qcpmsame 

Welcome to 50+, no minimum posting requirement I know of and you are certainly welcome to read as much as you like. Post when you like, read when you like, I would doubt anyone here judges a member by their post count, and we are here most days, 24/7.

Bill

Ancient Mariner

I tried a recumbent a few years ago based on my doctor's recommendation. I didn't care for it, and eventually unloaded the thing. I doubt I'd put more than a hundred miles on it. In hindsight, it was a poor example (BikeE), and someday I would like to try a proper one, maybe even a trike.

ausfix

I'm 55 and I've ridden a bike most days since I was seven years old.

My only steed is a Surly Crosscheck that I bought new in 2001 and stripped down for fixed gear duties. I've never been a racer and happen to like mechanically simple bikes that are also quiet. I've ridden a couple of centuries (yes, fixed, but not too hilly) and some sponsored rides of about 50 miles, but my primary riding is commuting and grocery-getting. I have a pair of Ortlieb panniers for groceries and buying used vinyl records.

I consume one multivitamin, one vitamin E, and about 600 mg of fish oil every day. I have been lucky as far as my health is concerned, but I was diagnosed with having osteoarthritis in both of my hips last week. My left hip is pretty bad, almost no cartilage and two bone spurs. Fortunately cycling is a good option, though walking has become painful.

I really need to get back into riding with ACA again. Some really nice folks.

trx1

Hi, just turned 51.
Been riding since forever!
Old schwinn cont, and varsity
Don't take any vitamins(not sure about them)
215lbs, want to lose abit!
Casual+ ride to work(10min ride)
Live in ind.

DnvrFox

Welcome ausfix and trx1. Enjoy the forum.

boomerjim

Hello everyone. I am 55 years old and live in Michigan. I don't have anything fancy, just an old Walmart bike single speed with fenders and a Shiamo my son gave to me and I consider that fancy for me. I am overweight (235 lbs, 68") and hope to lose weight and regain some of my health. I used to love to take long walks especially in parks and on trails but I have to limit walking due to my lower back. I found out that riding a bicycle is a good alternative and so I started back riding this past summer and I love it. About five years before that my wife and I would take occaisional recreation rides on our Walmart bikes. I take multi-vitimins and a few other supplements including Omega 3 when I remember to. So it is not on a daily basis. I am planning on riding the single speed bike this winter and putting the Shiamo inside so that the gears don't get all mucked up. It will be my first winter riding. We have a neighbor that rides his bike during the winter and I always thought he was crazy. That was until a few months ago when I did a little research on the net and found out that a lot of people do it. I thought it would be impractical. Anyways, I am really looking forward to it. Thanks for this thread. I have a lot of reading to do and I am not a fast reader so I intend to learn and get to know people but it will likely be slow going. Take care.

DnvrFox

Hi boomerjim.

You might also check out the "Clydesdale" forum - nice folks there. Good luck on your winter riding. I am not familiar with a Shiamo?? Would that possibly be "Shimano"?? If so, I did not even know they made a bike, but only bike parts.

Enjoy the forum.

Winter riding is a challenge. I don't ride in the snow or ice, but I do ride in moderately cold weather. You could also get an indoor trainer. They salve the conscience and are nice to look at. Visitors think you are really an addict.

boomerjim

Thanks for the heads up on "Clydesdale". I think that will be my place. You are right, it is spelled Shimano, LOL. I'm not for sure but I think they make bikes too. I just put the knobby tires from the shimano MTB on my single speed comfort bike. So just waiting for it to snow now. Take care.

drorgo

Hello, I am 53 and new to this forum. I did some biking as a kid and back in the early 90's but none since then. I started running last December to get in shape and lose weight. I am 6ft and was 240 last November and now down to 205. I would like to lose another 10-15 lbs. Right now I run 3 days a week and go to the gym 3 days a week, to do some strength training. I now want to start biking again. I am in the process of rebuilding my Recherché road bike from the mid 80's. It is a Dave Moulton frame. After I get it done, and ride it for awhile, I am going to get a new modern bike. I am having fun right now building a new set of wheels for it and changing the components over to Campagnolo C Record. Once I get it done I am not sure how much I will get to ride until the spring. It will depend on what kind of winter we have this year. If we don't get much snow I will get to start getting some miles under my seat before Spring.

I am looking forward to starting to ride and share and learn from everyone here.

Bob

DnvrFox

There are several of us who combine bicycing with cross training and resistance training.

