rsbob 

True confessions time. On Sunday, I was on a solo ride, when around a corner came a group of 20 male cyclists in the 30-40 year old range who started to passed me. I kicked it up and joined them (with permission) for about five miles. They were cruising and I enjoyed the ample draft and chit chat at the back of the pack. When back home looking at Strava, I had three PRs. What a non-shock to see I stole earned got them while riding with the group. None were honestly attained, but there they were. This is one of my pet peeves about PRs or Trophies, but such is life. Now I will have to go back and earn them legitimately.

boozergut

The need to change my privacy settings for activities to "everyone" creeps me out. I'll keep puttering along. Yet another reason to let my premium membership lapse...

terrymorse 

Take the W! They don't come that often.

Whether it's wind-aided or in a pace line, a win is a win.

I ride solo these days, and I'm doing pretty well on some of the 65-69 leaderboards. But the segments where group rides go, forget about it!

Like this little rolling connector segment on Highway 84. I'm in 90th place out of 617 -- fastest 65-69 is 30.2 mph! The Noon Ride goes there.

RB1-luvr

Since I never get overall KOMs, the age category is where I look always. I'm in the top ten of a few, and that makes me happy. Also, I recently noticed that at the end of the segments list for a given workout, it lists "bests", like best 5k, best 10k, best 5 miles etc. That has really motivated me. My rides are usually lame avg mph, but sometimes I'm seeing a fairly high avg mph for a certain distance in the middle of the ride.

rsbob 

IMO, a wonderful attitude and approach. Being in the top 10 is a real accomplishment considering the number of talented people there are out there.

Like you, my average speed usually hangs around 16 MPH on long rides, (17 on short ones) but in my defense, or excuse, I live in a fairly hilly area. I do manage to hit top 10s in my age group for the roads around my immediate rural area, but there are a couple of hot shoes, whom have the top spots locked down. When I ride to the big city, Seattle, getting into the top 10 for my group is impossible, since there are so many extraordinary older cyclists there. Also, another excuse, on long rides (50-80 miles) I don’t race for segments, but conserve energy.

If you live in a larger city and are hitting the top 10, then hats off to you.

joesch

Agree and pretty much there as well.
Im no longer competitive and really dont want to look at the standings.
Some days I push and others just enjoy a nice easy Cat2 ride.
I also enjoy many diff bikes from the stable based on my mood and energy level.
Would be happy to be in the top 10 or 20 "%" like school and trying for A's and B's
Really just happy to be healthy and riding most days.

RB1-luvr

nope, I'm in central CT, not exactly a cycling hub of talent, but there are a few 60+ year old Cat 1 and Cat 2 guys in the area, such as Dave Rustico, national champ.

terrymorse 

Now I've set my sights on the Mt Hamilton climb 65-69 leaderboard. Yesterday's ride moved me up from #20 to #18. Four more minutes between me and #10.

Due to a road slip-out, there's a traffic signal 4 miles from the top, which adds to the difficulty. That can add about 1 minute to the time.

Hermes

#mounthamiltonbeast

terrymorse 

Fastest 65+ Low Key Hill Climb time is 1:19:29 (Joe Lemire, Cat 2).

That. Is. Out. Of. Reach!

The same year Joe set the LKHC record (2014), he also won the San Bruno Mountain Hill Climb, Nationals TT and Nationals Road Race.

Nope!

Hermes

I remember him from the Mount San Bruno Race. That year, I was third. Imagine a sprinter on the Mount San Bruno Race podium - priceless and a bit lucky.

terrymorse 

Chapeau!. San Bruno is not a short climb. Definitely not a sprinter's hill. The person atop the 65+ Strava leaderboard is Richard McIntosh, set Jan. 1, 2014. Second place.

Do you want to talk about the 2013 race? Was that lucky, too?

Bald Paul

Garmin Connect allows you to see segment ranks overall, and then filter by sex, age, and type of riding (recreational all the way to Pro.)
Here's a segment I rode as part of a group ride. To be honest, I didn't know it was a segment, or I would have ridden harder than #105 overall. But, add in filters (Men, 65+, recreational) and I move to #7!

terrymorse 

Well, I inadvertently snagged another old guy KOM today. Just a mile long, with a couple of rollers. I wanted to give my legs some punishment today, so I stood and sprinted up the rollers.

Eastbrook Ave Climb (not really a climb)

38th overall, 1st of the 65-69 group. I'm calling that a W.

roadcrankr

Solid time, Terry. When I raced ABLA as an intermediate in the 70's, I trained on that climb.
As a sprinter type, my best clocked at 1:33, while my climbing brother could dip below 1:30.
The older I get, the faster I was!
On a side note, we saw the Seniors leave the bottom in about '71.
Nick Farac-Ban and Larry Glickfield chatted it up with us for a spell. Funny guys!
The race took off and those fifty or so guys went like getting shot out of a cannon!

rsbob 

17 PRs today and 33 ties for 2nd and 3rd fastest. You’d think there was a tailwind.

DirePenguin

Switching the leaderboard to my age group (I’m 55), I *still* don’t have any KOM’s. 😂

But, I am in a lot more Top 10’s, so that’s good….

terrymorse 

Ah, another Hamilton fan! It's a great mountain for training fatigue resistance. My legs are still fading in the last 3 miles -- so more punishment is needed.

When I was a mere lad in my 40s, and I was having a good day, I could summit at 1:30 and not be fully gassed. I'm hoping to get close to that pace this season.

Jughed

Baul Paul had me look at Garmin stuff... I've checked a few segments and it seems I'm doing OK on some leaderboards.

rsbob 

Well done! Congrats

rsbob 

Is this an alternative to using Strava or in concert? Using my iPad, can’t determine how you found this screen on GC.

Bald Paul

From your Dashboard, go to Activities and choose a ride you've done. Scroll down a bit. If you see a number beside the SEGMENTS tab, you rode a segment (one you created, or one created by someone else.) Click the SEGMENT tab, then click the name of the segment you want to see in detail. Use filters (gender, age, level) if you choose to.

Dino_Sore

At my age, when I look at Strava leaderboards, I'm just happy not to see my times listed as "posthumously."

rsbob 

Am enjoying Strava’s new feature showing personal bests. Today’s was maintaining 350 Watts for a minute. For a non-sprinter type, and more of a grinder, it was a surprise. But I’ll take it.

rsbob 

FTP test day. Two years since last test and was afraid I had back-slid. Actually, it bumped up 2 Watts which felt good. Have heard/read so many horror stories about people of advanced age (69), suffering from sarcopenia (wasting/reduction of muscle associated with age) that I put off testing so that my fear would not be realized. But, I decided to suck it up and do it anyway. One big surprise is that what I thought was my maximum HR (191) was not in fact what I hit today (200). My max HR in my 30s was 215. The real surprise was maintaining 245 Watts during the 20 minute test and kicking it up to 345 with a minute to go. Personal 5 sec best this year is 653 Watts.

Besides being pleased with the result, it also gives me confidence to continue to push hard/attack when I need/want to during my rides. Maybe doing more Z2 with one day/week of intervals is paying off.


This can’t be right, except for grossly unfit 20 year olds.