 4 or 5 degrees F. Naturally I brought along tennis rackets to work on my twist serve. So after work one day I found the campus tennis courts and proceeded to pound serves. Within 10 minutes I felt ill and had to stop even though I did not feel it was that hot. I was surprised a few degrees more of heat would have such an immediate effect. I'm even more surprised that professional world class tour players can play five set matches lasting 4 hours or more, under the same conditions.

Years ago but I remember something similar - wife and I attended our yearly pilgrimage to the river at the hottest time of year (late August, Lake Havasu-Mohave AZ area) AND WE THOUGHT WE HAD PERHAPS, GOTTEN TOO OLD FOR THIS VACATION REGIMEN... It turned out later it was the hottest day on record, over 120 degrees. I remember when I walked up to get my car to pick up the boat on the launch ramp, I could not start it because the ignition was so hot it burned my fingertips.

I can attest that I'm definitely more affected by the heat now that I was when I was younger. I did a bike tour a few years ago when the temps were hitting the 90s (this is in Michigan, where that's relatively rare -- or used to be), but out on the roads in the sun I wouldn't want to guess what the temperature radiating up from the asphalt was. I thought I was doing OK until I got to the day's finish and found myself lightheaded and dizzy. Even a cold shower didn't totally relieve that feeling and the thought of spending another night in a tent when the lows were in the mid-80s was too much for me. I called my wife and she drove over and picked me up (to her immense relief also!).

It's been hot here again the last few days -- similar to that other year -- and I'm already a bit anxious for a ride I'm signed up to do in early August. Fortunately, this one is a couple hundred miles north of here and at the end of the day I'll be in a nice, cool hotel room, so maybe not too bad. I'm also not too proud at my age to use the SAG van to skip a segment if I'm feeling the heat.

Good luck with your new adventure sparkydog.
I'm 65 and just got myself an Electra Cruiser 1 and a helmet this morning at the local bike shop. I have not ridden in more than 20 years myself.

I've said I love the heat, the hotter the better. If it's below 90, I'm probably complaining I am headed down to the Yucatan Peninsula for diving, running, partying next week ..I guess we'll see how I do with 100 degree days. I did have the experience of playing in a doubles tennis tournament in Maui, 90+ degrees and higher humidity. It was a truly terrible experience, it was like playing underwater. My partner and I were sort of throwing the game by ending the point on the second volley, we just wanted to get off the courts. The tennis balls seemed to weight about a pound.

I am thinking this old fool is about to come face to face with a bit of heat tolerance reality ... we'll see.

I surely do not tolerate the heat/humidity as well as when young. I get my miles in early morning. Today, here on Delmarva, the temps are reading between 96 and 100 the last couple of hours. In the summer, for the past 3 years I drove an open air trolley for the town Bethany Beach. No ac and in the beating down sun for 7 hours and that has lot to do with my quitting that job. I know the drivers are miserable today.

I'm a bit late to this heat discussion but it's my opinion that acclamation is an important factor in tolerating heat. A while back when I was still refereeing soccer games for the state of CT I was working in a steel rolling mill where the temperatures in the summertime were quite high. The week they laid me off I was scheduled to do 2 soccer games in a tournament that turned out to be on a very hot day. We had a number of professional referees to do the games as mids and assistants. These were short games, 25 min halves with a 5 min halftime and 5 min between games. We cautioned the coaches to watch their players closely and to sub them out for fluids often.

To make a long story short, the other referees were failing in the heat and I ended up doing 5 consecutive games as the referee while they served as assistants. I was enjoying the day, running around constantly. The only thing out of the ordinary was chugging down a bottle of power aid (provided by the tournament) every 30 min. It was so bad that I was sloshing for the first few minutes of each new half. At the end of the day I rubbed my hand across my forehead and cut myself with the dried on salt crystals.

But, because of the work in the mill, the upper 90 heat outside during the games seemed like no big deal to me. Cold on the other hand I can't stand.

I hate the heat. Anything above 90°F is too much. On the other hand, I really like cold.

Over fifty years ago I was in the Air Force in North Dakota and spent most of the time out on the flight line. I remember a period of about wo weeks when the temperature never got above 0° F. I loved it. When it warmed up to 25°F I remember walking around in my class B shirt (wool); I was never sick.

