delbiker1 

New Mantra. I am 67 years old and the past year and a half I have really been feeling the effects of aging. I am experiencing a lot more aches and pains, lower/shorter levels of energy, reduced mental acuity and really bad memory. I am not complaining, as it is the cost of being fortunate enough to live this long. I still feel I am in better health and conditioning than most people about this age. My Mom passed this past August at the age of 90, she had been in relatively good health until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in November of 2018. She, for years, said that getting old is not for the weak.

I have come up with a new man mantra for myself, which I repeat often on a daily basis: "If I want to keep actively living my life, getting old is hard. If I just want to get old, that is easy." That seems to really help me accept the aging process and keep motivated to stay active, and reduce the mental stress of the aches and pains. Now, if I can just keep remembering that.

Bicycles have been a long term, important part of my life and health. People often ask me me, How long do you think you can keep doing it? My stock answer: "If I make it into my 80's, I hope to still be pedaling."

freeranger

Yep, getting old is much easier than maintaining one's fitness as we age. I turned 69 around last Christmas, have recently joined a couple of gyms (free thru Silver Sneakers), and feel as good as ever. Hoping by working hard at it, I can stay feeling young and keep cycling for many years (decades?) to come. Keep working at it, and stay young (even if our years don't reflect it!)

Retro Grouch 

You don't quit bicycling because you get old. You get old because you quit bicycling.

GeneO 

canklecat

Mine is "Nobody gets out of here alive."

I was caregiver for three consecutive older family members, from 1990 through 2018, with breaks of 2-3 years between each. I took care of both grandparents, a few years apart, and then my mom for a decade as Alzheimer's and various physical maladies overwhelmed her.

Immediately after my mom was hospitalized in late 2017 for severe osteoporosis (her surgeon described her bones as cheese filled pretzels), I was hit by a car while I was riding my bike, breaking my shoulder, and during diagnostics they discovered I had thyroid cancer. The next year was a blur of medical appointments to look after my long neglected health. My mom was in rehab, then nursing home care, then hospice during that year. She declined very quickly, finally overcome by congestive heart failure and pneumonia -- same as both grandparents.

In the end, it's being bedridden that gets most older and disabled folks. They don't, won't or can't move. Fluid accumulates. They aren't properly nourished, even with feeding tubes. If they're really unlucky nosocomial infections -- in-house infections -- hasten their demise. Eventually the heart and lungs give up.

This only motivated me to take better care of myself, enjoy the time I have left, and not worry about trying to artificially prolong life just for existing on the sofa or recliner for my final 10 years while a small army of nurses and aides swarm around me. No, thanks. I won't ask anyone in my family to look after me and if they offer I'll decline.

davethelefty

My mantra is really just a reminder to myself, and it's taken from the Rules of Cycling, Rule #5 , I think it is, is Harden the F Up. My son, who is an accomplished triathlete, and I, who's approaching 66 and trying to maintain some biking skills, say this frequently to each other. And to me that doesn't mean completely ignoring pain or doing stupid things, but persevering. So maybe the correct wording of my mantra or word to live by is just simply "Persevere".

Clyde1820

More aches, more pains, stiffer, not as "sharp" overall (physical or mentally) ... Yeah, it's one of those mostly inevitable trends. Mitigated in some part by how healthy we've been living, whether we keep pushing the body and mind to minimize those losses, etc.

I'm not in my late 60s, yet, but I am usually much stiffer and have more aches, as each year passes. Can't miss a day of stretching. Always feel better when I've pushed all of my major muscle groups moderately, daily. Always feel better when having a solid regimen of daily cardio that modestly pushes me in a circuit of intervals with sufficient recovery periods throughout. Always feel better when well-hydrated, with decent nutrients in meals, and a good amount of restful and unimpeded sleep.

Of course, as we age, keeping up with all of that can become more difficult as "life" intervenes. Better than the alternative, though.

