aquist

I was 31 when I rode my first criterium, i did lousy. but for the next ten years i rode my ass off lifted weights ran stairways etc and in 1980 i won the Illinois state champions gold medal for veteran men in the time trial. I worked hard and rode as fast as I could,, Now its true I wasn't a Lance Armstrong, but I did get prostate cancer after my bike racing career was over, but here I am ten years later still alive and still riding, my hero Lance Armstrong is in disgrace for having used performance enhancing drugs, I just want to say that all of my accomplishments on the bike which are truly micro sized, like winning the longest single day event in the USA when it was 6 below zero and riding 100,000 miles on my bike in ten years, all were accomplished without ever taking any performance enhancing drugs, I relied on adrenelin and my ego to make my pedals go around.Oh and I also was a bike messenger after i retired from teaching our youts, I was 57 then and they called me "flash" now I am 72, but can still get my leg over the saddle and get my toe clips before riding to cloud nine RV park and back ( a whole mile)

rumrunn6

atta boy! thanks for sharing

fietsbob

Greg and Lance never cared about the whole Season,Just the Showboating on the TdF..
so I never got up that much intrest in either one..

merlinextraligh

You're painting with too broad a brush lumping Lemond with Armastrong in that regard.

You can't win the Super Pernod, and finish 2nd and 3rd just riding the TDF.

Dudelsack 

Sounds like someone who needs to ride a recumbent.

GFish

Good for you on keeping it honest and riding hard through those years!!

So what's happened to you and how has your riding changed between 57 - 72 years of age?

I keep reading that people are riding into their later years, so naturally, I'm now wondering how a fit and viral cyclists, like yourself, has changed over the last 15 years and if cycling is still part of your life today (beyond the 1 mile ride).

I'll be 57 years young this year, not an athlete or very fit, so your post has me wondering about realistic expectations for myself in the coming years.

mprelaw

Before he got shot, LeMond raced quite extensively outside of the TdF.

Along with two rainbow jerseys, he also raced and placed well in several classics--Paris-Roubaix, for example.

Greg also rode several Giros, finishing 4th and 3rd in two of them.

Here's his 1986 list:

1986
1st Overall Jersey yellow.svg Tour de France

1st Stage 13
1st Jersey combined.svg Combination classification

4th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 5

3rd Overall Tour de Suisse
2nd Coors Classic
3rd Overall Paris-Nice
2nd Milano-San Remo
3rd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 4 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2nd Pernod-Super Prestige

elboGreaze

Thank you for sharing your story , man you logged some major miles ! ( I would also like to hear more about that 57-72 age window, please (I'm 57)).

Dudelsack 

LeMonster was, well, a monster rider. Wonderful talent in his day.

To the OP and everyone else, there is great satisfaction being a simple journeyman, performing one's task competently and honestly. Lance may never know that feeling. Most of us, I suspect, do.

If you can crush a few souls along the way, so much the better

B. Carfree

The only souls I'm likely to crush are the insoles in my shoes.

aquist

I have ridden the bike clubs course,its about 20 miles) on five occaisons and have climbed west mountain and hot springs mountain without getting off to push, my wife is an invalid and I haven't the time to ride a lot like Iused to. I am her only care giver. plus its very hilly here in the Ouachita montains, when I lived in Chicago the only hill was overpasses over the Dan Ryan or the JFK. here there are switchbacks to enable you to get to the top and look out from the overlooks at the amazing scenery down below. Riding the bike actually helps with my arthritic left knee. the one the 18 wheeler broke in three places when he parked on me and actually killed me in December 1980. yes they rescusitated me in the ER

qcpmsame 

Aquist,
Great post, glad you are still riding and providing encouragement to us all, well most of us, some are never happy about much of anything I guess. Glad they resuscitated you back in '80, I'd hate to be reading and replying to a dead guy.........................

Save the zombie pics, Dudel, I know you want to do it.