The next year I was sent to Thailand, where I was almost always sick with some bug or other.

I am hardly new to BF, but new to this thread (DOB 1949). I am posting this in the category of "how I dealt with some cycling specific, age related pains" (in case it is helpful to others). For reference I ride anywhere from 120 to 240 miles per week (roadie, but not a racer).

1) I have osteoarthritis in both knees, although the left knee is far worse on X-Ray/MRI. Oddly it is the right knee that back in 2016 started to ache about an hour into a long ride. I ended up with one of those high end lateral stability braces (complicated plastic and metal with hinges, etc). And I started getting hyaluronic acid injections (once every 6 to 12 months). I am pretty close to knee pain free when I ride (and I now get injections in both knees). My ortho doc is adamant about me keeping my activity level up, but not running on hard surfaces. He also said that he has seen X-Rays not as bad as my left knee (the less problematic one in my case) who literally could not walk up stairs. You never know about this stuff. He also said that hyaluronic acid has, in his experience, a success rate of around 60%.

2) I was getting a relatively severe pain in my right wrist, to the point that after an hour of riding I had trouble shifting. I could not believe this worked, but this went away completely when I changed to riding gloves with really good padding and got off my Gatorskin tires and dropped my air pressure a bit (unfortunately 23/25 mm is all the room I have in my bike).

In case this helps anyone.

dave

Well I am over 65. 67.5 to be precise. I am new to BF in general as well as having very recently gone back to riding. My husband thought I was crazy. I have talked about it for years but didn’t do it. But now I work only part time and our old dog doesn’t like walks, plus there is a trail a block away. So I bought a bike and attempt to ride daily. It will be 2 weeks since I started. I am up to 5 miles on our rather hilly trail. I want to find a flatter trail to go further. I am feeling more confident. Getting on and off at first caused anxiety. I figure the more miles I put in the more confident I will become. At my age it is pleasant to think I could be getting better at something rather than sliding down hill. Personally I don’t care about the age of the other posters. I do love a thread being devoted to the concerns of this age group.

You will get better and more confident. Our stories are a bit similar. I turned 70 this past April. After 20 something years, I bought a bike last summer (end of June, early July). Around here, it's a mix of hills (steep ones) and flat but mostly hilly. The first month I started, after 5 to 8 miles, I'd had it. Now I'll do anywhere from 15 miles to 25 miles and I try to get out at least 3 days a week, more if possible. Some days seem easier than others but what gets to me the most and is often said around here, it isn't so much the heat but it's the humidity. Exercise and fitness are my main goals and the bonus is I have fun doing it... it's not like "geeze, I have to go exercise". Anyway, hang in there, if you keep at it, you'll gradually do longer rides and things will get easier.

One thing my wife and I enjoy are some of the near by Rail Trails in Ohio (we live in N. Ky.). Trains needed pretty flat ground to run on so those are nice and flat to ride on. Those rides we go at a leisurely pace which I call a "smell the roses" speed. Generally we'll do around 30 to 35 miles with those. We simply take in the scenery, take breaks when we want to and just simply enjoy the ride with no fitness goals on the agenda... although even slow pedaling there is fitness gains. So if you have any rail trails nearby give them a try.

Over the winter I didn't get to ride nearly as much as I wanted to in order to keep up the fitness gains I had made. I did end up getting a stationary bike which helped keep me ready for Spring. Nothing expensive but does have a LCD display where I can "ride" several different trails/areas... that and I have the news going on the TV. It isn't as much fun as really riding my bike but between the on screen trails and the TV going it does help make it seem a little bit less like being a job to do.

Dave, glad you wrote that. We are about the same age. I was also born in 1949. I had arthroscopic on my right knee about 30 years ago. Basically I've got about 1/3 of the cartilage left in that knee. All these years I've babyed that knee, never running due to the "pounding" that produces. I alway keep the exercise to a Nordictrack or rowing machine or simply doing squat type exercise for the legs. That knee has given me problems off and on for years. So far a hydrocortisone injection keeps thing nice for several months. Thing is you can't have those every month as it would end up causing more damage if done too frequently. I've always wondered if hyaluronic acid would help. Unlike cortisone, repeated injections won't further degrade things. Problems are now starting to show up in my left knee as well. Gettin' old ain't for sissies.

