DnvrFox

Stolen from another thread. Curious as to how you are doing with the slings and arrows of aging, what you contemplate the next 10-30+ years to be (if that is possible) in bicycling and related activities and living. If this thread seems nonsense, just ignore and go on your happy way! Otherwise, find your age group and type away.

Slings and arrows of aging

If your current age is 50-59

So, how goes it right now (bicycling wise and otherwise)?

And in 10 years?

And in 20 years?

And in 30 years?


Slings and arrows of aging

If your current age is 60-69

So, how goes it right now (bicycling wise and otherwise)?

And in 10 years?

And in 20 years?

And in 30 years?


Slings and arrows of aging

If your current age is 70-79

So, how goes it right now (bicycling wise and otherwise)?

And in 10 years?

And in 20 years?

And in 30 years?


Slings and arrows of aging

If your current age is 80-89

So, how goes it right now (bicycling wise and otherwise)?

And in 10 years?

And in 20 years?

And in 30 years?

I don't believe we have anyone here over 89??

And if this thread seems nonsense, just ignore and go on your happy way!

dbg

60-69 here.
I still work. I still ride to/from the train station year round (not easy in Chicago).
I dream about light touring by bike (motel and shower and pub and nice meal in the evening).
When I can't ride I plan to walk till I drop.

irwin7638

62 here, semi-retired, kinda. Still commute by bike in all weather all year here in Michigan. Still enjoying self supported touring. Yesterday did the OneHelluva Ride metric averaging 16mph on my Sam Hillborne. Scary, except for a few pounds that are slowly coming off, I don't feel any different than I did in my 30's. During my last doctor's exam 3 people from the office came to verify my birthdate, they assumed the chart was wrong. I plan to keep working ( in some form) and I will ride until the pretty nurse takes it away.

Marc

CrankyFranky

Hi Denvr,
Rounding the corner to 65... right now, I still roll better than I walk, so I bike as often as I can to work. I've got OA in knees and elsewhere, and disc issues in both upper and lower back, but I can still ride my road bike - but am thinking about a higher stem to give my neck a break.
My parent's gene pool is very dark and opaque, and doesn't have many shallow ledges on which to stand - so I only dare go out 10 years in my plans. That said, I remain hopeful, so much so that I found new (used) 30-speed bikes for both me and my loving wife - so that if we do enjoy salad days, the dressing might be a little more tasty.
My only worry about her is that she won't quit work (she's 60), which delivers such a strong dose of stress for her for 10.5 months of the year that she's a zombie then. Because she's a specialist in a school system, we can't call "time" when she could use a break. Fortunately for her, her exercise regimen is great, and longevity is in her family history. So she'll hopefully get to ride when I no longer can. I'm still working, since I love what I do. Some time in the next 10 years I'll have to take the leap and retire, and by that time, we hopefully will have figured out where to re-locate. But then perhaps, I should retire sooner and make the most of what's left.
For us both, work seems to prohibit us getting quality bike time - so it makes for a quandry. Topping up the retirement savings vs. just plunging into retirement - this is the question foremost in our minds.
Where's my crystal ball?

jbenkert111

Bike racing age is 74. I am retired army (1989) and retired civilian (jul 2013). I still do running races, bike road TT races and mtb races. I just received my first of three Euflexxa shots (Johns Hopkins version of Synvis) in both knees which I hope will put off a knee replacement for at least a few years. Other then that I am in pretty good health (as far as I know). I still weight train for whole body with different parts each day, 5 or 6 days (for 30 minutes) a week.

In 10 years I hope to be competing at or about the same level in all areas.

In 20 years I hope to be able to get around well enough to be completely independent and to be able to do/compete in a sport of my choice.

In 30 years I will just be glad to just be here. Besides I probably won't remember my goals anyway.

bruce19

Age 68...been retired for 13 yrs. and back on the bike these past ten yrs. Have gone from 197 lbs to 180 lbs and, despite last years crash and ensuing C1-C2 fusion, am riding better than I have since I was in my 40's.

chasm54

These questions are imponderable, aren't they? How can any of us know how we'll be doing in ten, twenty or thirty years? Except, of course, for the obvious fact that in thirty years most of the people posting in this forum will be dead.

