DrPete 

So I was out on a nice 1-hr Tempo ride tonight, and as I was coming over the top of a hill I get the wave from another rider coming the opposite direction. I can't guess an exact age, but suffice it to say he was old. I'd have to guess 80 or so. I returned the wave (call me a fred if you will) and kept going.

I just hope that when I'm 80 I'm turning the pedals like this guy was. He wasn't scorching any pavement, but he was out there riding the evening away just like the rest of us. Who knows what I'll be riding in 2057 when I turn 80, but I bet it'll be a pretty nice ride.

DrPete

ollo_ollo

One day I was waiting for a break in traffic to exit my work parking lot and along comes an old fellow in bib overalls (Walter Brennan lookalike) riding very slowly on a Columbia trike. We exchanged waves as he passed. He had his walker stowed in the basket between the rear wheels! Cycling always beats walking.
Don

TheKillerPenguin

lol, I can see myself now, riding my retro 2005 Cdale. "Why, back in my day, bikes weighed 20 pounds, there was none of this 50spd hibbidyjibbidy, and shifting wasn't electronic... And we liked it!"

VeloLisa

I came across this in the Women's Forum:
Pretty amazing, and very inspiring!


https://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3864712


Ride of a lifetime
Senior biker ready to lead a ride in Cache Valley
By Jared Wilhelmsen
Special to The Tribune


Alice Telford, 82, is ready to lead a 100-mile bike loop around Cache Valley on June 3. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune )
A 20-mile bicycle ride would be a challenge for most people, but for 82-year old Alice Telford, it's like a walk in the park.

Telford has been riding a bicycle for years, and on June 3 she will lead the 100-mile bike tour throughout Cache Valley in the 18th annual Little Red Riding Hood Bike Tour, which is sponsored by the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"My friends think it's fabulous, I really feel better when I am riding a bike," Telford said. "I have low blood pressure, and I have less physical problems when I bike."
This isn't the first time Telford has ridden 100 miles. She's traveled the world riding

Alice Telford, 82, is ready to lead a 100-mile bike loop around Cache Valley on June 3. In 1984 she went to China for three weeks, riding from village to village.

A few years later Telford did another stint in British Columbia on her bike. While there, she met Sue Schalow, a resident of Logan, Utah. Telford and Schalow became good friends and started riding together through northern Utah as often as they could.

In 1987, the two decided they'd like to start their own bike tour in Utah, so they rounded up a few more women and started what is today known as the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Tour.

"I can't believe how this has expanded," Telford said. "I never dreamed it could reach over 800 people."

She doesn't think that riding 100 miles at her age is a big deal. If more people would get out and do something like riding a bike, they would feel better about themselves and live longer, she said.

The spring of 1999 was the last time Telford accomplished the task of riding 100 miles.

After that ride she had surgery on her left knee and was on crutches for almost two years. During that time she couldn't ride.

Telford has had surgery on the same knee three more times and is finally getting back to doing what she loves: riding her bicycle.

Before the surgeries, Telford would bike up and down the Wasatch Front. She'd leave
home early in the morning and stay out all day. Now that she is older, Telford doesn't ride as long because it takes her longer to recuperate.

Telford said her doctors are amazed at what great shape she is in.

With the four knee surgeries behind her, Telford says riding her bicycle keeps the pain in her knee in check.

"My knees are fine now; it is the scar tissue that hurts the most," Telford said. "Biking loosens and breaks up the scar tissue."

Telford doesn't know if she will ride the entire 100 miles next month, but she is excited to be part of something she helped start so many years ago.

"I'm hoping to get up to 75 miles before or during the race," Telford said. "All I know is that I just keep going, and doing it."

vobra

in all seriousness that made me cry. at an older age i could not forsee myself going 100 miles..

spunky

Awesome article. I've already emailed it to several friends that would appreciate it. Really reminds you how much we can accomplish with the right frame of mind. Thanks for posting that.

baj32161

Yes, old people on bikes rock!!
Old folks riding really says alot about this being a lifestyle, not just a sport. I hope I am still riding when I am 60, which is only 15 years away. If I can still ride at 80 I will be blessed, indeed.

Cheers,

Brian

aggie_grad

My granddad is 86 and still rides his custom road bike every day. If it wasn't for a dog accident he would still be doing his 60+ mile rides. Now he routinely ride 30-40 miles. Over the holiday weekend we got to go and ride a couple of 40 miles rides together. It was a special experience. In fact we have a charity ride planned for July where 4 generations will go and ride a 25 mile ride. My kids will be on tandems. It will be a once in a lifetime experience.

He is the reason that I got into riding a couple of years ago. I just hope to be as healthy as he is some day.

Aggie_grad

DrPete 

IndyGal--What a great story.

