Old guys of paceline, here's the question:

[redir]

I'm getting there, but not there yet. But my dad is about to turn 80 and for the last ten years has done nothing but sit, drink too much, eat too much, gain too much weight, and now can't walk without a cane and cannot walk too far. The only exercise I ever remember my dad doing was playing softball with the guys and that always meant drinking lots of beer afterwards. I love the guy, I really do, but I don't want to end up like that... So I ride.

My father in law on the other had, he's 81 and still hikes in the mountains of Colorado like he's 51.

It's a matter of will. Just don't ever stop. Once you do you start that backwards slide.

[ls1togo]

Close to 72..ride for fun and quiet time, generally 5-6K annually. I won't hit 5k this year (a little more than 4K) as I'm fighting some lower back disc degeneration which came on suddenly about a month ago and it's created a new pre-ride regimen of various stretches, some light weight routines and a slight rise increase in my stems. That said, my goal is to ride until I can't anymore, whenever that is...

[alancw3]

i am 71 years old and i still ride to add another dimension to keeping fit. i also swim laps and do a lot of walking and workout room machines. one thing that i have found is that i am now gravitating towards wider tires. that is why i am now thinking of a gravel or cyclone cross bike probably as my last bike. i don't see me using 23cm tires again. more like 40 cm tires. which is alright as long as i can still ride and feel invigorated. one of my goals as i age is to not use any meds until i am 80. we will see if i achieve that! since i have had to move up here from florida i can see my health/physical fitness declining but hey family is important also.
oh and a great thread!!

[AngryScientist]

Luck and genes play a huge role.

My dad will be 94 next week. Still in pretty good shape, but up until he was about 92 - was in phenomenal shape. Helped me put a roof on my house when he was 89. was still running the snowblower and shoveling a big chunk of property into his 90's. when he was in his mid 80's he could have kicked most 20YO's asses.

My dad never paid ANY attention to his diet. He also never engaged in any type of structured exercise or weight control programs. he was just a naturally fit guy who stayed slim naturally, and stayed in good cardio shape by doing regular things.

he still smokes a cigar once in a while, drinks beer and wine regularly, and eats greasy hamburgers with a smile.

he's slowing down majorly these days, but at 94, i'm not sure how much gas is left in anyone's tank.

that exact lifestyle would kill many other people at 65.

luck and genes.

[victoryfactory]

Chapeau to your dad!

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Not me, I 'exercise'(ride), cuz I like it..being kinda 'fit' is a nice benefit but I do it mostly cuz I like it..'Mechanical meditation'..why I don't care where, when, how fast or how far(and also why I ride by myself)....

I think the real conundrum is doing something day in and day out...just to stay 'fit' and it's no fun...

Old spud, I’d ride with you anytime! I like your style-attitude! Not sure you would ride with me though...I mean, with the SRAM and all...

[Elefantino]

I believe - and I have no data to back this up beyond anecdotes - that many of us oldsters ride Serottas.

Whether there is a causation between the ability to ride into your golden years and Ben's bikes, I don't know.

But there probably is.

[Mr. Pink]

I'm 66, and I believe I'm in shape because, yes, I ride a lot, but also do a lot of strength work, hiking, and now swimming laps. I ski in winter, but that keeps my mind in shape more than my other outdoor activities. Winter blues can be a killer, which I see in some biking buds. They are suddenly depressed a bit with the cold weather.

I also "retired" four years ago, which has vastly increased my physical health, because I'm no longer sitting most of my life, and working out much more.

[Hawker]

I'm 69. Five years ago I had "the big one". I weighed 130 lbs and rode my bike 25 miles on Friday and had the heart attack on Saturday. Five bypasses, four of them failed the first month and then four stents a month later.

I've been riding for about forty years and also used to run a lot. HOWEVER, I had very high cholesterol that was inherited and had a very hard time bringing it down. That is what did me in and the doctors told me it would. But after three years of trying just about all the statins I sort of gave up and decided that keeping my weight down and exercise up would keep me healthy. It did not.

I'm still battling the Cholesterol and still can only bring it down marginally. I ride because I enjoy it and "hope" it will help.

PS: I never drank or smoked. When they let me go they were chagrined that they didn't "have anything to tell me to stop doing". Shoot, I looked better than most of the doctors. Just bad genes.

[AngryScientist]

is there an agreed upon age at which you are considered an "old guy"...??

asking for a friend

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

I believe - and I have no data to back this up beyond anecdotes - that many of us oldsters ride Serottas.

Whether there is a causation between the ability to ride into your golden years and Ben's bikes, I don't know.