Check out this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...er-than-biking)

qcpmsame 

Bob,
Welcome to 50+, The Dave Moulton sounds really nice, the projected build should be a great rider. Post pics when you get a chance in the forum, please.

Bill

jimmuller 

Welcome to 50+. You should post some info and pics of your bike in the C&V too! You'll get lots of help and encouragement there.

drorgo

thank you

Bob

drorgo

Thank you for the welcome. I will post some pictures soon. I should have the build done within the next two weeks.

Bob

Kobe 

Well it happened, even though I was fighting it. I turned 50 this month, so I guess I am now allowed in to the 50+ forum.

I ride mostly a 1985 Bridgestone 400 and a Salsa Casseroll. I also have a Curtlo 29er ss for trails. A typical year for me is about 2500 miles outside and maybe another 1200 on the trainer in the winter( I hate the cold).

I have been popping in here and reading the posts for a while but did not want to post until I reached the magic number. Seems like a great group here and I see some familiar names from over in C&V.

DnvrFox

I know some folks that have stayed 49 for years.

Welcome.

ko57

I'm 54, will be 55 in 5 days, 12/18.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

Schwinn Skyliner and a Hercules 3 speed.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

Yes, I'll skip some days but I do take Vitamin A, C, Lutien, Lecithin, not so regularly E.now & them Omega 3. I probably should add a little calcium more often.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

I have slowed down. I was an overnight stocker at one time, I don't kill myself putting up freight anymore, hopefully will never have to again (big-blue retailer). On the salesfloor now, not as physical but on your feet all day.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

As a child/young teen, bicycling was fun, freedom and transportation, it thankfully still is. When I was in my 30's I commuted around Glendale AZ on a bicycle, I loved it. The Hercules is a present to myself (birthday, Christmas) since I really love the older 3 speeds get me biking again. The Columbia I had stayed in the garage and the rust got to it, shame on me. The Hercules is inside, just got back from a spin on it-about 2 miles-a little while ago.

The Schwinn is outside, in great shape, will make it's way inside also. I start, stop, start and stop. So here I go again, cold weather is here-not so bad this evening, 44, wind 1-3 mph, having just got the Hercules, that's the first "run" with it other than the driveway and lane I live on. I'm tempted to go again, but will wait, I need to eat! I've had a minor sinus? infection, it gets <hot> at work-heat is on, it's hot outside-thanks, home-office...so that doesn't help but I guess we "suck it up".

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

The furthest I've ridden was a 10-11 miles, that could be my work commute (9.8mi) back & forth, I haven't done that, though have gone there on my time off. I like to ride for recreation as well as fitness, highlight "enjoyment" if you will. Nothing like being able to do a store run on the bike, visit friends, neighbors. Not in it for speed, recently read about spinning a little faster (easier) is better for the knees-I thought there was something to that-I realized that again tonight.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

Not enough. The most was commuting in Glendale, but the last few years, not being steady at it, I'd say no more than 400 miles. This past year-not enough to talk about Making an effort to change this (now that it's winter-lol). At least it's not too hot like the summer, and the cool air can be refreshing.

7. Do you do any other type of physical activities - weight lifting, skiing, running, etc.?

More off than on: Stationary bike, warm ups (deep knee bends, side stradle hops, side bends, twists (@ the waist), bowflex sport. Yard work, trim/cut trees-chainsaw, the real work-I think of it as excercise, part of fitness-is hauling the branches to the front.

KenOnMaui

Please tell us your age. I am 59, will be 60 this next September.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

I would think that they ride the same variety of bikes as any age.



2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

I do not take any vitamins or supplements at all.



3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

Of course I have slowed down a ittle, that is natural.



4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

I worked in a bike shop back in the 80's for about 5 years, got into riding centuries and such.


5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

Just getting back into riding as of today! I will be be doing short rides so I can build up my distance.




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

I hope to be biking a few times a week.

droy45

Hi, I'm almost 53 but have been hanging out in the other forums and just found this one. I ride a newer Fetish Cycles Fixation that I built up myself to meet my comfort levels for commuting and general recreational riding. It's a hardtail mountain bike with slicks for summer and studded Nokians for winter. I rarely ride my vintage road bike because I got spoiled with the plushness of the Fetish. I have been riding all my life and now do about 2500 miles per year. I also like ice skating in the winter to help supplement my physical activities during bad snow days or real extreme cold (which are rare). Commuting to work 11 miles one way when I'm not assigned to be out of town has brought me much pleasure more recently as I had to take on a new job due to a layoff where I was. I had to move, and this has given me alot more riding opportunities like commuting which I couldn't do before. Enjoying every bit of it.

