I am 14 months shy of 70, have ridden bicycles since I was 10, now ride a Trek Pilot. Two years ago made a solo ride from Cape May, NJ to Daytona Beach for my youngest's graduation from Embry Riddle. Need a goal to keep from getting flabby. How about racing for a 70 year old? Some place in the NE---I live just outside of Middlebury, VT. Just watched the 50+ heat in the Green Mountain Stage Race in Burlington. Inspiring!

Welcome, McMath, Jerry9 and rascilotto.

seems like we are getting more 70+ folks - which brings to mind the 65-85+ thread (sticky) that we sometimes post to.

By the way, there is a 50+ racing/training for racing "sticky" also. If you have an interest in racing, there are some GREAT folks there who are most helpful on training issues.

Welcome Guys,

Hey, I ain't 70 yet, still got three months to go.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?1. Gianni Motta italian steel,built it in 82,upgraded it to indexed 10speed,open prowheels etc couple years ago



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,not to much



4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life since 1951



5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.ride by time minium of 45 minutesusually 1+hours




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage9000 last year













age is 68 till december
Bud

Greetings. I am a 52 year old letter carrier, who just bought a Trek 7.5 FX. Perhaps I should have waited to reply, until I have compiled some data on things like how much I ride, etc.. I have high colesterol, but do not take my medication as directed. I have heard some bad things about staten drugs ( may start taking niacin ). Have not ridden a bike since I was in my twenties. Sometimes I take centrum silver vitamins and fish oil tabs. Need to lose weight, since I am not walking as much on my new route. My main purpose for cycling is for the sheer enjoyment, the site seeing, and of course the exercise. I am awaiting the arrival of a 2012 Trek Fuel EX 8 and the color change of the autumn leaves.

Sounds like the perfect formula. I'm sure you will enjoy your new undertaking. I am 52. I started riding again in May. Today I road 26 miles with an accumilated 1500 feet gain in elevation. If summer weren't so stubborn to let go here in the desert, I'm sure I could have doubled that. In May it would have killed me. LOL.

Right now riding a 2009 Specialized Allez Sport Double Compact. I have it configured for distance, and I have a Brooks B-17 on it. It has been my main rig, however, I'm going to have to make a change, or at least an addition. Our roads were resurfaced at the end of this summer. Right now, we have roads around here with extremely rough chip seal surface, and the sides of the road and specially the bike lanes look like unfinished pavement. Crack, grooves, holes, and just plain unfinished sections galore make the ride an extremely painful one. It has created an actual health issue riding the skinny 700 x 23cm. I'm going to have to look at a road bike with at least 700 x 28cm tires. And given the extremely poor present conditions of our roads around here, I might have to go with a cyclocross bike. Whatever I get, I want a chromoly frame.

Please tell us your age.

I'm 54

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?
I ride a road bike (1989 Panasonic DX-2000 upgraded with Tiagra 9 speed, 105, Dura-Ace, better wheels etc.) and mountain bike (Windsor Cliff Comp 29er)



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



3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
None, I'm better physically/mentally now than I was when I was 30.



4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?
All my childhood years, some road biking in the early 80's but now back into it for the past 3 years.



5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.
Short training rides 10-18 miles, longer training rides of 30-45 miles




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?
4 times a week in good weather. 2000 miles.

Welcome guys, enjoy and post with pictures

I love this thread - although I don't post on it regularly, I am subscribed to the thread and get email updates.

Nice to know it is being read!! :thumb:

Yup, nice to keep up with us old slow lazy guys.

Nothing but time on our hands. I am in my great chair watching the Kings game live on my laptop.

I am 51 but only about 25 on the bike
My bikes are.1)Mercian.A hand built English bike,with brooks Swift saddle and Carradice saddle.
2)Kinesis.A aluminium bike equipped with Sturmey Archer 3 speed fixed wheel,its also fitted with Brooks saddle and a Carridice.
3)Gios compact racing bike.Steel frame with Ultegra group-set.My summer bike,the only bike with no mudguards/fenders.
I love all my bikes.

I don't take any vitamins,but eat lots of fruit and vegetables I don't like gels either,but prefer real food.

I started cycling about 10 years ago when my wife passed away.I used my bike to cycle from pub to pub,a nice pastime in rural England.Eventually I decided that the bike was more important than the beer,a friend rode from Lands end to John O' Groats and sold me his Dawes Galaxy cheap.Since then I have gone on to do some Time trials,but mostly enjoy riding long distance,Audax/Randonees.My longest ride to date being 400km.

I ride about 100-200 miles a week,but this year have had a lot of probems and have only done about 3000 miles in 2011.

I am 55 yrs old and my bike is a Giant OCR2. I intend to upgrade to a new bike next year as a reward after I complete a 3-day ride to Yosemite Nat'l Park.

Last fall, I decided to lose my excess weight and my goal was to get back to my police academy weight. I began cycling in Oct 2010 with 5-10 mile rides. I didn't know what I was doing then but it's been a steady learning process and I'm loving it. This year (2011) I ridden 3,000 miles so far. I've participated in several half-century rides, numerous metric century rides, and 1 century ride. I was successful in reaching my goal, losing 35 pounds and actually 3 lbs lighter than my academy weight.

I don't take any supplements, vitamins, or minerals but I watch what I eat. I've given up all sodas and most fried foods but I will never give up adult alcoholic beverages.

