Aging Tourists
I know quite a few of us are no longer "spring chickens". I am interested in how aging has affected other's touring.
I am about to turn 71 and am blessed with pretty good general overall health. It has been a while since my last tour, but that is partly to do with other things in my life than my age or health. I have plans in the works for some trips in the not too distant future, but the first may not be bike related. In any case I have been back to working harder to get/stay at a better fitness level. I do worry that I am at an age where health or physical ability could go downhill more rapidly.
I never really had any motivation to do trips shorter than 9 or 10 days and these days am more hesitant to leave home for months at a time. So upcoming trips are likely to be moderate length, but not super short. I am likely to just do day trips before I'd resort to overnight trips. For some reason short tours just don't appeal to me.
I really hope to be able to do the TA on the 50th anniversary of bikecentennial when I will be 75. So I hope to have at least that one more multimonth tour in me. I think I could do it self supported with decent daily mileage at my current age. Hopefully in 4 more years my health will still be good. I'll make adjustments in trip format as needed if I have health issues and hopefully will still be able to do it at least in a modified format even if I am in poorer health.
Those of you who are a bit older than me, did you see much change in you abilities in your early to mid 70s? Should I expect pretty much the same slow changes as during my late 60s? Much more rapid? Any hints on training in your 70s?
At the moment I am just trying to stay active and in good general health. I row on my Concept 2 erg much more often than I ride and my bike mileage is actually pretty low lately, but I plan to ride more and row less before any tours. I went through a period where I was pretty sedentary when I was having some health issues. I do some kind of exercise every day and am feeling quite well now though.