lphilpot

...for seriously outta shape 50+ guys who ride cushy comfort (Grandpa? ) bikes and still wheeze and puff their way through a (very) few miles?

Man... it's gonna be a long trip back from when I was in decent shape! No, wait... I've never been in truly decent shape. Ever. Never. It's not that I'm grossly overweight, per se, (being 6' 1"+ has its mathmatical advantages). I just have about zero cardiopulmonary endurance. Not that my legs are stellar, but my lungs give out first. Today, over a seriously embarassing few miles (< 10, far less) I managed to get my pulse rate pretty high and completely winded. A few minutes rest and I was OK, but I guess a few decades of virtual neglect aren't going to go quietly into the night...

stapfam

Don't know about a special forum for you but several of us here are in your state.

Welcome home.

BengeBoy 

I think you're in exactly the right place. Except for the description of the bike I dragged out of the garage, I was in exactly your shape 4 years ago.

There is plenty of advice on here to help keep you going, but here are my 2 cents: don't underestimate the power of vigorous walking to start getting into shape. Load up your iPod with good music, grab a dog if you have one, and take off on energetic, hour-long walks. If you're coming from zero fitness they will really help. If you're starting to ride a bike and getting sore on some of your initial rides, it's a great way to balance things out.

lphilpot

Thanks! Misery loves company, or something like that.


So far, I'm comfortable enough when riding, in terms of the bike. I've tweaked the saddle tilt a tiny bit back and seem to have reduced or eliminated any numbness. I just got this bike (a 2010 Trek Navigator 2.0) last spring after more than 30 years away from bikes. If I were buying now, I'd probably lean a bit more toward a hybrid, but I still like the ability (via the large tires) to tool around on grass, etc. So, I'm still OK with my intial purchase. At least for now. At any rate, the bike is far better than I am right now and is in no way a limiting factor for me (I can't blame anything on it! :-)

In terms of fitness, I need to revise my mindset a bit. For pretty much all my life, despite not being any kind of athlete I never had a real weight problem. Up through my 30s I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted without apparent effect - No better, no worse. Since then, it's become apparent I'll have to make much more of an effort for relatively less effect, as it were. In other words, I'm getting older and will have to honestly work for what I get, or lose. (welcome to the real world, eh?)

Your suggestion about walking is well-taken. I live in a neighborhood just off a heavily travelled 5-lane highway. I've tended to avoid it for safety reasons, but I'm realizing I could trip and drown in the bath just as easily. So, I'll be careful and although there aren't any bike paths (nor even bike lanes) in my area, this road has decent shoulders where I live and I'll just ride them for a while.

Thanks.

Retro Grouch 

Yup. This is it. Even if it's not there's still at least two of us.

Retro Grouch 

That's what I think too. In some ways walking is better than bicycling because it's weight bearing. Put together a program that you know you can stick with day-by-day. Then just do it one day at a time.

MinnMan

THis is the forum you are seeking. Many of the regulars here started out just as you describe and have moved on to ever more demanding rides and expensive wheels. Others are just getting started. Yet others just pedal along at whatever pace suits them.

If you want to use riding to improve your fitness, the only advice we have is keep at it. Don't worry so much about "progress" and don't get discouraged if your progress is slow (or at times, even goes backwards). Just find a way to ride that you enjoy. Then repeat.

doctor j

Yes, this is the place. Keep riding. You'll get there.

drmweaver2

I went from "nothing but sitting in a computer chair" to taking on 100-plus mile rides in a bit under 3 months. I'm turning 55 next weekend so I can relate to the starting place. My first bike ride back in July was a "gasper" despite only being 2 miles - seriously. My limiting factor has routinely been respiration, not muscular strength as I am very pollen-sensitive and the heat/humidity of Louisiana does me no favors either.

The key for me has been simply getting out daily no matter how short the ride. After a surprisingly short period, and with a bit of pharmacuetical assistance, I was able to ramp up to 20 mile rides at an easy pace. From there it's been an interesting ride, pardon the pun.

Good luck.

tsl

Been there. You want embarrassingly few miles?

When I restarted in March of 2006, I rode my brand new "old man hybrid bike" home from the LBS. I had to stop halfway to rest. Total distance? 0.65 miles. A little more than half a mile, and I had to stop and rest halfway through that.

It was weeks before I could ride the two miles to work without stopping to rest. But, perseverance pays off. I did my first 50-miler that August and my first metric (100 km, 62.125 mi) that October. Even though I did them in ten-mile increments between rest stops, I did them.

It's dead flat around here, so even expressway overpasses gave me trouble through the following year. I didn't get good at hills until 2008. Twenty-eight months to the day after I first turned a pedal, (and two bikes later) I rode to the top of the highest paved road in North America, Mt. Evans, just west of Denver, CO.



