The problems of growing old :(

[Mo1959]

I agree about being able to choose when I finally bow out rather just hanging on for years not being able to get around under my own steam.

I think a lot is down to the individual. Some people who have always been active just get miserable when they can no longer do things they used to, whereas others seem to manage to adapt and start to enjoy different things. As much as my dad did get a bit down and frustrated when he lost so much of his physical ability, he seemed to adapt to doing less and watching tv and enjoying visits from family and friends more. Was only in his last couple of years things got too much for him when even his eyesight and hearing got so much worse that he even lost interest in the tv and was really struggling to remain mobile. It’s hard to watch.

 

[Onlynutsnbolts]

As they say, 'Much to young to be this dam ...old!' (Garth Brooks)

 

[Electric_Andy]

What age is old ?
I'm 63 now, still feel fit and well and can easily beat my age in miles on my bike .
When I am really old I may have to go metric.

My dad is 70 and he doesn't look or feel old at all. He's as strong and fit as me. Probably more healthy too. I wouldn't call him old at all!

 

[All uphill]

I shall live forever. Because I am of the Clan McCleod, and I am immortal.

Immortal, or did you mean immoral?

 

[Accy cyclist]

As some of you know,i spend quite a lot of time in the local cemetery. I tidy the graves of those who don't have relatives to tidy them,so i notice/read many inscriptions,many i know almost off by heart. I've been going in that cemetery since living next door to it as a boy 50 years ago and come to think of it i've never seen a grave with someone in who lived to a hundred or beyond. Not even the 'posh' graves of mill owners etc from the 19th century,even though many of that type lived into their 80's,which was i suppose was like living till about 110 these days.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I don't necessarily think this is about age, I came off my MTB 3 weeks ago not been able to ride yet. Had I landed differently I could have ended up with serious spine injury & possible paralysis if that has been the case I'm not sure I would want to carry on then as a burden to my family

 

[Rusty Nails]

I don't necessarily think this is about age, I came off my MTB 3 weeks ago not been able to ride yet. Had I landed differently I could have ended up with serious spine injury & possible paralysis if that has been the case I'm not sure I would want to carry on then as a burden to my family

Although not as serious as some of the other ageing issues I have noticed that, as I have aged, the recovery time after injury has got longer.

 

[oldkit]

I am not really that "old" Pushing 64, However, much to my annoyance I suffered yet another XXXXing puncture on a busy A road with about two feet width of raised grass verge either side.
Found a spot, got bike upended, rear wheel out no problem, six months ago this would't have been too bad.
But today I found out that my dodgy Kneez have really said Enough!. I couldn't get down on the floor and having tried, knelt on one of the panniers and found after a minute or so, I couldn't get back up again.
To add insult to injury I then noticed I was stationed atop of an ant nest.
I had ridden over something that had put huge hole through a Schwalbe Durano and I had a tyre full of sealant from out of the tube, this was scraped out using my fingers and the new tube installed in a semi crouching position.
I did get home (eventually)
Not my finest or Fittest day

 

[ColinJ]

I am not really that "old" Pushing 64
...
But today I found out that my dodgy Kneez have really said Enough!. I couldn't get down on the floor and having tried, knelt on one of the panniers and found after a minute or so, I couldn't get back up again.

Are you significantly overweight?

The reason I ask is because I am the same age as you and I had the same problem when I was carrying an extra 25 kgs (4 stone) of blubber. I really thought that my knees were completely wrecked but when I lost the surplus weight I found that they were perfectly ok again!

 

[oldkit]

Not Significantly, I've put a bit on since Corona, But really should have had new knees a few years ago,
My legs don't take the shortest route to the ground and have worn in the corresponding/expected places, according to my specialist, They have been Bone on bone for a few years, I was due to have one replaced But two heart attacks have pushed that further away. January was the last one,so the earliest they will consider me again is next year. I can't take the only effective painkillers which seem to work for me as I am on blood thinners.
Cheers
Kit

 

[ColinJ]

Ouch! Well, good luck, Kit.

I am on blood thinners (warfarin) too - for life, having had a DVT and 2 pulmonary embolisms in one year.

 

[oldkit]

I had put my name down for a 10 man Retrobike team for Mountain mayhem this year and until The Bug stopped everything, had every intention of taking part.

Growing old is mandatory (if you live long enough)
Growing up is optional!

 

[tyred]

Age is relative I think. When you are ten, a thirty year old seems ancient.

I don't remember her as I was about two when she died (but have heard endless stories within the family and there is a biscuit tin full of newspaper cuttings recounting her life on her hundredth birthday as it was unusual at the time so made all the local papers) but my paternal great grandmother lived to be 104 (1876 - 1981). She was widowed in 1912 after my great grandfather died following a threshing accident. She wore mourning dress from 1912 until her dying day. In all the photos I have seen of her she is dressed in black. She was pre-deceased by three of her six children (all who lived until their late 70s so didn't didn't die young). I have often heard people talk about her strange view of the world in later years - she thought the people on television or radio could see and hear her too and would whisper or turn her back to the TV screen to hide what she was doing! When the old farmhouse she lived in with one of her sons and his wife had electricity installed she refused to have an electric light fitted in her bedroom as she considered it dangerous. I remember that house and the need to use a candle to go into one of the upstairs rooms due to no light in it. My mother often tells of the time she was talking to her towards the end when she said that her father died a very young man. My Mum asked how old was he and she replied eighty-eight! Age is relevant to where we are ourselves I guess. Apparently she was always insistent that nobody within the family called a child after her (Martha) as apparently four people within the extended family had called their baby daughter Martha and all died as children.

I can think of other really old people I would have known growing up and wonder will we ever see their like again. The world had changed so much. They didn't fit in and struggled to understand or accept the new technology which came along which made them seem strange, eccentric and full of weird superstitions.

People do tend to live longer now in general but I think old age is only worthwhile if you are one of the fortunate few who can remain active. I know people will say about the need to keep fit etc but I've seen my Dad's own struggles with knackered hips and how debilitating it has been. He done physical work and would have been pretty fit from doing so and his lifestyle would not have been perfect but it would have been better than many. Yes, he is now far heavier than is good for him but he has struggled to walk for the past ten years due to furst one hip giving up, then all sorts of chest problems and then another hip giving up. My uncle, who is my Dad's twin brother was a sports person, played badminton to a pretty high amateur level, ate right and trained and was supremely fit throughout his life. He has had all the hip problems that my dad has suffered as well as problems with his knees and ankles so the active lifestyle is no guarantee of anything.

I would definitely be in favour of euthanasia as I wouldn't want to live with the restricted movement and pain my Dad has suffered with in recent years.

 

[classic33]

@tyred, the piece about the television and radio I've come across. Going outside to talk, because the radio could hear them. Turning their back on the telly because it might be watching them. A blanket over it during the day(No daytime telly), so it couldn't watch them.

Odd in a way now, given there are voice controlled listening devices, recording everything, smart TV's with built in camera's and microphones. Maybe they weren't that far out after all.

 

[PK99]

63 is not old by a long way.

My dad died at 66, my brother at 64.

I'm 64.