Lots of reading, puzzles, challenges, etc. Lots of engagement with others. Lots of focus on tougher problems (work-related or otherwise). Sufficient physical activity to stave off the messier impacts of aging. It all helps.

You know, they say 70 is the new 50. If a good chunk of society keeps pushing and keeping active, it might well become truer than we know.

Glad I worked out this morning. A tougher one, but feeling oh so much better. Ahhhh.

osco53

Get busy Living or get busy Dying, It's that simple.
61 now and I still drive the women crazy,,,, I think I know what they mean when I'm told this,,

berner

My own mantra is "do as much as you can as long as you can". There will inevitably be a final decline at some point but as long as I have choices I will continue to make those choices. We can influence the ability to have choices and the key is to maintain mobility. Sure, there are some aches and stiffness mornings but they are lessened by exercise which even in advances age, the body likes. I like stretching and the purpose for me is to maintain flexibility and mobility. I also lift some weights to maintain muscle tone and riding the bike is part of an overall exercise routine.

I remember some years ago when I really became aware of advancing years seeing an old man, younger than I am now, very slowly and painfully walking along. I thought then that I did not want to get like that. I still see such people who can barely walk and who have reached a point where the ability and the will to maintain mobility is gone. It is not a question of long life but of however many years we have, that they be worthwhile.

Wildwood 

You can control many physical issues with activity, no solutions for those of us moving into some undefined dementia or perhaps Alz.

My mantra = Preserve dignity.

Life is Good - for now.
Ride On.

Kabuki12

I'll be 66 this year and feeling pretty good overall. I ride my bikes weekly and walk every day about 2 miles. I ride 30-40 miles a week. I plan to keep working in semi retired mode as long as I can. I have been self employed for 38 years and like what I do. As time goes on , I will work less and spend time with my wife and my bikes. I have sold some of my equipment at my shop so I can display my vintage racers , I only keep a few at home now. This way I can rotate my steeds and ride at lunch once or twice a week. I guess the general take on this thread is that cycling is a great way to stay active and therefore have a better quality of life as we age.Yea , I get aches and sometimes pains , but movement seems to keep it at bay . My mind is like a steel trap , just the hinges are getting rusty! Get old or die, it's that simple, Joe

RH Clark

I'll be 52 in May. I only started cycling a few months after I turned 50. I've been through a complete body transformation. I've lost 160lbs, basically half my body weight as a result of trying to learn the healthiest way to eat and the best ways to make my body the strongest that I could make it. I feel better now most of the time ,than I did when I was 20,and I wasn't all that fat back then.

What I wanted to add to this conversation, is that I've learned just how important good nutrition is to rebuild the body. I've learned about things like Autophagy, which helps the body rebuild itself. I've done lots of things ,the best was to focus my attention on being pro active in my health in every aspect. For crying out loud, I learned sleep is just as important as diet for long term health. Lots and lots of things you can do to feel younger if you focus your attention on learning how. There's meditation, yoga, all kinds of breathing techniques, stretching and exercise that is beneficial in addition to cycling.

I see youtube videos of cyclists just eating absolute junk on their rides. It seems to me that they have an attitude that they can eat whatever as long as they are cycling it off. You just can't get around the fact that your body will have to rebuild and repair itself out of whatever you are eating. Some of that stuff, has to be treated as a poison to be rid of rather than as fuel. Yea,I eat lots of carbs when doing a lot of cycling but I mix up all natural snacks to take. I eat lots of dates, raisins, nuts, toasted oatmeal, unsweetened chocolate and sometimes berries made into bite sized balls.

I honestly think most of us can improve a lot more than we realize if we really focus our attention on how to improve. That's the real key, believing that you can, and then putting your attention on how to do it. feed your self on stories and videos of amazing older people doing amazing things,and then tell yourself that if one man can then another man can. That's sort of been my motto through all this.

Here I am at age 50
.


Here I am at 51

Murf58

RH Clark - well done, awesome transformation.