As I went for a little pootle this afternoon it struck me that I've probably got more bike handling skill and confidence than ever before, but that my body has aches and pains, fitness is poor compared to before I had children and spent the majority of my life slumped at a desk in an office. So the irony is I'm not able to put my ability to its full use. And when I was younger and fitter and gung ho I didn't have the skills to back it up.

Funny old life…. I must get fitter and stronger! Anyone else felt similar?

Yes, pretty much.

Except when I was younger I wasn't even as (not very) fit as I am now because I spent too much of my spare time drinking and stuff.

time rich and not a care in the world…bikes, girls and intoxicants.
now i steal time when i can and ache all the time. im only 34.

I'm noticing the inverse, I used to race downhill and had much more bike control than I do now, then I started getting into roadie stuff a bit more and training for triathlons. This meant that I became fitter but was riding offroad less and stopped DH, I found Im much better at xc now than before basing this on a marked improvement in race results.

Iain

I'm surprised that I'm still getting better at 35 (I know that might not be that old for some). I was probably more gung ho 10 years ago, but these days I'm much better at assessing things and doing bigger stuff. Mind you I haven't a bad crash in ages… (why did I say that!)

youth is wasted on the young, so somebody said. i managed a few wins in my teens/twenties but looking back i beleive it was in spite of my training methods rather than becuase of them. now that i know how to get the best out of myself, i find i am too old.

ddmonkey – similar thoughts in my thread re older riders and 'keeping it'

So … are all these younger riders going to be riding when they're in their 50's and above?

So its not just me feeling shonky at 35 then! If anyone has a magic formula to keep away the aches and pains let me know. I was practising wheelies today and now feel like I've been kicked in the crown jewels about 20 times! Cheers Ian I'll have a look at your thread for tips.

cinnamon_girl – Member
So … are all these younger riders going to be riding when they're in their 50's and above?

I worry about the downhill lads. They're doing similar stuff to what we used to do on motorbikes when I was young.

Many of my mates from those days suffer from so many cumulative injuries that they just stopped all physical activity.

i have been riding bikes for longer than i can remember, but im still rubbish 🙁 im not very old though, perhaps that is a viable excuse 😆

iain gillam – are you my long lost twin brother – your story sounds oh so familiar.

coming from a dh background really helps in the skills department !

I didn't start riding until I was 35 and until I was in my mid 40's I was getting faster because I used to push myself all the time. Now I don't feel the need to do that any more, and I'm getting slower every ride (I don't supose being 52 helps either) 😥