Mr. Beanz

Although not 50, getting close (47) and not a troll!.......Like I might have said before, I come from a family of non exercising couch potatoes. Family told me at 15, someday I would be 25 and understand how tough it is to be exercise. Made the 25 so they raised the bar to 35. I made that too! So they said wait till I hit 45, I'm there baby! A bit past!

So I see from guys like OCRick, BigJohn that age is just a number. Still these guys do major mountain climbs and have fun beyond 50. So it can be done but I'm talking about the plain dude off the streets. When I asked my parents why they didn't exercise, there was always something. I'm diabetic, my eyes aren't that good, I'm too old (this was at 30, I've always tried to involve them in some sort of activity.

Well I met this dude a few years back. Riding a hybrid, big belly, and just getting started on a bike. Later only to find out he has been through open heart, has a glass eye, and just wanted to be around to enjoy the rest of his life. The sort of guy that opens your eyes. No reason not to take care of yourself or do some sort of exercise to enjoy life.

Well, few years later and the guy is a darn good rider! Doing 50 ,60, 70 milers cruising the trail and the roads of Orange County.

Hard to believe this guy went from having 101 excuses to getting his butt out on the bike. Now at 65, the guy is stronger and more fit than in his previous life!

I get a kick out of this video everytime I watch it. I somehow talked him and my wife into doing some fast paced intervals so that I could use this hard rockin' song in my video. Wife is 47 so she's doing great too. But the 65 yo dude would have kicked the tar out of me when I was a 21 year old pup!

Few other BF members in the vid and some locals, but check out the dude with the white beard and corduroy OP shorts, he's movin'!!!! He's quite the character too! When I grow up, I want to be like him!

BCRider

GOOD FOR YOU AND YOUR WIFE ! ! ! !

It's all too easy to just say this or that but those that do won't ever experience even a fraction of what life has to offer. From the time I turned 35 a bunch of years back I took up wind surfing and eventually sailed at the Gorge in crazy conditions, got my motorcycle road racing license at 48 and road track days and raced from then to now. For bicycling I've commuted for years, done long day rides, some semi serious off roading and once I get settled into my new retirement digs I'm looking forward to taking flying lessons.

So you two keep leading those horses to water and perhaps they'll eventually get the idea and try a drink only to find out that the water is lovely. In the meantime enjoy your last three years of being sub 50.

Mr. Beanz

Sounds fun! My wife didn't ride a few years back. She'd sit home and watch "I love Lucy" re-runs all weekend long while I went out to ride hard with the guys. One day I just said c"mon, let's go!"......Several guy friends said I was crazy and wasting my time and money on her. They aren't riding and she has been for 12 consecutive years. She now has 4 bikes and did 3600 mile last year. 3000 the two previous years and atleast 2000 the 9 years before that.

I plan on keeping it that way!

DX-MAN

My 2nd wife was up for any challenge; never wimped out or backed off. She was a masher, but could keep up with me pretty well. Her oldest boy, at 9(!), rode with me out to my brother's farm -- 17 miles one way, and did 20+ of a 32-mile MUP ride, as well. My daughter, at 9, matched that, and now (just turned 12) wants to do that same MUP ride, only finish it! These kids are wonderful!

As far as inspiration -- there's a 'little old man' in a nursing home in Illinois, who is the surviving co-founder of the Dayton, OH cycling club. His birthday has been, for years, an annual ride event. He rode his own bike up until about 5-6 years ago, when he started having equilibrium issues. Now he rides a tandem for the event.

The last year he rode his own bike, he was... 97 years old.

Clair "Duck" Duckham, you are my hero!

And,...
RIP, John Sinibaldi, passed at age 92. Former racer, lifelong rider.

F*** Lance Armstrong... THESE are the men to put up in front of you!

Mr. Beanz

97!..........that's amazing!

Rick@OCRR

Hi Beanz, We missed you and Gina on GMR/GRR yesterday. Great ride, even though it was a bit chilly, but not exactly cold!

We got three GMR Virgins all the way to Mt. Baldy Village and back (see the Rebel site for pictures and my report).

https://www.ocrebels.com/bits.htm#gmr

The important thing was that we had Missy's cinnamon rolls for breakfast when we got to The Village!

Thanks for the video and the great music; super job Beanz!

Rick / OCRR (Just about to turn 60).

Mr. Beanz

Nice pics! I barely recognize Jimmy with the fancy scarf and all!

