Old Age

My buddy is 73 and still kicks butt. Ain't the age. 😄

He does eat well, fuel for rides of 50+. Lots of hills and HYDRATE!!!!

Maybe look into an electrolyte source before and during rides. After for recovery.

I use Liquid IV. 30 packs for around $22 at Costco.

But I'm only 60 years old and still doing 50 miles without too much effort. I started using electrolyteslast year working in the summer sun 102 degrees in steel toe boots. Started cramping on rides when I never had before.

Old age I guess but Liquid IV and electrolytes have worked well. I do buy a little jug of Electrolit or Pedialyte Sport to keep myself hydrated. Especially now with the 100 degree heat .

Thanks for that Mr. Beanz, I will look into the energy issue.

Cheers,

Colin

Quick Shifter said:

Last Summer I found that I was getting tired at around 17-18 miles, and thought maybe I was suffering with a virus, but this Summer is the same and I find that when I get home after a ride I am exhausted.

If you had Covid, it will take a bit longer to restore performance. I didn't get back to my usual performance until after 2 years after getting infected by Covid.

The Covid vaccines gave me hypertension and made things worse. I went to extreme lengths to try to reverse the damage caused by Covid and vaccines. I won't advise you nor anyone to do this but I went as far as doing 80 miles without eating nor drinking to try to get rid of my body of all the bad stuff from Covid and vaccines. I have kept doing this routine as it seemed to have cured my prediabetes. I no longer display any symptom of prediabetes. I stopped having migraines too.

Thanks cobbwheels,

I did find that I struggled after I had Covid last year, and it took a month or so before I felt strong again. I am worried about the vaccine, and have wondered if my tiredness is connected to being double dosed. I have decided not to have any more Covid shots, but it is a bit late now!

Quick Shifter said:

Thanks cobbwheels,

I did find that I struggled after I had Covid last year, and it took a month or so before I felt strong again. I am worried about the vaccine, and have wondered if my tiredness is connected to being double dosed. I have decided not to have any more Covid shots, but it is a bit late now!

No problem. I feel just fine after recovering from Covid and off from cycling for one month. Then family pressured me to take vaccine and booster shots. Since then I started having hypertension. Something I never had before. It could still be delayed reaction from Covid but it happened right after the vaccine.

Apart from hypertension, I feel perfectly fine but my cycling performance had deteriorated.

Hmmm,

Let's hope that it is a short term problem and you feel better soon. There are well-documented reports of damage to the heart muscles from MnRA vaccines.

Quick Shifter said:

Hmmm,

Let's hope that it is a short term problem and you feel better soon. There are well-documented reports of damage to the heart muscles from MnRA vaccines.

Thanks! That was a year ago. I am stronger now than even before I got covid and vaccines!

One interesting fact about me. If I don't ride for two weeks, my hypertension comes back! I don't take blood pressure nor anti cholesterol meds. They are expensive for me and cycling/intense exercising is the only way I can sustainably maintain good vitals.

Same thing for you, don't lose hope, you'll get your usual strength back. It will just take time for your body and epigenetics to cope and adapt if the Covid shots is to blame.

Thanks! I will keep fighting it, got to try to stay fit.

Cheers buddy.

I read in a cycling magazine recently an article by a 96(?) year old, lifelong cyclist, who is a professor of philology. Essentially as we age our muscle mass declines (especially after middle age) and our bodies response to damage is delayed and weaker, and we find ourselves struggling more to recover from mild ilnesses.

There's very little you can do about it (it's hardwired into our genetics), but gentle training does help - but it will take a long time compared to someone in there 20s. Weight training is also beneficial to slow the loss of muscle mass, but ultimately we will all have to work around it. Some might see a big decline after 60, some might not until they're 80 - it's all genetic - and it's part of the life experience.

Thanks. I certainly noticed a decline in myself after I retired - I had a very physical job and I suppose that this slowed the decline in muscle loss.

You should go see a doctor. Everyone is different, but it is smart to be checked out to make sure you are not having any heart problems, hypothyroidism, lyme's disease etc.. I am 61 and I can still do a ride that length at a decent speed and have some energy left for the rest of the day, and I ride with a lot of guys in their 70s who still regularly ride twenty or thirty miles each day and handle it well.

Thanks, good advice.

Quick Shifter said:

I am an old guy (68) who has been riding for pleasure all my life. My rides are usually around 25 miles along country lanes in the UK, with lots of hills thrown in. Last Summer I found that I was getting tired at around 17-18 miles, and thought maybe I was suffering with a virus, but this Summer is the same and I find that when I get home after a ride I am exhausted.

Is there anything that I can do to improve this problem, or is it an inevitable part of getting old? Should I eat something, like a biscuit maybe? I could cut the ride length down (and inevitably will have to) but then it does not seem worth getting my gear on for such a short time.

I'm 78 and around the beginning of this year my riding started becoming more and more labored. I do climb a lot but that doesn't improve my performance on the flats anymore. This happened to a friend when he hit 88. So I expect that everyone has an age when their own personal metabolism will not allow the speed that we at least would like to think we did. It won't stop me from riding but I will just be slow without worrying about it. We can't live young forever so no sense in fighting it.

I suppose deterioration in fitness is inevitable, it all depends on the individual how long it takes. A friend of mine was super fit and seemed like a superman, but he succumbed to cancer at 72.

Quick Shifter said:

I suppose deterioration in fitness is inevitable, it all depends on the individual how long it takes. A friend of mine was super fit and seemed like a superman, but he succumbed to cancer at 72.

