Well, all that actually was my point. As we felt "over the hill" at 50, are we supposed to feel DEAD now, at 72? Of course, there is a lot more to it - like spinal fusion at 47, stroke at 64, heart atrial fibrillation now ... but, as the old saying goes "what don't kill ya makes you stronger!"

I ride 100 miles a day between a Baskin Robins and a Krispy Cream. (not really)

I like donuts too much to eat KC. And if the sun is shining I am hiding under a tree! ;)

Just turn the cranks and enjoy.

Ride Baby Ride

Please tell us your age.
57

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?
Trek Allant. I needed a commuter and had been out of cycling for awhile. It's been a great reentry bike. I suspect I'll need a tourer, too, one day. :thumb:

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?
Generic multivitamin

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
A bit, but less the more I bike. :-)

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?
I'm a BAB--born again bicyclist. In my younger years, I cycled 1000s of miles, including overnite tours, centuries, and commuting to work in MD, NY, and MN. Went on a 15 year hiatus after the kids got too big for the burley. Dumb, in hindsight.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides?
Started commuting in May--19 mile round trip, sometimes with extensions on the way home if I feel the need. Once in a while a recreational ride.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?
Weekdays unless I'm on business travel. 800 miles since early May.

Fanatic,
That's great! Welcome to the old guys group.

Post often.

Please tell us your age. I'll be 56 in a couple of weeks.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride? I ride a 2008 Specialized S Works Ruby most of the time. I sometimes ride my other bike, a 2005 Specialized Sirrus.
In the winter, I'll break in my new Salsa Mukluk.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older? I take glucosamine /chondroitin and fish/flax/borage oil, plus multivitamins.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
I am more active now than ever before in my life. A recent knee injury has me off the bike at the moment, but I'm rehabbing toward a full recovery now.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life? I took it up 7 years ago when I quit smoking. Hadn't ridden much since college up to then.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides. I like longish rides (40-50 miles) best, but also like to get in a short ride (10-15 miles) daily when the weather permits.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage? I try to ride daily in the summer, 4 or 5 days/week in spring and fall. From April through November I usually get in about 3500 miles. This year will be lower due to injury.

Welcome Teresao,
Glad you are. Hope you get back on the bike soon.

Please tell us your age. 68 this year.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

Currently I have a full-suspension Mongoose I got at Walmart a while ago (don't laugh, it's proven to be a good value), and as of a few weeks ago, a Specialized Camber Elite 29er.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

No.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

I haven’t slowed down so much as gotten a bit more cautious.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

Rode everywhere on a Gitane Tour de France road bike back in the 1970s. Started riding again six months ago after cancer surgery in order to get back in shape after years of a desk job.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

I do trail riding in the various parks and such. No street riding at all. I started out with a mile or so and have worked my way up to occasional 10 mile rides. I'm waiting on daytime temps to drop from the current 104-109 degrees to extend the distance/time.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

I generally go out 3 times a week. I don't keep track of mileage per se, but it's probably about 15 miles a week at the moment. These are mountain bike trails... narrow, twisty, moderate ups and downs.

Please tell us your age. 60

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?
I have 2 rigid Mtn. bikes. 1 downhill, 2cross country race, a 1972 Schwinn Paramount custom, 2008 roubaix pro, New 2011 Roubaix s-works.


2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?
Generic multi-vitamin.



3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
this year i slowed a lot. Turns out to be due to a bad heart valve.



4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?
Started road racing at 14. Turned pro at 20. Crashed out at 24. Started back up when my son turned 10.




5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.
I like epic rides. Short ride rides with friends. Rides with strangers. Group rides, club rides, Solo rides in the hills. Just get me on a bike.

Welcome Guys, glad to see you here!

Post often!

Please tell us your age. 67 1/2

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

From the late 70s until 2006 I rode mostly off road with modified road bikes, rough stuff riding... Lugged frames with 700c tires or cyclocross sewups. I have a large collection of classic lugged frame bikes from the 60s to the 90s. I favor the ones that ride smooth, mostly due light gage tubing, frame geometry or both.

1974 Motobecane Grand Jubile, 1983 Trek 700, 1984 Gitane Super Corsa, 1990 Bianchi Mondiale, 1992 Paramount OS and so on.


2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

Vitamin D and E, Potassium, Magnesium and multivitamins.


3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

I got back into shape after having 2 stents put in back in 2006. Several years ago I was in better hill climbing shape than at any time in my life. Then I developed tendinitis in my calves and ankles due to some medications I was taking. That plus recurrent bouts of prostatitis have forced me to limit the length of my rides.

Back in the 70s, I used to think nothing of jumping on the bike and doing 50 to 100 miles. The will and desire are there but...


4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

Got my first bike in the early 1950s. Bought my first 10 speed in 1964....


5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

I like 20-30 mile rides but because of the above health conditions I've been limiting them to 10-15 miles.


6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

I like to get out for at least a short ride every day but it usually works out to 2-3 days a week plus Saturdays and Sundays.

Chas. verktyg

Welcome, verktyg

What medications seemed to cause your tendinitis?

That's quite a stable you have there.

Enjoy the forum.

