Unfortunately, there is some cloud over this physician's advice. It has to do with quality of life. While it's part of the profession for doctors to warn against "risky" activities and suggest a patient opt for the easy path, that quality of life thing is what makes some people tick -- and that quality means pursuing what they want to do.

The question really is: Does a person want to die doing something they enjoy? Or do they want to die without realising they have, on a nursing home bed?

This, to my knowledge, is not true. His mentor and trainer, Aldo Sassi, died of cancer just prior to Evans winning the TdF and that was one of Evans' greatest regrets -- that Sassi did not live to see it happen.
---------------
The thing is, 70 is the new 60, 60 is the new 50, and so it goes. The longevity of people who engage in physical activity such as cycling is undoubted. And cycling is streets ahead of other physical activities because, with a properly fitted bike, a person can maintain a good to excellent level of aerobic fitness, and maintain supple muscles, ligaments and tendons.

Personally, I regret not trading in early enough my errant ways with drinkiing, smoking and fastish living. But I'll take the past 15 years as adding on to my life from now at least another 15 years (subject to the usual caveats on accidents).

As a by the by, a 73-year-old guy who lived not far away was gored to death by a bull today, apparently after getting between the beast and the cow herd. One just cannot be sure how one will die...

I will be 57 tomorrow, have a busy day planned so will be riding my 57 mile birthday ride today. I did not always take good care of my self, sure wish I had.

Happy Birthday, Buck!

Thanks everyone. I think we all have a bit of crap that comes along, and it's great to see you all shrugging it off. The one thing we all have in common - love for riding our bikes - seems to diminish the aging.

In California is ok and legal to drive a car when you are deaf. My brother in law is deaf and drives and he also drives a motorcycle as well.

Since others are giving the OP their past history, I guess I will too. I turned 65 in October and retired two weeks later. Before my retirement, I was riding 15 to 20 miles a day, after work, and tried to get at least one 45 mile ride in on the weekends. Since my retirement, I have bumped the milage up to 25 to 30 miles a day and at least one 45 mile ride on the weekends. I normally take Wednesdays off to recover and it is working well for me so far.

I have had chronic leukemia with anemia for the last 5 years and that, in itself, limits me as to just how much I can push myself without having a metabolical crash. I have also survived prostate cancer and I also have chronic tinnitus from 30 years of driving with sirens blasting over my head. Other than that, I have no other physical issues, yet. I had my annual physical with my GP last week and he told me that I am a 40 year old in a 65 year old body and he is very pleased with my riding. Before I started riding, I was a 63 year old in a 63 year old body. His advice to me was to keep doing whatever it is I am doing and not to stop unless it became physically impossible to do so. My oncologist is an avid cyclist and he just loves it that I am constantly setting new goals in my riding.

Since I have been cycling for only two years, I don't have quite the engine that many on this forum have after cycling for many years or all their lives. My cycling goals are to do distance rides (I love doing 50 and 100K+ charity rides) and not worry about speed training so that is where I put my concentration. I usually ride 30 to 40 miles at a steady 18-19 mph speed and I can ride decent headwinds at 15-16 mph for that same distance. I normally ride my center chain ring but if I want to get to speeds faster than 20 mph, I have to go to the outer ring. However, after a mile or so, I have to slow down. Anything longer than a mile or so, and I have to be in a paceline to maintain those speeds. So as of now, this is my limitation and I am happy with it and very proud of what I have accomplished.

I think that whatever age you are in, you need to know what your limitations are and just how much you can push them to reach new goals. I have ridden with many retired people who try to do what they did when they were twenty and thirty and get angry with themselves because they fail. OP, you know what your limitations are and what your body is telling you. You do what you can and continue doing what you think is best for you. If riding an upright bike is becoming a true issue, then go recumbent and don't worry what others have to say about it. If you are having other medical issues, get them taken care of and get a mirror (helmet or otherwise) if you feel your hearing is impairing your safety. Maybe you can't ride as far today as you did yesterday, but you did get out and ride and that is what counts. I hope everything works out for you and that you don't give up on riding. Stick with it... it's definitely worth it.

You might be thinking of that rider from Austin, TX. I can't remember his name....