Give it time, and keep turning those pedals.

Bare Feet

Hi Len, Way to start off the New Year with a bike ride The distance doesn't matter as much as the fact that you went out and rode! Hopefully you enjoyed it tremendously You will notice improvement sooner than you think . . just stay with it. The more you ride, the more you'll want to ride!

DnvrFox

You are exactly why this forum was started.

There is a tremendous variety of folks here - from international class racers and a guy who pedaled at high speed across the country in 27 riding days, to guys and gals who are or were in your exact situation.

Don't be discouraged by the folks who write bout 200 miles in a day, or week and month long tours by themselves, eating only carrot juice and algea. Many of them were YOU 2 and 3 years ago.

I didn't start until I was 58 (13 years ago) - and I still ride mostly for fun, without any "What are your 2011 goals" kind of writing. Still, I manage to get in about 150 miles per week during the best part of the season, and I have started riding in temps down to 20F this winter - but NOT on ice. I also swim, walk, lift weights and other resistance exercises and stretch and walk. It is all good and good for you.

Have fun, and share lots.

Dan Burkhart 

Yup. You've landed smack dab in the middle of it.

zonatandem

Years of inactivity take its toll! Move it or loose it . . .
Keep riding; do it 4 to 5 times a week. You will get better, gradually.
Each week you can increase your distance a bit; whether it's a block or or one mile.
Keep doing it . . . then repeat!

Bare Feet

Now that's inspiring!! Thanks tsl.

qcpmsame 

Welcome to +50 Len, I say that to put in that I use this very forum to inspire and inform me and I am in the same boat you are. As everyone has had great advice just let them be a guide and ask questions as you feel you need. The range of levels of experience and the friendliness is your greatest asset in getting to a good sustainable fitness. Shoot me a P.M. if you get over to NW Florida or SE Alabama and we can surly do some spinning and compare notes.

Bill

richyankee

until I read some of these posts.
I started out pretty much where a couple of people have indicated they were - unable to go a mile with getting winded and stopping. My lungs were giving up first but my legs weren't much better.
Over a period of a six weeks that improved, by riding every day. At first I forced myself to go two miles (around the block twice).

Having started work at distant job site (no possibility of biking for me there) I started riding Saturdays and Sundays and during the week, using the hotel gym/pool to ensure I got regular exercise, even after 10-11 hours of stressful work.

But my weekend rides (when snow an temperature allows now - I live in NH) are between 12 and 15 miles. After a ride like that, I rest for a while.

It's nothing to brag about, but it has made a world of difference to me. I can take a steady stream of 10 hour days and still have energy and clarity enough to focus on my own interests at night.

Soon the work will be done and I will cease making these trips, I expect to continue to improve, but I'm very happy I started doing this and didn't quirt when it got cold.

I also have a trainer now (Santa Clause) which I've used 3 times, so I don't necessarily need to go anywhere to sweat and ugh for an hour at a time - which suits me fine.

... still working on my success story (60 years old and haven't been in shape since 25 years ago).

Rich

Kurt Erlenbach

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. This forum is the place to help you keep going, to steps 2, 3, 4, 5, and so forth.

europa

Being a nerd, I've kept a riding diary since getting back into cycling. My first entry from a few years back, shows a distance of 3.2km with the comment 'Utterly stuffed'.

So yeah, it IS possible to start from a low baseline and improve somewhat, just by doing it.

The most liberating thing I ever did was to buy a bike carrier for the car. This means that I'm not restricted to starting from my front door (which is nice seeing it's an uphill finish). I can ride to somewhere nice and ride from there. I can visit new places and new tracks. Novelty is a great motivator.

You'll get there mate and even if this forum isn't the perfect place for your needs, the old pharts here muddle through enough to make it work.

lphilpot

Wow! What encouragement from all these replies... Thanks - That means a lot!

In fact it was kinda funny.... I'm a computer guy and although I'm not on-call right now, I needed to run to the office for a few minutes tonight (to swap a tape for an archive I'm making). I had just read these replies before I left and they had me so inspired I was ready to get the bike out and ride to the office!

Trouble is, 1) it's pitch black out there and I have no lights on my bike, and 2) that very ride -- to the office -- is what did me in this afternoon (see below)! So, I drove instead.


Well, as long as we're coming clean, here's a bikely.com graph of my ride today, all 5.5 miles of it:



(the graph looks pretty good until you look at the actual values! )

There's a loop of roads around a local airport and rec area that's very convenient for training in that there are several segments (intersection to intersection, etc.) that are either exactly one mile, or a half mile there and back, etc. It's easy to keep track of distance and I've ridden 8+ miles there, but with rests. For some reason today I just bonked. Once I reached the office and rested, I started to return home. But given how badly I was pooped, better sense prevailed and I had my wife drive over in my truck (we drove back together with the bike in the bed). I know that despite how I felt after resting, I wouldn't have made it far. But there's always next time.