Beverly

Sadly, Clair passed away March 27, 2009 just 32 days short of his 103rd birthday. April 2008 was his last ride with the club but we'll continue the tradition of celebrating his birthday with the Founders Ride. The picture is from the 2007 ride.

bretgross

I agree, it's such a treat to gain inspiration and motivation from others in "our age group".
Last week at the OCW meeting, Link Lindquist shared some of his training and cross-training tips with us.
He's 82 years old and could seriously ride most of us into the ground:

https://www.ocregister.com/news/lindq...rst.html?pic=1

He went to Austria last summer and rode in their version of the senior's age-group road race championships. He rode in the 80+ group of 29 riders -- he was the only one from the USA -- and finished 5th. His goal for next year is to be in the top 3 and his personal aim is to beat the times of as many of the "over 75 years" riders as he can.

One of his cross training routines is to run a bike path near his house: a 900 foot long path that's over a 20% grade. He runs up, walks down, and then repeats until he's done it 5 times. He said that, since he can do it okay, next week he's going to wear a backpack and add weights each week!

When he was 50 years old he ran the Western States 100 miler -- over 40,000 feet of climbing. He did it for a few years and realized that, since he wants to do in when he turns 100, he'd better save his knees -- so he rides bicycles.
No, he RACES bicycles!

Crap, he's 25 years older than I am!

George

Thanks Beans, I love these kind of threads. I started riding at 66, 69 now and I love it. I really never was a couch potato, but I guess you could all me a type A, my buddy says I'm a B+ LOL.
Anyhow when I started to sniff around and see what it was all about, I met a guy at the LBS and he asked if I heard about the guy 93 years old that just rode from Houston to Austin, by himself. Right then and there I knew where I was headed. Haven't looked back since. Thanks for the inspiring thread.

big john

Hey Beanz. We'll ride together again one of these days. Maybe we can chase Rick up that mountain.

Mr. Beanz

Wow, sounds like some good ol guys still going strong out there!... Yeah John, but that guy always gets me on The Bear!

Rick@OCRR

Yo Beanzer,

You better look more carefully and read the captions! Jimmy wasn't on that ride. He emailed me and said he was being a "wuss."

You can imagine that better with his Bulgarian accent added!

Regarding The Bear, Jackie and I have a cabin in Fawnskin now (which is a small town we ride through on Ride Around the Bear)
so you and Gina will have to visit us there for either mountian or road riding (we're 15miles from Onyx Summit). Our cabin is
about 1/2 mile beyond the lunch stop on The Bear.

Rick / OCRR

Rick@OCRR

Yes Bret, I know Link (and his girl-friend Cathy), since he rides with our club sometimes. He's always telling me I should jump rope
for cross training! Did he mention that at the OCW meeting?

I'm always trying to get him to ride double centuries since Gert (who is the same age) rides them, but Link says his night vision isn't
good enough.

Here's a YouTube video of Link on Mount Ventoux! He's the oldest rider to ride all three climbs in one day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2PQYzqk9lU

Rick / OCRR

prxmid

Holy Crap, that means he was doing a club ride at 101 !!!! That's pretty inspirational

stapfam

I do a lot of charity rides. Just local events for local charities but there is one that I like to do around April. Only a 25 or 40 miler and fairly flat.

There are a few people I see year after year and I still have to admire them. I go out for the first distance ride of the year and try to do it in 2 1/2 hours. I do the 40 miler but the 25 miler is an out and back on pretty flat ground. The 40 takes a diversion up a hill and then comes back to the turn round point of the 25er. I normally see these riders at the start and pick them up on the way back.

A Tandem couple that I first met 5 years ago. The stoker has MSand still manages to turn the legs. Then the family groups. Families that are taking the Child out on their first ride. I know my first ride was nowhere near as long as 25 miles and I was older than 8 when I did. A girl that still has her training wheels fitted to her 20" wheeled bike. And the prize ones are the 10 to 12 year olds on BMX bikes.

Now these are not cyclists. They have bikes and support their local town and the 2 charities it is run for. I have to admire them. Never come across any that are not enjoying themselves but do see a few that should have trained for the event.

DX-MAN

Oh, Beverly, that's not welcome news, I'm sad and sorry; but thanks for letting it be known.

I saw a video of one recent ride, don't remember the year, but Duck was SO glad to be out pedaling, even if it wasn't all on his own.

RIP, Duck. You're still my hero.