Not a troll, but a genuine question. With all the talk of ‘gravel bikes’ (weren’t they CX bikes last year?) and ditching ‘endurosleds’ for XC machines – excusing those whose trails simply don’t warrant it – at what point did you decide you couldn’t push it any further?

Now I’m no riding god by any extreme – 30ft hucks have never been my thing and probably never will be, but from starting to ride an MTB around ’93 (aged 22), every year has been an evolution in my riding. Now 44, I still try to ride bigger and more technical stuff faster and harder. My baby duties were 15 years ago, but being self employed, I still have a sense of responsibility for looking after my family. This doesn’t seem to stop me trying to push myself (albeit, I don’t take silly risks too far outside my comfort zone). I ride with people from late 20’s to late 50’s (the oldest member of our group rides the same trails as the rest of us on a Strive) and we all seem to egg each other on. Most of us ride 160/170mm bikes and push it as hard as possible every ride. I have no desire to wind it in just yet and certainly have no desire for an XC bike.

53, don’t really know the answer to your question. A few faceplates in my late 40’s suggested to me jumping wasn’t my thing – so just smaller pops now or small tables. Injuries racking up a bit so riding less but hoping to get those sorted so I’ll be riding as much. My neighbour with whom I started riding with really cut down on technical terrain after his broke his collar bone skiing at 61

I have this idea that I will get my knees sorted and do the mega-avalanche at 60, have a couple of mates who’ll be there a couple of years before me so I may do it sooner with them 🙂

My ‘going for it years’ involved riding motorbikes,so whenever things got a bit lairy on the MTB I would think ‘if I wanted to scare myself I could do it properly on one of my motorbikes or go back to rock climbing’.
I only properly got into mountain bikes in my early 40’s,& the main reason I got into them was to get fit.I’ve been to Morzine a couple of times & enjoyed it,but last year age 53 I went to Les Arcs & came to the conclusion ‘I’m getting to old for this’.That said I enjoyed Antur Stiniog the other week,but I’ve no intention of going downhilling..

Err, Exactly the same, 43 and having spent 6 Months Road Riding i’m struggling with my Nomad this year, I’ve got the Ar’d rock to do, 10 Days in the Alp’s, Torridon, CYB weekend and all sorts of other big biked sheet to be concentrating on and i’m JUST thinking maybe i should stop being stoopid and calm things down a bit.

I’m not sure if something’s been triggered within as i’m secretly after a Hightower but trying to make out i cant get on with the Nomad and finding any excuse not to get in the Peaks and ride proper stuff, It’s at the back of my mind but dont usually think about it or anything else for that matter whilst riding my bike, something which has caught me out a few times over the years whilst riding, Lack of concentration.

I’ve been riding a long time, Road from being 10-11 Yrs, BMX, Bought my First MTB from a Shop in Sheffield Called Freewheel in about 1988 16 Yrs Old. I refused to go on a School Skiing trip and pleaded that the money go towards my Blue & Yellow Ridgeback MTB or was it an ATB?………..
😕

Convinced that i can still bounce though so i guess i’ve got a few more years left though how many i’m not Exactly sure………

Sat in a Cafe the other day and one cheery old sole advised me to make the most of it, advising me i could only have 10 – 15 more summers left, That struck a nerve i can tell you………. 10 more Xmas’s, Birthdays……..
Then again i could Die in my sleep tonight,

Never!

Except my partner and old parents telling to back down
And be careful.

With all the talk of ‘gravel bikes’ (weren’t they CX bikes last year?) and ditching ‘endurosleds’ for XC machines

Things like this seem to be jumped upon as the saviour from the nasty enduro fluro fashion gods so it only takes one person to say I’m thinking of this and there is a trend. Plenty will just have been roadies etc. who dabble in mtb and are not running back for cover 😉

Most I know who ride gravel/XC/road also ride proper mountain stuff too, maybe it’s geography related where the lack of decent riding and an inbuilt hatred of anything trail centre (spawn of the enduro god/devil) means they would have to kill themselves for turning up.

Maybe there are just some people who were never up for big bikes going back?

Maybe maybe maybe there is no trend 🙂

I’m 49 & just bought a skateboard, what do I know! 🙂

35 and keep getting faster and faster year on year. Even started to get some air of late albeit not very big jumps. At the rate I keep improving, I reckon I’ll be a half decent rider by the time I’m 85! 😆

Spend most of my time on a 160mm FS “Enduuuuro” rig these days, most of my riding is with other people that wait at the top of the climbs (though even on this bike I’m not slowest up these days), and then smash the descents as fast as possible. I do own a very capable HT too that’s mainly used when I know the pace will be sharper and/or winter rides. I also own a CX/Gravel/Callitwhatyouwill bike and a road bike too… But right now it’s the big full sus getting most of the use.

