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Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

this is a very active forum!

Old 07-19-19, 09:38 AM
  #1  
SpinClassSara
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this is a very active forum!

Exciting to see so many people my age that are into cycling!
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Old 07-19-19, 10:10 AM
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Bicycling is a big part of my life. I bought some tools a couple of years ago and started to learn the maintenance/mechanical side of bikes. My skills still could use a lot of improvement, but it has added to my bike world. This past winter I challenged myself with the rebuild of steel frame bike I bought brand new in 1992 as a b-day present to myself. It was at times both a frustrating satisfying experience. In the end, the bike came out very nice and it is again my favorite bike to ride. My avatar is a picture of it.

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Old 07-19-19, 10:30 AM
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All kinds, here, too! I'm getting educated, acclimated and validated on so many levels. Even most of the disagreements are enlightening
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Old 07-19-19, 11:16 AM
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As everyday hustle and bustle of life slows down as we get older.... or at least for me it did, then there is more time for activities we used to do all the time as kids. So yes there are a lot of us older types actively cycling.

Possibly a lot of us that are ADD (ADHD) love the adrenalin rush of speed and endurance part of it. I know I do. For others, maybe it's a good social crowd to identify with.
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Old 07-19-19, 05:44 PM
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It must be a baby boomer thing that we're part of. lol
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Old 07-19-19, 07:57 PM
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Staying active on the internet keeps me feeling young.
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Old 07-20-19, 05:03 AM
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Jim from Boston
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this is a very active forum!
Originally Posted by SpinClassSara
Exciting to see so many people my age that are into cycling!
Originally Posted by Digger Goreman
All kinds, here, too! I'm getting educated, acclimated and validated on so many levels. Even most of the disagreements are enlightening :
Originally Posted by 2cam16
It must be a baby boomer thing that we're part of. lol
I’ve been on Bike Forums since 2008, very much on this Forum. FYA, there was this reflective thread in 2016, 50+ the way that it used to be.” Many former regulars contributed to that thread.
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
50+ used to be like the bar on "Cheers". There was a cast of characters like the Deege and Denver who had distinct personalities. Topics were generally related to bicycling or ageing but not always. It was it's own place.

Some people didn't like that. They said they felt like they had wandered into a bar where they didn't belong. Their solution was to change the bar and they did…
Originally Posted by qcpmsame
…The big dust up was actually a confluence of a couple of events. See the stickie post, by Tom Stormcrowe, in the top of the forum threads, for a date to pin on the event(s).

A few members didn't care for the "clubbiness" that evolved over the first years of the 50+ Forum. The things like Pie, pie rides, pie day, mentioning colonoscopies, Tombay falls and Club Tombay, rubbed them the wrong way. they also felt that these topics weren't bicycle related and should be eliminated/deleted somehow.

Several folks got their feelings hurt, or just plain got angry about the tone, as Tom put it, and they either left, or got hostile towards others….

Just what I observed over the few years I have been here, I cannot say that I am always happy with how things go here, I doubt that anyone is always 100% in agreement about the place, or who has an opinion. I have been lucky with the forum, and the members, mostly,

I have received encouragement and support when times were hard. Members have checked on me from time to time, it I was away, or just to say hello. And, there are members I just have to ignore, best left right there about them.

Make of things what you will, times change, and members will come and go. We just lost a member, Artkansas, he passed from a heart attack. He will be missed, greatly. Thanks to everyone here for all y'all have offered to me, and done t make my riding pleasurable.

Bill
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
I think this Forum started well before I joined in 2008, maybe 2005?

What has captivated me most about Fifty-Plus beside the general milieu are (were) the Annual rides begun in 2010 up though last year. I have ridden in five of them, and have compiled the personal narratives of all the Rides on the thread, "A Chronicle of the 50+ Annual Rides".

I myself think this so-called "way it used to be" ended with the Fourth Annual Ride in Tennessee. BTW, billydonn [deceased] was on that one.

