IronM

I remember back to when I was 24, visiting an Aunt who was mid-90's. I had to wait for her as she was on a walk on the beach; a former competitive athlete, she had always been in shape. When she came in, we were talking about stuff and she mentioned 'You know, I don't feel old. I feel like I'm 25. It's only the world that seems me at 95". That stuck; I had always assumed older people felt older.
Now myself, I'm not 95, though i am starting to get on a bit. I still feel young; but lately I'm also feeling my age too. I little harder to spring up from the floor; a little harder to lose the winter fat.
But when I ride; yeah.. I'm 25.

IronM

Awesome!
A few years ago I had some heart issues & had to do a stress test. They hooked me up, put me on the treadmill and told me to go until I couldn't. So I did. The kept ramping up the incline & pace. But the thing was, it was in a tiny room without out a fan. After a while, I asked the nurse if I could stop as I was getting rather hot. Later, when reviewing the test results, the doctor looked concerned and told me "It's a good thing you stopped when you did." Uh Oh.. "Why is that, Doctor?" "Because if you kept going, you would've broken our machine. Only one person has tested better in this office, and he was a 24-yr old baseball player"

mdarnton

At 72 I regularly get told I look in my 50s, but it wasn't until I started riding again this summer (after more than a decade of not commuting as I had in the past) from Covid spare time and started riding farther than I'd been commuting that I actually started feeling like 50s. Blood pressure, pulse are both better. I've lost a little weight, but a lot of bulk as stomach fat turned to leg muscle. My feet were starting to complain when I took walks, but that seems to have gone away, too. My wife is very vocal about her delight. Yea, biking!

reverborama

I think I feel and look younger because I ride. And I know plenty of people 10, 20, 30+ years younger than me that can't do the things I do. I have friends with high school kids who couldn't do a 20 mile bike ride on their best day. It makes me sad. Hopefully they will have a moment in early adulthood where biking or hiking or something physical sounds like fun and they get hooked on it

peterws

I'm as young as I want to be when I ride. Don't mind the ladies passing on the straight, but hate it when the guys do. Uphill is where I like to be. There are loads around where I live. Covid or not, I go up 'em. Haven't got COVID by the way, as far as I know . . .hope yer all keeping good and doin what the Gov tell you . . .

rut3556

I'm soon to be 79 and ride a Lemond Zurich. Perhaps it's time to consider a hybrid of some sort.

5 mph

That's a triathlon bike. Hope you find the time to post a picture someday. Maybe you can put off the hybrid until you are 91.

rut3556

Well, I can assure you I'm no triathlete and never was. I bought the Zurich new in 2002 after having had a Buenos Aires, and it still looks pretty much new. At my age it's probably more bike than I need, so I may just sell it off to someone who can put it to good use, and pick up something a bit "tamer." Trek FX series perhaps?

LibertyFLS

I have always considered myself a hip dude, always keep up with new music, just don’t understand how someone can listen to the same music since high school. I was a skater, a bmxer, a rave promoter (hard to believe that was almost 30 years ago) so I have always felt young. However with cycling, I have lost 20 pounds and my body is tight and probably looks better than I did in my 20’s plus the fact I lifted weights the past 5 years, now slim 6’2 183 pounds, I feel great and everyone says “you don’t look 50+”. So yes I feel younger thanks to cycling! 🚴‍♀️

downhillmaster

Regular cycling has always made me feel older.
I am 55 and in great shape but I visualize myself at 75, as do most of my friends and co-workers.
As far as driving a vehicle is concerned I would think a young, inexperienced driver would be just as apt to panic.
Especially if they were around 37 but visualized themselves at 17

friday1970

Part one of my thoughts.
I'm an young one here on this forum, having turned 50 just last September.
I rode a bit in my teens, felt great then. Really skinny then too
Joined USMC after HS at age 18, got out 9 years later.
For 6 years, I didn't do anything. I gained 30lbs and became out of shape. I remember how I felt then. Sluggish, hard to catch my breath on a flight of stairs. Could hardly push my daughter in a stroller up Clingman's dome. How did I let this happen...
At age 35, I discovered the bike again, and 15 years later, I feel great. In summer, at the peak of my annual fitness, I feel nearly invincible. But...I remember how I felt those years after leaving the Corps. I feel younger now that I did during those 7 years.

Part two of my thoughts
I ride with my local randonneur group. When some of these guys tell me their ages, I do a double take. "You're how old??? Thought you were easily younger than that!". Guys like Dragi and Jerry.
They inspire and amaze me. Being that age, I would have thought people would slow way down. Not these guys. They pull me sometimes! And they surely do not look their age.

bikebikebike

Do you really feel you're younger as a result of Bicycling?

Not as much as I used to.

locolobo13 

I feel younger as a result of bicycling. But no, I don't feel that I am younger.

OTOH. Inside my mind sometimes I'm still that kid in HS exploring the streets. Sometimes the slightly more serious college kid riding to school and work. Those were long days!

Bob Ross

"Younger"? No. Healthier than someone my age has any right to be? Probably.

YellaFella

Without a doubt. Since I started riding regularly three years ago, my body now feels like it "needs" that daily activity. If I don't get it, I get cranky...

Snotrub

I started racing mountain bikes in 1995 and raced continuously until 2012/13 after my youngest grandson was born (2011). While I was racing and riding, I'd tell people about my grandson and they would always tell me that I was too young to have a grandchild. It was flattering, and I liked it. I quit racing which turned into quitting riding. I started shooing skeet competitively and gained a lot of weight. Now people don't mention that I'm too young to have grandchildren when I talk about them, as I look my age of 53. I'm hoping to reverse that now that I'm back on the bike. I just registered for a solo 24 hour mountain bike race the 1st weekend in June, so I have motivation to get back into shape.

Outrider1

This. You don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing.