Gearing (way) down
As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm finding it more and more difficult to push gears that used to give me no trouble at all.
Recently, I've alternated rides between one of my road bikes (with 52-42-26 gearing) and my gravel bike (48-36-26). More and more, I'm leaning toward the gravel bike because -- well, it hurts a lot less to turn over a 36T middle ring than it does to turn over a 42T.
Today I went to the bike shop and had the proprietor order a mountain bike crankset, an MTB front derailleur and a 12-36 cassette. That setup, on my 9-speed bike, will be even easier to turn over (especially on the short, steep hills we have here in West Virginia) than my current setups.
I still plan to keep 52-42-26 gearing on my go-fast bike (a Waterford), but will probably only use it on rides with flattish profiles.
Pushing the bigger gears seems to get more and more painful as time goes on. I'm hoping that easier gearing will allow me to take longer rides and spend more time on the bike. At my age (63), fitness and recreation are the overriding goals. And who knows? Maybe if I get fit enough, I'll want to spend more time on the Waterford.
Has anyone else made similar concessions to advancing age?