Iride01 

Just got back from a short ride with my oldest son. Every time I caught up with him, he was standing still on the side of the trail.

I accused him of having to take too many rests. He said he was just waiting for the old man.

Am I seeing things wrong?

bogydave

Not wrong
Seeing it from
A different point of view

He’s kicking your butt
&
All you see is his butt
LOL

one4smoke

Ain't it amazing how the perspectives differ?

CliffordK

So far I can still blow my Nephew and Niece off the road.

But... is only time until the story changes... if they actually ride more than a few times a year.

Perhaps the trick will be to keep them in something I can match them with... open road... and keep away from the technical MTB trails

canklecat

I never see things wrong. In group rides I always see people's behinds. If the rides are long enough eventually those same people ahead of me seem to get really tiny. Must be some sorta optical illusion.

Digital Gee

^^^ This.

Ten years ago, one of my secret pleasures was spotting an old guy up ahead and dropping him. Now I'm that guy.

indyfabz

Tell him you are purposefully riding slower he is because you want him to feel good about himself. If he challenges you to a race, threaten to not let him use the car or go to the prom or something.

rando_couche

Yep.

rumrunn6

I miss the old days when we all rode together & stayed together

Rick@OCRR

I'm riding a three Generation RAGBRAI this July. It will be interesting to see how the bike speeds sort out between the grandson (16) his father (42), his uncle (39) and me (68).

Hope the young'uns can keep up with the Grandfather in the group!

Rick / OCRR

Iride01 

The RAGRAI has intrigued me for quite some years now. Maybe one year I'll have to at least show up.

As for my son, he's 30 yo. I don't think threatening to curtail his driving will work. I actually wish he wouldn't wait. I finally got him off the mountain bike and doing road biking last year. I think he could really post some good times at some of the century rides we do if he'd not worry that I've had a heart attack or collapsed somewhere.

berner

Several years ago I was visiting family in my home town. My nephew's daughter was then 12 years old and is a competitive swimmer which she has been for several years. We arm wrestled one afternoon and I had all I could do to beat her. Swimmers are very strong. I was going to challenge again last summer but decided not to risk it.

Rick@OCRR

I have ridden RAGBRAI 16 times but the last time was 2006. My oldest son rode it once when he was 14 whereas my youngest son has ridden it six times. The first time he was 10, on the back of my tandem. The last time he was in his mid 20's. My grandson, on the other hand, has very little idea what he's getting into.

Should be fun.

Rick / OCRR

qcpmsame 

Next ride out, just keep pedaling past him when he has stopped. Remember the tortoise and the hare yarn? Just getting on your bike and completing a ride is well ahead of the majority of the 50+ population, take the small victories as the come your way.

Bill

Iride01 

I did.... considering any two bikes, sailboats or what have you going the same general direction are by default always engaged in a race, I won! I was the first back to our starting point by at least .5 seconds.

I had several things against me that day. For one, it was 51℉. My legs don't work well in anything less than 75℉. I'd also put on an old pair of compression pants for warmth that were way too tight. I think they were hindering the blood circulation, or at least that's my excuse. My legs were unusually sore after that ride.

As a plus on that ride, I did still beat him up the more challenging hills on the ride.

woodcraft

Ahh, the tight pants excuse. Good one.

canklecat

Yeah, I've tried compression socks, including knee-highs, during rides. They constrict my circulation and my toes went numb. No perceived advantage during a ride.

I'll wear compression socks at home during recoveries, especially when my shins and ankles swell. But no more during rides.

Just tying my shoes too snugly, or snugging down the clipless shoe straps a bit too much, can interfere with my circulation. I have to cope with a little slop in the footwear.

wphamilton

I kind of envy you. My son will ride to work or to his university now and again, a few miles, but that's it. I'd love for him to ride enough to be able to drop me.

beechnutC23

My son is an avid cyclist in his own right and co-owns two bike shops in Montreal. In 2009 I rode a week in Tuscany with him. I was 51 at the time, and he was 19. I could keep up with him and in fact I remember one day when I out endured him and he had to draft behind me for a long stretch into a stiff headwind.

But since then, he's crossed the Andes three times on an epic 3 months in South America, and he just got back from a month of riding in the Andes in Colombia, and has done a whole bunch of other stuff in between.

He's now 28 and in top shape, small stature and thin, and unstoppable on the hills. I turn 60 in June with all that implies in the way of aches and pains... but I can still ride centuries if they're not too hilly, and metric centuries that are very hilly.