[Closed] what age do you give up cycling ?

Warton - i can think of a lot worse ways to go.

Warton,what a way to go! I'm 48,as fit as ever. No plans to pack in.
A chap in our club is 74,just having a Yeti 5 built-up. He's an inspiration to us all.

I would hope I never give up even if it's pootling to the shops... I'll just get a bigger spread of gears (actually I may even get gears!)

crusty old cyclists are to be wary of, they don't bother sprinting but have gazillions of years of conditioning, and can hold a tempo. Whenever my uncle Dennis (GB tricycle TT champion in the 70s, which is technically a world champ as anyone was welcome to enter 🙂 says 'oh I don't do racing or anything like that any more' I never believe him, he'd still hammer us all

Age is just a number, allright, some are higher than others. After being harrassed by my 29 year old son to get a MTB, I did! I havn't looked back since, and love the regular rides into the peaks and visiting trail centres around the country. Too old my arse!

FGS I've never heard anything so pathetic. 45? That's only 10 years older than me. I won't be giving up in 10 years. Go to the Cavendish Pavillion at Bolton Abbey on a saturday morning, then you'll see what an old cyclist looks like!!

Did a time-trial a few years ago, a 25m. I had a handicap of about 5mins, most people had 5-10 mins, the odd person with something-teen and one guy with a 35min handicap. I asked how come he got such a big one and got the answer 'Well, he is 84.'
He did 25miles in around one hour 30. Hope I'm that quick at his age.

Also, a friend in his late fifties or early sixties I see at the races tells a storey of taking his road bike to the Pyranees, which ends with '...doing 78mph. I could have gone faster but I got scared.'

Some people are 'old' in their 20's. It's only a state of mind and judging by the replies, most of us (I'm 50) would not consider that there is a specific time to hang up your pedals. Most of the people I see on the trails around here ie. those who have ridden their bikes for any distance are 40++.

I've spent today building up a 456 and am gutted that I didn't finish it before it got dark as my lights are knackered.

The people who think you should stop doing certain things at certain ages "because it's a young mans/womans sport" are the ones missing out.

BTW one thing that really annoys me are reps in ski resorts who assume that you ski because of your age.

Conversation 2 years ago -
Rep: will you be hiring ski's sir.
Me: No thanks
Rep: You have your own ?
Me: No
Rep: Well there's lots of things to do for non-skiers.
Me: I know
Rep: Would you like some details?
Me: No thanks
.............Rep moves swiftly onto next person
Me: Excuse me, I'll need a ski pass please
Rep: A ski pass ?
Me: Yeh, at my age I get a bit knackered if I have to walk back up the slopes all day carrying my board !!

.....it never ends, I still ride cross, xc and road

61 this year, just bought a new road bike and off to the pyrenees in July. I'd like to do some more cycle touring when I get older!

My girlfriends Mum asked me when I was going to 'grow up' and stop riding bikes.

I replied I'll stop moving when I'm dead.

63 next month and seven years after a heart attack...did 20k over the purbecks on sunday after five weeks off with shin splint and could have done another 20k if it hadnt been so friggin cold!

There are some great stories here!
Made me smile no end.

Question though:

im struggilg a lot more now

So, get some lights, hook up with some other riders and just pedal - simple I know, but it's what will see you doing just that for many years to come. Stop and getting back into the saddle becomes ever more difficult, especially as fitness comes slower the older you are, but getting back your fitness after a layoff if doubly difficult the longer you leave it.

So just keep up the riding would be my advice as it definately has proven long term implications for your physical and mental wellbeing.

PS - The only real drawback to age as I can see it, is trying to remember where it is exacly you left the bike!

We bounce less well

is that true or another age fib ?

i have trouble remembering where i leave my car half the time... then remember i walked to work that day ! oh dear...lol.....

Simon - of course.
Go and talk to anyone in the fractures clinic of any NHS.
I had the pleasure of taking my mother to several such appointments in the summer. She'll take 2 years to mend and her consultant related a couple of annecdotes about similar breaks in different aged patients and they were up and about far, far quicker than a woman in her mid 70's.

Now where did I leave my zimmer frame?

and her consultant related a couple of annecdotes about similar breaks in different aged patients

but that's osteoporosis - is there any evidence that people become any more fragile before that kicks in ? I fall off my bike all the time, but usually a day or 2 later I'm fine

I've got osteopenia (osteoporisis for the under 60's) and had a broken hip as a result.

