[Closed] Just had a thought.. I'm 43 now I may have only 10 years left on the mtb

me too wont stop will just get slower and need more recovery time

[i]When do people retire from mountain biking ?[/i]

In my case, when I can't turn a pedal anymore - hopefully at a lot older than 53 (I'm 45 now).

52, HONC last weekend, SSEC in 2 weeks, SSWC in August........stop worrying enjoy.......

I'm 44 and I'm fitter now than I was last year, five or even ten years ago. I'm just starting in triathlons, running marathons annually and I've got no plans to stop any of this stuff for a very long time. So, I'll not be giving up riding at 53, 63 or 73. I'll pack it in when I'm forced to by ill health.

Have you seriously not met any older riders? They'll wipe the floor with you. Theres nothing to get depressed about, you'll be a better rider in your 60s than you are in your 40s, not least because you'll have the luxury of riding whenever you want. I've met riders in their 80's, clocking up astounding annual milage, who'll leave most folk in their dust.

I sat in the tea hut in Hebden last year with two riders how we're listing the monarchs they can remember

Marshal Bird came 6th in the 2010 Tour Divide, finishing in under 22 days. He was 54 yrs old.

Just turned 56 and probably fitter than I have ever been. Out twice a week with a bunch of other 50 + guys. Know a bloke who is pushing 70 who can burn off just about anyone.

Guy in our club is 63 and still going strong, he also looks about 10 years younger.

You mean I should have given up 5 years ago??
Why did no-one tell me?

I don't think you can have met Cinnamon Girl yet. She'd wipe the floor with your entrails.

50 yrs old here. Not stopping at all and I know a bunch of 50+ MTBers

Moses - Member
I don't think you can have met Cinnamon Girl yet. She'd wipe the floor with your entrails

And then have you stuffed next to teh fireplace

a good friend of mine is 53 and he's still battering down the trails as fast as any of us.....

I met a guy powering up a brutal climb in the Alps last June.
He was 67. Strong as a bull. He'll be riding for another twenty years.
Probably best to 'keep calm and carry on'.

I plan to still be mincing around the trails at 80 if I'm still alive. Probably won't be much different to now, although with another 40 years plus practice I'm hoping to have my manualing sorted by then.

I think that Ned Overend won the US national single speed in 2010? is he not around 55. [url= http://http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/pro-bike-ned-overends-specialized-rockhopper-sl-singlespeed-27076/ ]Ned Overend[/url]

I did a race with my 54 year old Dad on Sunday,, I think he's fitter than he has been for years. My mum (52) regularly beats women half her age and rides with retired guys in their 60s and 70s who can make my legs hurt!

why worry about your age... ride til you drop I say 🙂

We did the Beinn a Ghlo loop a couple of weeks back with a guy in his late 60s.

There are a group of riders aged 75 plus who ride Cycle Oregon every year. That's 500 miles plus in a week with 25,000 feet of climbing.

I'm 47 and and riding the 4300 miles across the States next month.

I only wish I could ride more.

Very envious of your trip, mcmoonter. I hope you'll be blogging (or whatever) as you go..?

My father is 70. He did the MTB Marathon the other weekend.

Out of the 10 regulars I ride with he's 5th fastest, so I guess he's got a few years left in him yet.

55 here & still ride with the local group-getting a bit harder to keep up with the really young'uns but still managing. Feel fitter this year than ever-probably down to singlespeeding for the last 18 months or so-(whoops, shouldn't tempt providence I suppose). Getting the miles in is the secret I think!

43? Only 43??? Pah!!! Enough of this whinging. Hardly even reached full strength yet.

I'm 55, and riding/racing as good as ever. There's just one bloke who keeps beating me in MTB races in my area/category, and he's sixty bleedin three!!!!

SB

Why would you stop? Only reason I can think for stopping is if you don't want to do it anymore. Daft post.

I'm the OP. I ride very regularly with 2 mates who are both 51 this year and they often beat me.

But still at our age we are counting down the years...

Where the hell did the last 20 years go.

This...

My dad did Strathpuffer this year and turned 60 last month. I think you're allowed to keep riding if you want to 🙂

I did Trans Provence 2010 (320km tough trails across the maritime alpes over 7 days with 26 timed stages) aged 51. I only managed 22 of the 26 timed stages but I didn't come last! I regularily wonder how much longer I'll have left but it is my dream to do Trans Provence 2012 if it runs as I want to complete all 26 timed stages. I'll be 53 by then...........

Most of us aren't riding that hard though. You could try fell racing for some truly humbling performances from the pensioners. Do us a favour and slow down will you, you're making people look bad.

Age is not the issue; it's having good health and fitness. Of course, these decline with age and the onset of serious illness is sometimes unavoidable. But you can make choices to prolong your well-being like eating well, avoiding too much stress, training, avoiding crashes etc.

And then finally, there's always road cycling to look forward to. 😆

Check out the results of the Three Peaks Cyclo Cross, there's a M70 category.

