Age or Ability for over 50’s?

[Bloodaxe]

Hi Everyone
I am just getting back on the road and am now 55. I need to get fitter and would like to join a group/club. The only problem is when I see the fit youngsters fly by and think “I can’t keep up with them”.
Does anyone know of a group or club to break me in or do I jump in the deep end with the high flyers?

 

[I like Skol]

You are stuck between factions unfortunately, but there should be a group to cater to your needs. Whereabouts in the country are you, might help get you some specific advice.

Years ago I used to live next door to a pensioner in his 70s. His wife was wheelchair bound but once a week he would go out without her and take his bike in the back of his car to meet up with the geriatrics mid-week cycle run. They always headed over towards Cheshire and would start/finish at a garden centre or similar so they could park and get food and drink before or after a ride that was flattish and at a pace to suit. Even they would have fast and slow groups despite all being well stricken in years!
The one thing they did have was retirement allowed them to ride mid-week when the roads and cafes weren't over run with lycra clad whippets, I guess you don't have that luxury, hence my comment about being stuck between the retired plodders and the weekend lycra warriors. Don't worry though, there WILL be a suitable group for you, even if it is less formal than the traditional cycling club structure (forums and facebook are pretty good at bringing these smaller less focused groups of cyclists together).

 

[snorri]

I am just getting back on the road and am now 55. I need to get fitter and would like to join a group/club.

It possibly depends on what sort of fitness you are wanting to achieve. I got 'back on the road' at around 50, and built up my fitness with the help of a basic cycle computer, recording my daily mileage, setting myself targets for the week/month/year. I didn't have ready access to group/club cycling and didn't worry about times or speed, just got the miles in and became fitter beyond my expectations.

 

[Ian H]

You can do it. Ignore the aches and pains (or find a decent sports physio to deal with them for you).

Joining a club might help. Riding with others can give you a better grasp of your fitness.

 

[MartinQ]

Where are you based?

 

[Dave Davenport]

We have loads of 50 somethings in our club (I'm 56) as I suspect most 'all round' clubs do. The group I was with last week ranged from 19 to 66 and it was the 19 year old we had to slow down for, so it's more a case of going with the right club/group than age range.

 

[Ticktockmy]

Hi Everyone
I am just getting back on the road and am now 55. I need to get fitter and would like to join a group/club. The only problem is when I see the fit youngsters fly by and think “I can’t keep up with them”.
Does anyone know of a group or club to break me in or do I jump in the deep end with the high flyers?

If you live down south maybe the Forty Plus club might suit you. http://www.fortypluscc.co.uk/ or the Rough Stuff Fellowship might also be of interest. https://www.rsf.org.uk/ a also cycling UK was CTC have local groups https://www.cyclinguk.org/.

 

[buzzy-beans]

Try doing a search on Google, that's what I did and loads of clubs within a 50 mile radius of my home came up.

I am 69 and currently unable to ride as I have some severe breathing difficulties, but when I do get back into the saddle I will be building up my strength and speed until I can comfortably keep up with some of the younger members.

 

[davidphilips]

When in comes to cycling its your physical age thats a lot more important than your chronological age, join a club and start of with the slow group and move up if you can, (some slow groups are quite fast) , good luck and welcome back to cycling.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

You don't need to join a club or ride with others to get fitter, all you have to do is jump on a bike, any sort of bike, and turn the pedals. Apart from a couple of close friends, I avoid riding with others. I like to choose my own pace, route, and make changes to either on the fly without having to stick to a route I don't fancy, or ride slower/faster than I feel like in order to keep up with or not leave behind, someone else. One of the best things about cycling is that it can be done in a manner to entirely suit yourself, without having to compromise it to suit someone else. You don't have to have some regimented or target-based approach either. If you ride regularly, even at a fairly relaxed pace, your fitness WILL improve from whatever base level you started out at.

 

[Cycleops]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Why join a club? Unless you're a clubby sort of person I'd suggest riding solo or with friends who have similar goals for a while. In a club you may feel pressured so build your fitness until you can comfortably do 20/30 mikes and perhaps then look for a suitable club. Or never join one!

Good luck.

 

[cyberknight]

As others have said there are plenty of 50+ riders in clubs holding their own and still beating the young un`s.The ride leader of the medium pace group i s going on 60 and he can still roll it well.
Any half decent club should have a group with a ride pace to suit you, not all clubs are about KOM hunting and aveage speeds, last week i had a ride with a new club in our area and it was a good time.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

When I came back I joined a localish group they had green, blue, red & black rides with distances & average speeds set. You could choose which group you wanted to ride out with, go up a group if you felt you could, drop down a group if you were having a bad week, they had a rule that nobody ever got left behind, so no matter which group, there would always be somebody to come back with. I did hear though that the black group didn't always stick to it, but I would never reach those heady heights so it never worried me.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I think we can assume that the OP is a "clubby sort of person" because they made a post asking for info about clubs.
A bit like you can assume that someone posting in the "what bike" wants to to buy a bike.

bad day?

 

[Sharky]

I've been a "clubby" for most of my cycling life, sometimes dormant, sometimes active, but always there when I want to take part.

A bit intrigued by your user name - hope it has a happy origin.
Cheers