jrhoneOC

I'm 51 and last year I bought a MTB and lost about 50 pounds and got into great shape. I began to shred (for a 50 year old guy) the trails and was pushing the limits of the bike. Nice. Started getting air on jumps, and hills didnt scare me. Went from 3 miles being exhausting to 25 mile rides being easy. Then COVID happened...and I sat in the house and ate. Gained 40 pounds and literally stopped riding. A few weeks ago...I got back on the bike. Had some HARD days. Dead legs. Getting back up to 20+ mile paved rides and 15+ mile trail rides. I'm down 15 pounds and starting to get back into enjoying the ride again. One thing that helped with motivation was bike upgrades. Decided to get a 1x11 drivetrain to replace my 1x9 and having a big 50 gear is GREAT. Its helping me climb some big hills and stay on the saddle vs pushing. Wish I had done the 1x11 thing when I was in better shape...lol. Curious as to how it would have helped me when I was 180 and in great shape vs 230 and winded. How have other guys stayed in shape or motivated during these crazy times?

Random11

I'm shocked that your weight could vary so much in such a short period of time! The COVID pandemic has had the opposite effect for me. My weight hasn't changed, but "working from home" has eliminated commute time and given me more time to ride, so I feel I'm in better shape as a side effect of the current craziness. I'm riding almost every day, 15-20 miles and sometimes more, whereas when I was going in to work, I'd try to get in 10 miles of riding.

jrhoneOC

NOW...I am getting more riding in...I could have but the switch to work from home and probably the emotional aspect of it had an effect on me...made me a bit lethargic...plus I started eating lots of carb heavy foods where before I was on a more high protein low carb diet.

So yeah...less exercise...much more calories...lots of carbs...more weight. Now I am back to my old program...weight is coming off.

Marylander

I happen to be 51 too.

I've gained about 15 lbs since this thing started and that's just from eating lots of crap. I just started working on getting my eating under control yesterday. I'm currently about 185 and will get back to 170 and then see what 160 feels like. I'm not sure I can get past there (5'7").

I've been consistently running or riding every day for several years now so the aerobic exercise part is not an issue for me. I have been pretty terrible about keeping up the strength training though. I've got an aneurysm in my aorta so I can't push too hard which means I've got to lift fairly light weights, which is not motivating at all. I need to get this figured out.

big john

I'm 66 and retired and I was doing 4 group rides per week before corona. Motivation is tough sometimes but I have tried to force myself to stay on the same schedule, at least the number of rides per week.
The group rides keep me motivated. I don't have to dream up a route, just show up. Plus, I want to keep up so I try to stay fit enough. With all group rides cancelled my mileage is down and I don't have the measurement against my faster friends.
A few rides with others have happened recently. I really miss them.I want to be ready if my club starts up again.

jrhoneOC

Where do u normally ride? What trails? Im in OC...

big john

I mostly ride road with the San Fernando Valley Bicycle club. Been a member for 31 years. When I go off road sometimes I go to the south end of Reseda blvd and there is a network of fireroads and some singletrack. Also go to Sycamore canyon, some nice trails there. Or Quartz Hill, near Palmdale.
Never ridden trails in OC but I hear there are some nice ones like Laguna Beach, Santiago canyon, and more.

freeranger

I have the opposite problem of many. It's impossible for me to put on weight. Now, I do eat healthy for the most part. And I'm not the most relaxed person, so metabolism probably burns it off. I live in a 2 story house, so going up and down the stairs help. Plus I belong to a Y (waiting for it to open) and local gym. Haven't felt comfortable with going back yet, but looking forward to when I do. Also lucky in that it only seems to take a few rides during the start of the season, and I'm feeling good about riding again. Surprised myself on some mtn.bike trails a week back-still riding 'em at 69y.o. Walked one very rooty/rocky entrance to a stream crossing. But the rider behind us-looked a good 30-35 years younger walked it also, so didn't feel too bad. Have ridden it once, and cleared it, but guess I wasn't thinking about it--looking at it, it's a walker for me.