Probably the same as a few others, 43. Last year.

Been to the Alps, done the jumping thing, done the racing thing and thought. “you know what, crashing hurts, lets not encourage it”

I now do mostly generic XC, with the odd Wales trip thrown in, but nothing more Gnar than Afan, Llandegla. I still hurt from my last off at BPW 3 months back, lifes too short to be injured all the time.

I’ve almost set a limit of 50 in my head to stop mountain biking, 4 years to go, baring further injuries. The majority of my riding is winch and plummet, very little in the way of pedally rides.
I have zero interest in riding roadbikes, CX or whatever so will look for a new hobby nearer the time.

I’ll let you know.

I’ve almost set a limit of 50 in my head to stop mountain biking

Why so?

50+ and never ridden better or more. Might not be the fastest but I’m enjoying it more than ever.

55 my body is beat to hell 3 hour ride on the rigid yesterday and ache all over,maybe nows the time.

For most I think it will be ride until you can’t rather than telling yourself to stop.

I’m 44 and have no intention to stop riding my mtb just yet.

In the last 4 years I’ve had some of the worst offs in 30+ yrs of riding bikes.

I think a little bit more before I do something too technical but then again I’ve always been a wheels on the ground type rider and rock gardens with added gnaaarr have no interest.

I’ve realised that injuries are taking longer to heal (I’m 43) so I’ve changed my goal from trying to be fasted downhill to now trying to be fasted A-B. That means I can have an excuse to be slower down the hills and avoid injuries, but still have a little kudos from being faster up the hills and going the longest distance…

45 here.
Swapped my Meta for a Cannondale Trigger last year, and have a road bike.
CYB weekend coming up, followed by a Peebles weekend in Aug. 100 mile sportive in July.
Morzine last year (and will return) and I’m sure I’ll do the occasional DH/uplift day.

Had a few big stacks in my time and think about some stuff more than I used to – don’t like getting hurt cos it hurts 😉

Never been that fit and certainly not now but I can’t imagine not having bikes for a good while yet.
I intend to ride for as long as I can.

Started in 1987 and still getting the buzz. Was at the EWS this weekend and now looking to fit a trip in at some time to ride the amaizing trails.
No chance of calming down.

I’ve been pondering this. I’m 50 and still pushing myself on the tech and jumps but I have got into bikepacking in the last two or three years so many trips away have been more about adventure and getting out there than pure techy riding. Still, off to Molini tomorrow, so I should find out if I’m still up to/for it.

61 this year. Realised that competing in our Enduro races was a bit silly, but I still ride most of the same trails,just at my pace,without “Raceface” on.
Didn’t change bikes,just ride the same trails,big loops,at a speed that I’m comfortable with on the day.

Age is unlikely to stop me, boredom might though. As long as I enjoy riding, I’ll ride. The day I get bored, I’ll stop and go do something else more interesting.
Cyclings my main hobby, but I also windsurf, paddleboard and sail.

Therefore, I’ll ride until I fall off and can’t get back on again.

48 and still an idiot

Don’t calm down just get better income protection

I found that an OTB and the resulting broken back (three crush fractured vertebrae) helped put things in perspective. I came to mtbs from hillwalking and mountaineering, and mtbs have just been another tool to explore the hills and mountains. The broken back just reminded me of that at age 47.

Stopped raving in my late 20’s.
Stopped riding DH in my mid 30’s.
But still trying my hardest in my late 30’s.

I suppose the only thing that changes is the time available to ride meaning you become crap. And a little bit more sense of preservation.

61 and still trying.

My strava times are getting faster on the downhills, a few crashes though, nothing serious.

My main worry is the effort on the climbing. Typically a normal ride for me is around 900 metres of climbing, relatively slowly, but not crawling along either.

the issue for me is that the next day my left inner thigh always hurts, and I wouldn’t be able to ride any distance at all.

I can see me getting an e bike in the near future just so I can continue without the pain the next day.

the issue for me is that the next day my left inner thigh always hurts

that’s probably down to position or set up of the bike though rather than age
IANAD though!

Purposefully not reading the replies to this, 41 years old and in denial about ever having to ‘calm down’.

This is actually a good thread 🙂
I’m kinda in the same boat my self! Mounting biking for 24 years now and I’m 45! just 8weeks in after my second nasty off in 8 months!! Both times broken ribs first 3 weeks off work, this time ribs and separated shoulder 6/8weeks! Self employed to.
Mind you since leaving my full time job at the end of 2013 I’ve just got quicker then ever, which of cause means faster,harder crashes. Only really good thing is my head is still in the game can’t wait to get back on the bike, but am wondering if I should my be change how I ride to some degree stop trying to keep up with these youngsters who I ride with(I’m the eldest in group by 11years) mind you strava times where all pretty much on top of each other regards the downhills.
But the healing takes soooooo long now and the weight comes on soooooo easy!What with chocolate digestives being £1 at tesco’s express 😆

48 was when I properly made that decision.