Another change IMO is the seeming disappearance of self-identified females from those good old days. Miss Kenton, Miss Jean, and Beverly come immediately to mind as the Women of Fifty-Plus, since I have met them all in person. I considered Miss K the doyenne of the Forum with her savvy and witty posts….

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 07-29-19 at 11:56 AM.
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Old 07-22-19, 08:16 AM
  #8  
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I sometimes think this 50+ bar is set way too low. There are a lot of different ways to have fun on a bicycle (or a tricycle) and, for me at least, how I find my fun has evolved through the years. I'm looking to find a bar with more patrons who are like me or who at least tolerate the people who have never chased a Strava KOM. I could never understand why people couldn't just skip over the threads that mentioned pie in the title.

I have a question for the group. If you fall from your bike and injure yourself does that count as an accident or is it an athletic injury? I ask because my kids have restricted me to only using a 4' step ladder and all of the two wheeled cycles have disappeared from my garage. I think it's because they think I've had too many athletic injuries. My brother-in-law, by the way fell while playing golf and needs to have a shoulder reconstruction. Golf! In my book that counts as an athletic injury too.
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Old 07-22-19, 08:25 AM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by 2cam16
It must be a baby boomer thing that we're part of. lol
Some of us are GenX.
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Old 07-22-19, 09:53 AM
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I'm a Gen Xer.
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Old 07-22-19, 05:11 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
I ask because my kids have restricted me to only using a 4' step ladder and all of the two wheeled cycles have disappeared from my garage.
Are your kids your legal guardian? If not, demand that they return your property and tell them thanks, but no thanks when they attempt to restrict you. How you "tolerate" that kind of BS from your children is incomprehensible to me.
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Old 07-23-19, 03:38 PM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Are your kids your legal guardian? If not, demand that they return your property and tell them thanks, but no thanks when they attempt to restrict you. How you "tolerate" that kind of BS from your children is incomprehensible to me.
What if they're right?
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My greatest fear is all of my kids standing around my coffin and talking about "how sensible" dad was.
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Old 07-24-19, 11:29 AM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
What if they're right?
When my kids become "right" I may have to rethink things


Like having them.


And yes, I was one of the original in this subforum when it was formed.
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Old 07-24-19, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by SpinClassSara
Exciting to see so many people my age that are into cycling!
Please don't take this as snarky but I have to ask because no one else has. What/who were you expecting to find here? The exclamation in your title says to me that you were quite surprised.
Is it because you are in "The City" and don't get out much? For what it's worth, I'm 62 and into more than just cycling when it comes to fitness. Have a good spin!
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Old 07-24-19, 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted by BKE
Please don't take this as snarky but I have to ask because no one else has. What/who were you expecting to find here? The exclamation in your title says to me that you were quite surprised.
Is it because you are in "The City" and don't get out much? For what it's worth, I'm 62 and into more than just cycling when it comes to fitness. Have a good spin!
I expected to find members over 50 years old. I just did not expect to find so many of them.

Has nothing to do with my location and/or lifestyle. Thanks for asking, though.
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Old 07-25-19, 06:40 AM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by 2cam16
It must be a baby boomer thing that we're part of. lol
I talked to my daughter about that. I told her in the sixties and seventies when I was in high school my bike was(is) my life and my freedom! The bike rack at the local high school was always packed with ten speeds. We did not have any other distractions(other than girls) so bikes were our friends! I am now happily married for the last 43 years and I still ride my first race bike that I bought new in 1976, among others. I still get that sense of freedom when I am peddling along and enjoying the wind in my face. It's all good, Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress
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Old 07-25-19, 06:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
What if they're right?
Shouldn’t that be your decision?

My kids all encourage me to go out and “do things.” Maybe they are hoping for an early inheritance. Little do they realize that I’ve spent it all on bikes.
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Old 07-25-19, 07:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
I have a question for the group. If you fall from your bike and injure yourself does that count as an accident or is it an athletic injury? ...
My recent fall and injury was an accident, but it's whichever you decide at your sole discretion.