h2oxtc

I just turned 53 and prefer not to dwell on it, but the greying hair is hard to ignore.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

Looking thru the C&V forums it makes me wish I kept every bike I ever owned. Decided to get back into cycling 4 years ago, in part to shed a few pounds, in part to do some cycle touring. I bought a Jamis Aurora Elite, which looking back is kind of a wierd bike. It's not really a touring bike, and it's not really a road bike either. Two years later I picked up a Cannondale R600 on CL. Wow - I didn't know an affordable bike could ride like that. A year later another CL buy, a Cannondale Caad8 R5000 with DA. Lovin that bike so much I picked up another on eBay as a rebuild project for this winter.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

No artificial supplements, other than whatever chemicals are in ice cream, potato chips, and Oreo's.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

When you start riding again at almost 50 you get a new point of reference. If anything I'm getting faster, but then being fast is not an objective in itself.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

Answered above.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

Have been doing all kinds of riding. Fitness/training rides, recreational rides with my wife, group rides when I can, a few Fondo's, and pretty much anytime I can with friends. "Someday", I'll actually do some cycle touring again. At the moment it's riding on the trainer in the basement.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

I've been fortunate to ride off and on all year long. April thru October are great months to ride here in the Okanagan. Over the winter we get down to Phoenix a few times and enjoy the comparatively warmer temperatures. Annual mileage ... about 2000 miles, but just guessing.

DnvrFox

Welcome, everyone. Enjoy the forum!

DowneasTTer

Ah, my first post. I'm 63 years old and my wife… well I better not tell.


1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?


Currently my wife and I ride a couple of 2001 Mongoose Pro Titanium Triomphes mountain bikes for off road and use 1995 Mongoose Crossway 850 hybrids for rail trails. We just ordered replacements for the Crossways and in the next week or so we will be riding Giant Escape RX 0s. Looking for forward to it.




2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?


Not really, aspirin daily




3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?


Well as many told me in my 40's it's all downhill from 50….. but 60 and counting. I am a CHF patient with an RF = 15% and on quite a few drugs and special diet. The good thing is I'm currently a class 1 so not in too bad shape.




4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?


All my life, In fact two days after we got married in 72 my wife fell and broke her collar bone. But we still ride. Back in the day we did some bike camping on old touring bikes.




5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.


Just keeping the joints moving. A couple of years ago, after retirement, we moved from our home in Maine to central Fl very close to a 46 mile paved rail trail. We try to ride on average 24 or so miles a day. Also we travel with our small motorhome to other trails throughout the states and Canada.




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?


Each day. Have been averaging between 4 and 6 k per mile after retirement. However this year we broke the 7 k mark on Christmas.




Bruce & Cilla

DowneasTTer

Ah, my first post. I'm 63 years old and my wife… well I better not tell.


1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?


Currently my wife and I ride a couple of 2001 Mongoose Pro Titanium Triomphes mountain bikes for off road and use 1995 Mongoose Crossway 850 hybrids for rail trails. We just ordered replacements for the Crossways and in the next week or so we will be riding Giant Escape RX 0s. Looking for forward to it.




2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?


Not really, aspirin daily




3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?


Well as many told me in my 40's it's all downhill from 50….. but 60 and counting. I am a CHF patient with an RF = 15% and on quite a few drugs and special diet. The good thing is I'm currently a class 1 so not in too bad shape.




4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?


All my life, In fact two days after we got married in 72 my wife fell and broke her collar bone. But we still ride. Back in the day we did some bike camping on old touring bikes.




5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.


Just keeping the joints moving. A couple of years ago, after retirement, we moved from our home in Maine to central Fl very close to a 46 mile paved rail trail. We try to ride on average 24 or so miles a day. Also we travel with our small motorhome to other trails throughout the states and Canada.




6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?


Each day. Have been averaging between 4 and 6 k per mile after retirement. However this year we broke the 7 k mark on Christmas.




Bruce & Cilla

Biker395 

Some questions:

Please tell us your age.

Let's just say I easily qualify.

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

This one rides mostly road bikes, occasionally rides MTBs, and even a "comfort bike" when it rains.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?

Not yet.

3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

None to date. But I started slow.

4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

About 30 years. Yikes.

5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

About 4-5000 miles a year of commuting and 4-5000 for fun. The fun rides include 60-100 mile climbing rides and double centuries.