Holy Carp!

The key to any disability is learning to adapt. The faster you learn to adapt the better you get at it.

There is no other way...........

I'm with the people telling you to get a bent. Crushed urethra? Crushed perianal tissues? That sounds awful. Why would you put up with that when you can switch to a recumbent?

Let me qualify that a bit as that does sound rather weird. I usually keep that speed up on most of my solo rides, but I should have mentioned that I do coast a while when I'm thirsty and have to drink or when I have to get something to nibble on. Then my speed drops to around 13-14 mph. I also stop about every 10 to 15 miles and stretch so it's not a non-stop 30-40 mile ride. Today's ride averaged 16-17 mph for a 25 mile ride that took me 1 hr 50 min because I stopped a few times more than I usually do.

Well OP, in the prior posts you've had some foundation philosophy to build your future on and you've had some specific technical ideas to consider. Now you just have to remind yourself each day: I Will Not Quit. I Will Endure. I Will Succeed at My Life.

We all need a boost from time to time so don't go away. At the same time we need to be careful not to be put down by someone else bragging about their performance. Most of the time that bragging is done to motivate the rest of us to do better, a good thing.

I will also say that one of the AA adages plays here as well. Be careful who you choose as friends and associates.

I think this is one of the best bf posts I've ever seen.

I'm 59, and the hereditary family hearing loss just started catching up to me about 3 years ago. I can still hear well enough to know when there's a car coming up behind me if there's not a lot of other car noise, but riding in traffic is more of an issue nowadays. And of course, it's changing, and not for the better.

I did two things: Got a handlebar mirror for the bike, and got a stem extender to give me a more upright riding position. The handlebar mirror is so close to useless that I think it might actually be dangerous. It's so convex that cars appear really far away in it, even when they're right on my tail. Maybe a different mirror would work better, but this one is a POS.

I actually made the change to my riding position for other reasons, but the beneficial side effect was that it made it a lot easier to turn around enough to see what's going on behind me. But a more upright posture might not do your other problem, (the taintal damage), any good. As a 59 year-old male, I'm also a charter member of the BPH club, and I'm actively looking for better solutions. Have been considering one of those seats with the split down the middle. Maybe someone has had some experience with them? What I do now is make it a point to shift my position a lot (like every minute or so), and to get up out of the saddle and stand for a little while every few minutes.

I love cycling, and don't ever want to have to give it up. But if it comes down to a choice between cycling and another physical activity not appropriate for discussion on a family forum, the bicycle loses - at least while I'm still interested in the other. So I am VERY motivated to find a solution that allows me to keep enjoying both :D

Another vote for a 'bent and good mirrors. Some of the trikes out there are really sweet. My N + 1 a year or two in the future is going to be a trike.

I use this oversized mirror on my helmet, the Safety Zone:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Not cheap, but easily adjusted and very good view for my old presbyopian eyes.

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Zone-Bicy...1928234&sr=1-9

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Well, I'm 65 and have had one completely dead ear since I was 22 and the other with a hearing aid since about 23. I wear an over the ear hearing aid, so the microphone is on top. When cycling (or when I was still running!) I wear a sweat band pulled down just over the microphone. This cuts the wind noise dramatically. (There are still some days when the wind is blowing hard (faster than I can ride!) and I get some noise. Or going down hills! The sweat band trick is like the cloth microphone covers. Some folks have said: who cares if you're deaf, use a mirror. Well the thing is, car sounds cue me to look in the mirror. In fact with only one ear, I can't tell where the sound is coming from, so when I'm on a country road with short sight lines and I hear a car, I see if I can figure out whether it's in front or behind before I actually see it. I'm hoping that eventually I can train myself to tell the direction. But it's been several years, and I'm still not very good at that, so it's become more like a game.

My right knee is bone on bone. The doc told me to cut back on cycling. I'd already stopped running. I said no, there's nothing else that I do that I'm likely to keep up, so if I quit cycling, I'll get out of shape quickly. So now, I'm going to have a knee replacement - I hope in January. Don't tell the doc, but I'm hoping to start running again after the new knee! If I wear it out quickly, I suppose I can get another!

