OldTryGuy

IMO, that line for myself was and still is drawn with a 3" paint brush!!! It is only a fine line if you allow others to get inside your head and rattle you. AH YES, we're talking the H.S. JOCK Syndrome that often continues into the latter stages of life.

AS FOR $10,000.00 BIKES??? It was my wife who was insisting that I get the Di2 DA bike in that neighborhood and I told her the bike that was half the price was fine. The oldie 70's and 80's YO guys I occasionally ride with are the ones out EVERY DAY on their $8,000.00 bikes, not me.

QUALITY AND QUANTITY of each ride, not smelling roses, governs my time on the bikes. Unlike many, my life is now based in 5 year increments due to cancer. I just made the first 5 years last month, only to begin the 2nd 5 years with a riding crash on that $5,000.00 bike last Monday resulting in a punctured lung from the 2 cracked ribs AND cracked scapula. Has to be coincidental that 9 years ago last month I had my other bad crash resulting in a minor broken neck and clavicle.

My rides always have the computer going with statistics being recorded and I can even view on STRAVA the brief distance I was able to maintain control after being sideswiped by the 150+lb MAMA WILD HOG last MONDAY at mile 30.2 of what was supposed to be 100 and then the 4.1 mile ride back home. LOVE HAVING THE RECORDS

WHAT EVA FLOATS YA BOAT. JUST RIDE AND ENJOY!!!!

Papa Tom

No judgements here, but I've been riding for 24 years on a $300 mountain bike I bought in 1996. In fair weather, I bike to work almost every day and take two or three rides across state borders every summer. I don't think I would get $4,700 more inspiration from a $5,000 bike, but again, I've learned that you've just gotta let people choose their own roads.

bargeon

I'd go faster and buy expensive bikes if I could. But I'm old, slow and none too rich.

I never thought I'd spend 3K on a bile, but I did. It will be my last. Love it every time I mount up.
And I'd be head down and balls out but for reasons mechanical, physical and medical. So I average 10 mph, with breaks. Get my challenges on hills when I can manage them. See some of the most beautiful country, when it finally warms up. And generally have a pretty good time.

Aristophon

This - to enjoy the ride - is why, 46 years since I owned a bike, I've just ordered my second bicycle. Then too it could be that being retired Navy instead of a Marine, the "slack Jack" attitude comes naturally to me. (Well for NROTC types, not Naval Academy "hard chargers, that is.)

rydabent

As I stated earlier I am one of the enjoy the ride types. I do not do numbers, or look at a ride as a challenge. But------------------now and then on maybe a short hill I dont shift down and just hammer the pedals for a little extra exercise.

OldBrokeReCycle

15 years traveling the west in a VW van; it took quite a while to get there, but the campsites were better than any outside of a backpack. Dumbest thing I ever did was get rid of it. Fortunately, I kept my first "serious" bike for 40 years. I'm pretty slow on that too, but boy do I spend 2 or 3 hours in beautiful places most every day.

Artmo 

Great thread! Thanks for starting it, Jinkster. Both of us 80 and not chasing the fast group any longer, but enjoying the rides, and camaraderie with a much smaller group, of 2 or 3, which waits for us at rest stops - socially separated of course!

Wildwood 

I can totally relate to the 'casual' movement.
And i gave up all electronics about 2 decades ago.

But I have bikes when I feel fast and bikes more for cruisin along.
22mm tires on smooth pavement on a racy bike means 20mph feels too easy. I really enjoy turning it up and feeling drained at the end of a ride.

Then again, I'm just a kid at 69.

AlgarveCycling

As mentioned, there's more than enough room for people to enjoy cycling as it suits them. No one type of riding is better than another, we all ride the way we want to enjoy it.

Personally, I'm very competitive, I race and I want to win. I have friends who race for the social aspect and camaraderie which is perfectly fine. For me, as long as I have some speed in my legs I will use it to compete at the highest level I can cope with. I admit, I enjoy Strava as a training aid but like all social media tools, I have a 'request to follow' only setting and I have only accepted my teammates, club friends and those I used to race with many moons ago. I keep it at a minimum. I plan routes on it, I use the segments for PB's to gauge performance and see KOM's as challenges - they are an ego boost despite the many variables they are obviously subject to. I am getting around 7 per month, on average, which isn't too bad when there are so many Elite youngsters in my neck of the woods. Of course, the pro's sweep a lot up of segments when they are here for their pre-season training each year so I have zero chance on those. I still like to see how close I can get. Today, for example, I did an 7.4km segment where I am 7th fastest this year so far. The top 6 are Deceuninck pro's. Lotto Soudal have a few riders around who share their data too. Thomas de Gendt features a lot. Good fun to see how I do.

