79 and still riding . . .
 

I went for a ride today and caught up to a guy at a traffic light. As we rode together at almost 20 mph I said to him he was pretty fit for a 70 yr old ( I was guessing ), to which he replies, "actually I'm 79". I can only dream of being healthy and fit enough to be riding a road bike at that age.

This being the 50+ forum, we should be celebrating those who are 70+ and still riding.

How many 50+ women are there still cycling?

The fastest guy by far in our group is almost 80 and the rest most of us guys and gals, in our late 60s to mid- 70s, are no slouches. We ride 75-100 miles per week at an average of 16+ mph.
50 seems pretty young to us!

I had a neighbor that was well into his 80s that rode all the time, and I vowed that I would to. Back in when the Coors Classic was going great guns, one year an 85 year old cyclist by he name of Fred Knodler road a demo 10 mile time trial. Just never give up!!!!!

Curious if they are all shapes and sizes. I'm thinking about the one guy I know that is riding well into his 70s, he's like 5'8', thin build, almost frail looking. Quite the hill climber. I don't think I've seen any big guys riding into their 70s..wonder if body type is a key factor.

We are all shapes and sizes, but the 79+ year-old is about 5'4" and not an ounce of fat on him. I am 72, slightly asthmatic, paroxysmal a-fib, 6ft and 215lbs and probably one of the most overweight. No-one is obese. We have a 6'2" 75 year-old weighing in at about 200lbs and he's a great climber.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=298617
My wife, Kay, at age 78 still rides multi days a week with me on our custom tandem.
Oh, I'm one of those 80 year olds that still rides 100+ miles a week between riding tandem and racing bke.
Kay has covered 230,000+ miles with me on tandem bicycles since 1975 . . .
We don't do the centuries or week-long tours any more . . . and 25+ mph is only on downhills!
Growin' old is not for sissies!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

To add to above post:
Kay is 78, 4'10" *tall* and weights 103 lbs.
Rudy is 80, 5'7" and 135 lbs.
And yes, we are both cancer survivors. Hey we've got stuff to do!
Pedal on!

Wow! It's great to hear about all the active cyclists 70+. Sounds like there's hope for me to be riding a long time yet.

Well, there are no old, fat people. Really. Think about it.

Tons in our area. Probably nearly as many as men, my wife being one of them.

What do you mean by "fat" and what age for "old?" Do you mean overweight, obese, or morbidly obese? I've seen a fair number of overweight older people(again, what age are we discussing, 70, 80, ?) and even obese.

I'm 72 years, 5'8", and 178 pounds, my typical winter weight. It'll be warm enough in March for me to start exercising, using my treadmill, light weights and riding my bikes more. By June, I should be down to about 165 pounds, probably my ideal weight with my present musculature. Got my weight down to about 158 three years ago and I could tell I was losing muscle. My wife kept after me to add protein to my diet. I presently have two bikes, a tourer and a road bike. I ride the tourer more as the gearing is better suited to the hills in North Georgia where I live. My knees are pretty weak. I always ride alone. Have never attempted to meet other riders in this area except my LBS. Really enjoy riding. Hope you enjoy the pictures of my bikes, both high quality steel Panasonics, made in Japan, mid 80's.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=298940http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=298942http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=298943

Just to add to the thread.

I ride a lot with one guy in his mid 60s and the other will be 75 in March. Both are very good and can pull around 20Mph average on a 100 mile ride. There are also a lot of other riders in our area in their 60s, 70s and 80s who ride anywhere from 50-125 miles a week.

I'm the young-un at 59 but I just started at age 57 :)

I'm just a youngster, not quite 73 yet, but I have a friend who is 80 and runs errands on an old mountain bike with road tires, hauling a modified kiddie trailer converted to a cargo hauler. His usual daily route is 12 miles, with up to 90 pounds in the trailer.

My wife at age 55 is not only still riding, but riding pretty darn well! Finishing the bike leg of Oregon's Blue Lake All Women Triathlon. There are several women in our bike club over 50 that ride a lot.

She also averaged a little over 50 miles a day for 74 consecutive days on a fully loaded touring bike when she was 53 years old, and...........................................................

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...b82dde251e.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...f5a8aad21a.jpg

good looking bikes, always loved those Panasonics, inherited one from a friend but the Frame was too large for me. I lent it to a neighbor and he enjoyed it so much I never saw it again !

Hi Bill. Thanks for the comments on my bikes, especially on the stems appearing overextended. The stems are both high quality Nitto Technomic, I think about 225mm. The racer's crouch doesn't appeal to me, too uncomfortable. The long stems allow me to better see the countryside :) and if there is a headwind, I use the drops.

Take care of yourself and keep riding.

My Father is 85 and my mother is 77 they still bike on their local MUP. Not very fast, maybe 5-6mph but they are thin and try to get excersize that way. You wouldn't see them on this forum though because they don't know how to use a computer nor do they have one. LOL. I don't know very many people that age that know how to use a computer anyway but alot if them cycle regularly.

Riding any kind of bike at that age is great. My parents are the same age, neither rides a bike anymore although the bikes are still hanging in the garage, but they both have their own computers because sharing one caused too many arguments.

I'm 52 and sadly around my area theres just not too many women riders, period. on our regular group rides, there'll be just 2-3 ladies and usually i'll be the only one in the 50+ range. from my observation there are more 50+ women runners than riders over here.

The MUP where I ride is usually full of people in their 70's and 80's riding bikes on any given weekday. Many of them come from the retirement communities that are close by and are usually couples. There was a large group from Michigan, today, that ride there every Monday on their recumbents. I'm 66 1/2 and not exactly a slouch when it comes to speed. There is a lady in her mid 80's (rides a blue Cannondale road bike) that comes to the MUP on Thursday's and she passes me quite often when I'm going 18-20 mph on the loop.

It's probably the fact that it's a Cannondale! :)

Sad to report the death at 86 of my crazy bike riding client Bill Anderson Not only did he do these rides, he did them riding century days!. “The day before he died, I had called him and he was running up a hill.”

http://www.yumasun.com/articles/age-...bill-yuma.html

That's how to do it!