Finally, I don't have any stents, but I did have a mild heart attack at age 49. After this I quit smoking, lost weight, started running and then cycling. I'm pretty sure if I quit cycling, a severe heart attack is just around the corner.

Hang in there with the cycling!

- Ed

Very recent news reports of increasing numbers of Americans reaching 90 years old. http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/17...kely-Than-Ever

Hopefully, in 20-30 years there will reports in the news of too danged many 90-year-olds riding bikes all over the damn place. :lol:

Agreed, Rowan....

I did not listen to those folks in my past (in the 1960s) who told me I should not run because I was a diabetic (insulin dependent) and I could lapse into a coma and die.
Too bad some of those folks are dead and cannot listen to me now!
I exercise because I have to! Period! It is good for me and it helps keep my wieght under control and as a diabetic it helps keep my blood sugars under control.
I stopped smoking 40 years ago and did it when I smoked a package of tobacco every 24 hours - I was always rolling a cig or puffing on my pipe. the pipe bowl never cooled off!
I like to think that as a practicing hard-core insulin dependent diabetic for nearly 48 years that I have added a few years to my life by exercising - and by stopping smoking.
I have decided to stop drinking as an experiment - Rowan knows I like my beer (or used to), especially with a nice meal in a quiet Australian pub :)Ah, the joys of bicycle touring in OZ!
Choices is what life is all about. When I smashed my ankle rock climbing in Wyoming, it had to be fused, my running ended, and ... I had to take up another activity. Canoes were now a PITA because of my big leg brace, and thought: hey what about the Peugeot 10 speed that I still used occasionally?

THAT was it - bicycling! That way I could still exercise with a fused ankle because the pedals rotated on their spindles and there was plenty of resistance and non-impact activity on my legs.

I by chance met Machka in 2004 in my hometown when she was doing the Manitoba Randoneering 1000 and decided that (randoneering) was not for me, but if I could combine it with camping... Voila: Touring. The benefits of distance without the focus of randoneering and the "relatively short duration".

Now touring in Australia is my fetish and once those routes are done I can do tours closer to Canada that don't take 6+ weeks to do.

C'est la vie. We don't know where/how we will die. We don't need to know. I have been close 5 times - and twice because of physicians who made bad mistakes, but not bad enough to terminate me. Just try to keep out of harms way. try to minimize risks. maximize the healthy ways and the enjoyment of life and go........

The horizon is there. Go for it and keep healthy :thumb:

I feel it ever so more in ligaments and joints the signs of aging creeping up at age 65. Flexibility seems to be a bigger issue each year. Noticed some change at age 60 in upper body stength. Trying to keep in mind I need a little more time devoted to weight bearing excercises and also to stretching. Back surgery several years ago for ruptured disc probably my most serious setback. Cross Country skiing was my rehab.

What really struck me was one of the OP's observations about what is his major complaint "I've crushed my perianal tissues so long that I have urinary tract infections and strictures grow to block."Is this suggesting that this was caused by riding on the bike? Is this the case? Recommendations to anyone in the bicycle world, that they should try recumbents before they would reach this level. It would be great that riders of our age have both kinds of bikes but get into recumbents early rather than late. There is a learning curve on bents especially on the faster bikes such as Lowracers and Hiracers.

You can truly ride forever on these bikes and feel no pain. Limitations as to only what your stamina is, not your pain threshold. Also go as fast and maybe faster. My last big race was this August in doing the "Hell and Back" in the GutCheck212 race in South Dakota. Did the 824 miles unsupported in 79 hours. Slowed down about 10 hours because of 2 severe storms and getting a replacement tire for one that shredded on me.

I was really tired afterwards but with no pain or soreness. Did a century ride the next week. They are so comfortable and effiecent with all kinds of choices for what you want to do. If you are getting older and it is important for you to stay active - Get Bent!(even if you don't have physical limitations now). The bike used on my race was a relatively inexpensive $1500 dollar LowRacer. Exact same frame as what Barbara Buatois used in her 2010 single RAAM victory. I like to use my HiRacer in paceline rides with my DF friends. 2 avid roadies in the 40-50 year old category who I know and have done MS-150 rides with, have both gotten Ti-Aeros and just love them. HiRacers fit in very well with road bikes. Biking helps keep me alive I think and I hope to go on hard as long as I can.