Been riding MTB’s since the late 80’s, racing downhill in the 90’s and thoroughly enjoying looning about on bikes with increasing suspension front & rear.

In recent years, maybe the last 4 or 5 I’ve slowly stopped enjoying that side of it so much. This came to a head when I was 48 at BPW which I wasn’t enjoying anywhere near as much as I expected and culminated in me smashing my shoulder up quite badly.

since I’ve been back on the bike I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself just riding it off piste and not so much constantly challenging myself with more & more extreme stuff.

I still have challenges, but they’re different now, not so adrenaline fuelled.

Didn’t start ridding till I was 45 , now 53 and luvin it .

“Calm down”??
Nope.
Never gonna happen.
Not whilst I’m still breathing.
I’m alive when I shouldn’t be.
I’m walking when I shouldn’t be.
I’m riding when I shouldn’t be.

If I calmed down even my kids would have a go at me.

20

Tried enduro bikes, got faster, decided I preferred the lotus 7 handling off an XC bike rather than Mitsubishi Evo style of Enduro.

I’ve always been terrified of riding my MTB, going up hills or down hills. I’ve never had the balls to jump a set of doubles on any sort of bike and am generally a cycling pussy. I’m 41.

Your all just bairns as my Geordie missus would say. Just ride what you feel comfortable with at a speed you are comfortable with. I got into mtb in 1987 after off road m/cycling and have never stopped. I have never been very fit, even less so after a major motor bike crash a few years ago but I still get out at least twice a week . This year I have done the Trans Cambrian had a week in Scotland, a week in the dales and will have a few more away trips I hope. If I can do this at 67 you babies can do a lot more. I too am conscious of the march of time and am only too aware I don’t have that long left. (This is good emotional blackmail when I point this out to the wife after buying another bike!)
Don’t navel gaze just do what you want to the best of your abilities.

44 now and still trying to get faster. I’ve had a couple of OTB’s and I’ve come to realise that I’m taking longer to heal than when I was a young’un. I’ve also developed what I call the fear.

Martin, I think I can relate to the Fear.
I’m struggling coming to terms with this, not sure if i have just got more sensible or if something has brought this rational thinking on.

FOG, from your advice re Naval gazing, I’ve just signed up for the RTTS on another thread, always fancied one of these race the night type events so hopefully I can tick this one off,

I’m 41 and am still attempting not to hurt myself- I linked my first snowboarding turns together last night at the local dry slope 😀 It does take longer to mend after hurting myself though, and it’s always at the back of my mind that I do (figuratively) have to be at work tomorrow (self employed, can’t work = don’t get paid). I’m not as fit* or as fast as I used to be but I’m doing stuff now that I wanted to do when I was younger but couldn’t afford to do- like learning to snowboard and doing a few DH races. I’d love to get into 4X but there’s nowhere local enough up here (County Durham in case anyone knows of anything!)

Life’s a ride. It’s not about getting to the end in perfect, preserved condition with millions in the bank, it’s about getting to the end all used up and knackered with a huge grin on your face (Bill Hicks?). If you can manage to adhere to Rule 1** throughout, so much the better 😀

* actually, I am fitter now than I used to be 10 years ago- thanks BMX and yoga!

** don’t be a ****.

I turned 40 late last year and am definitely noticing a lengthening time period when it comes to repairing!
However, a good friend of mine is races Super Vets in the BDS, came second in the Vets National Champs DH several years back and is currently helping to set-up a MTB holiday company in Italy which features some VERY big lines. Rich is currently my moving target of what’s possible.

I’ve also a friend I used to nightride with. He did stop nightriding and shifted to just riding during the day because his eyes found it hard, but at 72 I didn’t begrudge him that. 🙂

42 this year and don’t intend to slow down – I still want to get better. Recently I have started wearing pads for anything other than pure mile-munching XC. I take longer to heal and don’t want to miss more riding time than I have to.

I say this knowing I don’t do drops more than 6-8 feet maximum, don’t jump angling other than kickers or small tabletops and doubles! I do like riding steep terrain and more technical riding though.

I started riding rigid mountain bikes approx 30 years ago and ‘MTBing’ then was riding out to the countryside, smoking a couple of spliffs and finding a fast downhill stretch. I would never drive anywhere to cycle- the road work was part of the ride.
For the past 13 year my bikes have gradually increased in travel and going from trail to ‘AM’ to DH to ‘Enduro’ and driving everywhere to get to a ‘decent’ trail.

I’ve started losing interest in technical riding and starting to enjoy country rides from my door again (with a camera rather than a spliff)