Cycling image problem....oldtimers.

starship

And that attitude will get you a cain to walk with. Old age does not degrade our bodies, lack of use does!

Any 52 year old honey rides with me!

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wh0areume

What got me into cycling was peer pressure mainly... I landed a good fulltime job out of college last year, and a bunch of guys from the office went on 20mi bike rides every lunch hour. Eventually my boss's boss's boss talked me into buying a bike, (Trek1500) and i haven't turned back since.

I was still hesitant to get into it, though, mainly because I was big into weight lifting, and I would die if i ever had the upper body of a biker.

Sillyoldtwit

I remember an 82 year old friend of mine Doomey. He got knocked off his bike and had to go to hospital. The conversation with the quack went something like this.

Doc. What happened?

Doomey. Some hothead knocked me off my bike.

Doc. How old you?

Doomey. 82 going on 83.

Doc. What are doing riding a bike at your age. Where were you going?

Doomey. To my weightlifting club.

TYSON

navygreen

Sure, there's a lot of generalizing and ignorance in a non-cyclist's perception of cyclists, but there's really nothing wrong with that. They're ignorant, it's as simple as that. I'm always happy to see other riders out there, especially if they ride via vehicular cycling. The more people there are doing it, the more it will become socially accepted. And if we keep heading in that direction, maybe in 20 years LESS than half of Americans will be overweight self-indulgent, self-pitying couch potatoes and the country won't be quite so dependent on foreign "allies" with which we have shady diplomatic relations to fuel our economy. And with gas prices going up as quickly as they are, I think it sucks, but it's also a blessing in disguise. It's a pretty big wake-up call and people are finally starting to conserve. Though it's happening slowly, it's happening.

stormer94

<--- Gonna be 50 in 8 years... I hope I still look fabulous in Lycra...

Frankly, I was looking forward to being the old gray haired Santa clause looking dude that seems to show up at races now and then. I think it's cool because he's usually the guy that looks the worst in Lycra, and is also the guy that REALLY couldn't care anyless about it.

Serious hats off to all the older folks at a race. Or those that have made an investment in themselves with a good bike and some great looking riding gear.

<--- Also hoping to live long enough to be an "old timer" one day. And maybe living long enough to be a burdon to my children. "Son, do you remember the time you wrecked the car?, Paybacks are hell, Grandpa needs a sponge bath."...

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"Was" 39 year old guy Blood pressure: 143/84, Resting Pulse: 68, weight: 230
"summer 2004" 40 year old guy. Blood pressure: 121/66, Resting pulse: 45, weight: 175
1-1-2005 Blood pressure: 115/55, Resting pulse: 44, weight: 170
6-1-2005 Blood pressure: 105/52, resting pulse: 40, weight: 175
40k-TT, 1:05

Aussie Steve

Here's my $0.02 (two cents worth).
One night after work, caught up to an older gentleman (he was actually going quickly) and passed him on a short brutal climb on a freeway overpass...
then on the other side, he caught up to me as I was catching my breath...
you could tell by his skin complexion, etc that he was about late 60's at least.
We rode together along the bike path for a few minutes, during which time he darted around the "bollards" (those upside-down U shaped things) with as much dexterity as a 14 year old...not showing off, but simply to maintain his speed.
Extremely fluid and smooth in those manoeuvres, as well as his pedalling style...AND he was strong.....
I was so damned impressed , I was moved to mention that "damn, your a good rider"...he took offence , perhaps he figured that I was thinking "...for an old fella"....
Then I imagined his grandkids giving him grief about his sporting pursuit...
Next day at work, a colleague who uses the same path said "I've ridden with that fella, he's a cardiologist at the local (major) hospital"
He really was a smooth and fast rider, and if he is reading this, I have a lot of respect for you and anybody whose family thinks you shouldn't be doing it...stuff what THEY think, if you enjoy it, and you know it's good for you, keep on spinning......

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jimboracer

Well said. Or, the other fellow could have been talking about ME! I'm 53, 5'10" and 160 lbs, and I'm told I'm in excellent shape, esp for my age. I've been riding (on and off) my well-cared for Motobecane Grand Record (531 double-butted, mavics, nice ride) for almost 30 years now...and finally have decided it's time to buy a new one. Thus, since I've saved my money for several decades, I'm looking at some pretty nice bikes...full carbon, top groupo, etc. Also, I am wearing some of the same kit I originally bought 20+ years ago....fortunately it all still fits. I rode a quick 40-mile jaunt in Denver (5,500 ft) last Sunday...still a beautiful ride. But I'm ready to graduate, give myself the benefits of some new-tech brakes, shifters, lightweight frame, etc.

Going back to clothing, I actually get a lot of complements on the old kit I usually wear, since my old wool team jerseys and shorts are very retro. Last weekend, several people told me I could probably sell my old embroidered team jersey for big bucks on eBay. Nah. I'm keeping (and sometimes wearing) it...for now anyway. Yeah, I can't ride at the pace I once did, but I was riding 10-20 miles every weekday morning before heading off to work, and centuries with my club buddies every Sat morning back when my son (now 23) was a newborn. Now a college senior, he's not interested in cycling...just cars, computers and girls. I don't judge him for that. I'm sure he doesn't judge me (or the sport) because of my kit, my bike, etc. He seems to respect me for being able to still do what I do. Maybe other youngsters shouldn't judge us older, "experienced" guys seeking carbon...until they've ridden a mile in our shoes (and bodies)!