One thing I've noticed is that on hills I tend to kill myself on the downhill side to try and offset the next upcoming rise with my speed. But, all I actually "accomplish" is to just start up the next hill more tired than I would have otherwise been, so I need to concentrate on cadence, proper shifting and consistency instead. At least that makes sense to me.

Kurt Erlenbach

l - it's great to be motivated by the things you've read here, but it's also important the remember the deadly seriousness of what this is all about. Here's a short story. When I was 47, on 9/11/03, I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. That's after years of sedentary life as a lawyer and busy parent. I had chemo, radiation, surgery, more chemo, and started biking because I read a study that showed that exercise had a strong negative correlation with the return of colon cancer. A year and a half later, the cancer came back in my liver, which was very bad news. After more surgery and brutal chemo, ending 7/19/06, I started riding again, and have logged over 13,000 miles since then, including a ride across the state of Florida from the gulf to the ocean this past November. My first ride was 3 flat miles, and I laid on the bed for 45 minutes afterward panting, trying to catch my breath. I was doing chemo at the time, and got a couple of EPO shots soon thereafter. EPO, in my opinion, is magic juice.

Many folks on this forum have stories far more compelling than mine. Many folks here are testaments to the fact that exercise and diet can prevent or mitigate serious health problems. Prevention is the key. The fact that you are motivated today is great, but it doesn't matter what you did today. It matters what you will do tomorrow.

StephenH

This is the "old" forum. The "big" forum is the Clydesdale/ Athenas. If you're old and big, then read both, post in both. The Clydesdale forum is more oriented towards weight loss and getting in shape.

FYI, I've lost around 60 lbs in the last 3-4 years. That's from a lot of riding, and also trying to eat better/less/healthier. It doesn't just melt away, at least for me. And I've got some flab yet to be lost.

lphilpot

Absolutely.

I've been blessed with a remarkable absence of health issues so far and that's certainly nothing of my doing. High cholesterol runs in my mother's side of the family but between me, (usually :-) sensible eating and statins, we're controlling that. My post-50 screening turned up absolutely nothing, thank God. Although I tend to exhibit White Coat Syndrome during doctor visits in the form of moderate tachycardia, my EKG, ECG, etc. all came back clean and I have no indicative symptoms of problems.

However, my point (and your's too, I think) is that neither I nor anyone else have any guarantees and I will get what life gives me, so I need to do what I can, while I can. As is usual, I suppose, one thinks more about such things as one gets older.

It's been far too long without sufficient exercise, but better late than never. I can't guarantee I'll ride X miles every Y days, but I do know that since I got my bike last spring there's been a growing internal 'bent' toward riding and the benefits therein. Believe it or not, I've already seen improvements (scary, eh?). Who knows - One of these days I might even be able to ride the Davis Mountains Scenic Loop.

But I understand what you're saying and rather than make promises (to myself) that I'll get discouraged over breaking, I'm just going to do the best I can.

Thanks.

ciocc_cat

I resumed cycling in April 2009 at age 54 after a 17+ year hiatus. I was at least 40 pounds over-weight and seriously out-of-shape. Now I'm slim and in shape again and typically average over 17 mph on my solo training rides.

You'll get there too - it just takes patience and persistence.

Neil_B

Do I qualify?

• December 20, 2010 - 282.8
• October 27, 2010 - 296.7
• May 30, 2009 - 285
• August 30, 2008 - 265
• March 1, 2008 - 265
• October 1, 2007 - 255
• August 1, 2007 - 242
• July 17, 2007 - 243
• July 2, 2007 - 245
• June 23 2007 - 245
• June 16, 2007 - 246
• May 4, 2007 - 247
• April 7, 2007 - 249
• March 1, 2007 - 252
• January 31, 2007 - 262
• January 5, 2007 - 275
• December 1, 2006 - 280
• November 1, 2006 - 285
• October 1, 2006- 290
• September 1, 2006 - 297
• August 1, 2006 - 300
• July 1, 2006- 310
• June 1, 2006 - 320
• May 1, 2006 - 330
• April 1, 2006 - 340
• March 1, 2006 - 350
• February 1, 2006- 360
• January 3, 2006 - 400?
• December 22, 2005 - 400

It's been five years since I had my wake up call. I consider the 21st/22nd of December as my second birthday. It was the first moment in my life that I thought I was worth fighting for.

I used to be this man, five years ago. He's gone.



Now I'm this man. With more than a little bit of the man in the statue behind me.



Although I celebrate every day, because I live every day, I wanted to celebrate again here. Thanks for your patience, and support, my friends.