350htrr

I used to think I would live to be over 90 no problem as all/most my ancestors on both sides that I know of lived that long, and it was a happy thought... Now at 59 with this hurting and that hurting, this not working as well as it used to that not working as well as it used to, living to 90+ is not quite so happy thought...

right now life is good
10 years life should be good
20 years I hope life will be good
30 years probably better off dead...

kehomer

I am a healthy 74 yr old. I really enjoy riding my bikes. Short rides; usually less than 10 miles, some up to 15 miles, very seldom up to 20 miles. I have both bikes (two right now) geared right for the hilly country around here and my high mileage knees. I should be ok for another few years, hopefully for ten or more. My only concern right now is a recurring balance problem (inner ear). When/if I can no longer ride 2 wheelers, I'll buy a trike and or start walking more. Lot's of walking trails in those Appalachian foothills. I've tried an Ice trike in CA. It was great!

Overall, I think I'm positioned pretty well. Can still ride my bikes and walk. Can see well enough to blast away with hand guns and long guns. Still strong enough to use my 50 yr old Fred Bear Kodiak Magnum bow. And, last but not least due, in part,to the wonderful world of chemistry, my bedroom activities haven't completely evaporated.

FBinNY 

65 years old and still running on 100% original parts. No meds, no repairs (ever).

I credit bicycling with a part of this, and expect it to hold up until some catastrophic event. My goal is to keep my total lifetime medical costs as close to zero as possible (actual, whether covered by ins or not), and so far doing OK in that regard.

jbenkert111

Thanks a lot!! I hate it when you are right.

David Bierbaum

Well, in the middle of the 50's age bracket, it's going swimmingly here. I was on the road to overweight, cholesterol, and high blood pressure, till I changed what I ate, and took up bicycling. My back was already giving me serious trouble as well, and bicycling has amazingly sorted out my sciatica, so that I haven't had any of those dreaded freeze-in-place lower-back-agony moments since I retook bicycling, and the permanent low-grade pain in my back that I was feeling is history as well. So, as for now, I'm doing swimmingly.

I won't predict the future though.

Louis Le Tour

Seventy one and still working but this is my last year for sure. Right now I'm training for a long tour, hopefully from Seattle to Miami. Also, I have thoughts of going carless and living the life of a vagabond bicyclist. In ten years I'll probably be nearing the end of my ability to do this but I'll keep push'n on if able. In 20 years I'd be 91. How many 91 year old bicyclists do you know? In 30 years? I'm afraid the hole will be dug and filled in by then!

Rick@OCRR

Thanks for this post Denver,

Still going strong at 64 and all of my serious maladies have been with me since long before I got "old."

I still have terrible eyesight (glasses since the 4th grade), still have asthma (since I was a little kid) and still an old bald guy (started going bald at 17!), but overall and big picture, still doing well.

For the future, as pointed out above . . . who can say? I hope to still be riding in my 70's and 80's but the fickle finger of fate can be cruel.

Hope you continue to do well!

Rick / OCRR

FrenchFit 

This has been a serious question for me, I was feeling like things were slipping away in my 50s. Bike riding my have slowed the slide, but it wasn't enough as the sole tactic. Changing diet (fasting), stopping smoking, running 4 times a week, hiking, swimming, and changing gym work-outs to whatever enhances endurance performance has been very beneficial. I'm feeling good to go for the 60s, I'll recalibrate in 7-8 years. Like FBinNYI'm like to avoid any meds or seeing the inside of a hospital, being taken out in mid-stride would be a preferable way to go. .

DnvrFox

I think stress is the ultimate killer. My wife and I are under constant stress as regards the current and future of our son with profound developmental disabilities – who will be 47 next month. He requires 24/7 observation and support.

This year we went through the extreme stress of the very untimely and unexpected death of his primary caregiver (he lives in what is called a “Host Home”). Fortunately a replacement had been trained during this process. At near 75 and 77yo, and suffering from several maladies, there is nothing we can do for him, except lunch every week with him and his daytime care provider (who resigned and then recanted a few weeks ago). It takes several months to really train in a replacement, and we were in a total panic. And, what happens when we die? Government funding for his 24 hour care is always tenuous, and constantly changing and under threat from one political party or another, both state and federal. Nothing is ever stable.

Our oldest son is doing great with his and his wife’s law practice, despite his being paralyzed from the neck down – but that is also a constant source of stress.

We hate when the phone rings. We both jump, wondering about which next catastrophe we need next to respond to. (grammar $%^&*)

I have, apparently, developed glaucoma in the left eye. My wife continues with the terrible afternoon and evening pain of post-herpetic-neuralgia – for 10 years now (residual from shingles - GET YOUR SHINGLES SHOT). My left hip has developed a chronic and sometimes acute bursitis, which often "screams" at me. And my Trigeminal Neuralgia can act up at a moment's notice.

Of course, we have seen all the best doctors, and even holistic medicine. No advice needed here, PLEASE.

