Getting old reluctantly

[ColinJ]

I like the idea of a sanity blanket, rather than a safety blanket. I think I will knit myself one of those.

I liked it too!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

A Michael Mosley Horizon documentary suggested that there are 3 broad groups of people, athletically speaking ...

1. Super-responders, making up about 15% of the population. These are natural athletes who don't need to work that hard to get very fit. You clearly are not one of them!
2. Average-responders, making up about 65% of the population. I think I am one of them. I can get fit if I make the effort, but it doesn't come that easily to me. Maybe you are in this group?
3. Non-responders make up about 20% of the population. Their health can still benefit from regular exercise but it is unlikely that they will ever get really fit. If you are in that group then that would explain your problem!

Love this explanation, as I have never improved in my cycling since I started.
Ok, started at 48, 53 now, so I never had youth on my side, but still, I was a disaster at all kinds of athletic pursuits even as a teenager

 

[Ian H]

I find there are more aches and pains these days, and an increasing amount of leverage required to get out of a chair. But once I'm on the bike I'm still okay... thus far.

 

[Clawed Butler]

A Michael Mosley Horizon documentary suggested that there are 3 broad groups of people, athletically speaking ...

1. Super-responders, making up about 15% of the population. These are natural athletes who don't need to work that hard to get very fit. You clearly are not one of them!
2. Average-responders, making up about 65% of the population. I think I am one of them. I can get fit if I make the effort, but it doesn't come that easily to me. Maybe you are in this group?
3. Non-responders make up about 20% of the population. Their health can still benefit from regular exercise but it is unlikely that they will ever get really fit. If you are in that group then that would explain your problem!

Isn't there a confusion here between how readily your fitness responds to training, and whether or not you can ever be fit?

Relatively, I am already pretty fit irrespective of my age, though one can find fitter people. So I can easily beat our neighbour, a lean 20-something with a super lightweight carbon bike, up our hill. But a few months back I was dropped on the same hill by two middle-aged guys who seemed rather serious about their cycling.

I was really looking for age-related advice, or experience from other perhaps older guys. Should I expect performance to plateau at this age, or is there still some point in ratcheting up training intensity?

 

[ColinJ]

What speed do you do up that hill?

Why wouldn't your performance plateau, given that you have been doing the same thing for 10 years?

It sounds to me like you are doing enough to keep yourself pretty fit, but not enough to get REALLY fit, so I think you could do more if you really wanted to.

I know somebody who still races, well into his 70s, and occasionally wins so I don't think your age should stop you getting fitter. Obviously though, you will never be as fit at your age as you could have been when you were 20.

 

[Blue Hills]

I think a new bike will also revitalise my riding also.

.

 

[derrick]

Hills have never got easier for me, Have always been a grinder, but i am trying to spin more as i get older, I just ain't a spinner.
I am 64 years young. I ride this sort of ride regalary https://www.strava.com/activities/527176285

 

[ColinJ]

Hills have never got easier for me, Have always been a grinder, but i am trying to spin more as i get older, I just ain't a spinner.
I am 64 years young. I ride this sort of ride regalary https://www.strava.com/activities/527176285

So, you try to avoid hills then ...

I really don't get the grinding up hills thing! If a rider is super-strong and can do it efficiently, fair enough, but for anybody else who struggles on climbs spinning lower gears is the obvious answer.

I am definitely NOT super-strong or super-fit and am 60 years old, but by using a 26/28 bottom gear where I felt that I needed to I had no problems on my forum ride a week or so back which was over pretty hilly terrain.

 

[ColinJ]

Wait a minute ... @derrick - what is going on on the Strava profile of your ride!? I noticed that the summits appeared to only be at 100 ft above sea level so they seemed very small hills, but I have just noticed that the base level appears to be at -250 ft, which can't be right!

 

[Venod]

I was really looking for age-related advice, or experience from other perhaps older guys. Should I expect performance to plateau at this age, or is there still some point in ratcheting up training intensity?

Keep at it put the miles in, ride with a group now and again to see how you compare to others, don't be afraid to drop down a gear and spin.

I have cycled and run since my mid twenties, 64 now, I packed in work full time at 59 did part time 3 days a week for a few years, not worked for past 3 years but done a lot of cycling, I can't push the big gears of my younger days (and no desire to do so) but I feel my performance is as good as it was in my 30s ( I may be kidding myself here)

Get a GPS and put your rides on Strava, not a scientific comparison with others, but a hell of a good feeling when your times beat much younger riders.

 

[derrick]

Wait a minute ... @derrick - what is going on on the Strava profile of your ride!? I noticed that the summits appeared to only be at 100 ft above sea level so they seemed very small hills, but I have just noticed that the base level appears to be at -250 ft, which can't be right!

Not sure what's going on there. Strava has never been accurate.

 

[gavroche]

I am 65 and although my head feels a lot younger, my body is beginning to act its age. Best example was last Thursday when I was helping fellow teachers to shift stuff to the brand new school they are moving into after the Easter holidays.I had to go up and down two flights of stairs all day long to get rid of rubbish. It nearly killed me and had to stop frequently to recover. Slept well that night though.
I never keep my lowest gear in reserve ( 32teeth) and use it frequently, that's what it is for.

 

[Globalti]

I'm also 60 in a few days and pretty fit. I've learned that fitness varies through the season and much cycling ability is linked to leg strength and muscle bulk, which is why I like to do steep hill stuff as well as fast flat rides and easy recovery rides.

The main problem will always be that a cyclist will choose a gear that feels right fo their fitness and push that gear hard, so will seldom feel they are improving.

 

[Dirk]

I'm 62 this year. I started cycling 4 years ago, just to get more exercise, after being diagnosed type 2 diabetic.
I was never particularly athletic when younger, but now I'm fitter than I ever was. Regularly do 30+ mile rides with 2 - 3000 feet of climbing and hold a few Strava KoM.
I put this down to the area I have to cycle in - North Devon. Not renowned for being flat! We've got some serious hills every way you turn. I must admit to being beaten by one the other day and had to get off and walk..............well, it was 33%.

 

[Cush]

For those that know it I use the hill from the ferry landing at Wetheral as a "Tester" If I can cycle up it without stopping I am smug (not always possible due to traffic coming down). My other tester is walking up the 99 steps to Wetheral station without stopping (but I have always finished up out of breath) Oh I will 73 in August