RVwriter

Freeranger, I'm of the same mind, but I carry my justification for riding to another level. I tell myself, "You're 82, dumbass. If you don't ride today, it's a beautiful day lost that you'll never recover."

Don

blacknbluebikes 

I've pretty much decided that exercise is mandatory for aging gracefully. Whether it's about brain health, gut biome health or immune system health, these are not things I want to lose. I see 93 year-olds that are whip smart and living their lives, and I see 70 year-olds that are drooling down their triple-chin. I'll fight for a seat in the first group. Exercise is continually proven in research to be a positive factor. Biking just happens to be the form I enjoy most. Every ride is a new movie. Basically, then, what motivates me is fear of becoming lame, chronically ill and senile.

davester

This is the overriding truth! Exercise and eating healthy (and not too much) are the fountain of youth. Many americans seem to equate old age with being disabled and decrepit. That is a false equivalence. They are conflating age with not taking care of their bodies.

rydabent

I offer myself as motivation to ride. Back about 1980, i started to ride with my two oldest sons. I have been cycling ever since. I will be 83 this year and ride approx 25 miles every other day. I am in good health, and attribute it to the cycling I do.

Shp4man

Games are like exercise for the mind. I play RPGs and shooters, many times even beat younger players. When a game lets you design a character, I always roll an old gray haired wrinkled guy. It's a good psyche out for the kids.

Vintage Schwinn

I would suggest that you drive to an area in La Jolla that is both scenic, calm with little to no traffic. Park your car, unload your bike, and ride casually after work. Exactly what I mean by casually is "unhurried" at a calm relaxed speed, and just soak in the sights, sounds, and smells, and bask in the sunshine! Don't try to haul ass because the aim is not to try to roll-up so many miles within a 90 min or a couple of hours.
I would recommend that you do aim for riding at least between six to seven miles. If you are outta-shape right now and cannot do so, (remember that yall are experiencing a heat wave that perhaps hasn't occurred in 40 years)----------ride a couple of miles, and then rest in the shade, enjoying the scenery etc while drinking Gatorade, water, or whatever brand of sports drink that you like. YOU GOTTA STAY HYDRATED! Don't push it immediately.....what I mean here is don't think that hey this is nothing because hell I was riding 15 miles plus before with no rest-breaks. IT IS ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN! You aren't trying to qualify for the Olympics next week, or being picked to substitute for one of the injured Tour de France riders.

I suggest that you do this (DRIVE TO La Jolla , PARK THE CAR, Unload the Bike.....RIDE) because a change of scenery will do you good.
Heck, maybe cue up Sheryl Crow - A CHANGE WILL DO YOU GOOD while driving to park the car and ride after work.
Any upbeat 4/4 time rock n roll with a good rhythmic groove will be motivational on the drive there......suggested examples: The WHO Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
The BEATLES- Get Back - & Ticket To Ride - & Can't Buy Me Love- & The Night Before - & Anytime At All.....(MAYBE NOT: 'If I Fell' or 'The Long and Winding Road'....)
The ROLLING STONES - She Said Yeah-- & It's All Over Now- & Tumbling Dice - & ***** Tonk Women
J. Geils Band- Whammer Jammer, Wet Willie-Keep On Smilin, The Faces-Stay With Me, Creedence Clearwater Revival- I Heard It Through The Grapevine- & Up Around The Bend, The Allman Brothers Band- Ramblin' Man - & Southbound--& One Way Out---- TEN YEARS AFTER- I've Been There Too, LEE MICHAELS- Do You Know What I Mean, --- JOHNNY RIVERS - Rockin Pneumonia....
...........those are just a few suggestions to add to your Car's playlist for the drive and commute.