Bone density is on a scale you don't suddenly become brittle - it just creeps up on you with age. There is evidence that cyclists are more prone to low bone density than other sports due to lack of impact (l;ess so with mtb's I guess) and also that sweating a lot leeches calcium out of your body so cyclists who tend to exercise for longer are also at risk.

it just creeps up on you with age

what, not only if you're a lazy git and don't apply loads to your bones ?

There is evidence that cyclists are more prone to low bone density than other sports due to lack of impact

hmmm, that's not how it feels to me 😐 Ow, ow, ow 🙁

and also that sweating a lot leeches calcium out of your body so cyclists who tend to exercise for longer are also at risk.

presumably only if you have a calcium deficient diet ?

"a calcium deficient diet ?"

I think you have to make a point of eating more calcium than a 'normal' person so, yes, in that respect you are calcium deffiecient if you just eat the recommended amount. I think the problem is that until somethign snaps you don't know you have an issue.

Interesting view on it [url= http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/16/health/he-cycling16 ]here[/url]

"[cyclists] more likely to have osteopenia and osteoporosis than those in the control group, despite the fact that the cyclists had a greater calcium intake."

I'm looking forward to a retirement of long day rides.

I expect to be meeting lots of old buggers in the hills. Cycling is good for old people 'cos its low impact right? As long as you don't fall off.

You don't see that many old MTBers because the sport is new. See quite a few roadies and tourers.

Cycling is a low-impact sport that puts little mechanical load on the bones.

I wish this were true :o)

Boardmen gave up due to lack of bone density thingy didnt he. I have the same hip problems as Llyton Hewitt the tennisist. I could cycle again if I had a hip replacement but I'm currently waiting to see if the two hip operations I've already had were successful.

it's all relative simon - compared with running we're bad, compared with swimming good.

compared with running we're bad, compared with swimming good.

the article was talking about athletes so lazy people like me need not be concerned 🙂

Also nearly everyone I've ever talked to that runs mentions stress injuries...

We had a chap who was in his 70's still riding round on a 3000 quid mountain bike near us.

He was a legend, spent his whole life womanising, smoking pot, and drinking everything your not meant to, used to thoroughly enjoy his tales of going to the gym to letch on flesh a quarter of his age, some would call him a pervert or a sex pest and you'd probably have been right 😈

Almost predictably lung cancer got the better of him, he was still on a bike about 2 weeks before the end. Sound bloke who'd do anything for you.

Stay on the bike is the gist of this...

Rode in France with a guy that's 71 proper fast, found out he was ex GB though.
Like the way he refers to things like Camelbaks as water butts and Fixies are ever-pedals, and he get proper cross at the sight of a frayed cable 🙄

44 when i started nearly 3 years ago, our local club has plent of guys in thier 50s and a couple over 60 .

I was told that if you are old, and break something, you get a lower priority in the NHS compared to a younger person. A form of Triage maybe?

I'd hate to find out that is true the hard way.

you get a lower priority in the NHS compared to a younger person

I went to see if I could get a replacement finger joint yesterday and was told I was too young...

Can't see that being the case in anything other than a major incident.
Can you imagine: 10 patients arrive in ambulances and private vehicles at A&E and the only criteria is age! Broken finger of a 10 year old is seen to before broken hip and leg of a 60 year old in massive pain on the guerney.

PS - Why do you want a replacement joint? I'm having the same issue with Wiggle as they don't seem to sell jockey wheels for XT reat mech's 😉

My dad is 66 in July and still hoons it around Brechfa every weekend. Don't think there's a cap to an age to stop riding. I'd like to think that I could still ride after I stop driving but don't really want to think about giving up to be honest

Why do you want a replacement joint?

dislocated middle left finger 5 years ago, now limited movement 🙁
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There was a 72 year old doing an ironman tri-athlon on tv last wk and he was'nt last!

take the metalwork out simon it can't be helping.

Simon - healing of all sorts takes longer the older you get. Its just the nature of the beast.

Being fit will reduce this effect but it remains true - as does decreasing muscle strength with age

healing of all sorts takes longer the older you get

or is it just that's what people expect ?

take the metalwork out simon it can't be helping.

done that thanks:
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38 next weekend haven't been out for months, just feel run down and shagged the whole time....

just feel run down and shagged the whole time....

that's not age!

No simon. Its is a proven physiological fact. As your body ages its repair mechanisms become less efficient.

shagged all the time

I'm struggling with some darn cold or somemsuch which has been hanging about for 10 days now.

This matters as the older you get, the longer it seems to both recover ones fitness but also improve upon fitness levels. 2 weeks out is going to more akin to 1 month's step backwards as far as my own training is concerned at a guess. Woe is me!