jppe

It's just a matter of your perspective on this mess. For me I've essentially stopped group riding except for riding once with some wheels and people I trusted. All my week long tours were cancelled so like others my mileage is down from what I thought it might be. But I've challenged myself to find some new roads and routes to ride even in areas I've ridden for 15 years. As the result I've ridden at least one 100 miler each week for the last few months. I've had a blast exploring new areas and visiting new towns.....albeit I have to ride a bit further to get to some of those areas. For whatever reason my weight it's the lowest it's been since college days. We've continued to also walk 18 holes of golf each day (M-F) so maybe that's helped keep the weight down as well. I don't have any experience with 1x gearing but I've always enjoyed having a little easier gearing. It should give you more options for being in and out of the saddle.

big john

Nothing wrong with walking a section if you're not sure. 2 years ago I got a new mountain bike and I try things I would have never tried on my old bike, but I have no problem getting off and walking an obstacle if I'm worried about falling.

Ogsarg

Covid has allowed me to increase mileage a fair amount so far. Before the lockdown, I would get up at 3:45 in the morning to get in a 15 mile ride before getting ready for the dreadful commute to work. Because it was so early, I could only manage it a couple of times a week, 3 on occasion. The morning rides and a 50-80+ mile ride on Sunday was my riding time.

When the shelter in place order came, I started working from home most of the time. Now I can get up at 5, get in a ride, and still start work between 7-7:30. Now I ride 3-4 mornings and often go farther and I find myself doing longer weekend rides as well. I figure I will do 1-2k more miles this year than last.

One bad thing in working from home is there is no reason to get up and move around. Have to force myself to get up and walk or stretch on occasion. Have not gained any weight but can imagine how it could happen.

bargo68 

Opposite for me, too. Before Covid, I commuted by car over a bridge with my bike inside, parked 5 miles away and rode in. Total of about 40 miles a week commuting (4 day schedule) plus longer rides on the weekend.

During Covid, I had to go into work 2/3 times a week to check in and I rode the 50 mile round trip every time. With extra rides, my weekly mileage was about 150-200. I'm now back to my 4 day schedule and am going to try 4 days full bike commuting.

I've gone from appx. 170 lbs. to 160 in that time and my speed and stamina are the best they've ever been.

BTW, I'm 51.

reverborama

I've been working from home since the middle of March. I have a number of hobbies and activities that I enjoy that have been eliminated by the stay-at-home orders. All that's left is biking. I've ridden every day since April 1 and lost 10 lbs. My only problem is that I'm getting sick of the local routes. I might have to start throwing the bike in the back of the pickup and head out a little further afield. Heck, I might have to even buy some, gasp, gasoline. I've only used 3 tanks since March!

woodcraft

Haven't gained weight, in fact shed the few winter pounds,

but loss of motivational group rides and general staying-at-home

has resulting in slacking and low miles.

Beldar77

Since high BP seems to be a factor in severity of Covid I have used that to motivate myself. I 'm 56 this week.Since March 9th I have lost 35 pounds, 5 inches off the waist and lowered my BP down to below the new "pre-hypertension" mark of 120/70. 15 more to go. Started riding the exercise bike indoors in crappy weather and doing interval training. But I have been consistently outside 4-5 days a week ( sometimes 6) both on the mtn bike and the road bike. Finally have gotten the wife into mtn biking too. Have almost always been a solo rider. Did my first 50 miler in 10 years this morning! Metric century coming up this weekend!

AlgarveCycling

51 here too. COVID has made virtually zero difference to me apart from not being able to race and during lockdown being unable to ride on Club rides or with others. Which was not every day as it was. Mostly, I train alone. My fitness and strength just continued to improve. I was 66kg pre-COVID, now 65kg. I use Strava segments and getting overall KOM's as part of my training tools so they add motivation.

I work from home, have done for years now, and the business is mostly on 'auto-pilot' nowadays and I simply monitor - which I can do from my phone and can therefore go on long rides or be anywhere I want. We have only had a very limited period where we had to ride close to home so even that wasn't a big deal. Now it is all back as it was apart from the racing.

So, yeah, lucky in my case.