older riders

[johnsondasw]

I'm not sure what your situation is, but most communities have a formal or informal riding group.  Just hook up with them and go for it.  Ask around at the local bike shop.  Often there ar e different levels offered for fast/medium/slow, etc.  I live in a very small rural town in the mountains and therefore am not able to do this.  However, Seattle is 85 miles away, and I can ride with the group there, or with friends I know who live there.

When the old man finds out you're out there riding with a social group, he may be tempted to try it out himself.  My wife did not ride until a few years ago, then decided to give it a try and really likes it when she has the time. 

[scott.laughlin]

I am 51, and while whittierider's  words, give me comfort, I am not there yet.

Up until I turned 40, I used to be able to hang with the college kids and leave many of them doubled over and puking.  Since then, age has taunted me.  I have some knee pain that seems controllable as long as a pedal at a good cadence.   I had saddle issues that went away once I switched over to leather saddles.   I have recently had prostrate issues, but a leather saddle with a cut-out, and proper fit seems to be the answer to prostrate issues.

The biggest challenge seems to be keeping balance in my life.

I spent my 30's as a divorced guy, so there were many biking adventures.  I did some pretty cool stuff.  Toured Cape Breton and part of the Continental Divide.  Rode the length of the Keweenau Peninsula, and up one of Michigan's coasts and down the other.  Learned to Eskimo roll a kayak.  Stuff that none of my peers did.

I remarried at at 42, and lets just say that being married is time consuming.  My new bride knew about, but was not prepared for all the time spent paddling and pedaling.  In the end, I kept the wife, kept the bikes, and scaled back the boats.  Last year I sold my fancy British touring kayak to pay for my new custom touring bike.  My riding partners also married, and it seemed we spent a lot less time riding together.

When I entered the work force as a novice engineer in 1981, engineers were treated as a treasured resource.  This decade is lot more different.  We are up against the pressure to can us and ship the work to India.  We are up against the pressure to replace us with younger workers.  Never mind that I don't choke under pressure and the youngsters do.  I have a hard time finding enough time to ride like I used to.

The good news is that I picked up someone new to ride with.  In the beginning I mentored him along; now I relate to Victor Frakenstein.  If it is above 25F, John drags my sorry butt out for a ride.  You riders from Southern California or Florida probably have never ridden on iced road after dark, but this is how I spent my winter this year.  We will see if I can swing carbide tipped studded tires for next winter.

Also on the good new front is that riding is still the spiritual experience it always was.  I always return home with more than I left with.  I still tour, I just have to find something I can do in less than a week.  And I am still doing stuff that none of my peers do.

I guess that I hold out for my retirement years.  I have this expectation that I will have enough time then to ride all I want.  That I will have trained enough that I can ride like I did as 30-something.  That the absence of stress will make weight management easy like it used to be.

I am OK with slower acceleration--I just want to climb like a billy goat again.

I don't know how close you are with your new bride, but have you considered renting a tandem and giving the long bike a whirl?  If you've not done this before be prepared to invest about 250 miles in this effort before becoming fully coordinated as a team.  Barb and I bought our first tandem nearly 20 years ago and we consider it the best investment we ever made.

Wherever your relationship is going it will arrive there much more quickly on a tandem.

Scott

[whittierider]

have you considered renting a tandem and giving the long bike a whirl?  If you've not done this before be prepared to invest about 250 miles in this effort before becoming fully coordinated as a team.

right.  Tandems are definitely not an instant-gratification thing.  After the first several rides on ours, I was ready to put it in a dumpster and write it off to experience.  In time though, we began to enjoy it a lot.

[DaveB]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my "older riders" post.  I know there are lots of over 50 and beyond out there.  Mostly men, though.  No offense....but where are the women?   I'm a female and have a husband that won't get out and ride, so I go alone.  Can't find other women in over 50 age group who want to ride for fitness and possibly plan some type of tour in the future. 

You don't say where you live but, is there a bike club in your area?  Most recreational and even racing clubs have many women members and joining one should put you in touch with other like-minded women.  Post an "ISO" (in search of") notice in the club's newsletter or web site. 

[paddleboy17]

I don't know how close you are with your new bride, but have you considered renting a tandem and giving the long bike a whirl?  If you've not done this before be prepared to invest about 250 miles in this effort before becoming fully coordinated as a team.  Barb and I bought our first tandem nearly 20 years ago and we consider it the best investment we ever made.

Wherever your relationship is going it will arrive there much more quickly on a tandem.

Scott

My point, which clearly I did not make well, is how hard it is to have a balanced life.
 
My wife Lynn, will be touched that you all think of here as a new bride.  We will celebrate our 9th anniversary this summer.

