Will baby boomers live much longer than expected?
 

I remember about 10 years ago, it was mostly the hipster types that I saw on bicycles commuting to work. Now, it feels ike more than 60% are over 40 years of age, and probably about 20% in the baby boomer age bracket. Cycling seems to be not that popular for people under 30 like it used to be, especially as a form of commuting. It is nice to see older people being active while those younger ones will probably all die early from being indoor too much. And if they do go out, they prefer those all battery operated electric scooters.

:50:

My dad passed at 53, so i'm already ahead of the game.

I think e-bike really changed the game. Most older people buy ebikes to commute so I see them zip by me all the time. I think circa 2030 we will see a bunch of those rare 1970s/1980s lugged steels on ebay when BB hoarders finally decide to downsize.

likely a shift in numbers from a possibility of the younger groups more risky behavior in riding.

Less of a younger population can make it seem like a higher % in older aged riders.

my father passed at 55, I am 56 and in much better health than he was.

Maybe where you live. Not where I live.

Got any credible source to support your “seems”? 🧦

"Anecdotal observation" does not equal "fact."

It’s funny, a lot of kids, around 10 yo, I see on bikes are riding e-bikes. No BMX, but small wheeled e-bikes. It is pretty crazy.

John

I do not see fit people riding e-bikes. Just my anecdotal observation.
I will do an exploratory study to make sure it passes the strict opinion requirement of BF.

Don’t think I’ve seen one kid riding one in the 6th most populous city in the US. What I have seen are more kids riding regular bikes.

What percentage of American population is fit? US and Mexico are vying for the first place in the world for population obesity.

Where I am, I see people of all ages cycling. :)

But commuting isn't hugely popular because of the hills, traffic and lack of bicycle storage in this area.

I think the OP is mostly correct, the title not so much. E-bikes are multiplying exponentially, and it's NOT by any stretch just old geezers. I also see 30 somethings going crazy with E-pogo stick boards. I am also seeing more and more wee tykes with parents, they ride very well too.
Our parents from the 1920s, at least the ones that didn't smoke, are the ones who lived the longest. Lots of them are still not dead. My mum and dad were 97.5 and 91.5, the longest of my relatives. I have pics of my dad riding/ posing for his 90th B-day.
I do see lots of oldies on CF bikes, who use their car racks to go pretend peloton in quiet places. But many other Boomers are dying way young with cancer.

It would just be like the Boomers to hang around longer.

Yes and we are hoarding the world's supply of bikes while we're at it.:D

So much empirical data :thumb:

In the United States, the overall cancer death rate has declined since the early 1990s. The most recent Annual Report to the Nation, released in March 2020, shows that overall cancer death rates decreased by:

• 1.8% per year among men from 2001 to 2017
• 1.4% per year among women from 2001 to 2017
• 1.4% per year among children ages 0–14 from 2013 to 2017

From this page.

Otherwise, however, GamblerGORD seems to be right.

Awww, somebody didn't wave....

Todays youngsters probably doomed to die with fat butts, head bent forward, and huge thumbs, from being on their smart phones so much. :)

I don’t know what that peloton comment even means.

I'm assuming the estimates are roughly good ones, having taken into account all the obvious things. Advancements in medicine and treatment, changes in diet and lifestyle, changes in physical fitness, mental approach (ie "70 is the new 60"). Overall, I would think the formal estimates are going to be shown to be reasonably good.

It'll be an interesting thing to eval the estimates in about two years, once the age-group impacts of the SARS-CoV-1 virus turn up in the stats and have been analyzed. Stuff like that can take a decent "bite" out of any higher-risk age group. I hope that with the past 20yrs' worth of changes in lifestyle, fitness and diet, that even with "hits" like a global virus it'll turn out that overall age-group lifespan and levels of healthiness improve in such groups.

I don't know if we'll live longer than expected, but I predict that it will seem that way.

Especially to our children, who will have to deal with parents who are still physically healthy but mentally bonkers. And if you're not sure what I'm talking about, let me tell you about my 83-year old mother.

I've seen that before, up close and personal, as they say. This world seems to drive us all crazy, either sooner or later. For some of us, it's not a very long drive.