Make it fun! You have worked a long day, and you've got to get back into shape. Don't try and kill yourself by trying to emulate a Tour de France participant just trying to grunt out as many miles as fast as your feet can fly! That is just completely dumb. You've gotta enjoy the ride!
Get your wife to join you and just ride a bit and enjoy the sights, sounds and being outdoors in the sunshine.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE A COOLER FULL OF ADDITIONAL Gatorade & Water INSIDE OF YOUR PARKED CAR SO THAT YOU'LL HAVE MORE THAN YOU'LL NEED WHEN YOU COMPLETE YOUR RIDE. It is also a good idea to use the parked car location as the fixed geographic point to use to base your few mile laps around so that you can call it a day when you feel like doing so ----OR/and should you experience tire/tube issues or other mechanical problems that you don't wish to or cannot deal with on the spot, that you are not very far from the car.
Hey, I like to keep bananas, sliced fuji & red delicious apples in a ziplock baggie in the cooler inside the parked car, and often a naval orange...orange slices in a baggie in the ICE filled cooler inside the car too.......also peanuts but yeah that's me.....
CARRY Water or Gatorade in a bike water bottle on your bike when you ride, and always a fully charged Phone, and WEAR A HELMET!!!
Don't try to carry everything including the kitchen sink on your bike. That is just a dumb! You see too many idiots that use their bikes for shopping trips and they are ill-equipped to carry what they purchased and they sometimes crash because they drop something/or load shifts---bag goes into spokes, etc....
DON'T BE THAT GUY. Yeah, there are those that have no other choice but to use their bike for shopping trips due to economic circumstances. Trying to carry a huge shopping cart load of goods and balancing them like the Flying Wallendas doing a family high wire pyramid act is just stupid. At least if you are gonna transport stuff, you should become reasonably skilled at doing so, before tackling transporting enough that could be seriously hazardous to someone not so skilled.

The change of scenery will get you in the mood and slightly more motivated.
Have fun! Don't tire yourself out after a long day. Do ride enough but not enough to wear you out, because you've got to get up and go to work in morning and you have to be recovered and functional, not a zombie who is suffering from the ride yesterday evening.
Scout out other potential local areas to drive to and Park the Car, and Ride.
You want calm, light traffic areas that, are nice areas. Near the Wastewater Treatment Plant or the Federal Maximum Security Prison, or near the Dump or Scrap Junkyards or blighted areas such as the land that time forgot, could be light traffic, and otherwise calm areas but are definitely not areas where you should be riding because the sights and sounds and smells are not going to stimulate your bicycling experience in a positive way!
If you do what I suggest just a few times, I am sure that you'll enjoy each ride and you will want to ride more.
Don't let riding become a PITA (pain in the a--). Your rear end must adjust to your saddle and the length of time spent riding the bike. Enough cannot be said on finding a saddle that works best for you. That varies for every individual rider. What I am saying is that you do not want to initially go for so long a period of time riding without taking a break or stopping that your rear end experiences any discomfort!!!!
Use your best judgement. Remember that you are not 18 years old. You've got to get proper rest and eat better than a young buck. Be cognizant of the extreme summer heat, and always carry a water bottle with you, whether walking, driving the car, riding the bike, or working in the yard. Drinking Alcoholic beverages and caffeinated beverages can leave you closer to being dehydrated if you do not otherwise drink enough water. Consuming too many alcoholic beverages and caffeinated beverages is not good and is worse during in the Summertime heat. Common sense is the word of the day. What would your doctor say? What would your neighbor friend who is medical doctor say to you if you asked him/her?
Don't try to go out and try to be the yellow jersey guy, setting a new world record on the bike, because you saw the Tour de France on television yesterday.
That is about as stupid as going to the Stihl chainsaw dealer or Home Depot / Lowes and buying three identical new chainsaws because you saw someone juggling chainsaws on television or on the youtube.

Definitely do get outside and off of the damn couch!
You live in one of the nicest areas in the United States as far as daily weather is concerned!
SAN DIEGO
You are probably "spoiled", perhaps that isn't the best word choice, but anyway many in SD and southern cali, are so used to the same great daily weather, and really the lack of seasonal change in temps etc that they take it for granted......and perhaps they need a seasonal change from time to time.
My sister-in-law, who worked at Scripps for two decades in the 80's and 90's says SD is great but she grew up in Ohio in the fifties and sixties before her parents moved their family to LA in 1964 when she was 15, and she says that LA had mild seasonal changes but changes, where SD was nearly the same everyday of the year, and that was great until it wasn't, and you felt like you needed a vacation away from that where whatever it was, was something different, if that makes sense. She now lives in Pointe Vedra Beach, Florida (near Jacksonville...northeast Florida on the Atlantic Ocean) because it offers seasonal changes but warm enough during winter and the area is nice and even more importantly that Florida has no state income tax, and that is a biggie if you are wealthy.
San Diego is great. I've been there many times. My wife has done the IRONMAN Oceanside 70.3
You don't realize just how good that you do have it as far as S.D. daily weather year-round and quality of life-outside/outdoor recreation in DEC/JAN/FEB as well as every other month of the year! The SAN DIEGO area is a National Treasure!!! Enjoy what you do have. Get outside and get off of the couch, at least while it's still daylight and the sun is shining! You can still do the video game thing if you want to while it is dark outside.
Get out and ride some. You will want to ride more often after you have three or four enjoyable leisure rides with nice scenery and little to no traffic.
IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN, THEN YOU MUST BE DOING IT WRONG!
The above are the simply suggestions from that old dumbass known as Vintage Schwinn, so, do take that into consideration, and remember that everybody is different, such that they may want to make an olympic team and set new world records.

shelbyfv

yep

Dudelsack 

To the OP: hang in there. It’s so easy to get distracted in life. Guilt over what once you could do can dissuade you from starting over.