I sought advice, medical and other, before getting back on the bike. But in the end it is my decision if and when to ride or walk or run, and no one else's. Your interactions here do not demonstrate any impairments, IMO, that you shouldn't have the same capability and right to your own choices.
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Old 07-25-19, 10:12 AM
  #19  
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Our age group is a growing and at the same time I'm sorry to say a diminishing demographic.
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Old 07-25-19, 10:29 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Are your kids your legal guardian? If not, demand that they return your property and tell them thanks, but no thanks when they attempt to restrict you. How you "tolerate" that kind of BS from your children is incomprehensible to me.
Originally Posted by maddmaxx
When my kids become "right" I may have to rethink things


Like having them.


And yes, I was one of the original in this subforum when it was formed.
Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia
Shouldn’t that be your decision?

My kids all encourage me to go out and “do things.” Maybe they are hoping for an early inheritance. Little do they realize that I’ve spent it all on bikes.
Originally Posted by wphamilton
My recent fall and injury was an accident, but it's whichever you decide at your sole discretion.

I sought advice, medical and other, before getting back on the bike. But in the end it is my decision if and when to ride or walk or run, and no one else's. Your interactions here do not demonstrate any impairments, IMO, that you shouldn't have the same capability and right to your own choices.
Fortunately for me, my family is far less grim and much more fun loving than than most of the other people whom I encounter. Makes me proud. We'll banter together a little and then do fine, thank you.
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Old 07-25-19, 10:58 AM
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Big crop of Baby-Boomers are here...... from the 70s bike boom, and now we have a bit more time on our hands after careers/family/etc. ... and we are still riding.
We are still kicken'
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Old 07-26-19, 05:22 PM
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The average age of my bike club would qualify for this forum. Few of them frequent the Internet, beyond Facebook, though.
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Old 07-27-19, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
I sometimes think this 50+ bar is set way too low. There are a lot of different ways to have fun on a bicycle (or a tricycle) and, for me at least, how I find my fun has evolved through the years. I'm looking to find a bar with more patrons who are like me or who at least tolerate the people who have never chased a Strava KOM. I could never understand why people couldn't just skip over the threads that mentioned pie in the title.

I have a question for the group. If you fall from your bike and injure yourself does that count as an accident or is it an athletic injury? I ask because my kids have restricted me to only using a 4' step ladder and all of the two wheeled cycles have disappeared from my garage. I think it's because they think I've had too many athletic injuries. My brother-in-law, by the way fell while playing golf and needs to have a shoulder reconstruction. Golf! In my book that counts as an athletic injury too.
RG, tell 'em to bring 'em back, they are yours! lol
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Old 07-28-19, 03:49 PM
  #24  
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This is a great forum. I always have ridden bikes since a kid they got me around and freedom. Well I started long distance running to stay in shape for baseball and keep it up so far all my life 41 years in the runners log book. I bought a bike back in 1992 to supplement my running and road off on depending. When your injured running many times the bike is your best friend. Finally about 11 years ago I went out bought a new road bike with the intention of doing my cycling as running is fine but lots of pounding.

I don't hurt running but have slowed way up. My usual 8 minute training pace till I was 40 has now dropped to 10-11 and I walk as my legs just don't want to always run. However once I went to cycling more I wonder if maybe more a cyclist. As a cyclist I have not really slowed at all in the last 10 years by much. I wonder if in my prime I might have been a much better cyclist than runner. Now I can easily go out and ride with guys even 20-25 years younger than my 58. I can ride 300 mile weeks and while I get tired I can still get up and go at it again. I retired last year and cycling is just a real outlet. This group here in the 50's is great I appreciate the advice and company.

Also like many here I got into bike mechanics and can do most anything on a bike except build a frame. I build my wheels and keep my own bike in shape. I repair guitars for a living and we luthiers like to say if you can repair a guitar...…….generally other things are much easier. I do wish at times I had others to ride with my I am lone wolf due to I don't like to be tied to any specific time frames or routes. This group takes the place of those group rides I suppose.

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Old 07-28-19, 03:51 PM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by SpinClassSara
Exciting to see so many people my age that are into cycling!
I'm excited to see so many your age that I can learn from....

JAG
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