How old are you?

[Avispa]

This post, http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=20414, by Smiley, made me think of posting this Poll. I am wondering what the average age of our forum members is?

How many days of recovery do you have in between hard days? Do you recover by doing something other than riding?

[stevep]

57,
need more time to recoevr between hard rides than before... usually 3 days off the bike a week and 1 easy day.

[Frankwurst]

:beer: You've got the bases covered in your poll except for the ages between 50 and 55. :beer:

[Fat Robert]

my license say 40...it'll be a couple of months though


this has worked well for me since july:

m -- recovery ride
tues -- threshold or tempo
wed -- endurance ride
thurs -- jumps or sprints, then gym
fri -- recovery ride
sat -- threshold or tempo or race
sun -- endurance ride, then gym


two hard days, two gym workouts, one day with some power work on the bike. its fine for my 40ish legs

[manet]

my brain hurts _ which box should i fill _ i'm 45?

i haven't had a donut in months.

[tbushnel]

my license say 40...it'll be a couple of months though
this has worked well for me since july:
m -- recovery ride
tues -- threshold or tempo
wed -- endurance ride
thurs -- jumps or sprints, then gym
fri -- recovery ride
sat -- threshold or tempo or race
sun -- endurance ride, then gym
two hard days, two gym workouts, one day with some power work on the bike. its fine for my 40ish legs

What kind of gym work do you do?
Ted.

[Chief]

68, still going strong and can kick the butts of many guys 30 years my junior. :p Really enjoy riding year round here in San Antonio. Off the bike next week for hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park and off again in mid September for another week of hiking in Grand Teton National Park. It's a great life,...isn't it.

[Kevan]

I don't qualify for this poll. My age group has been skipped and I'll be damned if I'm to join those older than me.

Perpetually immature, is me.

[Smiley]

where's 50 to 55 ??

count me in to that group please

[Fixed]

anyone remember watching the badger race on t.v. in colorado ? i do
cheers....
.or how about john howard ? or some weird kid from col. whose dad had a bike shop and won the gold r.r.in l.a. and some girl who won there too?
oh yeah my fav the best spinter ever from the u.s. her husband.

[JohnS]

Mental age-17
Biological age-47
Wear and tear body age-67

[A.L.Breguet]

anyone remember watching the badger race on t.v. in colorado ? i do
cheers....
.or how about john howard ? or some weird kid from col. whose dad had a bike shop and won the gold r.r.in l.a. and some girl who won there too?
oh yeah my fav the best spinter ever from the u.s. her husband.
I have an autographed photo of the Badger from when he raced the Red Zinger!
Also did a Pro Am race in N.J. with Charly Motet.

[Fixed]

I have an autographed photo of the Badger from when he raced the Red Zinger!
Also did a Pro Am race in N.J. with Charly Motet.
cool
bro i had his ..motet model shoes when looks first came out they were cool back and red
cheers

[bcm119]

Wow, 10 people under 30 so far... I thought serottas were only for old farts?! ;)

[BillyBear]

ride hard about twice a week, climb hard once, two easy days two non-riding days, bowflex or gym twice a week upper body and core only...

[Fat Robert]

What kind of gym work do you do?
Ted.

in-season -- meaning training blocks of tempo or harder (started this in july...going to do it all next year):

all of these are 2 sets of 15-20 reps to failure -- nothing that will make me sore

squats

one-legged squats on the smith rack

leg extensions

hamstring curls

some goofy push-ups (put your feet on an aerobic step. as you bring your chest to the floor, raise one leg behind you. keep your back straight and posture controlled. alternate legs as you do the push-ups).

crunches on the stability ball

fatmo back extensions on the stability ball (put the ball at your waist. you should be jacknifed over the ball with head and toes on the floor. keeping your back and legs straight, raise your legs behind you as you extend your back and bring one arm out in front of you. at the top of the movement, hold it for a couple of seconds -- you should be stretched out parallel to the ground like superman flyin, with one hand on the floor for balance. alternate arms extended as you do these. they are awesome for your back and transverse abdominals).

