Bassmanbob

I know a guy in his late 80's whose family took his bike away from him. He subsequently bought a new bike and gear and leaves it all at his friend's house. I told him I want to be him when I'm in my late 80's.

Doc_Wui

Not too old to ride, but maybe too old to get off the darn bike. I was trying to dismount last week when my pants got snagged on the rear rack. That wasn't so bad, but I had stopped on a pier next to a lake. I might have wound up in a foot of ice cold water if I tipped over. I managed to unhook myself.

collcs

At 71, with arthritis and very slowly getting back into shape, I feel one of the issues for us geezers with declining balance especially is to have a ride where when we stop, and especially if we need to stop suddenly if we experience any balance issues, we can put both feet mostly on the ground (at least the balls of out feet but the flatter the better). So, on my 3 road bikes and one cruiser, I have made laid back saddle posts/mounts and fabricated rear wheel mounts/extensions on pivots that allow me to lower the bottom bracket and achieve the crank forward, lower saddle position. Very stable, very confident. I ride on all flat streets so lower bottom bracket height without the worry of pedal strikes. My arthritis seems to like the crank forward. I also went with flat handlebars as narrow drop bars seemed more difficult for me to hold and mount the bike.....but I hope to do drop bars one day on at lease one bike. I might try butterfly bars. The snow and ice here in Michigan have held off so far....but when it comes, I break out my custom built trike.

TheDudeIsHere

56 years and 8 months now so I think the too old to ride limit is 55!

Bassmanbob

I heard that a few years ago, some guy died while riding the Horrible Hundred here in Florida. Supposedly, he was still clipped in. I guess that’s the definition of , “He died with his boots on.”

bikerbill2

87 next month, so I'm liking this thread.

vinfix

I think age is just one factor in whether you should give it up, or change the way you ride. I'm thankful to have reached mid-50's without any serious health problems, but my exercise needs and the time I have for it have changed. Bicycling is good for some aspects like endurance and cardio (if you go fast enough), not so good for strength, flexibility, or load bearing.

The best reason to keep doing it is because you enjoy it. I was just paging through Bicycling ragazine (I just stopped subscribing!), and the first few pages were accounts by younger people talking about how wonderful it was to suffer through rides. One of the benefits of aging is learning there's precious little reward or virtue in suffering.

collcs

I agree on cycling having its limits for health benefits. I prefer it due to knee arthritis (just turned 71)..Also the pumping action of the major muscle groups gets the lymphatic system flowing (this important system has no pump like the blood/heart and it relies on movement) for better natural detox. I go to the gym for strength and stretching.

bikemig 

I'm hoping this day never happens but of course it will. Until then, just fight the good fight.

BigAura

SIMPLE: When it no longer feels good.

Monoborracho

Michelle, with that Simplex axle mount D/R and the mixte frame takes me back to the early 70's. I had a Lapeirre and then bought a Jeunet mixte for my wife. I rode it for four years in college. The were both metallic green. We were just married. We rode those bikes for 20 years, then one day I foolishly loaned mine to my teenage son. He rode it into the back of a low-boy trailer down the street while watching two girls in bikinis who were washing a car. Crumpled the fork and the triangle. He didn't even get hurt.

Wildwood 

It's an '80s bike, so going back to early '70s is your own hallucination or flashback, as the image may be.
And yes, the fork and frame are a more malleable steel.

But hey, if a pic can take you back nearly 50 years - especially for 20years of fond memories - i'm glad to have been the catalyst.
If still mad at your son, well = apologies. Young women in bikinis, a young man - what could possibly go awry?!?
If I can convince Mrs Wildwood to ride the mixte even 20 times, it will be a success.
But if she doesn't, I can presto change-o modify it as my Summer Sunday lazycycle townie.

Thanks for the story. May you cycle together another 20 years.

NomarsGirl

Isn't it obvious? A+1 where A is your current age.

nomadmax 

If he's keeping his bike at his girl friend's house then I wanna be like him too

berner

I've not read all 150 some posts so it may have been mentioned already. When you can no longer pump up your tire, it's time to hang the bike up.

fastcarbon

At 77 I rode just under 5000 mi. last year. Trying to stay competitive involved buying a power meter and doing intervals along with doing group rides with competitive 50 - 60 year olds. Probably the major area where I was able to improve was in the use of "Trickery" against these young whipersnappers. As long as a 105 year old can win an hour record there is hope for all of us. I do force my self to do a 100 mi. Grand Fondo every year at mostly above 7000 feet and 7000 feet of climbing. I was the oldest person in the 2019 race.

rydabent

Again if you can, ride. If you set you rust.

davethelefty

But you could buy a compressor and let it put air in your tires, and extend your cycling life forever.

BlazingPedals

I think you're too old to ride when rigor mortis sets in. Our club recently had a member pass away. He was in his 90s was still riding regularly.

berner

Right! Just don't get any flat tires.

JeffreyD

I met Clarence Bosenbert from Cedar Rapids, Iowa on RAGBRAI last year who was 93 and started serious bicycling in his 70s. Let me know and I can send you
a newspaper story about Clarence.
A few years earlier I met Lucy Bonham from Washington, Iowa also on RAGBRAI and she was 88 at the time. Anna retired from riding RAGBRAI
last year when she was 88 but biked 93 miles in one day in 2019 for her 93rd birthday.
I'll be 73 this year and will continue to ride RAGBRAI the third week of July and as long as I'm able. I also bike several thousand miles annually.
As far as not being able to do things you used to welcome to the Senior Leagues! I suggest you might want to give one of those new E-bikes a spin ... I was ready to stop riding with groups because my pace slipped a notch or two but with e-power riding 60-80 miles in the heat of summer in Iowa is a breeze. Trek has an add out on YouTube ... "A little more?" worth looking at.