Despite being competitive, I do take more recovery days due to my age and combine active recovery with my photography hobby. I like to go out on my MTB or road bike, mobile, drone, GoPro and head off to find beautiful things and scenes to take pictures of. Those are slow, easy rides where I take in the amazing place I am very fortunate to live in.

Today I waved to and greeted a lady out riding who must've been at least 70, cheerful and loving her ride on her e-bike. Cycling is a wonderful sport and pastime and long may we all enjoy it!

gorillimo

Pretty much for me. Actually having fun riding, poking around. No “training goals”, no performance anxiety. A neck fracture caused fusion with plate,screws and bone grafting. Sold the Colnago and Klein. No more drop bars. Enjoying my Surly Cross Check a lot. I’m good with it..

U

CyclingBK

Great post.

I like to do both. Enjoy a leisurely ride as well as feel that satisfaction of blowing it all out.

Sometimes I do both on the same ride ; )

NVanHiker

Car-free since '89. Aside from a bit of touring, my bike is my basic transportation. Downhills are a welcome respite - it wouldn't occur to me to do anything other than coast down them!

George

I can’t believe I’ll be 80 years old in august and thinking of buying a new bike. I have a 2012 Specialized roubaix with almost 27k on it, but it still looks like new. I really don’t need a new one. I wish I could get it out of my mind, but! I just don’t want to put out 5k for another one I guess.

jackb

Different people ride for different reasons. Enjoying bicycling is the point of it as far as I can see. At 72, I never ride for any other reason than to enjoy the experience. I'm not in training for anything; I'm not concerned with going faster; I'm not trying to do anything but enjoy being out on my bicycle. Other reasons for riding are as valid as mine. Let everyone ride the kind of rides they like, as far as I can see.

sovende

Being born in the early 50's, I grew up in a time when most kids (where I lived) had a bike. Balloon tire'd cruisers, English 3peed "racers" then a Schwinn 10 speed was my progression. Interest waned in high School when cars and girls took precedence. Interest stayed low until the mountain bike craze hit. I was married and had kids. I never got serious about "single track" riding. While stationed in Italy with the U.S. Army, I got bit by the cycling "bug"! I had a custom bike built by a local bike guy (they were everywhere!). It was a nice bike but not "over the top" nice. Columbus steel tubing, Campagnolo group set (entry level). Everything on it was Italian! While I was in great shape and could have easily trained up to a "competitive" level, I rode mostly for enjoyment and general fitness. Where I lived in Italy (Veneto region), the countryside was generally flat and absolutely beautiful! Spring, Summer & Fall were all that a rider could ask for. Sadly, the assignment ended and back to the States I went. Fortunately my desire to ride "for just the enjoyment of it" came with me! That desire has waxed and waned over the years but it is still the driving force for why I still ride today. I've become more of a "fair weather cyclist" but when the nice(r) seasons are in swing, I try to ride 3 to 4 days per week. As stated, enjoyment is my primary goal but health and fitness are a welcome by-product! Pounds picked up during the Winter Holidays start to melt away. Blood pressure goes down as does my resting heart rate. Mood is elevated and I just generally feel better! What's not to like about that. Those with the competitive drive may not initially see the purpose in that but they may realize, as they age, that there are other facets of riding a bike. Just sayin' 😎

AlgarveCycling

Taking this statement in isolation if I may...

I think those of us who are very competitive and still race, for example, very much appreciate that there are other facets of riding a bike. As we age, recovery times lengthen and this is great for slow rides with friends, keeping the heart rate in Zone 1. I did this today, 4 of us, including a triathlete who was the silver medallist at the National Champs a couple of years ago, did a 95km route in the hills, approx, 1400m climbing, stunning scenery, stopped for coffee, took photos of the landscape, chatted throughout, never stressed ourselves in the slightest.

Sure, we have 2-3 hard days and in an ordinary race season we would be racing on the weekend, usually the Sunday, but we absolutely have plenty of social bike time too. As I recall, we did this at Elite Cat A level in my youth too. Just because we are competitive doesn't mean we always ride full gas.

nomadmax 

Semper Fi Marine, ride that bike any way you want. BUT, don't ever let a guy get by you on the trail with a Navy jersey on We're nearly the same age so probably served at the same as well, 77-81.

bbbean 

I'm glad you found the type of riding you like. Personally, I race against 50, 60, and 70 yr olds in the best shape of their life, and nearly all of us have a story to tell about overcoming some sort of health challenge or injury. For us, the push and the challenge are the payoff. It is entirely possible to keep pushing yourself for decades past 50 and to live a longer, happier, and healthier life thanks to the effort.

Don't ever think there is just one way to do this, and don't assume you know why other people do what they do. I'm genuinely happy you found the type of riding you enjoy. I hope the next time you see a 50+ racer you'll be happy they found the type of riding they enjoy. It's a big road out there, there's room for all of us.

Trakhak

With all respect, no, you haven't. The head-down types are unaware of you except when you post your anti-carbon, anti-diamond frame diatribes, where they invariably humor you.

To quote S. J. Perelman:

"You hate me!," she wailed.

"I don't hate you," I replied kindly. "You merely don't exist as far as I'm concerned."

caloso

Same. I enjoy cycling better when I am fit, I only get fit when I train, and my main motivation to train is racing.

Jinkster

It was never my intent to demean or belittle those who can but more to spiritually uplift those like myself who would be well advised NOT to push themselves.

As far as "nearly all have a story to tell about health challenges" goes?...I woke up one morning 5 years ago with the entire left side of my body paralyzed...the neurologist at the hospital told my family "We're witnessing a Miracle" because it only took 3 days for me to relearn how to almost walk on my own again but my sense of balance and fine motor skills were shot and couldn't manage to scribble let alone sign my own name.

And because I was very competitive?...the lure of riding a bike again eluded me for 5 years...until a couple weeks before this post...I'm a diabetic who shoots insulin 4 X's a day on BP meds...but I love that recently learned I can still ride even if at a casual pace just for enjoyment.

bbbean 

I'm sorry I took "...sucked into the delusion that if we just pedal hard enough, fast enough and often enough that we can turn back the hands of time and recapture our youth when all to frequently?...what we recapture is down-time recuperating in the recliners with "riding our bikes" reduced to just a fond memory" to be belittling those of us who get tremendous rewards from pedaling hard enough and fast enough. Mea culpa.

big john

Do it, George!

Kayakerles

When my wife and I moved from Oklahoma to the Maryland area for employment 7 years ago, I decided to get back into riding. At 57, I had not rode bikes since the Peugeot UO-8 10-speed I had and loved in my teens. My first bike since my days riding my Schwinn Apple Crate, during summers at the Jersey Shore.

For the last 7 years I have been riding an old school 1998 Bianchi Ocelot mtn. bike I bought on Craigslist for $145. I finally took the big fat knobby tires off and put on some commuter width tires good for road or trails, and some nice big flat pedals. Pre-pandemic I would ride it to the local bus stop, put it on the front of the bus and take it into work, and ride it home after work, 11 miles. Good bye work stress! Getting up early enough to be in work by 7am by bike was just earlier than I wanted to do.

But the thing I most wanted to share is that I treat riding my bike as I did one of my other fave sports... sailing. Sailing, for me at least, was all about the j-o-u-r-n-e-y. Not the speed or the ETA. (There are motors for that purpose.) We rarely ever sailed to GET anywhere. We sailed for the enjoyment of sailing and relaxation. Ir required a bit of physical effort (we had a little 17’ trailer-sailer) but not much. Sailed without an engine for 10 years.

Like sailing, when I ride I just like to enjoy the feel and take in all that the surroundings have to offer. Deer on the trails, the feel of cool shade from trees above, Watching squirrels darting here and there. Like you I have my phone in my pocket, but I won’t use it when I am riding. This is a computer Dash free time. An emergency would be a different situation. I don’t answer phone calls while I am riding my bike either. It is my time… out there to enjoy uninterrupted. I grew up in NYC, so I don’t mind riding on the streets in traffic either, although I usually take the routes through residential neighborhoods.

now while we are still in the pandemic, I get out on my bike at 6 AM every morning and ride a nice 5 mile loop before coming back to login to work. Thank goodness for teleworking. Tomorrow I will probably take a slightly longer 10 mile ride, but that will be good enough. I have nothing to prove to anyone.

Thanks for starting this thread, Jinks. You have struck a familiar chord with lots of us.

Enjoy you rides... everyone!

zarbog

Turned 70 a couple of days ago. Have ridden 2400 kilometres since June last year. I do tend to watch my speedo and try to average 20 kilometres an hour speed for some reason And lately have taken to standing up on climbing certain short hills in the neighbour hood. Wrist and and hand pain got me off my hybrid and onto a drop bar gravel bike. More comfortable but definetlyi not as scenic a ride.Love riding, and love the exertion and thrill of riding "in the zone" I do casual rides wlith my wife and grandkids, and in the summer heat I tend to putter around too. What makes me chuckle is when I am pushing my limit on a long climb and someone on a Walmart bike wearing jeans and no helmet comes blasting by me. That inner laugh is at myself for sometimes getting delusional at my abilities. So whether you ride fast, slow, often or occasionally, and whether it is a casual ride or a brutal workout, does not matter. Go have fun and be glad that you actually can ride. Many people cannot.;