Last year was at a Saab Salomon "Hellrunner" event. The guy who won the over 70s category completed a truly hellish course in an amazing time. When asked, he said he was actually a bit dissapointed with the time but that maybe it wasn't so bad considering he'd done London Marathon the weekend before...

I suggest you get to 80 before starting to think about "retiring..."

Not sure how old the oldest guy I've ridden with is but he's definitely above 53 and is a lot fitter than I will be for some time!

Don't panic. You are having a mid-life crisis. I suggest you buy another bike

Dad was 59 when we took him to the alps.
Still riding now at 63.

My Dad riding Glen Kinglass aged 65 (with Trek Y-Frame!) back in 2005:

[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2072/2093401245_9bdec2b03d.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2072/2093401245_9bdec2b03d.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jondouglas/2093401245/ ]DPP_0020[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jondouglas/ ]alanach_d[/url], on Flickr

Still riding and still super fit approaching his 70th birthday (on a newer Specialized FSR).

yay! I'm 48 and had the same doubts as the original poster. Gladdend to see that folk older than me are still getting out. I suppose the secret is to stay fit and not pick up needless injuries that might last so long as it seriously affects fitness.

That said, I was at Cwm Carn the other day....

The desire to get out and ride fades before the ability. That's the nice thing about getting old - you don't rage futilely against the diminishing powers, you just think "mmm, I think I'll give it a miss today and take it easy".

Not me though - a great day out at Nant yr Arian with a couple of mates on Friday and a sharp 3 hours on Cannock Chase on Sunday (plus shopping on the bike on Saturday and popping into town (with Mrs BigJohn, also on her bike) on Sunday night. 57.

Oh, and you DO bounce still. If you fall hard enough.

55 here, and probably fitter than I've ever been Seem to be climbing better than ever but definately getting slower on the descents. It seems to take a lot longer to recover from injuries the older you get and after some bad stacks in previous years I'm a lot more careful now. Doing quite a bit on the road this year and so far am enjoying it but heart definately lies with mountain biking. If my body holds up fully intend to keep going till I drop.

Overtook some guy who must have been in his 70s on a tourer the other day, and subsequently nearly killed myself trying to put some distance between us.

Every time I looked round he was grimacing and gaining on me.

Probably says more about me than him though.

FCOL GAG man!

There's no expiry date on my body nor my mountain bikes. 🙄 Just back from a single speed ride around Swinley Forest and there's definitely no age restriction on the trails!

I'm over 50 and apart from this darn thyroid problem, there's nowt wrong with my body. Six months ago I got a carbon 140mm travel fs bike and am descending faster than ever, what a hoot. 🙂

Now the dark side is beckoning and also feel a touring bike is not far away. Try and stop me. 😀

One life - enjoy it.

Moses - you must be thinking of someone else!

I'm 48 and have no plans on backing off for the forseeable. Two of the fittest guys I know at our running club are 50+.

I'll be 57 next birthday and I still ride MTB and road bike several days/evenings a week. Struggle with the sheer explosive power of the guys I ride with (most of whom are at least 20 years my junior) but I can usually out last them. Also do a bit of cycle touring on mainland Europe of couple of times a year. Hope to keep riding some kind of bike for the rest of my life. My role model is my great-uncle who was still riding well into his 90s. His only concession in the last few years of his riding was that he pushed up the hills once he'd bought the weekly shop and loaded it onto the bike!!!

I'll be 54 in 30 something days time, no one told me I was going to have to stop! 🙄

I am nearly 54 and I am now dabbling in DH biking.... 8)

age is just a number.. you have but one life... live it!

not mtbing, but while up in kinlochewe bunkhouse a couple of years ago, this group came in, youngest was 60 and the oldest pushing 80, cycling about the highlands, 80-100 miles per day, great craic so they were, absolute inspiration, i hope to be doing similar when i'm their age..

anyhow me and my mate were talking about this last week also, 'fitter than last year' is now our mantra!

I recently turned 40, and have been moping about it a bit. This is a very positive thread - thanks everyone for the big bucket of MTFU.

what do you reckon ? Still riding at 53.. ?

How old are you ?

53 😛 . . . and wot davy-g said 😈

In our mtb group oldest bloke is far over 60 years and he is one of the best biker in our group. We mainly ride technical (rocky and rooty) single tracks. I am now 43 y. and I hope, that I still have at least 20 y left in my mtb career.

Only 51, but my racing and riding plans take me up to 65.
A lot of the old fellas I know are very fit.

Funnily enough I was on a 200k training session today, and I couldn't believe how well I'm still going. Got overtaken in the last few miles by some MTBers on road bikes 😳 mind you I was cooked.

I think they say 'wind ya neck in'

Some of us didn't [b]start[/b] mountain biking until we were 53 . . .

51 here no plans to stop riding for at least two decades.

Go mama! Go Tess!

