Someone Tell Me to Continue Cycling!



On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:35:03 GMT, Simon Brooke wrote:


>
> I'm beginning to realise that in my twenties I was probably really quite
> a fit cyclist. I didn't realise it at the time, since I would never
> join any clubs and thought the roadies in their lycra and oakleys were
> poseurs.


Did they have Oakleys that long ago?

;-)

I used to work for another CA company called Optical Coating Laboratories
Inc, abbreviated to OCLI and commonly pronounced Oakley. People were
always asking me if I could get them shades!
--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't
it." -Groucho Marx
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk
 
Peter:- Type of pain:- 1. Leg aches 2. knee pains when standing up and
"Pumping the pedals" 3. All feels too bumpy and saddle sore. No apparent
stamina problems as I can continue vigorously on foot where necessary.

Thanx.
A
"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Arfur wrote:
> > Ok, I have had a good run- bought my first bike in 1955, last did a

major
> > hill tour in 2001,(Cornish Coast) but now at 60, feeling distinctly old

and
> > painful.

>
> What sort of pain is it? "I can't get up this hill" sort of pain, or "I
> can't sit on this saddle all day" sort of pain?
>
> For the latter, consider getting a more comfortable bike, by which I'm
> thinking recumbent. If it's hill problems, make that recumbent a trike
> with super-low grannies and slow it all down: you won't topple over with
> three wheels and you can put insanely low gearing on. If you're feeling
> it, just apply the parking brake and sit back in your comfy chair until
> you feel like carrying on. And they'll tear up the tarmac too if you
> want to do that: the Lands End -> John O'Groats record (41 hrs 4
> minutes) is held on a recumbent trike so don't think of them as invalid
> chairs!
>
> Everyone slows down eventually, but slowing down need only mean slowing
> down, rather than feeling inadequate at what you did a few years ago.
> So keep on cycling, but just respect the calls from your nervous system
> saying maybe not quite so quickly (or quite so far), and if things are
> uncomfortable in the saddle consider trading up to cycling in a comfy

chair!
>
> Pete.
> --
> Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
> Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
> Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
> net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
>



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On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:06:46 +0100, "Arfur" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Ok, I have had a good run- bought my first bike in 1955, last did a major
>hill tour in 2001,(Cornish Coast) but now at 60, feeling distinctly old and
>painful.
> I tried a fifty miler one afternoon a few months ago, but can't really
>say I enjoyed it.Did the outward 25 in a couple of hours and then spent the
>whole afternoon struggling home and walking up a lot of hills.
> My 37 year old tandem club member son says that he rides out with
>people far older than me, (74+)
> To persevere or retire? that is the question.Someone else must have
>reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!
>(Please)
>(Poor old sod!)
>
>


My problem is I allowed myself to get grossly overweight and I'm
gradually getting back into cycling step by step. At times its been a
bit embarassing and hard work in the extreme but it feels right. You
may find that if you stop cycling your general fitness will nosedive.
I hope you find a solution and continue cycling.
 
"Arfur" <[email protected]> writes:

> Ok, I have had a good run- bought my first bike in 1955, last did a major
> hill tour in 2001,(Cornish Coast) but now at 60, feeling distinctly old and
> painful.
> I tried a fifty miler one afternoon a few months ago, but can't really
> say I enjoyed it.Did the outward 25 in a couple of hours and then spent the
> whole afternoon struggling home and walking up a lot of hills.
> My 37 year old tandem club member son says that he rides out with
> people far older than me, (74+)
> To persevere or retire? that is the question.Someone else must have
> reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!
> (Please)
> (Poor old sod!)
>

Well, only go for 25 milers, then. If you had fun, then you had
fun. Never mind that the next 25 was too much.

It's better for you cycling than not cycling, so you may as well do
it.

A
 
in message <[email protected]>, Arfur
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Peter:- Type of pain:- 1. Leg aches 2. knee pains when standing up
> and
> "Pumping the pedals" 3. All feels too bumpy and saddle sore. No
> apparent stamina problems as I can continue vigorously on foot where
> necessary.


Sounds like a recumbent _is_ what you need, then. At least go and try
one.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; killing [afghan|iraqi] civilians is not 'justice'
 
> > reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!
> > (Please)
> > (Poor old sod!)


Yes CARRY ON, pull your self together you poor old sod. I'm just short
of 60 and did LEJOG this summer at average of 75 miles per day AND
carrying camping gear - yes it's painful sometimes but the more you do
the easier it gets. It's mostly in the mind. I cycle better now than
when I was 30 (was heavy drinking/smoking fat slob then; best days of
my life). Anyway 25 miles in couple of hours is good going - just keep
repeating the prescription.
Useful to use kilometres - perhaps aim to do in kms what a fit 25 year
old would do in miles.

cheers

Jacob 59 and 3/4
 
"Arfur" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Ok, I have had a good run- bought my first bike in 1955, last did a major
> hill tour in 2001,(Cornish Coast) but now at 60, feeling distinctly old and
> painful....
> To persevere or retire? that is the question.Someone else must have
> reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!


My parents:
dad - commuter and touring cyclist in his forties, drifted away from
it. Active but not terribly fit
mum - reluctant family touring cyclist in forties. Born again cyclist
and commuter in late fifties.

Now 67 and 60 and halfway round the North Sea cyle path and loving it
(unsupported camping approx 250 miles per week). Dad's motivation was
not being left behind for four months. He did a little preparation
but mostly got fit in the first couple of weeks. If fifties are not
fun then do shorter distances that are fun. Plan a long distance tour
for when you retire and work up to it

best wishes
james
 
On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:06:46 +0100, "Arfur" <[email protected]> wrote
(more or less):

>Ok, I have had a good run- bought my first bike in 1955, last did a major
>hill tour in 2001,(Cornish Coast) but now at 60, feeling distinctly old and
>painful.
> I tried a fifty miler one afternoon a few months ago, but can't really
>say I enjoyed it.Did the outward 25 in a couple of hours and then spent the
>whole afternoon struggling home and walking up a lot of hills.
> My 37 year old tandem club member son says that he rides out with
>people far older than me, (74+)
> To persevere or retire? that is the question.Someone else must have
>reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!
>(Please)
>(Poor old sod!)


Continue cycling!


(You might want to try lowering your distance targets, at least
initially.

You might also want to try comfier bikes, and lower gears.

A cheap (e.g. £15 from Aldi) heart rate monitor would perhaps let you
settle on a sustainable pace for you as you are now, which perhaps
would allow you to discover what pace would enable you to do 50 miles
at present.)

(Me - I'm chuffed that I did a leisure ride of 15 miles yesterday! My
longest ever one, starting from home)


--
Cheers,
Euan
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In message <[email protected]>, Al C-F
<[email protected]> writes
>On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:06:46 +0100, "Arfur" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> To persevere or retire? that is the question.Someone else must have
>>reached this point and come through it! Someone order me to carry on!

>
>Consider yourself so ordered.
>
>On my first outing with the CTC, I was surprised at the age of a
>couple of the riders and thought to myself that I would have a decent
>chance of keeping up.
>
>Then I discovered that these two retired chaps cycle everywhere, all
>day, every day. They were very kind and waited for me. I hope to
>attain their levels of fitness when I too am in my 60s and 70s.


The CTC rag obits column seems to have plenty of obits for people well
into the 80's and even 90's who carried on cycling. seems like a good
reason to keep at it.
--
Chris French, Leeds
 

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