HI,
I am not too thrilled about pusing the big 60 this year, but I have seen some gradual improvement over the past year, so I guess it isn't all bad.
I have tried to constantly improve my pace, and endurance and now feel more comfortable at 19 to 20 mph for longer periods. I was pulling a group the other day and the were fairly surpised how much I have improved over the past year. I tend to ride alone most days, I don't care for the constant changes in group rides where they speed up and then fall back .
I like to push my heart rate and then back off when its over 140. This for me may be at a different speed if its real windy slower or if we have a good tail wind 20 + whoo.
My legs don't seem to tire as easily I remember how they would feel like rubber trying to chase a group.
I am not trying to brag, I guess I am trying to encourage older riders to continue to try and improve a little each day age dosen't have to force you to ride at a "C"pace every day if you don't want to. Considering I ve only been riding for about 18 mos,
Doug

Here's to ya.

I know what you're saying. I'm 65 and can tell I'm not as strong or as fast as I was just a few years ago. But at least I'm not dead yet.

I could have written this. 62 this sunday, and started riding in Mar 09. Wish I had found it 20 yrs ago. "I coulda been a contender." Now I'm just a pretender.

Cool... I've only got a 54T ring on my new highracer. Pushing a 60 would give me an extra gear at the high end.

Sounds like you're doing pretty good for a newbie and an Older Fellow. Keep it up! (I'll be pushing through the 60 barrier in a few weeks.)

The big problem with 60, is that it's only 10 away from 70. Yeeaaow! bk

My wife and I are turning 60 this spring and summer, respectively*, and one of my cycling buddies is turning 70 in May. Our local transit system still gives a hefty discount to folks 60 and older, although they are threatening to raise the qualification age to 65 for folks born after some to-be-determined cutoff date.

____
*Denver and I like older women.

That was my first reaction to "pushing 60," as well. I do have a 6-bolt 58T chainring for anyone who wants it -- you need old school steel cottered cranks and the three-piece Simplex 3-to-6-bolt adaptor. I replaced the original 58-45 / 14-22 gearing with a more reasonable 49-46 / 14-26.

OT: New highracer?

It's my newest bike, and it's still less than a year old, so I can call it 'new' for a while longer (my M5 CHR.) Although it has something like 1500 miles on it by now...

Good going! I'm a couple of years away from the big 6-oh but (once I'm recovered from a serious injury) I hope to get back to trying to keep up with my 65 y/o+ friends.

Oh you kidz!!!
Turned 77 last year.

Agree 100% and at 60 when some young buck kicks your butt you can always pull out the age card. We had a group ride a couple of years ago and this guy was killing us. When we came to a rest point somehow the subject of age came up and he was the youngest rider in the group. End of self promotion about his cycling greatness.

I have mates like him- but all I have to do is put an extra long hill into the ride and they know how much further he has to improve. Thats the trouble with youngsters nowadays- No staying power.

And 60 does hit you hard. But not as hard as when you first started riding. That 1st mile long 15% hill when you started riding is just as hard nowadays- Only thing is that now you can ride it instead of walking it.

Yeah, I just got my racing license for 2010, and it shows my racing age as 60. I am sorely tempted to race again this year, as I'm now at the bottom of 5- and 10-year age groups, heh, heh... And although I haven't done any speed work for a couple of years, I can still hold my own at the head of the pace line at the Burnaby indoor velodrome when the pace hits 41-43 kmh.

One thing I will say to those who have just taken up cycling: Riding the bike will pretty much freeze your physical age. If you started riding when you were in your thirties, you will still look like you're in your 30's or 40's when you are 60. If you started just recently, well, you won't look any younger, but you certainly will pretty much stop aging. Your performance will also improve up to a plateau,which you should easily be able to maintain until you are close to death, when it will drop real fast. The only downside is that you have to keep riding the bike just about every day; otherwise, things will quickly fall apart. But that's not really a downside, is it? The older I get, the more I look forward to being on the bike.

L.