Is it an age thing!

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nagden

Senior Member
Location
Normandy, France
At 64 I could not imagine life without cycling. I have always cycled, but never competively. I enjoy my cycling more now than ever. My bikes are old french Touring bikes which I like tinkering with And I am lucky to have an abundace of relatlively traffic free roads with some great scenery. No stress no targets, just the odd burst of speed to work the heart a bit. At the moment I am gradually upping the mileage And would contemplate an Audax later. The biggest plus is my Health is Improving.
 
At 64 I could not imagine life without cycling. I have always cycled, but never competively. I enjoy my cycling more now than ever. My bikes are old french Touring bikes which I like tinkering with And I am lucky to have an abundace of relatlively traffic free roads with some great scenery. No stress no targets, just the odd burst of speed to work the heart a bit. At the moment I am gradually upping the mileage And would contemplate an Audax later. The biggest plus is my Health is Improving.

I feel exactly the same and I'm 64 too.

The buzz I get the night before another planned 100 mile ride is always there. I'm not fast, just a steady plodder but have always had good long distance endurance.

Equally I get fantastic satisfaction exploring new tracks and trails for shorter rides on my mtb. I can never imagine falling out of love with riding my bikes.
 

Aravis

Putrid Donut
Location
Gloucester
I know I've posted a version of this graph before, but it seems relevant here. This is my annual count of 100+ mile rides since I first hit that target in 1982:

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It's not quite the complete story, because I was a highish mileage commuter between 1993 and about 2004. But certainly in the 10 years up to mid-2015 I was hardly riding at all.

There is a difference; nowadays I'm about 3mph slower that I was in my 20s. A key part of learning to enjoy cycling again in my mid-50s was accepting this inevitability. So far this year even 3mph is looking a bit optimistic, but there has been the virus. I'm looking forward to some warmish weather.

People have talked about the negatives of Strava. I'm only interested in comparing myself with myself, and I've found the ability to maintain a detailed record of every ride a powerful motivator. What wouldn't I give to be able to look back now at all the rides I did in the 1980s and 1990s?

I thought my cycling days were behind me, but they weren't.
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
All I do in the way of recording rides is to make a note in my pocket diary of how many miles I've cycled each day, including zero-mile, non-riding days. I do the same for walking, in both cases rounding the number up or down to the nearest mile. I don't obsess about decimal points as it will all average out pretty much spot-on anyway. Over the course of a week or month I can look back at how much activity I've done, but I don't beat myself up over it if the numbers aren't great This week, unless I do a couple of mile extra detour on the way home from the pub, I will have actually done more miles on foot than on a bike, but its just how it works out.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Ive done about 40 indoor strava recorded rides with a race thrown in. I also very recently bought a single speed town bike for shopping. I dont record any of my outings, but I reckon I did 50-60 miles venturing to town 3 times and local trips to the local shop. I currently much prefer the easy local riding
 
I think for a lot of us "older" fun riders we can remember the days going out for a day's ride and hardly seeing another bike save for people cycling to work.

Nowadays it is everywhere and perhaps the over popularisation of it does away with some of the simple pleasure of getting on your bike and exploring some back lanes.

I think though that we as people go through change, I used to be an avid football fan, followed club and country all over the world, despite the fact neither were very successful!! Nowadays I barely even look at the results.
 
I used to do all kinds of sports. One year, 23 years ago I found myself out every weekend playing ball tournaments while the wife stayed home watching I Love Lucy reruns. I found cycling then dawned on me she could do it too. She does 3,000+ miles every year over the last 23 years. 40, 60, 100 mile rides on her single bike, the tandem, and loves every mile of it.

Now I can't imagine myself enjoying any other activity without her now that the kids are all out! :dance:

Plus, she encourages me to stop at all the bike shops to check out stuff. I'm sticking with this cycling thing!

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JPBoothy

JPBoothy

Veteran
Location
Cheshire
I used to do all kinds of sports. One year, 23 years ago I found myself out every weekend playing ball tournaments while the wife stayed home watching I Love Lucy reruns. I found cycling then dawned on me she could do it too. She does 3,000+ miles every year over the last 23 years. 40, 60, 100 mile rides on her single bike, the tandem, and loves every mile of it.

Now I can't imagine myself enjoying any other activity without her now that the kids are all out! :dance:

Plus, she encourages me to stop at all the bike shops to check out stuff. I'm sticking with this cycling thing!

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To find a common interest/passtime in a relationship is a rare thing so you keep at it and enjoy the time together doing what you both so obviously enjoy. I think I'm a bit jealous :okay:
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Try a 'different' part of cycling - how about off road. Doesn't have to be the 'gnarly' stuff, but about getting away from roads - there are loads of things you never see from a road.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
I think for a lot of us "older" fun riders we can remember the days going out for a day's ride and hardly seeing another bike save for people cycling to work.