6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

Almost daily ... see above.

donhaller 

I have been wanting to respond to this thread for several weeks now but just seemed to be better at lurking. However, I decided to use this to introduce myself to the folks on this 50+ forum. I'm 52 years old and have been a cyclist all my life. I love the bikes, the mechanics of the bikes and how I feel when riding a bike. On to the questions...

1. What type of bikes do 50+ folks ride?

I have several bikes, some going way back but my two favorites are my road bike, a Giant TCR C1 full carbon and my old Gary Fisher hardtail Mountain Bike. I live in a "beach town" near marinas and boardwalks etc and the mountain bike with cross tires on it is nice for just getting around town. The road bike is well nice for those long club rides that I enjoy too. I also have a 1980 Nishiki that has been totally retored frame up. It is like looking at a brand new 1980s bike with Suntour Superb Pro groupo. I have had several people want to buy it and convert to a fix wheel but I just can't seem to do that to the Suntour group.

2. Do you take any special supplements/vitamins/minerals as you have grown older?


Historically I have been like a YoYo with fitness and diet. Gaining and losing when and where I had the time. Again, I find myself at the highest weight levels of my life, the most stress and anxiety at work and little home life to do anything after work. However, lately I have forced myself to take some time off work during the holidays and I just started back on a riding schedule again. I began taking a multi-vitamin in the morning and Vitamin D since my Doc told me I had nearly none in my blood workup and needed the D. Since getting over a cold at Christmas and beginning riding last week I'm feeling pretty good today. I go back to work next Monday, so I need to really try hard to make all of this work together for this new year. I have a 50 mile commute each way in the morning and evening. So fitting riding in is going to be a challenge to say the least.


3. How much do you feel you have "slowed down" if any?

When I'm eating right and riding, I feel great and don't feel like I have slowed too much, but when my weight is up, I'm tired and stressed I feel older than my 72 year old dad.


4. How long have you been biking? New, around a while, biked all your life?

I too have been biking all my life and not just as a kid jumping on the Schwinn to visit my buddy down the street. Even as a 12 year old I was very focused on cycling. I had a close friend that would go on extended bike rides with me every day during the summers when school was out. We both had nice road bikes back then in the early seventies. The bike frames were made of good old fashioned Chrome-Moly by a French company called Fontan. These bikes were very similar to the Peugeot U08 but a little less expensive for us young guys. Those bikes really got us into another level of cycling for young people. We both completed our first century rides when we were 14 or 15 years old. It was an old Baltimore chapter of the League of American Wheel-man organized event called the Hunt Valley Hundred. I'll never forget that ride as long as I live. We arrived at the parking lot start and lots of people were asking us if we trained for the ride and we just looked at them like they were crazy. ("what the heck is training") We rode our bikes every day about ten to twenty miles and we saw the century just as a really long ride... like five or six regular daily rides all stuck together. I rode all through high school and college, stopping for this and that part of my life to get over with. Then again in 2006 I had several friends and acquaintances I knew that had been diagnosed with cancer, and felt like I wanted to help somehow. I decided to get involved with Team In Training. I did the 2007 Lake Tahoe Century with some dear friends in mind. The training for that ride got me back in shape and moved me into riding with groups of people and a local cycling club. Since 2007 my riding has started and stopped numerous times but I still love the feel of the wind on my face and the challenge of finishing a good climb. I'm back in the saddle again now, hoping to stick with it and lose some weight and get back with my riding group again soon.


5. What type of biking do you do? Long rides, touring, short rec rides.

When I'm back in the saddle it seems like I'm always working to lose weight and gain mileage. I mostly enjoy our local cycling club rides with other people. When I was riding regularly with them we were riding a B to BB paces. I like the 20-25 mile evening training rides that work up to the longer 50-60 weekend rides. A few years ago I think I completed three centuries that summer which was good for me. I'd like to do at least three this year if I can pull it back together early this winter. My first organized charity ride is scheduled for April 27th, its a metric century. I also enjoy just riding my mountain bike around town where I live. Its a small town on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay not too far from our Nation's Capitol. During the summer its nice to just ride down to the marina or a local pub for some lunch and a beer.


6. How often do you bike? Your approximate annual mileage?

When I'm on - I can be riding 100 to 150 miles per week - but I'm not too much a statistics guy or tracking mileage over the long haul. I basically stick to a training schedule and if it call for a 10% increase each week or every other week I'll slap another few miles on to get to where I need to be. My biggest obstacle is being consistent and riding all the time. I often let work and life get in the way instead of putting my riding and my fitness first.