Hi, I'm new to the forum.

Just turned 62 and also just retired.

Ride an Orbea Diva and love it. I rode as a kid just around town.

Started riding 2 and a half years ago. Ride 2 to 3 times a week; one ride is usually 40- 60 miles on the weekend with a local club or group. I've done MS 150 rides twice (75 miles one way and then back again the next day). Now that I'm retired I hope to do more riding.

Take calcium, D and fish oil. On rides I drink gator aid cut with water and eat power bars and gel shots.

I used to run but don't anymore. Instead work with a trainer once a week with stretching, weight lifting and general toning. Feel in better shape now than any time in my life.

I love the bike!

I was taking Vytorin (Ezetimibe and Simvastatin a dual statin drug) for cholesterol control after I had stents in 2006. I had a lot of side effects including muscle pains and tendon discomfort.

In May of 2009 I was training for a century. My riding buddy and I put in a hard 60 miles on Sunday. Wednesday night I woke with a terrible pain in my right calf. It was diagnosed as tendinitis and spread into other tendons in both ankles. Stopped taking Vytorin and the side effects except the tendinitis went away.

After 6 months of physical therapy with limited riding I recovered.

Last December a few days after riding 42 miles on a weekend I developed a severe (recurrent) prostate infection. It cleared up after several weeks on Cipro and at the end of January I did a hard 29 mile ride. The infection came back and I went back on Cipro.

The tendinitis came back worse than ever in my calves and ankles. Cipro is a "Black Box" drug.

A Black Box warning means that medical studies indicate that the drug carries a significant risk of serious adverse effects. In the case of Cipro, it can cause permanent injury to the achilles tendons.

I stopped taking Cipro and the tendinitis slowly got better.

Later this spring the tendinitis came back about the time I started taking Allegra antihistamine for seasonal allergies. There are reports of a number of cases of tendinitis in the legs of people taking Allegra. As soon as I stopped taking it the tendinitis started improving again.

This summer, I've limited my riding to frequent easy flat 10 to 15 mile rides. That seems to work OK for both the tendinitis and the prostatitis. I'm feeling strong and ready to hit some hills and do some 20-30+ mile rides again.

For 30+ years I rode Brooks Pro saddles on my road bikes and Avocet Touring or Gel off road.

Back in 2006 I discovered the WTB Pure V saddle. It has a wide flat rear area like a Brooks Pro but with a "V" channel down the middle to reduce pressure in the "personal" areas. I have them on many of my road bikes now but they don't seem to be doing the trick anymore.

The past 3-4 months, I've tried half dozen different saddles. My urologist says stay off the bike but that's not an option! I'll keep searching for the Goldilocks saddle!

Chas. verktyg Not a hypochondriac!

Please tell us your age. 51

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

I have a collection of bikes, all of them "vintage", and ride all of them regularly:

1989 Miyata 312 (errands within the city)
1986 Miyata 912 (recreational day rides with my partner or when I want to take the bike on trains, buses, ferries, or on top of a car)
198? Infinity aluminum LWB USS recumbent (solo recreational rides from home)
198? Maruishi TourAce TA18 (touring, rain -- the only one of my bikes w/fenders)
198? Bridgestone Regulus (stored at my mother's house and used when I'm visiting)

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

No.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

A lot. I'm not sure how much, but I don't want to find out: I recover a lot more slowly from any sort of injury or excessive stress than when I was 20, and I'm a lot less willing to experiment with where my limits might be. I weigh about 50 pounds more than when I was 20 (5' 11.5" and 185 pounds now, vs. my former scrawny 135), and my body is much less flexible.

I got back into riding with a partner last year after riding relatively little for 20 years. I'm probably a stronger rider than my partner, but riding mainly together with a partner I haven't really found out what my personal limits are, so I can't be sure.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

I started riding as a child, and biked to school except when there was snow or ice on the ground. I knew I loved to ride. But nobody I knew took bicycling seriously, and I thought I was a weakling. One summer during college, I was loaned a *good* bike for the first time, and discovered that (1) bicycling was actually an athletic activity, and (2) I was good at it. At 21, I was riding 15 miles each way on my Monday-Friday commute, and riding with a club every Sunday. I rode professionally, full-time for a couple of years for messenger services in Boston and then San Francisco, before finding less dangerous and better-paid work.

My partner had ridden a lot too, but gave up cycling when we moved from Boston to San Francisco (didn't have the gears then for the hills), and after that we did other things together most of the time instead of my taking long rides by myself. After turning 30, I started working closer to home, my daily commute dropped to 3-5 miles each way, and I didn't ride every day because the subway was so convenient. But I never gave up riding, and probably kept up an average of 5 miles a day of riding for errands, in-town meetings, etc.

My partner got back on a new bike and started riding to work last year. Since then we've been riding most weekends and vacations, maybe a total of about 4,000 miles/year. (I don't have an odometer on my errand bike, which is the one I ride most often if not furthest, so I'm not sure of the total.)

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

Errands and other rides to get around town, typically 5-10 miles.
After-work recreational rides, average 20 miles.
Weekend day rides, 40-60 miles (and building up to longer)
Just beginning to get into touring -- still haven't learned how far per day we'll be able to go, or want to go on an extended tour.