But there probably is.

Hmmm, if I can sell this to the wife, I can probably get her to sign off on this as a medical necessity.

Who has a 49cm for sale?

[jr59]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

is there an agreed upon age at which you are considered an "old guy"...??

asking for a friend

If you have to ask....

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

is there an agreed upon age at which you are considered an "old guy"...??

asking for a friend

Yep. Short term memory. When you walk into a room and then ask....

Uh, what was the question again?

[Matthew]

If you ask any kid or teen, we are all likely old to them. Even those in their 30's.

[Johnnysmooth]

Originally Posted by velotel

Obviously genes have a huge role but a body ignored and abused is like parking a 275 GTB outside near the ocean and leaving it there for years. It’ll always be a Ferrari but attempting to return it into what it was won’t happen.

I’ve been lucky. Born with an athletic body and an intelligent enough mind (but not so much that it’s ever threatened my joy in being alive and definitely never overused though perhaps at times a bit abused), born into a post-war middle class family in a society rich with doors to open, and in some totally mysterious manner gifted with a sort of hernia or tumor that at the last instant miraculously kept me from being drafted and sent off to Vietnam to become some drugged out soldier flopping around in the rice fields until I od’d on drugs or on a mine.

But above all else where chance took me in her arms and gave me some serious mind-bending love was when I discovered skiing. Saved my life. Discovered the joy of living and dancing on the edge. Also where I discovered how cool smoking pot and skiing can be. Skiing is where I discovered the marvel that the human body can be. Also that just like with the 275 GTB, if you want the maximum performance you sure as hell better take care of it.

But far beyond the actual skiing bit, the greatest discovery was the spiritual and physical high skiing on the edge can generate. Even better that high isn’t the result of skiing but of the body attaining a level of performance where suddenly you’re in another world, in a tunnel of pure focus, feeling and riding this wave where your entire being is in perfect harmony with the moment.

That kind of state can be achieved through meditation, music, etc. but my path has been and still is physical activity, first skiing, then rock climbing, then running, then biking, then running again, then mountain biking, and finally biking again.

Attaining that state for me only happens with a physique in form. And since I love slipping into that state, keeping the body tuned is a priority.

I also hate exercise. Boring as hell, Forty years ago one winter I joined the athletic club that had recently opened in Crested Butte, thought some program with weights and machines would be good for me. Didn’t last a week. The only thing interesting was watching the women doing aerobics in rather revealing costumes. Which got boring too so that was that for my exercise trial.

I just ride my bike. Some training program could probably provide me with all kinds of benes but I’m not interested. My time on the bike and the time I have left in my life is limited so I don’t have time for training. I just ride. On average 4, 5 times a week all year, mostly short rides, an hour and a half or so, but intense, like full throttle start to finish. Note full throttle refers to my effort, not the speed with which I advance. Once a week I like to do a bigger ride, like 3, maybe 4 hours, sometimes more. Always climbs. Or almost always.

I also almost always burn a bowl before rolling off. Just a wee pinch. Doesn’t make me any faster, or I don’t think it does but then again I don’t pay attention to that anyway. The bowl simply compliments the effects my physical efforts have on my brain and soul, creating this symphony where I’m lost in the rhythm and movement, riding the wave.

In other words my incentive to stay in shape has nothing to do with a desire to ride my bike (or ski or climb when I used to do those) but to slide into that state of joy when my body’s caught the wave. The bike and the places I ride my bike are the instruments that carry me into that state and the only damn way I’m going to be able to get there is if my body’s in shape.

So for over fifty years now I’ve paid attention to what I eat (mostly organic), drunk good wine and single malt but in relative moderation (though by today’s medical standards I drink way too much, which apparently is more than one glass a day by their thinking! Bunch of mad hatters in the medical world today), do thirty, forty minutes of yoga and exercises every morning.

And ride, in beautiful places and thanks to my wonderful StonerBike on dirt roads and single-tracks that concentrate the energy.

But like I said, the incentive isn’t riding the bike, even though I love riding a bike. It’s that sublime state riding the bike creates, the joy of feeling good on the bike and feeling the muscles driving it forward, feeling the thrill of plunging down off some col, carving turns, riding gravity. It’s like being a kid again. That’s the incentive that keeps me fit and feeling way younger than my years.

Wow Velotel - we are on the same astral plain - couldn't have said it better myself as to my own motivations, though for me, skiing still rules - being on that fine edge, dropping down a steep and deep through the trees is other-worldly, mind-bending experience I never tire of.