Deal4Fuji

Agree about how annoying that can be, especially "car up" when everyone can see what's coming. We've got a small group of 5 riders who are the more serious riders of a larger, but still small town club. We only call out the basics like "clear back" before a left turn and the more serious holes or debris. We're all over 50 and most retired so we can do weekday morning rides. We were lucky to get by many years of dark riding starting a 5:30 in the winter when some of our group were still working 9-5. We never worried too much about cars riding on our mostly quiet country roads because we were lit up like Christmas trees, but animals darting out from the side were the big fear.

I don't do much solo riding on open roads since I was hit by a truck mirror years ago, and several of my cycling friends have had bad accidents from unobservant drivers who put them in the hospital while riding alone. I firmly believe in the safety in numbers aspect when riding on traveled roads. I have found some very secluded routes for solo rides but on these I have to do loops.

jsilvia

I feel the same.I Enjoy riding solo.

70sSanO

At my age I’m an Advil cyclist.

John

PeteHski

I agree with this, especially if you ride "tactically" within the group i.e. avoid riding on the outside at the rear of the group.

I ride solo much of the time, but like you I use secluded routes and a Garmin Varia for early warning.

rm -rf

Yeah, two to six riders is optimal for me. It's small enough to make instant changes to the ride, like pulling off into a driveway on a climb to let the backed-up cars go on by -- ahh, quiet again.
Big enough for visibility and dealing with dogs and mechanicals.

I do like my occasional solo rides, where I can do exactly the ride I want -- fast, slow, stop for photos, check out a new road, etc.
But the planned small group rides get me out of the house and motivate me to keep my fitness levels.

Bob Ross

Interesting premise. tbh back before I became a "club rider" and was just a casual, solo, non-diehard rider -- what I now know would be called a "utility cyclist" but at the time I just thought I was a "cyclist" ...and which I did/was for ~40 years before I became a non-casual, diehard "club rider" -- it would not have even occurred to me to join a cycling forum!

gobicycling

At the time the 50 plus form was started, almost 20 years ago, one of the objectives was to encourage people in the 50 age group to bicycle to start or continue bicycling. Many folks thought 50 was too old. I remember seeing articles in the newspaper about this amazing 50 plus Rider who was accomplishing some feat or another. There were other goals for the 50 plus forum, but that was one of them. It looks like things are changing! Well time does that. Have a good day

PeteHski

It is definitely changing here in the UK. When I was first riding century sportives in the mid 80s as a teenager, there were not many guys in their 50s and hardly any 60+ riders. Today the average age at an event seems to be around 50!

eightzero

I have some simple personal rules: I don't ride at night, and I don't ride in the rain. Neither are fun. That said, I am also pretty careful about who I ride with...simply because at my age...well...a mistake might be my last.

rsbob 

Heresy! No one is just a cyclist, even back then. Please see the 15 other threads covering this topic ad nauseam. Repent, say 10 Hail Marys, and think about your actions. Redemption can always be found even with online coupons.

Bob Ross

I would argue that riding at night is genuinely fun...but I'll bet I hate riding in the rain twice as much as you do, so the net result is that we agree!

SpedFast

I don't know your age or personal history, but at 74 I really enjoy night riding when the streets are almost deserted and the wild life is out foraging. I ride solo with some good lights and I think it's 'FUN;

big john

I think the 50+ forum has done a lot of good. Lots of people without other cyclists in their lives have found others to chat with or ask questions of.

I never joined in any of the 50+ get-togethers but I enjoyed the pictures and the stories. Looked like a lot of fun.

Thanks for your part in it and you have been one of the nicest, most accepting members here.

Chuck M 

I had a spell about a year ago where I was waking up about 2:00 every morning. Wide awake. I got some pretty enjoyable rides in. And I don't mind riding in the rain as long as it doesn't affect visibility, it is the cleanup afterward that sucks.

Biker395 

Count me in on the night/early riders. It can be sublime.

But riding in the rain sux.

rsbob 

You just busted my rule: Nothing good happens after midnight.

seypat

I thought knight riding was done in a vintage black Trans Am.

L134 

Having graduated this year from the 65-69 Strava age group to the 70-74 age group, I was somewhat shocked at how many fewer 70-74 riders there are on any given Strava segment - in general it seems to be one quarter to one third as many. Hopefully it has more to do with who is inclined to use Strava than who is biking.

PeteHski

Yeah, probably the same story for TikTok users in the 20+ category

OldTryGuy

My night riding spell - Midnight to 6AM began over 10 years ago with the latest ride this past Sunday -- https://www.strava.com/activities/10320196084 -- that began at 1:56AM. Attempting to regain some abilities lost due to injuries resulting from twice (4/2020 and 7/2022) being hit by wild hogs while riding, a couple of unintended contacts with Terra firma, effects from prostate cancer treatment AND AGING, I've begun Daylight Riding. Leaving after the sun rises and riding the same route -- https://www.strava.com/activities/10337922627

Hopefully muscle strength will return along with endurance so I can rejoin the group I once rode with.

terrymorse 

Also a big drop in participants when going from the Strava 55-64 group to the 65-69 group, even considering the age span is 5 years vs. 10.



EDIT: There's an error in the above graph. The 25-34 age group is missing.

Here is a corrected and updated graph for 2023 to date:

seypat

I've never ridden with Strava. Started riding around age 45. 58 now.

PeteHski

Wow! That is a big drop. Not many youngsters either. What happened to the 25-34 year olds?

L134 

Does use of Strava preclude one from being a "casual rider"? (Not a serious question). I like Strava for the heatmaps. I used to highlight AAA maps on all the roads I'd ridden. I kept losing them though. I've even recreated tours of old in Strava to get them on my heatmap. I also like it for tracking mileage but all the other stuff is fun too, for me.

eightzero

Fair, but I live in an urban environment, and road ragers are everywhere. I agree lights help, nd maybe a ride on Seattles famous Berke-Gillman Trail would be safe enough.