.....Hi Folks!.....I'm addressing the questions from the original 2004 post;

0, <<Please tell us your age.>>

:57.

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

:There are Two Shwinn Sidewinders and a motorcycle in my stable right now.

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

:Centrum Silver.

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

:Significantly, but: Careful conditioning & exercise has been recently negating much of this! :-) Feel much better than last year!

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

:1960-1972: Heavy childhood usage that included cobbling together bikes from wrecks, and, the occasional purchased parts.

:1972-2010: Occasional and varied Brief revisits. One was a memorable 30 day transportation "lifeline" at / when Fort Drum, NY, 1982 on a junk-built single speed.

:2010-2011: As emergency transit with a few "Next" "La Jolla" Cruisers from Wally. Gave them away to family and neighbors when I upgraded.

:2011-?: As Shared Primary Transit with Two "as stocked" Shwinn Sidwinders, from Wallyworld, with extensive setup and break-in periods and all work done by me.

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

:Depending on Weather, Available Gear, Time Considerations, etc, These two Schwinn Sidewinder bikes are currently providing all short range transit needs for me except for: Most emergency medical, Distances beyond approximately seven miles, Cargo" is more than 33 lbs.

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

: I"ve been biking this new heavy usage schedule, most days, since Sep 5 2011. About 350 miles, so far.

My Additional Comments;

Comment on Wallyworld bikes:
I Overcame quality issues: Bad bearings, Damaged Pneumatic tubes, Wrong torque on every screw and bolt, Derailleur and brake setup issues. Buy Bikeshop if you can budget $400 for ONE bike. I needed TWO for $320 and I did of course know that I would be repairing the bikes significantly and frequently. None the less, they have been fairly reliable for basic transit shopping and fun alike and even have been on mud and grass occasionally and carefully.

Comments on performance and safety;
My Daily work Commute consists of two 3.6 mile commutes per day, Five to six Days A Week with the skipped days commuted to work by truck, averaging about 8 miles a day. My Current Max Cruising Range is 20 Miles, as tested after riding 33 of the 37 past days on this newly intensified riding schedule. My Current Calculated Cruising Speed is Ten Miles Per Hour using a "fully relaxed" & "easy" cranking mode with a lot of careful shifting.
Test Course: The gentle slopes of Route 130, NJ, from the Florence Area to the Bordentown area and back. I Ride day or night and work rotating shifts. My usual safety gear is a Road worker style reflective vest and / or Flashing L.E.D based headgear style lamps. Hot weather make me lose the helmet, But as my conditioning improves I will wear it more and more.

Welcome Bouncer, glad to see you here.
Post with pictures as you can!

Welcome nightrider uk, donger andBouncinBob

Enjoy the forum and post often!!

I'm 53 and just started riding in April. I was walking 4 miles/day(5 to 6 days/week) but developed some foot issues. Being diabetic, I have to be careful of my extremities, especially my feet. So, I got a bike in April and started riding. My health has improved so much since Sept '10. I started a new Diabetic medication and with that, the walking and riding, I've lost 95 lbs(67lbs with just the walking, eating better, and less). The biking has reduced my blood pressure(was really fine before) and decreased my resting heart rate by quite a bit.

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

Right now, I ride a Diamondback Edgewood LX(hybrid/comfort) bike. Thinking about getting a road bike in the future, but I'm unsure as I have Carpel Tunnel issues.



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

Other than my medications for health issues, I do take D3 and a multivitamin for over 50s.



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

Can't really answer this as I just started riding again after 25+years(started again in Aprill '11) All I've done is improve from where I was back in April.



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


Like the above states, I just started riding in April. Did bike as a kid and used a road bike when I was in College(for transportation). One summer I did ride the bike to and from my weekend job(12miles each way) while in college.


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

I ride for fitness. I'm not sure how to qualify my riding...ride 20 miles per day 5 or 6 days a week at a pretty good clip for a hybrid/comfort bike(usually avg 16.2 to 16.5 mph--yesterday was my best ride to date, 20 miles in 1 hour 11min 23sec(~16.8mph)).




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

Well, since I haven't ridden a whole year yet, don't have an annual, but I plan to ride even through the winter and at this rate I would be riding around 5000 miles annually.

my wallyworld Schwinns!
 

Attempting to post photo.
Attachment 222610

good to go grocer run!
 

The attatched photo shows my bike carrying 50 lbs of groceries, in this case the Perdue Chicken I found on sale. The bike handled OK and the double bagged load almost never touched the tires. The ride was four miles out, four back. Freezer well stocked now!

OK - no panniers or rack!! WOW is all I can say!

50 pounds of chicken?you running a Kentucky fried chicken???
Bud

Chicken Run
 

Nah, It was just a very good deal on Perdue brand whitch I prefer, so I filled up the freezer.

ok understand,guess thats why I had a huge goose in the freezer for a year before we ate it..(lotsa good goose fat though)

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?
schwinn varsity commuter/beater
schwinn speedstr SS
schwinn team 24
2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?
no
3. do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?
yes
4. How long have you been biking?
riding since was 6
5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.
bopping around town,
6. How often do you bike?
as often as possible
7. indicate your age. It helps others to see that folks 50+ do great things.
ill turn 50 on oct 24th