On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 10:07:01 +0000, Simon Brooke
<
[email protected]> wrote:
>> If I get to watch it standing by my bike halfway up Ventoux I'll be
>> bl**dy amazed!
>
>You shouldn't be.
>
>All through my life I've known a few very elderly - eighties and nineties -
>cyclists who were still cycling reasonable distances at reasonable
>speeds - often faster than I could. A friend in his mid eighties who looks
>so fragile that the wind could blow him away last year rode from John O'
>Groats to the Mull of Galloway in ten days. Cyclists go on a long time.
>
>I'd be surprised if I'm not still cycling in my eighties - provided I live
>that long, that is. If you get slower, fit lower gears.
Thanks for the encouraging tales of elderly cyclists. If I live that
long I intend to be cycling too.
What I'm querying is my ability to climb something like Ventoux in
July. I did it once in September, I think I was 55 or 56 at the time.
It was hard. Pulling my 15 stone up something like that is always
going to be hard. In the July sun it can only be harder. Having said
that, it was also a magnificent experience. Anyone who hasn't done it
should seriously consider trying, I've not seen scenery like it
anywhere.
My aim is to get up there one more time, this time to watch the tour
go up. Here's hoping....
Pete