fatmo pikes on the stability ball (put the ball under your waist. extend your legs up off the floor, parallel to it. have both hands under your chest as in a push up. now, do a pike. at the peak, you should have the ball rolled up to your hands, with your toes on the other side of the ball. return slowly back to the start position, then do a 1/2 pushup while raising your legs behind you, so they're still in line with your upper body. return back to the start position).


weights are mp. but then again i'm mp. so its ok. i find this keeps my knees from acting up, and keeps my core strength good enough to run the 12.5cm of drop that i rock on the ol scott.

the heavy stuff, the jump squats, and the plyos are for the winter....

i stretch every morning, and i don't buy that weight training tightens you up at all -- if anything, increasing the strength and range of motion should come togther if your technique is good and you're balancing the gruntgrunt stuff with yoga/pilates/stretching

[stevep]

anyone remember watching the badger race on t.v. in colorado ? i do
cheers....
.or how about john howard ? or some weird kid from col. whose dad had a bike shop and won the gold r.r.in l.a. and some girl who won there too?
oh yeah my fav the best spinter ever from the u.s. her husband.

all i know is steve bauer will wish to relive that finish the rest of his days.
saw the badger race in real life in colorado... and charlie mottet had a great ride...
just got popped near the end by argentin and golz.
took the bronze at the worlds in '86..

[Bruce K]

about to be 53 in late October.

No category to post in the polls. What happens, we magically jump from 50 to 55, or do we just lie about it for a while? :rolleyes:

BK

[Fixed]

bro didn't steve b, wear the yellow jersey in the t.d.f. ? he was from canada ?
cheers

[Avispa]

:beer: You've got the bases covered in your poll except for the ages between 50 and 55. :beer:

Opps!

I also didn't inlcude those that are 100 Y.O. Like Pete... ;)

[93legendti]

This post, http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=20414, by Smiley, made me think of posting this Poll. I am wondering what the average age of our forum members is?

How many days of recovery do you have in between hard days? Do you recover by doing something other than riding?


Almost 45. I have been gradually riding more days in a row as I get older. 9 years ago I was riding 40-50 miles five times per week. Then I upped it to 6 days a week, but the recovery rides were short. Last year I rode 7 days in a row, then took a rest day. This summer I have basically ridden 8-9 days in a row and then take a day off. I ride hard on Tuesdays and Thursdays (morning solo ride, then evening group ride), Saturday and Sunday. On M, W, and F, I do errands on the bike, meet the family at the park or a restaurant or pick up our daughter from school/camp via the bike. Today was the 9th day in a row that I rode and I did a hard hill solo--hills for this area, at least. My legs feel good, but Monday I will take off. The weird thing is the day after a rest day I used to feel great. Now, the day after a rest day I feel a little off and the 2nd day after a rest day I feel great again.

In the spring, when I upped my mileage, the mornings were tough--took a little while for the joints to loosen up. Now, I feel pretty good right out of the bed--go figure. :)

[Samster]

anyone remember watching the badger race on t.v. in colorado ? i do
cheers....
.or how about john howard ? or some weird kid from col. whose dad had a bike shop and won the gold r.r.in l.a. and some girl who won there too?
oh yeah my fav the best spinter ever from the u.s. her husband.
rebecca twigg... connie c. and davis p.

nelson vails.

jacques boyer...(!) ron kiefel. eric and beth h. rob roll when he had hair.

hairnets.

black cycling shoes and low white socks mandatory. everything was brazed and lugged.

[onekgguy]

I'll turn 49 this Friday. It seems odd to me because in my head I'm still in my late 20s to early 30s. The years do speed by no doubt about it. I find myself turning to the bottle of Advil a bit more these days to help ease some aches.