Nowadays it is everywhere and perhaps the over popularisation of it does away with some of the simple pleasure of getting on your bike and exploring some back lanes.

I think though that we as people go through change, I used to be an avid football fan, followed club and country all over the world, despite the fact neither were very successful!! Nowadays I barely even look at the results.

For the football, the same as me. home. aways, foreign trips. It cost an absolute fortune. I gave the football up a few years back. I still go to the odd match. But to be honest I get far more pleasure going to my local National League team Bromley then I do Chelsea these days.

When I first started commuting to work back in the very early 80's, I don't think I ever saw another cyclist and that was in SE London, where with the lack of car/cyclist awareness, you were taking your life in your hands. The same for going out on 'fun' rides. However, seeing the amount of people on bikes these days, both leisure and commuting makes me a happy man. I am definitely a more is better when it comes to others cycling.
 
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JPBoothy

JPBoothy

Veteran
Location
Cheshire
Try a 'different' part of cycling - how about off road. Doesn't have to be the 'gnarly' stuff, but about getting away from roads - there are loads of things you never see from a road.
Yes, the one part of cycling that I did always enjoy the most was an early morning ride down the local Bridleway on my Cyclocross bike so I won't rule that one out just yet. I think part of the appeal was sticking on my oldest cycling clobber and getting a bit muddy without a car in sight and a grin on my face. The Bridleways are great places if you like nature and usually the people you meet are a lot more pleasant than those rushing about in town. Good idea :okay:
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Yes, the one part of cycling that I did always enjoy the most was an early morning ride down the local Bridleway on my Cyclocross bike so I won't rule that one out just yet. I think part of the appeal was sticking on my oldest cycling clobber and getting a bit muddy without a car in sight and a grin on my face. The Bridleways are great places if you like nature and usually the people you meet are a lot more pleasant than those rushing about in town. Good idea :okay:

Do it. There are tonnes of views I've seen, which I never see on the road bike - same part of the area, maybe just a few hundred yards away, but roads go in the easiest direction - that bridleway might just give you astounding views. They generally traverse somewhere the roads don't. There is no rush, just get out and enjoy. Take a picnic or factor in a coffee stop.
 
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Deleted member 1258

Guest
Do it. There are tonnes of views I've seen, which I never see on the road bike - same part of the area, maybe just a few hundred yards away, but roads go in the easiest direction - that bridleway might just give you astounding views. They generally traverse somewhere the roads don't. There is no rush, just get out and enjoy. Take a picnic or factor in a coffee stop.

Yes, in the 1980's the club ride usually included a few miles of rough stuff, great fun, and something I haven't done for years.
 

nickAKA

Über Member
Location
Manchester
I'd say it's because a lot of people start out as "blokes who ride a bike" then it gradually morphs into an obsessive way of life that takes over too much free time, prevents you from eating and drinking any "bad stuff" you want, and becomes something that is eventually resented because it controls you not the other way round.
Bloke starts out on a fairly basic and inexpensive machine, and it gets him from A to B and is a relaxing and harmless hobby. Then starts to read media reviews of fancy equipment, interact with people on forums who really think that £5k is a perfectly normal price for a push bike, looks at the weight of everything down to the last gram, has to have a separate wardrobe of cycling-specific clothing, gets a fancy cycle computer, signs up for Strava, starts obsessing about average speeds and achieving ever faster times over their regular routes. Forces themselves to go out on "training rides" even though the weather might be horrible, and they'd actually much rather spend the evening in front of the TV or down the pub. Feels guilty if they don't ride as hard and as far as possible as often as possible, because they might be missing out on a potential higher level of performance.
What starts out as a bit of fun becomes something that absorbs all of someone's spare time and all their spare money. I would actually consider it a form of addiction in some cases, especially when it gets to the point of people admitting to being bad-tempered and grumpy because other things in their lives (like work and domestic responsibilities) have conspired against them to prevent them riding for several whole days!.
Never lose sight of the fact that it isn't all about average speeds and longest distances and PB's and KOM's, it's just about jumping on a bike and going for a ride. Even if it's a tatty old worthless heap of a heavy steel bike and you are wearing jeans and a pair of builder's boots. As a casual utility and recreational rider, I can take it or leave it. Go for a ride, or go out for a load of beer and a doner kebab instead. If I choose the latter, I don't feel guilty about it and I don't feel the need to "make amends" by riding twice as hard or as far the next time. I own my cycling hobby, it doesn't own me - and because of that I don't ever feel forced to do it when I'm not in the mood or resent the amount of time it demands.

Are you stalking me? :laugh:

I think I'm over the worst of it, didn't ride at all at weekend and don't feel any guilt whatsoever but it's a hard habit to kick.
 
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