-- Jim (been there, done that....still doing some)

palewin

A great thread to get all of us old geezers and antiquated Masters racers to chime in. One thought about the comment "Cycling is in danger of becoming a "dad" sport" - there are Masters tours in tennis and golf, and while many older fans enjoy watching their "age contemporaries" play, those tours (and the huge numbers of older tennis players and golfers) don't seem to slow down the entry of young players into those sports. One of the main reasons you see fewer young people enter cycling is that it is probably one of the toughest sports around, with greater time demands for training than just about any other sport you can find. As an aside, since most posters, like me, are American, in this country you have difficulty getting kids involved in any sport where the action isn't broken down into 30-second bites (baseball, football, basketball, etc.) and even in track, the 10-second 100-meter/yard sprint gets a lot more coverage than the (boring...) 5k or 10k race.

One factor no one has mentioned is the study of age-related fitness decline quoted in a number of Joe Friel's books (Cycling After 50 and Running After 50) which compare three groups of ex-athletes: now sedentary, now "recreational", and those still competing. The bottom line was that you need intensity to combat aging: the sedentary ex-athletes rapidly became indistinguishable from the general population that had never been athletic, the recreational (riders/joggers) were better off, but still declining, and the still-competing (because they never decreased the intensity of their training) showed relatively minimal declines relative to the other groups (unfortunately some degree of age-related losses are inevitable). While this may not justify (in the OP's eyes) the "pot bellied pensioner with his knees out at right angles and knee length socks" it provides some justification for those of us who still race, albeit at a lower level than in our youths.

And lastly, if you go by the "public's" perception, we're doomed. If you listen to my 22-yr-old daughter's opinion of shaved-leg guys in lycra (and unfortunately she's talking about young high-cat racers, not her old dad) you too would hang up your wheels!

frenchyge

Heh, that's a great point. Which is less cool to the general public: super-skinny guys in their 20's with shaved legs whose idea of a good time is riding a bike for 6 hours straight, or relatively normal-looking older guys (read: slightly overweight recreational cyclists) who ride for an hour 3x/wk and have a life?

HAMMER MAN

I have been riding since I was 27 years old including the leg shaving
I remeber when my dad was alive he was aghast at the thought of his son shaving his legs, and always generally poked fun at me.

Iam now 54 and yea I have aged but the difference is I am in better helath than those that enjoy taunting me when I am riding, especially here in texas.
When I lived in Calif. I never had any problems or sharing the road with autos.

Being an avid road rider and weight lifter I really have no problem on how I look wearing my assorted riding regalia and the lyrca shorts..

I have always encouraged others to ride, got my brother hooked on it and now my youngest son of 29 will start riding with me tomorrow, Saturday something I am looking forward to is sharing something I love with someone I love

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Pendejo

When I was in my 30s, about 25 years ago, I was a fairly serious runner. A friend of our family had a daughter who was a cardiologist. She encouraged her husband to stop jogging when he hit 30 because she said it was too risky for men that age to exert themselves to that extent. Can you believe that?

In any case, I think it's great and admirable at any age to see what one can do. Why shouldn't an 80-year-old train to see how fast he or she can get in a 10K TT, for example? It's absolutely no different from a 20-year-old who is trying to ascend the cat ranks. Very few of those 20-year-olds are going to become national class, or ever earn a dollar from racing. Most every one of us is a chump compared to the upper levels in our categories. So there's really only one difference between a 20-year-old chump and a 80-year-old chump - 60 years.

DJA

While I'm not in my 50+ (37) I regular race in a VETS club against men in this age group. Some are exceptional rides and blow my doors off. In a recent hcp race we had the winner was in his late 50 and weighted about 120kg+ the coarse was hilly yet he still won. He races in E or F grade and had 45min on scratch and won by about a 1min. He still had to ride to his best ability to stay out in front.

The thing about graded racing is that everybody has a chance no matter of their age size or back ground. Participating is more important then results for the individuals health and mental well-being.

In Oz some years ago the government had an ad campagne called "Life be in it" and no-one what's to be a Norm and sit on the couch with a beer belly and watch TV! So encourage them to have a go and remember its non of your business what other people think of you just what you think of yourself.

RapDaddyo

That's a neat racing concept. I'm thinking of starting something similar in the US. There aren't enough competition choices today.

Sore-arse

One time after a bunch ride...at the coffee shop, an older gentleman of about 65 years old, was getting teased by some other riders.
"...don't let your doctor know you're still riding..."
(he had ridden with us the whole way, without any obvious discomfort)
When I was told why they were teasing him, I then realised his ride was a good effort, considering he had broken his collarbone in a Veteran's race about a week earlier...
He looked like anybody's grandfather, if he was standing near you in a supermarket queue, you wouldn't know he did 400+kms per week and could average 30+ km/h on a training ride, and normally outsprints and outclimbs teenagers...
Gotta admire that sort of effort...