For all the time we spend on choosing the right gearing or arguing about Campy vs. Shimano or what kind of pedals I should ride, it was great to get a healthy dose of perspective and to be reminded that there's so much more to it.

Just makes me want to "shut up and ride."

DrPete

80vette

When I was in my 20's and working at a gas station as a mechanic there was an old guy (Mr. Crawford)who used to ride up every day on his beach cruiser bike and stop in for a short chat.

He looked old like 80 or so to me... but hey I was a kid everyone looked old.

He was always refering to 1920 something this or that.
So one day I asked him how old he was ..... he told me 101 ...... WOW !!!

Gurgus

This thread reminds of this old dude that lives near me in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. This gent has to be at least in his mid sixties and rides a pretty sweet road bike.

The guy has hair down to his butt that is always braided Willie Nelson style with the beard to match. I see him out every day, riding like the wind. In the summer, he rides shirtless and the dude is ripped! Six pack and all.

My best friend owns a shop in town and has talked to this guy a few times. He says the guy goes by the name "ten speed". I don't know if that's true or not. It turns out the guy does the same twenty km loop of the city that I do. The difference is I do it when I can, this guy does that same ride ten times daily!!

This is the guy I want to be when I grow up.

gurana

I just can't wait to be old enough to justify using the word 'hibbidyjibbidy'.

astrodaimler

When I was 16, in the 80's I trained with a 66 year old Italian retired racer. His Frejus bike looked like plumbing and it looked like he put the thing together.
Here in SoCal, most of the people I ride with are over 50. At least 10 years younger than me. Many are in their 60s. And these are GOOOOD riders.
Check out the ages/times on the Mulhulland Challenge. The top finishers were in their mid 40's and mid 50's.

big john

The guy who used to lead a lot of the club rides I did years ago is now in his 70s. When he turned 70 he cut his weekly mileage from 300 to 200 because of back trouble. A few years back there was an event with 2 options, a hilly 60 mile route or hilly 80. There was an 81 year old guy there doing the 60! The routes started together, split, then rejoined later. The 70 year old stud led the 80 mile route. On the first 5 mile climb I was with another guy in his 50s and I told him "I have good and bad news. The good news is we dropped that 81 y.o.guy. The bad news is the 70 y.o. guy is dropping us." Later, when we joined the 60 milers, we found the 81 y.o. guy on the side of the road, eating a snack. He smiled and said he was fine, just enjoying a break. God, I hope I can smile at 80, let alone ride 60 miles in the hills.

thomspins

Exactly!!

Cromulent

"Back in my day we had wheels and chains and frames and cranks made of metal and carbon. And we liked it. Now it's all electromagnetic fields and such. You can't feel the road on those durn things. And don't get me started on steering with your mind. That's just craziness. I ain't pluggin' no electrode-y things into my brain stem."

Bob Ross

I mentioned this in another thread, but whenever I visit my parents in Tuscon AZ I rent a bike, and I always come across lots of local cyclists who appear to be at least in their 70's

...and these guys ALWAYS dust me! That's definitely what I wanna be when I grow up.

C-R700

There is an older (80's) man that rides a madone in my neighborhood. Everytime I see him I am busy with me young kids and don't have the time to track him down. I would love to ride with him. He is almost like a ghost, just catch climpses of him every so often.

thomspins

I rode with a guy a few weeks back prob. in his late 70's... strong rider i was thinking (we were riding side by side talking at about 23mph); come to find out the tri-bike was for a reason, he does ironman tri's...

He wakes up at 4:00am to train for a few hours every day, then does a ironman here and there in diff. countries and all whenever he feels like it...

Hambone

In Tuscon those riders are called, "the whipper snappers."

Katrogen

This is really inspiring.

My grandmother is 71 years old this autumn and she's always hill climbing and skate skiing with me up in Sun Valley. Its very neat to see her do it.

ElJamoquio

Someone should really inform all of these inspiring people that cycling is dangerous, and no one can expect to live a full life if they ride a bike.

Cromulent

There's this couple, probably in their '70s, who ride a tandem around where I live. My wife and I saw them one afternoon coming home from a shopping trip. They were working their way up a hill carrying a huge watermelon in their bike basket. Coolest thing ever.

'nother

OK, Fred.


When I rode the Davis (CA) Double Century (~8,000 feet of climbing) last month there was an old guy, at least 70, maybe even 80 out there. He not only finished the ride, but was moving along at a good pace, and I think he finished in around 16 hours -- no small feat even for a youngster. Apparently he's been doing it for 30+ years or something. I remember thinking that I hope I can still ride a double when I'm that old. Hell, who am I kidding: I was thinking, I hope I can just finish one at my current age!

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