Further to this and to my comment of almost dying by the mistakes physicians made, some money pinching (aka ******dly) bureaucrat surely caused this unnecessary death. The bull set the scene, but the unnamed bureaucrat promulgated the consequences.

We live in a world of unintended and unanticipated consequences... :cry:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ma...122-1nsw9.html

No, the issue here is politicising a death. I was in Marysville when this incident happened. The ambulance there was called. Marysville is closer than Yea to Acheron, where the goring occurred. It take me 20 minutes driving at or under the speed limit to get from Marysville to Acheron (as I did so today). I heard the ambulance siren at Marysville, and I suspect that it would have taken less than 15 minutes for it to have arrived at the scene.

In talking to a colleague who knew the family well and the circumstances of the goring, the guy had little chance irrespective of how long the ambulance took to arrive.

The bull apparently had been raised as "one of the family", but for some reason, while being herded by three people, decided to attack his owner. He knocked him to the ground first, then swung him up the air two or three metres, then gored him 30 metres along the fence. Attempts to distract the bull by the other two people were to no avail. The guy was pulped by the end of it. Alive, but with no much hope, as I understand it.

Ambulance Victoria has been engaged in defending its record on call-outs. But quite simply, living in the country (and you've been in my area, tmac) carries the real risk of delays in attendance at any emergency. There was a time when there were NO ambulance services available to the bush like this, just doctors a day's horseback ride away.

In this case, I don't think politicising the death will help the bereaved family in any way.

Yes Rowan, death is final and politicising it won't help. However, (and I do NOT know the financial details of the Victorian ambulance situation) there can always be improvements. As an armchair quarterback I (and others) can always reflect on what should have been done, and VOICE our opinions, such as I and others have done and hopefully will continue to do. Financially, though, we cannot stop death, although we can, perhaps, stall it a bit.

I am always interested in government funding policy, its implications, and its effects. All after the fact of course :p In fact, I did my doctorate on it regarding Manitoba's funding of schools. Well intentioned but misdirected and with negative unanticipated consequences.

As for my comments on the goring death, I am a victim of the media as much as everyone else. Where else do we get our information? You, Rowan, were fortunate in that you were near the scene and got second hand information from primary (?) observers. That is more than the media and readers of the media had. That said, there still is the need to re-examine services and their funding. Sometimes there, quite frankly, IS NO MONEY to change things. We live in 2011 and reflecting on the good-old days should be done to just remind ourselves how far we have advanced in terms of services.

People die in spite of lots of money - as in the oil-rich gulf region. That said, bean-counters will still create situations where there will be unanticipated positive and negative consequences because of the policies they fund and maintain. Folks will make comment, AND that is the political nature of "life" - including life on FT. Whether we like it or not, we will rub some folks the wrong way, and such is life.

I'm nearing 65 and one adaption I've made since hip replacement surgery last year is that I'm now used to getting passed!

Funny that you mention that, because last summer, while touring in Australia, I noticed the same thing and I am 63 with both hips and knees OEM. Sigh :p

I have not only a hip, I'm in leg braces. I laid a motorcycle down (Ducati, See my avatar) Dr. recommended I ride a bike to build leg strength without putting too much strain on my hip. I think he meant stationary bike but I bought a Trek Mountain Bike.
YAY! I'm on 2 wheels again!
They didn't think they would get me out of that ravine before I bled out...Fooled 'em.
They didn't think they would find a match for my odd blood type... Fooled 'em.
They didn't think I would live... Fooled 'em
They didn't think they could save my legs..Fooled 'em.
They didn't think I would ever walk again...Fooled 'em
They say I'm permanently disabled....I plan to fool 'em again

@Okane: I'm 70, I was 68 when I drove a motorcycle off a cliff. (Gotta watch those slippery spots) so from my viewpoint you are a young'un. Hang in there, don't worry about somebody passing you.
Enjoy life! It is so cool to look at the countryside as you pedal along.
I like my bike so much I haven't put 20 miles on my gas guzzler in the last 5 months. :)