We riders tend to avoid cardio vascular diseases. Heart attack seems to be the #1 cause of deaths in America. I suppose we'd be adequately protected from heart attack.

But cancer, not so much, sadly. Unfortunately, riding outdoors raises our chance of getting skin cancer more than average. Sugary fuel and plenty of sugar in after-ride meals also raises the risk.

Speaking about Super Man, a buddy of mine that I met through forums raced all his life. Super strong guy. Always fit and riding with the guy over 15 years, he died really quick at 52.

Mr. Beanz said:

Speaking about Super Man, a buddy of mine that I met through forums raced all his life. Super strong guy. Always fit and riding with the guy over 15 years, he died really quick at 52.

That's not good. How did he die?

One habit of racers I found concerning is the high consumption of simple sugars (from gels and drinks) during rides that can create increased risk for cancer and or even metabolic disorders hidden under a seemingly fit physique.

I found from experience, the healthiest way to ride is no eating. In fact, avoid eating during rides.

The only thing you should be ingesting during rides is water + electrolytes. Zero calories.

Otherwise, you can probably eat anything AFTER a ride.

cobbwheels said:

That's not good. How did he die?

One habit of racers I found concerning is the high consumption of simple sugars (from gels and drinks) during rides that can create increased risk for cancer and or even metabolic disorders hidden under a seemingly fit physique.

I found from experience, the healthiest way to ride is no eating. In fact, avoid eating during rides.

The only thing you should be ingesting during rides is water + electrolytes. Zero calories.

Otherwise, you can probably eat anything AFTER a ride.

Well dang it, I failed to mention cancer. Amazing that even if you're a strong fit guy, cancer can take you down to nothing.

He developed a spot on his toe. Amputated then a year later showed up in his brain. Treated and cancer free for another 6 months. Then it reappeared throughout his organs, spread all over.

Guy went from beautiful racing bikes to a recumbent not being able to balance. Good looking Superman type to a frail looking Grey haired old looking guy within a year. Only 2 months younger than I and at 52 he looked 70 before passing. Really sad because he was a great guy.

As far as eating, I don't do gels and [censored] like that. On a usual 40 miles I don't eat anything other than a decent breakfast. 2 eggs and a slice of bread and a bottle of electrolytes.

60 miles, I will have a small granola bar.

100 miles, a nice turkey sandwich if I can find one after 65. If I know nothing is available, I will wrap a p and Jin foil if the weather isn't too hot.

I agree about eating too much on rides. I have ridden with people who take in 2 or 3 gels on a 20 mile ride. Some people even more.

As far as electrolytes, I have read and practice one article I found that made sense to me. I drink water the first hour then electrolytes for the remainder of the ride.

A longer ride 40 and up, first bottle of water. Second bottle is mixed so at break, I mix a liquid iv packet to refresh my electrolyte bottle. 😄

Mr. Beanz said:

Well dang it, I failed to mention cancer. Amazing that even if you're a strong fit guy, cancer can take you down to nothing.

He developed a spot on his toe. Amputated then a year later showed up in his brain. Treated and cancer free for another 6 months. Then it reappeared throughout his organs, spread all over.

Guy went from beautiful racing bikes to a recumbent not being able to balance. Good looking Superman type to a frail looking Grey haired old looking guy within a year. Only 2 months younger than I and at 52 he looked 70 before passing. Really sad because he was a great guy.

As far as eating, I don't do gels and [censored] like that. On a usual 40 miles I don't eat anything other than a decent breakfast. 2 eggs and a slice of bread and a bottle of electrolytes.

60 miles, I will have a small granola bar.

100 miles, a nice turkey sandwich if I can find one after 65. If I know nothing is available, I will wrap a p and Jin foil if the weather isn't too hot.

I agree about eating too much on rides. I have ridden with people who take in 2 or 3 gels on a 20 mile ride. Some people even more.

As far as electrolytes, I have read and practice one article I found that made sense to me. I drink water the first hour then electrolytes for the remainder of the ride.

A longer ride 40 and up, first bottle of water. Second bottle is mixed so at break, I mix a liquid iv packet to refresh my electrolyte bottle. 😄

Sorry to hear about your friend. Many of my relatives have also died of cancer and risk runs in our genes.

Simple sugars like that in gels although easy to digest in most circumstances is not the same during vigorous exercise because the blood flow is being diverted to the legs (in cycling) away from organs that are less critical to workout performance like the digestive system. The sugar would stay longer in the gut could disrupt the bacteria colony and usually, sweeter stuff in the gut encourages bad bacteria strains to move in and compromise the immune system.

That sugar staying longer can also fuel malignant cells that has formed in the gut. Usually, the immune system can destroy malignant cells if they form in the very early stages in healthy individuals but if the immune system has been compromised and the malignant cells are strong with abundant supply of simple sugars then it's going to become a big problem.

The same can happen to a person who doesn't exercise, who is sedentary but eats plenty of simple sugars.

Although simple sugars isn't totally bad. It's totally okay for active individuals like you and me to eat simple sugars after workouts. Eating simple sugars before a workout is also okay as long as there's enough time between the intake and the start of the workout so the sugar has been fully absorbed by the blood.

It's also okay to eat simple sugars in between rides if you're going to stop and wait some time after the meal to resume the ride. If you must eat during the ride, rice-based unsweetened snacks like rice crackers are safer. They can be salted for flavor and electrolytes. I used to make my own rice crackers for rides and it's a good-tasting, filling snack for rides that won't ruin your digestion but it's really safer if you don't eat anything at all during rides.