As your body ages its repair mechanisms become less efficient.

when ? By how much ? Why haven't I noticed it yet ?

This matters as the older you get, the longer it seems to both recover ones fitness

people keep saying this like a mantra "Every day, in every way, I'm becoming a clapped out old hasbeen". What of positive attitude ? I'm much fitter than I was when I was 30 and get ill less too, my joints work just the same and I can still bite my own toenails (should I choose to)

"Why haven't I noticed it yet ?"

because your brain deteriorates at the same rate and you thus can't remember healing any faster in the past...

Was just re-reading this thread and found it very amusing. However it did cross my mind that if the original poster is suddenly finding it much harder work to ride, he ought to get a medical check up. Seriously. My mum started to find stuff was more and more difficult and put it down to aging, but it turned out all her arterys were blocking up in her neck and she had to have an urgent operation to clear them (heavy smoker). There are other medical things that can cause you to start feeling worn out and tired as well, that could be serious. Might be worth getting it checked. If my mum had not gone to docs over something else, she would have had a stroke or died.

Bernie you've gone quiet, were you hoping we would say it's alright to stop now 😉
I've got a newly discovered heart problem (but I don't like to talk about it more than ten times per thread)
And that's not going to slow me down, off out in a mo infact.
Rather go quick with a heart attack on the bike than rolling round the living room floor with pizza in one hand and the remote in the other.
50 in a weeks time, and I'm making loose plans right up to 70.

because your brain deteriorates at the same rate and you thus can't remember healing any faster in the past...

actually, you're right, I recall faceplanting on Chapel Gate in 2000 on a Sunday and by Wednesday the scab had fallen off, but now sometimes it takes a whole 5 days 🙁

Simon, you must be a marvel of modern science!
I envy you.
I've noticed a deteriation in my physical shape, fitness levels, suppleness in my joints (they most defiantely ache in wet weather) and my ability to recover as the years go by.
I can't do the physical things I could manage even going back 10 years mores the pity.

there was a great letter in the CTC magazine a while back from a man who rode 80 miles to celebrate his 80th birthday. He just narrowly missed his 8hr target due to a long cake stop. I was inspired!

Simon, you must be a marvel of modern science!

or perhaps I'm just not brainwashed into anticipating premature decay ? Instead I've found myself getting fitter, healthier, needing less sleep and happier :o)

Rep: A ski pass ?
Me: Yeh, at my age I get a bit knackered if I have to walk back up the slopes all day carrying my board !!

Too right Woody!!

At 52 I am often the oldest boarder on the slopes, but thanks to the MTB certainly not the slowest or least fit.

🙂 cheers.

Off to the Alps soon :))))

I'm usually the oldest soloist at 24 hour races, almost certainly the oldest on a single speed. (Brain deterioration - can't work out gears)

I have qualified for this years World Solo 24 hour Championship in Oz so I may have to learn how to use gears to have a chance 🙂

Generally speaking I don't suffer much from aches and pains, even after long rides, except when I have been off the bike for a period, eg travel, injury. I think it's important to ride conservatively when you age because injuries keep you off the bike much longer (or is that an excuse for me being a woose?)

So to anyone under retirement age, age is no excuse - get on yer bike and stop moaning 😆

Actually gave up at 18 due to back injury but back after 6yrs and again at 26 pelvic fracture for 3yrs...

Give up? never but sometimes we have to stop for a while!

Hats to older ppl hammering away on 24hr solos!

You're old when you're 110yrs old. 8)

I can still bite my own toenails (should I choose to)

No, sorry, you don't get out of that one so easily. Only way you know that for certain is a) you thought about it in the first place and b) you tried the experiment at least once. May not have bitten them but at the very least an attempted mouthing.

clarkpm4242
Lucky git, I still haven't booked anything yet and I've just found out I've been accepted for S.O.R.T (Special Ops Response Team)training right in the middle of my holidays. They must need someone to use as ballast 8)

you tried the experiment at least once. May not have bitten them but at the very least an attempted mouthing.

I'm doing it now - next question ?

I have an unused batch of 72 virgins to bite my toenails. Apparently, their intended master failed to disintegrate...

One day, somewhere in the future, on a bleak moorland singletrack, a group of young riders will have paused to discuss this topic. As they warily contemplate their future and all the inevitable consequences of mortality, a familiar clatter and scuff of wheels will cause them to look back up the trail which they have just warily descended.
A bike will sweep into view, ridden exuberantly but tidily by a grinning skeleton. As the skeleton sweeps through their midst he will nod, courteously, and with a knowing but manic skull grin he will utter but one word...
'Never'
and he'll vanish from the moor onto the perfect trails known only by the spirits.
That'll be me.

