Wow- still Biking at 80+
 

I just talked to a man named Bob Stidwell who, in his eighties, continues to use bicycling as a way of spreading awareness for his favorite medical charity. Here's his site: http://tinyurl.com/MMRF-2013-Bob

Amazing. We have a local lady in her 80's still riding. She is quite well known amongst townfolk.

While not quite 80's I know, stop and chat with a fellow who is in his 70's and let me tell you this guy is a cycling animal! I've seen him demolish 20-year-olds on climbs..

I don't think he rides for distance anymore but he can still climb like a beast!

Rudy (zonatandem), from this forum, is 80+ and rides many, many miles with his wife on their tandem. I believe he also rides solo.

I actually know 2 people in their 80's who ride bikes regularly. They are very fit and healthy also!

I expect to be riding well into my 80s. Im 75 now and ride between 2 and 3 thousand miles a year. I ride my Stratus bike and Cruiser trike about 50-50. If I get in my 80s and am a little wobbly on the bike, I should still be able to ride the trike. If you set you rust. Staying active is its own reward.

I look forward to the day when biking, scuba diving and other sports are considered normal for people of any age. Then we will have matured as a society.

In the meantime, like others, I plan on riding and doing real things as long as I've a pulse.

Come to think of it I'm not so sure one model artificial heart has a beat, it is continuous flow.

Yup, ride tandem and single bike at age 81.
Can hardly wait 'til I get older!
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem

At 75 y.o. I've come to the conclusion that how many miles are ridden and no matter the age, keep moving and never give up.

+1

At near 75yo I agree and don't care about or track mileage or elevation gain, etc. As long as each week I get in several hours of bicycling, a few hours of swimming, some good miles of walking/hiking, some challenging resistance training and stretching, I feel ahead of the game. Almost all research states that there is diminishing return for older folks (me) as one pushes to their extreme limits, and, in fact, some harm may come.

Met a guy a while back on the American Tobacco Trail.
83, does something like 7000 miles a year.

Nice guy.
Early carbon bike.

I have a picture of this guy on our bulletin board in the kitchen:

http://pages.suddenlink.net/tripsite/09OlderGuy.jpg

I met him at the top of Mt. Constitution in the San Juans. He was 79 then, and rides up once a year. He does it without stopping. I stopped about 10 times.

I want to be like him when I grow up. Seriously, if I can be like that at 79, then all this exercise stuff will have been worth it.

BTW, the San Juans are great for cycling--put it on your bucket list. I wrote up our trip, with photos, and you can see it here: San Juan Islands

In San Diego our poster child for aging bicyclists is the late Gordy Shields.

Cycling icon Gordy Shields dead at 95 | UTSanDiego.com
San Diego County Bicycle Coalition: Gordy Shields, San Diego Cycling Legend, Passes


There is something to be said for Scots genes. :)

Rode with Gordie Shields several times in the Senior Olympics in the Tucson area.
A hell of a good rider and a real gentleman!
He was in the lead pack in a mixed age group (70 and up) and could easily have come in first. However he coasted in the last couple hundred feet.
Said he: "Got to give the young kids a bit of the glory!"

I posted about her before, but check out the female Senior Games cycling winners for the last two years. Phyllis Goodhall from Quebec and the Tampa Bay Area won first place in all five of her races in last years games and the games three years ago. In last years games, she broke two national records at 85 years of age.

Also check out Sandy Scott, another Bay Area resident, who has several national and world cycling records. He is in his 70's.

You might remember this thread on Bill Cunningham, the octogenarian NY Times fashion photographer who gets around NYC on this bike.

http://www.bikeforums.net/living-car...-new-york.html