OldTryGuy

'ride your age+1'. Nicely done. Time spent on the saddle was my solution to longer rides. For my 70th in July it was 2 x age +1.

OldsCOOL

Dang man, what kind of mountain bike do you ride?

Clyde1820

Sounds like a simple recovery thing. As in: not quite enough for the effort you're giving.

Same as with running, the "hard" days (ie, intervals, hills) require a bit more recovery time and suitable nutrition during the recovery period to effectively rebuilt what's been hammered. Plus, at nearly 60yrs of age, you're not a "spring chicken" anymore.

Might alter your cycling regimen a bit. Something like what many do with running: longer/slower rides on many days, with tougher/harder/climbing type rides interspersed, with a couple of days of recovery (doing longer/slower stuff) in between the tougher sessions. Weaving in other types of exercise can help, as well. Weight training or other weight-bearing exercising, occasional running, etc.

Be sure to have sufficient nutrients (including protein) following those hard sessions, to ensure you're giving the body what it needs to do the repairs.

Guesses, but not a bad place to start if you're definitely hitting most sessions harder.

5 mph

It’s summer out ....like that song from the 1950’s “Summertime and the living is so easy...” ... we get an elevated feeling from the sun...when the rainy season hits..we come back to earth. It rains a lot here in the Pacific Northwest starting in two months and it’s grey and less cheerful..,

Carbonfiberboy 

No, you didn't overdo it. That's what you're supposed to do. That's how you get strong. Ride away from home until you're tired, ride back. A good motto: "Endurance starts when you start to endure." And the classic, "It's all between your ears." A good practice when everything seems a bit much and you just feel like crying, stop and eat something and have a good drink. Look around, check your tires. Fix you right up. Get back on and away you go.

DeadGrandpa

I guess I can echo some other's advice, and recommend mixing in longer rides at a more relaxed pace. I'm almost 68, and have been riding more and more the last two years. Long rides have grown from 36 to 55+ miles, and average speed has grown from 12-ish to almost 15 mph. When we need a short ride (now it's 36 miles), we do push the speed, but it's not only about speed for us. We're building stamina so that 55 or 60 miles on consecutive days don't kill us. If the third day finds us a little slower, we can ride a shorter route and take a nap after lunch.

Doug64

I believe that the OP just exceeded his present fitness level. I'll use my wife as an example. When she was 55 she rode across the U.S.,averaging over 55 miles a day for 74 consecutive days on a fully loaded touring bike. We were both working at the time and did not have much margin for error. She was in top shape, and knows how to train and how to pace herself. Since then she has completed at least one multi- month tour each year totalling 25,000 miles. She was a pretty good triathlete, so she knows how to train, and set goals; she really knows how to handle a bike.

We have a little hill we come down, reaching 25 mph. If the wind is not too bad we see if we can keep the speed over 20 mph for the next mile on the flat. On today's ride she beat me by a good 20 yards maintaining 21 mph, then she dropped down to 17 mph for the next couple of miles. She was riding her 28 lbs. touring bike. I blame her "win" today on her age; she is only 65 years old.

I think that if you just go out and hammer without an objective or a plan it is pretty easy to exceed your fitness limits.

5 mph

I’m riding a stripped down Giant Talon with 29 inch tires I bought on Craigslist. It’s actually 29 pounds. I believe the 29 inch tires are what’s causing me to clock those fast times.
I have thought of switching to a road bike with thinner tires, but the Talon lets me go through potholes, unexpected branches, uneven pavement and curbs with an element of safety. It’s a very stable bike and I feel safe on it.
I’ve often thought of going to a skinny tire bike, but are they that much safer?
Please don’t laugh but once again the 29 inch tires are an advantage .. anyway that’s what I think..could be wrong...
....Also that 1000’ of elevation gain is gentle and not sudden ... and as I learn the route better and better I can build speed on the declines and use it on the inclines and it’s not that bad...
..I am just an average rider and that’s all I want to be.. and not overdo it..but like I said life at 59 can be stressful so I tend to release that on my bike..

big john

Actually, 29er wheels are the same diameter as standard road bike wheels. If you're having fun and like the bike why change?

Random11

Another thing to consider is that you might be dehydrated. One thing I do fairly regularly is weigh myself before and after a ride, to remind myself how much water I've sweated away. I can ride for 20 miles, drink 24 oz. during the ride, and end up 2 or 3 pounds lighter when I get home. If you do that day after day and don't rehydrate, you're going to feel fatigued.

downtube42

Overdoing it, with respect to what?

If you have some goal, there will be an ideal training plan to achieve that goal, that differs from what your doing.

If you feel more tired than you want to feel, then you should probably rest more.

But if you're enjoying what you're doing, not failing to meet some goal, and not suffering any health issues, then I don't see any need to change.

Classtime 

I highly recommend one of Joe Friel's books about riding when your old like us. He does the research on training effects and has experience coaching. (His later diet stuff is silly but you can ignore that.) and yes of course you need another bike.

davester

No matter what kind of workouts you're doing, you need recovery days. Daily hard workouts are not going to improve your overall conditioning without recovery and nutrition. There are many websites and books that discuss training, overtraining, etc. I suggest that you avail yourself of those resources. For tracking cycling workouts, Strava is an invaluable app. It can help you figure out when your strength and endurance are improving or declining by comparing past and current segment times and hill climbing power output estimates. You can also plug in heart monitor data if you are so inclined.

fastcarbon

Resting pulse measured when you first wake up is useful to see if you are pushing it too much. I use WK05 software and follow my Training Stress Balance to see if I am overtraining; this allows me to ride 4 days a week on a smart trainer with various intervals/ workouts, hammer Sat. and Sun. on small group rides and I trail run on Mondays on my usual day off the bike (600 feet of climbing for 8 mi.but currently at no more than 10 min. miles); at 78 my cardiologist/ electrophysiologist is on board with my level of exercise. In my opinion that is why I am still kicking above ground.

DaveSSS 

I'm 67. A 17 mile ride, even every day would just be a warm up. I quit riding when I was 57 because my knees were shot. 8 years later, almost a year after having both knees replaced, I took up riding again. After two years back, I'm riding regular 50 mile mountain routes that are harder than I did from age 50-57. I always rode ever other day, to have time for recovery. My average speed is about 2 mph slower than 10 years ago, so my 50 mile rides take longer than they used to, but the lower speed doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the rides. I regularly ride scenic routes from Loveland to Estes Park and around several local lakes. During the tourist season, I ride avoid weekend rides due to too much traffic. I have some 10-12% grades on my routes, so low gearing is a must.

Chuckles1

Those speeds are indeed impressive. I'm riding more than ever, six times per week weather allowing, averaging 12 mph on a good day, and have had some fatigue issues. The key for me is to keep the time/ distance down. I'd rather ride 15 miles every day than longer rides with days off in between. If weather forces a day off, then I'm ready for a 20 plus ride the next day.

Whatever works for you at your current level of health and fitness; you can't fool mother nature!