56 here;
On Saturday I was out for 5.1/2hrs on the bike.
Sunday = rest & shopping with `er indoors.
Monday = 4hrs on the bike + 3/4hr swim in the evening.
Tues = 1.1/2hr yoga
Today(Wed) = 3hrs hill walking/hunting new trails & finding 😆
Thurs = off to local trail for a few hrs
Fri = still to decide
Sat = more shopping, maybe new camera
Sun/Mon/Tues/Wed = commuting by bike to work.

Give up?......never 😛

Epicyclo: How old did you say you were?
How does one "qualify" for the solo Worlds?

Virgins, you say? They're pretty thin on the ground here - (a reverse pun me thinks). Will a SAE suffice? Please send sample for testing.

Ti29er - Member
Epicyclo: How old did you say you were?
How does one "qualify" for the solo Worlds?

Virgins, you say? They're pretty thin on the ground here - (a reverse pun me thinks). Will a SAE suffice? Please send sample for testing.

Age - mid 60s

Solo Worlds - You qualify by doing the qualifying races and getting a good result. In my case I did some endurance races in Oz last year and did well in age class, plus they looked at my 'Puffer solo results. I usually end up about 2/3 way down the solo class, but that's against all ages. I think that I got my results with a single speed helped my case 🙂

The Worlds has age classifications - except unfortunately in the SS class.

[url= http://www.sip-events.co.uk/solo-home.html ]here[/url]Impressed.
My first stab at solo 24hr at the inaugrial UK champs [url= http://www.sip-events.co.uk/solo-home.html ]here[/url] in Newcastleton at the end of May.
Hoping not to come last!

Nowt to be impressed about (unless it's the virgins) - it's simply a matter of not stopping when you think you're about to die 🙂

I'm thinking of doing that one. Looks interesting.

An 81 year old broke the hour for a 25 mile timetrial last season.Surely the op is taking the piss

My mate's father in law (late 50s) comes out with us often. Whenever we have a break he'll be off to push his bike (with home made disk brake mounts) to the top of the steepest slope nearby and ride down it.

Its really quite impressive.

am i the only one here who doesn't think cycling is the be all and end all in life? yeah, certainly I want to be active long into old age, but all this 'never give up cycling' bollox.... its just one (great) activity among many. my dad waterskied into his late 60's, did he miss out by not being a mountain biker?

am i the only one here who doesn't think cycling is the be all and end all in life?

it's not important, just fun - but we get to choose. For me, waterskiing would be too wet and passive - and given that this is a cycling forum oner might expect some prejudice towards it...

My birthday today...57.

Biked in to work this morning as usual, last weekend in the peak district, tonight is kayak training with my son, planing a big one this summer on Arran and Islay.

My basic rule....keep moving.

When asked "What time does the park close?" the wrong answer is "It closes at 9", the correct answer is "It's open until 9".

Happy days....

Happy Birthday Terrydactyl.

You old goat 😉

Terrydactyl - Member
...My basic rule....keep moving.
...When asked "What time does the park close?" the wrong answer is "It closes at 9", the correct answer is "It's open until 9".

It's not a question of accepting self imposed limitations such as deciding that at a certain age you should stop doing something, but of continuing to do the things you like until you are no longer physically capable of them.

That applies to anything, not just cycling.

It helps if you don't compare your performance in late middle age with that of your youth (or even with that of last year) 🙂

PS Happy Birthday

The older I get, the better I used to be.

Happy birthday, you old dinosaur! 😉

epicyclo
Are you the chap that rode a green Spot singlespeed at the 24s?

'The older I get the better I used to be' That's me, very much to the annoyance of everyone I know.
Suddenly everyone is bloody old on here, I feel a fraud using oldgit when I'll only be 50 in a few weeks. But I supose I am /was a lot older than the guys I ride/rode with.

I know I'll be too old to ride the day I think "hmmm, golf - that could be the sport for me...."

Fortunately I think it'll be a long way off!

oldgit - Member
epicyclo
Are you the chap that rode a green Spot singlespeed at the 24s?

scott_mcavennie2 - Member

My mate's father in law (late 50s) comes out with us often. Whenever we have a break he'll be off to push his bike (with home made disk brake mounts) to the top of the steepest slope nearby and ride down it.

Its really quite impressive.

Is his name Robin by any chance?