Getting old reluctantly

[united4ever]

Well, I feel like a spring chicken at 41 but great reading this thread. Suppose its a very individual thing but wondering which age you start to plateau. Like someone said, if you do the same commute or number of miles each time (like me) you cannot really expect to improve at any age. I shall look at adding a few miles on once a week.

 

[dim]

thats where Strava kicks in

forget about competing with 20 year olds who ride on Cervellos and Pinarellos

compare your speed / segments to people in your own age group

I read somewhere that Strava will soon be implementing KOM statistics for age groups

 

[HLaB]

I live at the top of a ¾ mile, 6% average gradient hill. I cycle a 20 mile commute 3 days a week, always ending (of course) with this hill. I have done this for about 10 years. In fact I have cycled all my life and am pretty fit, but I have never gone in for racing, sportives or touring. What bugs me is that this hill never seems to get any easier. But I have turned 60. Should I just accept that it never will get any easier, and that it is all uphill from here on? Or is there anything I can do about it at my age?

PS - As a matter of principle, I never use my lowest chainring/gear combination. I think of that as my safety blanket.

I'm nearly 41 the pre 1975 category and I found out at an open my mate who regularly equals or more often than not beats me on TT's is the pre 1945 category. He's just one of a number of older cyclists I've come across who are fantastic. Never accept it, just keep on, thats what those guys are doing

 

[ColinJ]

I'm nearly 41 the pre 1945 category and I found out at an open my mate who regularly equals or more often than not beats me on TT's is the pre 1945 category. He's just one of a number of older cyclists I've come across who are fantastic. Never accept it, just keep on, thats what those guys are doing

Don't you mean 'pre-1975' for yourself?

 

[HLaB]

Don't you mean 'pre-1975' for yourself?

Fixed sorry, I really should turn on a light so I can see the key board properly, too lazy to get out of this sofa though

 

[ColinJ]

Fixed sorry, I really should turn on a light so I can see the key board properly, too lazy to get out of this sofa though

I've got a new laptop on order and I made sure that it has an illuminated keyboard so I can use it in poor light.

 

[mjr]

I've got a new laptop on order and I made sure that it has an illuminated keyboard so I can use it in poor light.

Just get a backlit touchscreen, fossils!

 

[ColinJ]

Just get a backlit touchscreen, fossils!

My tablet is great for playing games on but using it has taught me that I don't like doing much typing on screens!

I could have spent (significantly!) more and got a touchscreen version of the new laptop but it had an excessive screen resolution which would have had a negative impact on battery life, possibly caused legibility problems with poorly designed software/websites, and it had a glossy finish which would be bad for picking up reflections of sunlight and artificial lighting.

The non-touchscreen version is still full-HD, which I think is perfectly fine for a 13.3" screen. It also has a non-reflective coating. It is very bright and apparently usable outdoors even on sunny days, as long as the screen does not directly face the sun.

I admit that watching my niece or nephew speed-typing text messages on their iPhones does make me feel a bit old! Mind you, their thumbs will probably be worn out by the time they hit their 40s ...