New Member, Old Cyclist from Sebastopol, CA
 

Hi.

I've been riding bikes for many years. I used to ride quite a bit in my 30s, but then I got a job that basically kept me off my bike and in the office for 50-60 hours a week for 19 years. I was terribly out of shape and overweight by a whole lot and felt horrible. When arthritis took out my right knee, I quit after my total knee replacement. There I was, 60 years old, fat and lacking in all fitness.

I returned to riding my then-ancient Trek 5500 OCLV bike. But I was really, really bad at it. I could only do six flat miles before I was cooked. I heard that a friend of a friend was riding his bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles and I figured that that was what I needed, a big, hairy goal. If I worked at it, I figured that I could do that in 5-7 years.

Then, I found out that it was a ride for The Arthritis Foundation, the disease that took out my right knee (and a year later would take out my left knee, too), plagued my mother and crippled my grandmother.

So, I signed up for it, one year out, and then trained like a mad man, puting in more than 8,000 miles of training and successfully completed the 2016 California Coast Classic.

I did it again in 2017 and 2018 and will do it again this year!

Last year, my trusty Trek 5500 died partway down the Big Sur coast. The bottom bracket shell separated from the carbon bottom bracket. I had to finish the ride to Los Angeles on a loaner. (Thankfully, the CCC provides fantastic support.)

Trek came through with their lifetime warranty and gave me a huge discount on a their new Madone SLR.

I've also just added a new-to-me 2014 Specialized Langster fixed gear bike, that I will be using to help my training.

My California Coast Classic / Arthritis Foundation page is events.arthritis.org/participant/Oren

Hi, Welcome and thanks for sharing your inspirational story of your return to cycling!

Welcome!

Welcome rider!

I did Santa Cruz to SLO twice. Great ride if wind, weather and the hwy traffic cooperate.

Welcome to Bike Forums, OrenNoah! Great story, and keep it going!

Welcome! Nice intro.

Wow, keep on keeping on! You live in a very pretty area! My sister has property out there.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.

Eja Bottecchia: The recovery from last year's fire storm is SLOW. The neighborhoods that were destroyed remain ghostly empty. The rubble has all been trucked away, but only a few new houses are sprouting up. There is a severe shortage of insurance money, architects, contractors, construction workers, building supplies, etc. Imagine trying to build thousands of homes and businesses at once. It simply can't be done, even with lots of funding. It will take many, many years before the area fully recovers. Thanks for your concern.

Kudos on your re-entry into biking. I had nowhere near the obstacles to overcome that you did.

Welcome to the forums.