OldsCOOL

If you don’t get bored with your 10mi route, enjoy! Just keep riding and stoking the passion.

My body type works against me for longer rides. If I do a hilly 40, that’s a good ride. I’m not built for endurance but love doing TT style fast 15-30 milers. I come in a hot sweaty mess with a grin.

Ride your ride, your route, in your time.

downtube42

Any ride will do.

George

I’ll be 81 next month and most of my rides are 20 and 25 miles. Today I did 20 in a hour and 25 minutes and I felt that was enough in this heat. When it’s cooler I usually ride 30 or 35.

PeteHski

I mix it up on both distance and intensity. I usually enter about half a dozen century sportive events in the summer, but I rarely ride much over 60 miles when training for them. A lot of my rides are actually in the 20-40 mile range. I find I can just extend my 60 mile pace to 100 miles whenever I need to. At 53 I think I will continue to ride the longer distances while I'm still able. But it's all good. Sometimes I prefer a short blast or even a gentle recovery ride. All types of rides appeal to me really. I also do a lot of mountain biking, which are usually quick sub 1 hour loops around our local singletrack. When I was younger I used to do some pretty epic all-day mtb rides, but now I do nearly all my longer rides on the road.

smurfy

Unfortunately mtn biking is another activity I used to enjoy but simply can't do anymore unless it's smooth rock and root-free singletrack. I just don't have the balance and coordination I used to have. Gravel riding, however, is pretty fun and I built up a gravel bike for that purpose but I have to drive an hour and a half to find any gravel roads.

On the road I have been doing solo "1/3rd century" rides of 33 to 36 miles but I still prefer to get at least about twenty miles in so it feels like I went on a real bike ride.

JohnDThompson 

I have arthritis in my hands, neck, and shoulders that is getting worse with time. As a result, riding for more than 2-3 hours starts to get miserable, even with premedication with NSAIDs. 30-50 mile rides are about all I can manage now, and I'm glad to be able to do that much.

smurfy

I have heavy arthritis in my one knee which doesn't seem to affect my cycling but after I did a metric century late last year I could hardly get off my bike. 30 to 50 mile rides are good for me, too, and I don't feel that I have to go farther than that.

I-Like-To-Bike

One way to keep from getting yourself down about riding YOUR rides at your pace, is to avoid reading the postings on Strava, BF and sites where "other riders" post (and often boast) about the distance, speed, and/or difficulty of THEIR rides.

You might also consider not setting any "requirements" or specific metrics for you to accomplish before you can be satisfied with your ride.

scottfsmith

I think it is good to set goals. I have improved a huge amount in the last year by monitoring my progress and setting goals. Seeing other riders my age and what they are doing on Strava gives me some hope I can get there too. So yes it cuts me down to size a bit but on the plus side it shows I have a lot I can improve on.

Random11

I'm riding because I had to quit running due to advanced arthritis in my knees. I was wondering if that would also keep me from riding, but I've been at it almost four years now and cycling doesn't seem to bother my knees at all. I mostly ride shorter distances (15-20 miles) but occasional longer rides with my longest being 107 miles. No knee issues. As far as I can tell, cycling is helping my knees by keeping them functional despite the arthritis.

Dudelsack 

I let sensations be my guide…

Biker395 

Some days I got it, some days I don't. There are times I leave the house intent on a ride of X minutes, and come back in X-Y minutes because I just don't feel it. Other times, I feel good and it turns into an entire afternoon if I have the time. The vast majority of my weekday rides are less than 20 miles.

Pinelander

I'm with you George. At 73 I do 20-25 a few days a week and intersperse that with a few days of kayaking. Keeps the whole package working.

Dudelsack 

It’s the sensations, man.

pgjackson

Went out for an easy 10 mile ride and the sensations took me 16 miles. Just started exploring. Ended up finding a great new road in the process.

OldCruiser

I’ve converted a couple rigid , old MTB’s to single speed with low gearing . 30 chainring with a 21 or 22 rear cog . Spin out around 9mph .
put the fun back in my rides, where before , the hills in my neighborhood were killing my knees .
5-10 mile rides most days.