5 years ago I rode 3 centuries in an 18 month period. Then I got distracted. Riding 3 miles is now an achievement.

it’s going to hurt. Maybe we can start a thread called “overweight and out of shape. Too old to rock and roll, too young to die”.

The single biggest thing you can do now is back off the beer.

Shp4man

I rode from Chula Vista to Imperial beach and back today. Checked out the ocean, an E-bike store, a bar (I'm not perfect) . Got some miles in, don't feel too bad either. Nice. Wasn't bad at all.

zandoval 

I am just 68 yrs and hey already I can't climb any more, or run, or skate, or cave, or grapple, or ski, or white water... Man I can't even sleep flat in a regular bed...

I don't want to spend the money to learn golf and sky diving would be nice if I could do it again with the Army...

Shooting is great but I can't even find caps for my black powder much less afford to knock off rounds for fun...

But I can still bicycle... I am so glad that has not been taken away form me...

Yet...

rutan74

OK, here is my advice and what has worked for me over the last 5-6 years. BTW, I am 65 and still manage about 100 miles a week. It ain't easy, but the alternative is I don't drive a Lazy Boy that well.


Go online and search for a local cycling event. Not a group ride but an actual event like a charity ride. Depending on where you live you can check CAAM Events website for a start since it is national. Anyway, start online and look for a charity event close by. Sign up! Yes, sign up. Not for a century ride but most of these charity events have smaller distances. Some have fun rides of 15 miles and then it goes up from there.


The main thing here to get you going is to set a goal. Goal setting works really well for me and in fact, I am in training for a 65 miler on August 7th which will be my second metric century this year. I like the event rides as there are usually a lot of people and not all are racers. They are fun too and it will create a sense of accomplishment when you complete it. If you sign up, do so with the mindset that it will take you some time to get into any kind of cycling shape. Not sure where you are coming from, but 20lbs overweight is not that much to overcome. I am 220-230 and just live with it. But I do ride consistently.


It won't be easy. Nothing that matters is easy. Set a goal though and then set out to complete the goal. Again, for me, I have set several large goals over the last couple of years which has seen me complete the hardest ride in the southeast of over 100 miles and 11k of vertical climbing. I tell everyone to set a marker and shoot for that marker when starting out. FYI, I just sold my old Specialized bike to my neighbor who is also 67 like you. He is starting new but I gave him a goal of preparing for a local charity ride to benefit a food bank in Charlotte at the end of August. He is going to ride the 15 mile route. He has 7 weeks to get into good enough shape to make that 15 miles. He is on board and has the motivation since he has that goal out there. To be honest, I think he wants to brag a bit to his Cardiologist since he had by-pass surgery 3 years ago. I think he wants to tell him that he is riding a bike now and trying to get into better shape. Of course there is also the wife thing of proving to her or your significant other that yes I can do it. Prove the nay-sayers wrong.


You can do it. Believe me. You just need to set a goal in my opinion.


john

rossiny

pick one bike and get it ready with proper bike fit. Saddle , stem, pedals , tires, handle bar tape . Basically get it to feel good and fit you. Then just get out there and enjoy some light touring or club café rides. Now I gotta take my own advice . Although I do have several bikes decently set up already , but would like a new saddle

BCAC

I too am 67. I live in a 55+. Most don’t leave their house, except in a car. Those that do, mostly walk around the block or ride a golf cart. God’s waiting room come to mind. There are a few who get up every morning and do stuff. I’m one of them. I ride 4 days a week, 200+ miles, half with groups, half by myself. I like how I feel when I’m fit, both mentally and physically. No aches and pains, no grunting when I sit down or stand up and I walk without staring at the ground 2 feet in front of my feet, like most old farts. I eat what I want without gaining weight and my old clothes fit.

Go ride.

freeranger

Read "Wow, I need heart surgery........." in Pills and Ills. If the poster hadn't been in shape from riding a bike, he might not have been here to post it. Can't think of a much better reason to ride!