Yet, we continue to find positives in life. My singing group now includes my wife. We both bicycle and swim and are active in leading our senior’s group at church. There have been several cruises and vacations. I continue incessant advocacy with some of the glory-seeking moron administrators who provide services and with state legislators, and propose new laws, etc.

Several close friends our age have developed Alzheimer’s, or Parkinsons and and/or have had strokes.

So, what about 10 years ahead? I doubt either of us makes it for 10 years.

I was sort of curious about other folks when I posted what seems, to some, to be an unimportant, or at least, an imponderable thread.

Sorry for that, but your answers are quite informative.

Yes, this is my "venting" thread.

Thanks

Carbonfiberboy 

69. My wife, 65, and I just rode our first tandem double century, STP. Great success! We are both in almost perfect health. It's mostly luck. One sees folks our age and older hiking, climbing, riding, whatever, and it's mostly luck. All the hard work and perseverance in the world doesn't trump luck. Accidents, injuries, genetics, and many other difficult and traumatic events wait for us. However, hard work and perseverance definitely improve one's luck. A fall is less likely to result in injury. Low BP keeps strokes away. Low visceral fat keeps all sorts of problems away. Life is mostly about choices, and unfortunately we can't know the result of our choices until it's much too late. I think that problem is what societal institutions are supposed to help with. Unfortunately the ones we have today that aren't completely useless are frequently completely wrong.

10 years, we hope to still be riding and hiking, though with much slower friends.
20 years, we hope to still be alive, but will probably not be having much fun, global warming having flooded our home since 1975.
30 years, we hope to be dead.

hiller

Interesting thread. I'm in my late 50s and feeling great these days. Hope to be doing even better in my 60s. Of course, ten years is a long time, at any age, and who really knows what will come to pass. But, for the things I can control, I don't plan to let up on pushing hard. Twenty years and beyond, I'm sure I'll slow down but it likely won't matter much. My biking future is a lot less certain.

I've only been biking for about a year. Last year, I was really liking it. This year, not so much. I've gotten about a million flats this year, had two crashes, and developed a severe swelling from my seat. Of course, I've tried all kinds of tubes and tires and a new seat but I'm also doing a lot more hill climbing on foot, too.

I do have a bad achilles problem which has dogged me for two years and I have no intention of living with forever. It's likely being caused by two underlying heel spurs which I hope can be surgically removed- with great difficulty- this year or next.

zonatandem

Rudy age 81; Kay age 79.
Some medical issues in the past including cancer for both of us.
Still enjoying life; our 60th wedding anniversary coming up in January . . . life has been great (so far!).
We always look at the glass full (really: 3/4s full!).
Kids, grandkids, great-grandkids doing well.
Bodies donated to science; we really believe in recycling!
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

mcmoose

I'll be 58 in October; my husband turns 60 the same month. I don't know about the interim, but at 79 and 81, we want to be like Kay and Rudy ^^^^!!!

Zinger

I am 63 and doing well but have picked up a condition of acid reflux during the last decade that makes it necessary to go without food for several hours before bedtime (which I should do anyway). Have picked up a spur heel but use "Molefoam" next to it and an Ace bandage around it over my sock and it doesn't bother me unless I do a lot of walking without those items on. Taking a thyroid supplement nowadays and wear +2 glasses around (except when riding) and +3 for reading (used to have 20-20 vision).

Not getting much riding in this summer as I'm working like heck on my house while I'm off work. Once I retire for good I plan on riding about every other day or more. Would like to get back up to a couple hundred miles per week that I did in my 30s and early 40s.....perhaps not as fast miles as then.

And in 10 years?

Who knows? Life is a crap shoot. But like my sister says: "The secret is to keep moving".

Gerryattrick

I'm 67 and like to tell myself that I'm still fit & healthy, but the truth is I'm less fit & healthy than I was 10 years ago, even less than 20 years ago and don't even go 30 years ago.

I'll continue to do my best to maintain fitness & health via cycling, walking and not eating too much junk, and I don't know what I'll be like in 10/20/30 years - if I'm here at all - other than it won't be better than now.

All we can do is live in the present and enjoy it.

I'll return to this thread in 2044 and let you all know the answers to Denver's questions.

Dudelsack 

Talk about the ultimate zombie thread. Most of us will be one of them. Life as a zombie doesn't sound so bad. Wander around and eat someone's brains from time to time. Indestructible save a clean headshot.

BlazingPedals

I'm definitely not as strong as I was 10-15 years ago. I try to compensate by continuing to get faster bikes.

jbenkert111

This has been a great thread. There are plenty of replies that show be I am better off then I thought. And yet there are just enough positive ones to give me hope for the future.