New/old guy here.
 

Hello all, I'm a 53 YO overweight, knee hurtin, med takin, retrospective past biker. After too many surgeries to list and a recent heart scare I have finally realized that I need to change my life before it changes me! Soooo I'm dusting off my 1996 Bontrager Privateer Comp that I had the brains not to sell, and getting it out of retirement. Bob (the Bontrager) has served me well, many miles commuting, a few poker runs and 3 STP's (with street tires) I know Bob like the back of my hand.
I got into mountian biking for the solitude, the same reason I scuba dive. Living in Washington I have plenty places to ride both trail and road. I just wandered by to say hello and be prepaired for a plethora of questions, but first I gotta find my pump!

Let me be first to welcome you. Looking forward to ride reports.

Welcome, I'm 53 too and feel better than I have ever in my life. I try to ride daily and commute to work as often as I can. Cycling will be great for your health and take it easy to start and work your way up from there. Best of luck to you.

Welcome and good luck to you ! As you know, cycling will improve your health immensely ; I'm 57 and have been riding for 4 years now and love every minute !

Welcome, Linedog.

Start out slow (REAL slow), choose your rides well, and bicycling might just become the love of your life again. Riding a bike isn't like riding a bike. You may not forget how to do it, but your body does forget how to adapt itself to the exercise. Don't be discouraged if you can't immediately get back to taking the kinds of rides you did before. A spin around the block is about all I can do at the beginning of every season; but, two or three weeks later, I'm doing multi-day trips through two and three states without a huff or a puff. Good luck!

Hi, Glad you kept the ole bike! Here's to the tune up you must have given it! Have fun, be safe!

Welcome. I'm 58, rode the STP last year and I'll do it again this year. Easy does it. I enjoy my road bikes but my goto rig is the MTB with slicks..particularly in winter months.

Rode mountain bikes for 16 years but 7 years ago changed over to road. Had a few scares around 2000 and I decided that IF I had a re-occurrence of the problem- alone off road was not the place to have it. At least on the road if anything happened there would be a car along eventually.

Haven't had any more problems but I only ride offroad when out with others. Mind you- the roads I ride on - and I have more chance of finding a ditch than a car so the same problem could exist.

If coming back after a long layoff-be prepared for some pain. That bike won't go up hills like it used to-Won't have low enough gears- Won't coast as it used to and the saddle is going to hurt.

Welcome back.

Welcome.

New/old guy here.
 

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are experiencing the same thing that many of us did. Go out and ride as often as you can.

Welcome to the old guys forum. We may be older but still ride a lot. I also was heavily into mountain biking until my early 50's (now 64) when my back gave out. Seven operation later and with the blessing of my back surgeon who told me to ride I have dropped 40 pounds the first year and my daily rides have increased from under 10 miles up to an average of 30 miles. Keep at it and your feel a whole lot better and younger.

http://pedalmybike.com/userTrackies/myTrackie4124.jpg

Welcome. Everyone here lies about their average moving speed.

"Bob" the bike? Did you name him after the bridge?

Sounds like you will fit right in Linedog. Do not listen to anyone here. And we love pictures

Awesome, what a welcome! I cleaned my garage today and no joy on the pump so I ordered one off eBay. I love pics also but I spend most of my online time on my iPad and it has an issue with pics on forums. My February goal is to be able to ride hard to the "Y" and back, about 5 miles each way. Eventually working up to riding to the "Y" working out and then riding home. I like Bob cuz he's kinda at home on the road but if I feel the need to "get lost" for awhile he's there for me. Bob is so named as he's my alter ego, does what I should do and usally better than I could. I have rode him across the Narrows bridge but calling him Narrow didn't work.

P.S. What's a good baggy short, something I can wear to the store, like a cargo type.

Welcome to the site - that's a great bike you have.

Stick to the mountain bikes and don't get tempted over to the dark side where you have to wear brightly coloured Lycra. :eek: ;)

Hey, this is not the 41 here... I don't wear lycra much anymore (not that I ever did other than a pair of cycling shorts), because I'd look like a fat old sausage. Better to blend in when wearing 'soft clothes'.

Welcome. Enjoy your return to bike riding. Too many variations on baggy shorts to guess which you would like. Suggest you go to a well stocked bike shop and check out the options.

I wore Sugoi Remote shorts when I was riding my comfort/hybrid bike. They have pockets, are baggy, and have a padded liner. Believe me, the padding helped(I rode 23 miles 6 days/week).

http://www.amazon.com/Sugoi-36199U-M.../dp/B004HHNNF6

Small world. My son is moving out to Gig Harbor in June.

Welcome! You'll need to drop the word "old" from your vocabulary, however. You simply have accumulated more years than, let's say, those whippersnappers on the nefarious "41". This is a sane venue overflowing with perspective, wisdom and, yes, a touch of BS.

Welcome. You show a good understanding of the what to do - ride the bike.

Good to have you on board. I'm very glad I rediscovered cycling thanks to my wife. She wanted to ride a bit so I got an old bike to ride around the neighborhood with her. Turned out I rediscovered a bit of my youth after a 35 year break and it wasn't long at all before the neighborhood couldn't contain me. It's brought me tremendous joy, as well as the loss of a good bit of that middle aged pot belly. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

53 is old? I have a couple more than this and I'm far from old.

If you can ride that 5 mile track to the Y, do a spin class when you get there. The spin classes will kick your butt for , forever! But stay at them, and ride your bike. I'll be 66 in three months but stay fit, eat well, and try to think good thoughts. That's really easier said than done. I ride an old Specialized mtb that I put road tires on as well as a Uni Vega Gran Rally from the early 80's. But I recently ordered a new Tarmac SL4 Expert which should show up in April - what with the fork problems at Specialized. Before I turn 70 I plan on getting a titanium road bike with an A list group set and wheels. It's fun to dream about bicycles, far less costly than cars or drugs.