70sSanO

You know an e-assist might be something that will get you to head out to places you might not normally ride. And you can’t really not get back, unless it runs out of juice or breaks.

I don’t have one, but one of these years when they get light enough I can see making the investment. Recoup sometimes f the climbing I’ve lost.

John

roadsnakes

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birdmove

I am also 67. About 6 year s ago I fell and blew out my right knee. A year later I was diagnosed with "aggressive and advanced" prostate cancer. That led to 2 years of treatment that beat me down physically and mentally. That treatment (2 years of lupron followed by 40 radiation treatments) ended in October of 2018. Last October, I popped a hernia and had the repair surgery last January. I broke out my single speed flat bar road bike about a month ago. I had been wall by every day followed by some weights and squats. I started d riding daily on a 2.5 mile route that ends with a series of up hills the highest if which I can just make it over without a walk of shame. I am keeping track of my times n these rides. I am hoping that I might regain some of my strength and stamina, and work up to longer rides. The he destroyed part is that due to the knee, I am afraid to try riding while standing up. I walk with a cane, as that knee, if I stumble, would not be much help. Why didn't I go under the knife for the knee? Plain and simple, I figured that if the cancer was gone by to do me in, then why put myself through a serious of knee surgeries? I am thinking about getting a bike with some gears, but I look me my current bike. I only paid $75 for it brand new. Oh, gear ratio is 2.66. Don't know if that is about normal for a single speed road bike or not. I don't drink or smoke. The cancer is what killed my dad and an uncle. I want to work up to being able to make rides up to about 30 more per, as that would get me to Hilo Hawaii, run a few errands, and back home without having to drive a car. I ride for fun and exercise, and hopefully soon, to do various errands.

Ptcycles

I hope I can help. I too am 67. January 6th of this year I ha a radical prostectomy. Doc said I may never ride again. Two weeks ago I found a saddle I could sit on. Rode a mile. This morning at 8 am I had three large kidney stones removed. Will try to get on the bike in about a month. Would love to have your problem.
Pete

rydabent

Remember if you set you rust, and then along comes the old dirt bed.

OldTryGuy

My 2015 PCa at almost 65yo diagnosis was 5+5, Gleason 10 and instead of Lupron or other drugs I simply went with surgical castration. Gone for good and never looked back and so glad I went that route. Treating doctor got me on "T" injections in January 2016 just 1 month after treatment was done.

Good LUCK

I know guys who are riding BIG MILES having had RP so unless you have some "special issues" my suggestion is to give the biking a go but slow and see how you go.

Good LUCK

CliffordK

I did that when I was in Missouri... Well, not with beer, but I would drive to St. Charles, and ride along the Katy Trail. Quite a few stops in Defiance for Ice Cream (well, I think they called it frozen custard). The occasional ride to Mathasville.

I'm not into wine, but there were also several wineries along the trail.

CliffordK

As far as riding. For me, I've had bad knees for years. But, what I discovered a few years ago is the more riding I do, the better the knees feel. Of course weight is also bad for the knees.

A couple of years ago I went car-free. I'm off of that now, but still like the bike. I've slowed down a lot this year, but getting out riding is still protective of the knees.

The other thing. My mother has turned 80. But, she is in a small community of people 60 to 80 or so. It is sad to see them struggling with aging, and getting weaker. I'm hoping to maintain at least leg fitness for as long as possible. I should also do some upper body strengthening too.

Dudelsack 

It’s a blessing to have so many options. I’m riding tomorrow, now up to (gasp) 7 miles. My kayak is down in Florida where it belongs. My rods are here, just waiting for my arthroscopy. And today I worked on my red dot target acquisition. And then there’s my epic poem…

Shp4man

Christ, I guess it's not so bad here. I can still ride, even feel a little gaining of fitness. I'm not fast by any means, but don't run out of gas after a small climb like before. This after about three 15 mile weekend rides, with no real push to go fast or "train" or whatever.
Here's the ******** old man story: I used to be pretty damn fast. Did the Rosarito/Ensenada in 2 1/2 hours one time. Ok that was in the 90's and had some help with drafting, but still.

Kanon25

Can you throw the bike in the car and go to trails or gravel in a national or state park with a hour. Could do that say Friday after work and Sunday morning. Nature is more attractive than road and the accompanying stresses of staying alive.

The 20 pounds going will help also. Mix in a couple days a week of walking and 1-2 cardio classes at the gym.