Welcome, ehasbrouck. Enjoy and post often!!

Seems like the appropriate place to make my first post here in three years, since I've become qualified for this subforum in the meantime. :)

Please tell us your age.

52

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

'04 Jamis Coda Comp, bought new. Very soon, a custom build designed for my specific riding needs. That's why I'm back, to spam the various subfora with questions regarding the new build.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

Lifelong multivitamin user; on a lark I converted to "older people's formula" a few years back. I'm also especially fond of a certain dietary supplement which boosts kidney function, manufactured in Pottsville, PA.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

I don't pile up the miles like I used to, but that's more a function of having less time to do it than anything else. In terms of riding style, just as aggressive as ever, maybe more so due to experience. Local riding conditions encourage aggressive riding, which I define as "proactively ensuring personal safety by absolutely minimizing motorists' need to think about me." Physically? Not at all. Mentally? Regressing. I promised myself many years ago that I would never "age gracefully." Yes, eventually it's bound to catch up, but it's gonna have to drag me, kicking and screaming. One concession is that I find it difficult to take more that one or two days in a row off the bike (see below) - things start tightening up and I'm more susceptible to cramps and pulls than before if I don't ride or walk daily.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

Since childhood with occasional breaks of a year or two due to lifestyle. Back when I was driving, I spent more time without a car than without a bicycle.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

I have not owned a car in 18 years. My bike has been my sole transport for all of those years. Therefore, most of my riding is purpose-oriented. That has frankly taken some of the fun out of recreational riding over the years, although I still do 15-20 mile fun rides once in a while.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

In view of the above, it's a rare day that I'm not on my bike at least once. Current yearly mileage averages around 1500. It helps that my work commute is only 2 miles these days; back when it was 7 miles, I piled up that much just on the commute.

Age: 76
Bike: Litespeed Blue Ridge (no longer made) rigged for touring, most parts replaced.
Never very fast, slower now.
Weekly: 3 rides, about 100 miles. Tours: 3 to 9 days, credit card style. see TedH on crazyguyonabike.com.
About 5000 miles/yr.

Welcome Teacherman,
You are putting this almost old guy to shame.

Post some pictures when you can

Hey Super Dave, so now you're an old man. 52 that's great.

Keep turning the cranks and post.

Welcome!

Some answers
 

Please tell us your age. I'm 54.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

I have a Specialized mountain bike and a Trek 1.2 road bike.


2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

In addition to a multi-vitamin, I take fish oil, CLA, alpha-lipoic acid, DHEA, lecithin.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

I'm in better shape now than at any time since my early 30's, so I've sped up the last couple of years.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

Biked off and on my whole life. Dabbled with mountain biking for a number of years, and in the past year got serious with road bikes.


5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

Mountain sometimes, road up to 30 miles (so far).


6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

I bike at least 3x per week - a couple 10-15 mile rides, then a longer one on weekends (did 27 miles this morning).

Welcome,

I also take DHEA 25

I'm 51, former high school and college athlete (football, track), now software engineer - currently 230lbs trying to get closer to 200.

1) a) 1983 Trek 760 with Ultegra 9-sp. group
b) 2000 Fuji Team
c)) 1988 Schwinn Voyageur (commuter)

2) Centrum multi-vitamin, sometimes fish oil

3) I can still sprint pretty good, but my endurance and recovery have suffered. It's really hard for me to maintain a 20mph pace for an hour, where I could 6 years ago.

4) been biking all my life, except for a 8-year stretch in my 30's when I had knee problems.

5) mostly short rides, under 20 miles - weekend rides sometimes in the 30's. Occasional century.

6) I generally try to ride 3-5 days a week, annual mileage varies from 1000 - 1500 miles. I have a Garmin Edge 305 to track rides, with HRM to keep me honest on effort. I use SportTracks to manage my data, works really well.

On an unrelated note, I do just about all my own wrench work on my bikes, have rebuilt a wheelset, and have acquired a decent tool set over the years.

Please tell us your age. New to post here. This is my 71th summer.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride? Good question - 1991 Trek 2100 composite frame based on color, apparently with 1992 Shimano 600 components based on codes with system 3, apparently not stock. Mtn. Bike is Klein Pulse comp with Deore XT components, red in color. Old but good bikes.



2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older? Taking some heart meds after by-pass surgery a few years back and some vitamins. Gave me a new lease on life and new understanding of diet and exercise- and I thought that I lived a healthy life before hand! Go figure!



3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any? Of course, but mostly from arthritis and putting on too much weight that I have mostly lost now. The rest is just normal.



4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life? There is been a hiatus the last 13 years of life since I remarried, and turned into a gardener. I also was a serious rock climber, professional during this time.



5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides. Most rides are in the 10 to 20 mile range. Fall is coming, so would like to do a few longer than 20 before that becomes a reality and cold weather really sets in. The mountain bike extends the season, sometimes into winter if not too much snow.




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage? Usually, 3 to 4 times a week, with hour walks between riding, so do things most days, with timeouts to stack firewood, cut brush, etc.