Kevin

[shinomaster]

Im 32...I recover way more than I ride hard...

[BBB]

Im 32...I recover way more than I ride hard...

Same for me.

[tbushnel]

... i stretch every morning, and i don't buy that weight training tightens you up at all -- if anything, increasing the strength and range of motion should come togther if your technique is good and you're balancing the gruntgrunt stuff with yoga/pilates/stretching

Thanks for the details - I appreciate the "schoolin". Just what I needed.
Ted.

[zank]

I have one more month in my 20's. The big 3-0 is on the horizon.

[Avispa]

What is you guy's definition of "hard". I mean, by looking at the poll results so far, looks like most of you are in your mid 40's. So what is a hard work out for you.... And you, young AND older ones, what is hard for you? I am not trying to compare. I am just curious. As I said before, there are some older people out there, which I have a lot of respect for: Still riding in their 70's like they are Prima Donas.... At this stage in my life, that's what I want! :)

Anyway, I don't think I have the need for sprint w.o.'s anymore. It's all fun and games! So, for me a hard workout is one were I do several (5 or 6) long intervals of 5 to 8 minutes at 90+ % effort, reaching speeds of 32 or 33 mph on these, and cruise at 22/24 mph for recovery. With a good gradual warm-up (7 to 10 miles) and cool-down (same or longer distance). On bad days, I have to slow down even more, or not go as hard! It's too bad we have no hills down here. I feel I'd get a nicer w.o. in long gradual hills.

A "tempo" ride is about 22/24 almost all the way, with the exception of warm-up and cool-down.

A recovery ride is whatever speed that does not hit 20 for more than 3 minutes AND really low HR.... All on the small ring.

I do not use a power meter as I don't think I need it for what I do now: play rides to stay super fit for my age!

[bcm119]

What is you guy's definition of "hard".
I'll resist making a viagra joke here and say this- don't you think it depends way more on your category/fitness level/commitment than age. Look at the results of the master's national TT and the 30-34 winning time is only something like 5% faster than the 50-54's. Even comparing 30 year old cat 3's you'll get a wide variety of overall time commitments and training styles, and what constitutes "hard". Obviously you know all that but it still amazes me how fast you can be well into your 50's, and how fast some people can be with so little training, and how slow others can be with so much training.

Hard for me is an interval wo, but I rarely do more than 24 minutes of total "work" time, like 3x 8-min climbs or 4x 6-min flat intervals in the middle of a 2 hour ride. But I'd say a 4 hour endurance ride in january with a cold wind and rain is the hardest of all.

[jeffg]

hard are long tempo workouts, threshold work or any workout like on Saturday where I reach my maximum HR at the end of a 1 hour climb. I don't really do many 3-5 minute intervals, but I should. My fitness is just falling to pieces at present :crap:

[Fat Robert]

hard for me equals threshold or higher. a threshold workout for me would be 10-20 minute intervals on 5-10 minutes rest, 95-100rpm in 52x16 or 15. a tempo ride is 22-25 the whole way.... VO2 is just ugly. I can never crack 30 on a VO2 interval.

[wdlewis]

I'm 63. Just back into riding after 15 years working too hard.

Ride 2-3 times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun before church) and now up to 40-50 miles per ride. Don't do any recovery riding. Goal is to ride my age by October and then a century by December.

I work out with a personal trainer 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri). We do free weights, abs, core, and resistance work. Been training for several years, but this trainer has ratched up the weights fast.

Biggest age factor is frustration on how long it is taking to build up ride distance. At least I can and am riding. Even better that it's on an Ottrott.

[catulle]

my brain hurts _ which box should i fill _ i'm 45?

i haven't had a donut in months.

Look to the future, young man, look to the future...

[Ti Designs]

I'm still 29, have been for years.

[Skrawny]

34...but in November I'll be both 30-35 and 35-40...

[victoryfactory]

68, still going strong and can kick the butts of many guys 30 years my junior.