I will agree about the importance of shared activities for a happy marraige.  I alluded that I scaled back on my boat collection.  I went from 6 kayaks down to 3 kayaks, keeping two matched recreational singles and a recreational tandem.  Lynn does not really like to pedal, but she does like to paddle.  So we paddle in the tandem kayak.  There are similarities with the tandem bicycle experience:  the importance of being a team, and where ever you go--you get there together.

I have thought about a tandem bicycle.  We are a blended family of 6, and 4 out of 4 kids are in college right now.  This brings us back to that balance thing again.  A Santana or Burley tandem is not in my budget any time soon, but I would love to have one.

[scott.laughlin]

You see the big picture.  Press on.

Scott

[BikingViking]

I am 55 and have been touring every summer for the past 5 years with my wife, also 55. (Boy alot of 5's) We take a month long vacation every summer, that work thing gets in the way, and tour different locations. We have done the Norther Tier from Sandpoint Id to eastern North Dakota, another year we did a 1000 mile loop of Northern Minnesota. We have also done some more local door to door tours within the state of Oregon. This year we are planning on the Oregon coast to the Redowoods then to Crater Lake, over the McKenzie pass and then back up the Willamette bikeway. We go fully self supported and rarely eat in a cafe. Camp cooking is half the fun. We have stayed in a motel only 6 times in 5 tours. When we retire we plan on doing the "Wind In Your Back Tour". Basically going whichever way the wind is blowing and see where we end up.
Ride On

[scott.laughlin]

My wife and stopped our pickup camper and gave shelter to a middle-aged tandem couple in Utah a few years back.  They'd been caught in a downpour.  They were visiting all the Utah counties on their tandem.  There was just room for the four of us.  Barb brewed a pot of coffee and we shot the breeze until the rain had passed. 

What a great experience. 

Scott

[Sailor John]

I'm there, will turn 60 in August, will celebrate with my first self supported tour in New Mexico in late September, keep riding, it's always a beautiful day for a bike ride.

[DaveB]

I am 55 and have been touring every summer for the past 5 years with my wife, also 55. (Boy alot of 5's) We take a month long vacation every summer, .....

Do you have any idea how lucky you are and how unusual your situation is? 

[gamcgregor]

Good for you, keep going. I started biking at 50 now 56. Its just as hard to find someone to bike with in my little corner of the world. Port Huron, MI.
I try to get to Fla as much as possible, but jobs make that hard. Belong to a great club down there in North Port. Would love to meet some folks my age or at least close who also would possibly like to go on what would be my first tour some day. Male and/or female. Any way Happy riding.

[jgdavis2@cfl.rr.com]

Testing.  I wrote a nice long note of encouragement and advice and it fail to process.

[icejan]

I'm not sure what your situation is, but most communities have a formal or informal riding group.  Just hook up with them and go for it.  Ask around at the local bike shop.  Often there ar e different levels offered for fast/medium/slow, etc.  I live in a very small rural town in the mountains and therefore am not able to do this.  However, Seattle is 85 miles away, and I can ride with the group there, or with friends I know who live there.

When the old man finds out you're out there riding with a social group, he may be tempted to try it out himself.  My wife did not ride until a few years ago, then decided to give it a try and really likes it when she has the time. 

    The bicycle clubs in my area seem to all be pretty fast road riding groups, but I never thought of posting a specific ISO for women my age and speed, to ride with.  I'm a little too slow for even the slow riders in these clubs, but I could probaly get up to speed if I practiced.  also, I will search some more for more of a social riders group.  You'r right, that might light a little fire under the old man and get him out there more.  Right now he only goes with me about 3 times a year, and that's not enough for me to build up speed and strength, so i need to find other riders.  Don't mind going alone sometimes, but it can get boring, especially cause I like to stop for lunch and stuff.  bye and thanks for the good words. 

[paddleboy17]

Good for you, keep going. I started biking at 50 now 56. Its just as hard to find someone to bike with in my little corner of the world. Port Huron, MI.
I try to get to Fla as much as possible, but jobs make that hard. Belong to a great club down there in North Port. Would love to meet some folks my age or at least close who also would possibly like to go on what would be my first tour some day. Male and/or female. Any way Happy riding.

I used to live in Shelby TWP, but now I live in Northville.  If memory serves me right, both the Slow Spokes and the Clinton River Riders run an annual ride out your way.  You might check with them. Maybe they run weekly rides as well.

[scott.laughlin]

I'm there, will turn 60 in August, will celebrate with my first self supported tour in New Mexico in late September, keep riding, it's always a beautiful day for a bike ride.

What part(s) of New Mexico do you touring?  We own some undeveloped property a half-dozen miles northwest of Pie Town, within a stone's throw (literally) of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.  It's a diverse state.

Scott