8)

I ran my 10k PB in 2003 (was 30) and thought age would slow me. With less training I raced last year and was only 30 secs slower. But guess what, even tho I was in top 20, almost everyone ahead was older...
You stay as fast and fit as you want to IMO 🙂

I'm 51 and thinking about buying a new bike later this year.

consider yourself lucky sunshine

my gf started mountain biking at 54...........

A guy in our club is a regular on rides, the other week he did High Street, followed a few days later by High Cup Nick, at the age of 74.

I'll be 54 in 30 something days time, no one told me I was going to have to stop

STOP

49 in july. just a bit slower. cant seem to keep up with 20 year olds up the hills, trying more stuff each week, enjoy

Seen a 62 year old riding A.M climbs and downhills.

Still had years left in him and a ****ing nice bike too!!

In his 50's my dad did

Ran the yorkshire 3 peaks in under 5:30
Did the welsh 3000's twice

I did my first fell race in December, windchill c-15 to -20 and I had just been overtaken on the approach to the summit by this guy, who proceeded to finish about 8 or 9 minutes ahead of me and I was mid table. AWSOME, well into his 60's

[img] [/img]

The beauty about getting older is that you become more secure in doing what you want to do so the opportunities to enjoy yourself actually increase; something for the OP to look forwards to 8)

I'm not as fast as I once was, my eyes aren't as good and I enjoy far too much fine food than is conducive to riding uphill but I still love throwing a leg over the bike in my 50s. A group of my riding buddies are off to Morzine later this year; 3 are in their 60s and another 3 in their 50s. The hardest part of getting older is keeping up with the ever-developing social media to keep abreast of what's happening in the MTB world! 🙂

im 43 this year. you only grow old when you stop

40 Today ... So thanks for all the inspiring stuff, looking forward to another 40 years on a bike!

I'm 46 and enjoying my new Anthem 29er…just completed a 24hr and one of the competitors putting in good lap times was 66 - so I figure that I'm good for another 20 years and a few bikes yet!

I love this thread! 😀

All these older folk laughing at us younger ones for being a bunch of lightweights, and dusting us in races; and quite right too!

In a couple of weeks I'll be 59 and I'm enjoying riding as much as at any time over the last 20 plus years. I think that I'm riding better than I used to and I'm definitely getting out a lot more.
I can't see me giving up unless ill health forces me to do so, although what I'd do without riding bikes I really don't know...

As far as considering giving up at 43 - I only [b]started[/b] riding mtb's when I was in my late 30's.

Tess,

You'll have some competition in the TP this year. I happen to know that there's a 59 year old taking part this time!

All these older folk laughing at us younger ones for being a bunch of lightweights, and dusting us in races; and quite right too!

& I've got all me own teef y'know

43! thats 20 years older than mrsconsequence... time to retire and buy some slippers i think old man! 😆

i'll be in a wheelchair by the time i'm that ancient so realistically i should really spend all my savings on shiny bikes and enjoy them now yes? 😀

Did anyone see 'The Adventure Show' this week? This man ran the 'Carnethy five' - 5 big hills off road in February for the 43rd year- tough race - he was 78!

Thats a very defeatist out look on life, and if thats how you feel then quite probably you will be old before your time 🙂

I know lots of people in their 50 + who are incredibly fit and have no intention of packing it in because they are too old.

The only thing to say of course is that the older you get the more chance that falling off the bike etc will result in a broken hip or a bad fracture that doesnt heal as well etc. But hay thats life.

51. Finished the Kielder 100 last year. Not last and not the oldest. Probably give it a miss this year while I focus on getting better at drops and jumps. Looking forward to the Gravity Enduro

Suddenly I feel much younger-didn't realise there were so many kindred spirits on here 🙂

Started MTBing in 92 at the age of 30. Had a few years break at the 'turn of the century' but got back into it again 2003-ish.

New trails, new bikes, new kit I'll stop when I'm dead.

riding is about that inner child, i ride and i can hear him giggling 🙂

Slightly off topic but a pal of mine got a Pb at london this year. Fastest time for 10 years. Granted only 3 min faster that his last pb.
But at 50+ [Not sure exactly] A 2hr.55min marathon aint bad! He has just set up a new running company to, guiding in yorkshire.
So isnt it a case of get on with it and buy better suspension if you really have to? 😀

riding is about that inner child, i ride and i can hear him giggling

watching footage from rides made me realise its not my inner child giggling, its me! i giggle a lot whilst riding and didnt even realise

riding is awesome 😀

A guy in our club is a regular on rides, the other week he did High Street, followed a few days later by High Cup Nick, at the age of 74.

I'm a youngster at 44, so I've a while to go before I can retire but I intend to ride Lakes and Calderdale every day when I do 🙂

riding is about that inner child, i ride and i can hear him giggling

That's [b]exactly[/b] it. Nail on Head.

Jedi-Quote of the week 🙂

age is only numbers, you must listen to your body and adapt to what it will allow. one thing though is a cert do it now cause they'll be a time when you cant and wished you had..

http://pre65trials.blogspot.com/

we few we happy few