BobsPoprad

Just shy of 57.

We just moved for the wife's job. We now live like 2/10 of a mile from a system of bike paths. Instead of feeling the pressure of getting 30-40 mile rides in 2-3 times a week with a longer one on the weekends, I find my self really enjoying the 15-25 mile ride all on paths. Much easier to get out after work.

Y'all just keep up the good work!!

big john

This from a guy who has done 508 miles in, what, 30 hours?

Dudelsack 

My sensations allowed me to go 6 flat miles again today. I swear I could hear the crowd cheering in the background.

wjjones

There's a certain amount of freedom when you don't have expectations of speed and distance. Some days I feel like heading home after cruising for 5 miles; some days I feel like riding farther and at a quicker pace.

I'm 69, and at my age, it's good to still be riding a bike, period. Yes, I know there are even older people in this forum who are still riding hard and fast, but really, most people our age don't get any exercise worth mentioning. I just want to get out for some fun and exercise, and I enjoy riding 10-12 MPH and usually less than ten miles. When I was younger I liked to ride fast and far, but that's not my thing any more.

Riveting

Coming from a guy (who's a year away from 50 but lurks here to get a sneak peek of my future) who has done 325 miles in 24 hrs not that many years ago, I'm now enjoying 20-40 miles rides far more than I ever thought I would. I still miss the EPIC'ness of both preparing for and executing double and triple century rides, I just no longer have the knee recovery, nor the drive for them anymore. In fact, I've signed up for an organized 100 miler in 7 weeks (Denver Century) that I'm not "totally" looking forward to like I used to, but I'm doing it to hopefully get the long distance spark back.

jvsabas

Love this thread! Just got back from a ride and my bike is still on car bike rack 'cuz I find the comments too captivating. As much as I love riding, lately it's been difficult to motivate, so I'm reading all the replies from people who find ways to get out and pedal despite their circumstances. I'm also appreciating the avid cyclist pushing 50+ miles distances regularly in their senior years. Today's ride was a short twenty miler with my nephew, he's 32 and fit, I'm 60 and not. He's the newbie to cycling and I struggled to keep it challenging for him. As much as I want to be fit right now, motivating self for a ride has been difficult. It's ironic that with the weather so much nicer than last year, I've managed less than a quarter of last year's distance. For the 60+ crowd posting their distances, whether short or far, you inspire me! After an 8 week hiatus, I'm struggling with 20 mile distances, but I'm not ready to wind back yet, I think I got some more mileage in me, plus I've already ponied up for two upcoming centuries. Many thanks to all who are sharing here, I'm feeling motivated.

stephr1

I'm 68-1/2 and have felt the opposite. Like you, I got back onto a bike back in 1998 due to a sciatic nerve injury from playing volleyball (not something anyone should have to deal with Fortunately, in the Bay Area, there are lots of MUPs that are nice to ride, a few of them out to the SF Bay.

I started out riding ~6 miles RT and continued building from there. I now do a 12 mi. ride on Mon. and Fri. and do a near 30 mi. ride out to the bay on Wed. And this is on a Mt. bike. It's possible I may up the mileage on my Mon. and Fri. rides sometime in the near future. Sat. I'm up in the mountains doing a 6-10 mi. hike. Sun. I definitely set aside as a rest and laundry day.

Funny thing is....after being on the bike for 15 years, I had an accident on my bike (dumb thing on my part) which fixed the problem I created playing volleyball. Not a treatment I would recommend, but it worked for me

In short, we all feel the way we feel about things. Do longer rides or shorter rides, more often or less often. You know best what works for you.

Cheers....

Jsosborn

At 62, I'm happy to get in 500 miles a month so far this year. Try to ride at least 4 days a week, and 15 miles is sort of a minimum. Usually a 100+ mile weekend twice a month, and a 50+ mile ride every week regardless. Lots of hills around here, so 20 miles usually climbs +/- 1,000ft.

Chuckles1

Yup. At 65, I enjoy 10 to 20 mile rides. Converted one bike to ebike this year, and do 25-45 miles on that.