Chief:
I'm 55+ and I also can kick the butts of all the younger
guys... I just can't catch them on my bike, so I have to wait for
the rest stop and jump 'em there.

VF

[catulle]

I'm 55 and I ride recovery 6 days a week; he,he,he.... I ride hard on Sundays. Hard for me, that is. Keep on trucking, atmo.

[Tom]

but I am no good at math.

A hard ride is difficult to describe. Anything over 50 miles isn't a recovery ride, really, no matter how easy I go. 30 miles can be a hard ride if I flog it the whole way or go do hills. The same loop at 22-24 can be an easy day or a death march, it's totally variable, so my measure is whether it hurts the next day. If so, I go easy until I have one day where it doesn't hurt and when that happens I go at least one more easy day so I don't ride the hurt back in the first day. I want to ride six days a week but that never happens for one reason or another.

[MartyE]

Count me in the phantom 51-54 group.
I'd ride harder if I didn't have lumbago. . .
or is it rhumatis (as in my rhumatis is actin up).

[Bud]

I just turned 36 last week, but I feel pretty young. Maybe it's because I'm a student again. . .

I ride hard when I feel like it and recover when I feel like it. There's not a lot of science behind my training, but I certainly enjoy life and I do all right on the bike.

[davids]

I'll be in the "40-45" group for another two days.

I was riding 5 days a week for about 6 weeks, and ended up feeling distinctly over-trained by the beginning of last week. I rode three days last week, one of which was a less-than-vigorous ride with two good friends who are occassional cyclists. I felt great after backing off, and was preparing for a nice, hard ride on Friday. But I ended up playing an hour of Ultimate Frisbee and then rowing 90 minutes in a quad. That was followed by a 8-hour stint moving and washing canoes, kayaks, and sailboats the next day - probably the most cross-training I've had all summer.

I'll be back on the bike tomorrow morning, and am hoping to feel rejuvinated.

I'm not as young as I used to be, and definitely get - and stay - stiffer than I used to after a hard workout. But I also have more hard workouts than I did fifteen years ago.

[Skrawny]

definitely get - and stay - stiffer than I used to after a hard workout. But I also have more hard workouts than I did fifteen years ago.

That can be a good thing, no? ;)

-s

[taz-t]

How young are you?
How old am I?

Let's count the rings
Around my eyes.

Old enough to remember when this song was popular...

- taz

[davids]

...and he was young when he wrote that.

I just listened to "Let It Be" a few weeks ago, after a conversation with a twenty-something (decked out in a tie-dyed Grateful Dead shirt) about how she wouldn't listen to any "80s music". I weep for our youth...

[mosca]

How young are you?
How old am I?

Let's count the rings
Around my eyes.

Old enough to remember when this song was popular...

Hey, that song was never popular!! ;)

btw, I'm 43. I still feel strong probably because I was never in peak condition in the first place. Set the bar low while you're still young!

[palincss]

:beer: You've got the bases covered in your poll except for the ages between 50 and 55. :beer:

Not quite. 55+ covers quite a bit of ground, roughly 30 years, maybe 40. I was at a bike rally once where the oldest rider was 90.

[Ray]

Set the bar low while you're still young!
My philosophy exactly but I couldn't have put it so well. I know so many people who are bummed because they're not what they used to be. Maybe that's why I don't play basketball, tennis, or ski anymore - because I was decent at all of those things in my youth and I'd hate what I couldn't do anymore. But I never rode as a young man, other than to the park with the kids or to the store. So I never had any cycling "Glory Days". Hence, nothing to live up to. So I don't have to compare my 15-17 mph rides to the 19-21 mph rides from my years past - never had any of those to fail to live up to. I'm 47, btw, and time doesn't seem to be slowing down any.

These ARE the good old days.

-Ray

[Skrawny]

I'm looking at the spread of ages, and it makes me wonder how this compares to Serotta sales demographics...
-s