Bill

Rick@OCRR

Thanks for the inspiration aquist!

I hope to be riding when I'm 72, if I live to be 72, which remains to be seen (62 now, so a decade to go).

I've never accomplished any of the great things you have, but still, it's good to be riding!

Rick / OCRR

OldsCOOL

Aquist, good onya man! Living long and drug free is the best revenge!

magohn

I think Lance gets a rough deal. Its not all about the doping. You couldn't give me EPO and expect me to win the TDF - Lance HAD to train like a maniac and HAD to be in peak physical condition.He was the best of the best. Its too bad that ALL his legacy is now tarnished with "but he doped". What he also did do was light a fire of interest in cycling in the USA. I compare what Lance did to cycling interest in the USA, as what Tyson did for boxing. Tyson retired/got old and now who cares about the boxing heavyweight champion of the world anymore? The USA will not care about the TDF anymore with Lance gone - public interest will wane, less customers, less bike shops, less innovation. We've just witnessed the end of the 'golden years' of cycling in the US.

I for one appreciate what Lance sacrificed for decades. Yes, he got rewarded but that was never a 'given'. Hindsight is 20/20 and he could have retired penny-less with no TDF wins. He sacrificed and trained, trained, trained while at the same time beating serious cancer.

Im still a fan. He's given me many more thrills than those goons throwing a pigskin about.

PS - Awesome job Aquist.

jalbri

I certainly can't disagree with the fact that Lance contributed to the fire of interest in bicycling, but I also don't think this is a case of the means being justified by the ends. If you believe everything you read about the matter, I don't believe he will have gotten a rough deal, but rather what he legally and morally deserves. And if the crowds at my local LBS are any indication of public interest and excitement about bicycling, we will not see that waning in the near future regardless of what happens with the Lance mess.

FotoTomas

Just rolled over to 56. Good to see there are options and flag bearers. I need to get back on that bike.

GFish

Not so fast, bicycling is still alive and well. You're forgetting, we're in the Information Technology Age; where people share and talk cycling 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Plus there's a growing interest in the "green" movement , where cycling figures prominently as an environment friendly and sustainable mode of transportation.

I, actually think the future for the bicycling industry looks alive and well. As for the professional ranks and the racing scene; hard to say, guess we'll have to wait and see.

Wil Davis

Yes, but check out Eddy Merckx's record…

525

…doesn't get much better than that in my book!

- Wil

Gravity Aided

Once again showing how "ordinary" people can be great examples . Good on you, aquist. Keep on rolling. As for the professional ranks, I sometimes see those fellows, way ahead of me, in the distance of a prairie haze . Have no idea what it's like up there.

magohn

Give it time. He only 'confessed' last week. Slowly but surely, public interest will wane. I hope Im wrong.

Artmo 

Nice story, aquist, but sorry about your wife.
I'm 72 and ride about 100 miles per week with people of the same age group, the oldest is 79. Some of the rides are on our tandem with my wife of 48 years, the others on a solo bike
We average 15-16 mph,and sprint up to 30 mph, but it's pretty flat here, So far this week I've ridden over 160 miles. You guys in your 50s are mere young-uns

GeorgeBMac

As a home health nurse I got to meet quite a number of care givers -- and developed a HUGE respect for them. In fact, I do not know of any other group that works as hard for so little -- but hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year they serve. There are no Leaves and no breaks. To say it is a "Full Time Job" does it a terrible disservice.

Congratulations to you to be willing and able to do it.

Please just remember to also be a care giver to yourself as well.
... I suspect your cycling helps a lot. Do not think of it as time off but rather a chance to renew...

(and BTW, that truck driver sounds VERY rude! Did HAVE to park there?)

VNA

Read "the secret race" by Tyler Hamilton!

Truly sad and far from what most of us think of what cycling is all about!

If it is true! It is more of a question of culture: "winning at all cost"

George

Hey Rick, if I made it, I think you have a very good chance as well.