Also I'd like to add something that I'm experimenting with on myself now. I started taking low dose lovastatin (10 mg) about a year ago. About 2 or 3 months later I noticed my knee (even my left one to a lesser degree) were significantly more achy which progressed to down right painful. At the time I thought they (knees) were simply getting worse due to more use and the resulting wear and tare of time. I've long suspected that the lovastatin was adding to the pain problem. Not necessarily the root cause but significantly exacerbating it. About 6 weeks ago I stopped taking lovastatin. About 3 weeks after stopping the lovastatin the knees felt significantly better. Not like when I was 20 but significantly better. Thing is I don't know if stopping the lovastatin and the knees feeling better was/is "cause and effect" or coincidence. So, as part of the experiment, I'm going to go back on the lovastatin. If the more severe pain comes back, I don't think that would be coincidence. But then if the more severe pain comes back then I'm in a "damned if I do, damned if I don't" situation!

Another 1949'er here, lol. I just recently picked up a OneMotor friction drive for my bike because certain ascents were making my knee hurt so bad I'd be off the bike for a few days after. The drive is a few seconds to put on or off the bike, so I leave it off for rides where I know I'm not going to be doing a climb. And I turn it on and just use it when I need it on rides that would otherwise really hurt. I don't want to stop taking those rides, they're the most beautiful views. Still 90% manually riding, and sold my car 6 months ago, so using the bike(s) for everything. I am taking collagen peptides and Costco's Triple Action Biocell Collagen for my knee and other joints; seems to be helping a lot. And it can't hurt, anyway. I ride 10-20 miles a day typically, between errands and exercise.

Well it was disappointing, and not nearly as hot as I hoped. A couple of days the humidity was in the 90s and it was a sticky mess, but still...hotter would have been OK. I ran in the mornings but more because I didn't want to get sunburned and the air seemed fresher. Glad to be back on the west coast, the Maya Rivera was something of a flop.

Global Warming ! Count me in dude.

Lost interest for a year because of dog incident. Discovered two vintage Mixte's recently. Got them. Also got some bear spray. Rode the Kabuki SMD yesterday. Maybe 12 miles. Apparently it was 98f or so. We were slow. 4 pts of water is a few more pounds too. EVERYONE passed us. No aches today so probably a bit lazy. We were 71 last week... 62 years of biking.

Does it matter if everyone passes you? I've noticed on rides with my 31 year old son that he doesn't really "see" things as he rides because he's focused on speed. You can miss a lot if you don't take the time to look around....he's missed baby deer and a baby horse and other things he was upset to hear he didn't notice (but he still won't slow down). I love that biking at a reasonable speed allows me to enjoy the world around me as I go. Spent too many years rushing around during my working years.....

One person's reasonable speed is not another's reasonable speed. I like to keep a good pace going most of the time, that is just how I like to ride. My good pace today is definitely slower and I make more short stops. When others pass me I do not let it bother me, most of the time anyway. I also ride solo at least 95% of the time, so, others pace doesn't affect mine. I have one guy I ride with occasionally, he is a strong rider, and I feel challenged to keep up at times.

I was looking for a slower more leisurely riding group in my area and couldn't find one. Like you I do most of my riding solo but some social activity with other like minded cyclists would be welcome. Since I couldn't find a group, I'm starting one. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for the reply. What is your location? There is a club here in south coastal Delaware, Sussex County Cyclists, that I have done rides with. I was a member one year. They have 4 or 5 categories and all their club rides state what category is doing the ride. A cat. is fast, cruising speed around 22 mph and sometimes 25 to 27 for periods. I believe D cat. is the slowest with speeds averaging 12 to 14 mph and occasional 16. My problem with riding with them is having to drive somewhere to meet up, usually 12 to 25 miles each way. Their riding season runs from end of April into middle October. That is summer prime time in this resort area and traffic is a PITA.

I thought that was in my profile but I didn't set it up. Greensboro, NC

We have A, B and C rides in the area but no real "Beginner" rides so that is what I'm working to start.