davethelefty

A good friend of mine passed away last year and I've become a friend and somewhat of a father figure to his mid-twenties son.

In the past 6 months the son has become absolutely obsessed with cycling, as his dad was. He bought a high-end carbon bike and has jumped in with both feet into the world of cycling performance and metrics. We've ridden together several times, but he has become a much, much stronger rider over the course of the 6 months.

The funny thing is he invites me to ride with him and a few of his (fast!) buddies. I am nothing but a drag to these guys that can consistently ride at 20mph. I'm not sure I could hit 20mph if I rode off a cliff. He rides 150+ miles per week, tracks performance like the geek he is, and gets better daily.

So why on earth ride would I ride with him? Well, it's fun to see the youthful exuberance he and his friends have for cycling. It's fun to hang out with cool guys, whatever their age. Though he and I are separated by 44 years and about 55 lbs, we do have a love for cycling in common. Now make no mistake, I do not ride long rides at their pace. They use my pace as cool-down for their longer rides. Somehow it works.

Anyone have a similar experience?

Chuckles1

Ebike! Or is that two words?

big john

I sometimes ride with young guys on club rides but it's just whoever shows up. I do ride at least once a week with a friend who is waayy faster than I am but he enjoys the easy (for him) ride and we chat about all sorts of things. He is 56, so a young guy to me. He sometimes invites other riders but makes it clear to them that it is a social ride, not a hammerfest.

downtube42

My best friend and best cycling buddy just turned 30, and I'm 60. Compatible on the climbs we are not, given I'm 6'3" 200# and he's more like 5'6" and 160#. Living in the Portland, OR area, all we have are climbs. I've drug him along on some randonneuring rides, up to 400k, and he's conned me into participate in a couple cyclocross and criterium races. Aside from the obvious speed difference, we're both just bikeheads and seem to click on other things.

OTOH, my best buddy back when I lived in Indiana was twenty years my senior. A crusty old furniture maker. He'd let me hang out at his shop and build personal projects while he did real work and we talked about life. Again, it just worked.

I don't find age to be a significant factor in who my friends are.

rsbob 

I too enjoy being around people 10-30 years younger. Their enthusiasm, energy and quickness makes them entertaining and a lot more fun than those my age (66). The youngsters I encounter post COVID are mainly on the road and enjoy dicing it up with them for a bit until they blow my doors off.

caloso

Let the kids rotate and tell them you'll sit at the back.

Iride01 

I like riding with my son, but he just slows me down. I'd sort of like to ride with some others my age, but I'd be slowing them down.

BianchisOnly

Similar - the local group I ride with is predominantly older (I'm the "baby" at 58) but lately we've been attracting some younger riders - sons, neighbors, etc. One of two things happen - they ride with us and enjoy the company and "wisdom" and reserve their hammerfest for their own rides, or they drift off into their own age/ability groups. Either way works fine for us. I do enjoy riding with them on faster rides but I have to remind them every so often that at a certain age, speed isn't everything, and encourage them to slow down, enjoy the scenery and the ride. I get a challenge, they get perspective, we all win!

Hermes

I ride with juniors quite often at the track. This pic was from 6 years ago at a training session at the outdoor velodrome during a motor paced workout. The way it worked was one signs up and we take turns doing efforts on the motor.

I was solo that day with no particular workout and three juniors, who were training for junior nationals, asked me to them in team pursuit as a 4th. We would ride full laps behind the motor and then exchange. They suggested 24 laps at 36 mph. The motor driver looked at me and I said, hey guys how about we start with 12 laps at 28 mph and call the motor up in speed every other lap and see how we do. 24 laps were too many with other riders waiting.

We did two sets of 12 laps 4 Km. I lasted 10 laps and got blown off the back. These kids offer very little draft but are terrific bike handlers and have mad skills. It was a lot more fun than anything else I could have come up with for a workout notwithstanding the 5 decade age spread.

GlennR

Long Island Big Rings, its a play on my last name.. ie. Ring.

Toby is my 30 year old son and Andrew is his best friend. Both are triathletes and when i ride with them they constantly drag my buttocks up some long climbs.

Random11

My 33 year old son and I live about 250 miles apart, but whenever we get together, we ride. He's much faster than I am so our rides are very casual for him, but hard work for me. Still, he says he enjoys riding with me and I enjoy riding with him. I also ride weekly with another group and am 20 years older than the next oldest rider (I'm 71), but that group goes at a more leisurely pace and I have no trouble staying with the group. Age isn't necessarily an issue in either case, but it's pretty clear that no amount of training could bring me up to the speed of my son.

MinnMan

I used to ride more with groups that were chiefly my age or thereabouts, but in the last few years, my main riding group has had a greater age diversity. Riders range from their 20s to their 60s.
I'm not going to talk about performance/ability here, except to say that I don't get dropped. The thing I've found is that riding with younger people is more interesting. They have things to say that aren't the same things I've been hearing from old fogeys like me. I learn things from them. Kids in graduate school, young professionals raising families in their 30s and 40s.