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I'm just wondering how many of you are the "over 40" crowd?
I just got into biking and want to make sure i'm not alone!!!!!
It's just not the same starting a sport at this age then age 20.
I would love to hear from anyone in this "club" with me!
gretchen (I really am showing my age by just useing my name..i should have come up with something more clever).
Three more years and I'm the big five-oh!
Personally, I think the over 40 club is the best place to be!:p
56 in June. Started riding in my early 30's. Also soon to be retired, 3 more weeks.
Well I'm envious as he!! - I'm hoping for retirement at 50....;)Quote:
Originally posted by Kathi
56 in June. Started riding in my early 30's. Also soon to be retired, 3 more weeks.
43
I'm 44, and I've been road biking since the age of 44 :cool:
And I'd love to retire, oh, tomorrow!
I get such a kick out of those people who say "oh I'll never retire, I'd be so bored!" There are so many things I want to do - I dream about the nice long unhurried bike tours I would take, for starters.
- Jo.
48 and proud of it.
And as the name implies a granny and proud of that too. been riding for almost 3 years now.
Dea
HI!
Hey! Thanks so much for the show of hands! I was just reading last night an article in Biking Mag. about bone loss and biking. I thought being a swimmer and biker i had picked two very sensible sports (as far as how they treat your body)...boy you can't win! So, here i sit about to head off to spin class eatting my 12 grain toast and soy nut butter...yummie! Any of you have back problems? I'm looking at surgery (And it better be an "in and out" deal) to help relieve a pinched nerve.
Irulan and Jo< what's your training routine like? I love to compare notes on this.
thanks! happy trails!
Bone loss can occur due to a number of factors. If you didn't build bone in your early years (up to age 30), if its in your genes, if you take steriods, ie. for asthma.
You start to lose bone after age 30 and rapidly for the first 5 years after menopause.
That's why its important to maintain what you have though diet and exercise like weight lifting.
All the bodys organs use calcium. When there is not enough it is taken from the bones. That why an adequate supply of calcium is important.
Even if you think you do enough, bone loss can still happen. Don't think that you are immune. If you break a wrist or ankle from a non traumatic incident and you are in your late forties or early 50's, its a red flag, get tested. That's how I found out because I broke my wrist falling off my mtn bike.
Hi Gretchen!
Uh... training routine? What's that? :D
A few months ago, right when I was thinking I wanted to get more into road biking (as opposed to meandering around the bike paths on my clunky old hybrid), I was really fortunate to come across a notice for a progressive series of training rides put on by a local bike club, in preparation for a women-only metric century at the end of March. (here's the training group website if you're interested: http://cindy.polakoff.com/index.html ) Those rides are on Saturdays, and get longer and hillier as the weeks progress. There are a lot of women our age participating. You might want to check with your local bike clubs and shops, there might be similar types of groups you can join, it's really fun.
That's the most formal "training" I do. I also often ride for a few hours with my husband on Sundays, or we just go off on our own. I've also been going out two or three mornings per week for about an hour before I go to work (but I haven't done that for a couple of weeks since we're having out kitchen remodelled - but I hope to resume that soon).
Basically, I get out and ride whenever I can scrape together the time and have the energy. And, sometimes, even when I don't feel like it ... more often than not, when I grudgingly haul my butt out, after a few miles I'm really glad to be riding.
I have a cyclecomputer and keep track of my miles ridden, avg speed, that sort of thing at www.bikejournal.com just to get a feel for how I'm progressing.
What I'm hoping to do is get to a point where I can easily manage a reasonably long daily distance (say 60 miles, with hills and wind) so I can start doing some touring! Our vacation time is already pretty much spoken for this year (rats!), but Lee and I were talking last night about what kind of touring we'd like to do next year.
- Jo.
uh, yah. BTDT with the note book at all. I ride a lot in the summer, do some walking when I'm not riding. In the winter I ski as much as possible, spin a couple of times a weeks, lift a couple of times a week. Try to eat good stuff most of the time.Quote:
Originally posted by jobob
Hi Gretchen!
Uh... training routine? What's that? :D
- Jo.
that's about it.
Irulan
I'm becoming posessed by the bike thing..not sure why or what's going on, but prob. the personal challenge is the motivator. i'm spending way too much time surfing the web for bike info. My husband must be wondering who i am and who stole his wife!
I feel like if i don't seriously train now, come July, i'll be facing horrible days of "what was i thinking"! (the BIKE-AID ride).
I can't wait to get this pinched nerve (bulging disk...fun fun) fixed so i can push a little more.
I always thought i was in pretty good shape and all...walking my doggies (two of the world's best yellow labs...3 yr. old today! Happy Birthday to you...oh sorry...) for a 3 mile walk reliously every morning...sometimes cross country skiing with them, swimming a couple of times a week adn in the summer, riding every moment i can possibly fit in. Mostly just trails but pretty decent distances (20-70 miles). Then...I was reading about training in the "Dead Zone" or "No-mans land". That was ME! I would excercise just enough to be comfy...not really pushing myself to the next level. Not getting that heart rate up adn keeping it there (i'm ordering a heart monitor today...Polar M61) What a difference it has made to "get serious"! I just hope i can handle this summer ride. As i rmember from my many visits to sunny CA, the land is not exactly Illinois flats!!!!!!!!!!
Jobob - your training rides each week sound soooo perfect, thanks for the idea! I can't wait for the snow to melt!
I asked in another posting what kind of bike i ride now if i want to train on the awesome trails that go for miles and miles and miles right out my back door. Will I ruin my new road bike? I just don't want to wreck it adn don't want a car to wreck me!
I'm off to check out tht website jobob mentioned.
"obsessed" (that should be my new name!)
Hi there! I checked out the Bike-Aid site - you're gonna do some hills girl! You're training now, so that's good, and I believe you mentioned spin classes? Those really helped me last year with hills, keep it up. Do you have to have surgery for your back? Have they given you any recuperation time? My dad had disc problems, he was lucky, a week in traction, and religious about exercise has kept it in check.
Do you still have your hybrid bike? You could ride the trails you mentioned on the hybrid, and ride your new bike on the street. That's actually a trick some of the AIDS riders used, they trained on heavier bikes, then switched to their lighter road bikes about a month before the ride. You could also get some "bomb proof" tires for your road bike - I like Panaracer Pasela TG. Bike Nashbar carries them (Item #PA-PSLTGK). In fact, I'd recommend them for your big ride too. I used them on the AIDS ride, and had NO flats.
You'll need to get used to riding in traffic - your trip will be on streets and highways. Do you have a local bike club? That might be a good place to start, go out on group rides and get used to riding with traffic. It's not as scary as it sounds!
Any other hints for her California Girls? I'm tired and starting to ramble.....:p
Snapdragon..you were a plethera of info...THANKS!
Back Surgery: It's prob. more my choice...it's just a constant twinge....after working out it gets worse, and only in my right hip and leg. My left leg is saying "what's the big deal...get over it right leg, i'm feeling no pain". The recovery time is quick. The neurosurgeon just goes in (microsurgery), shaves the bone that the nerve is being pressed up against and and relieves the pressure. Wa La. It's an outpatient thing. He said i can resume training right away (!).
I am feeling so much stronger training but have this annoying pain that keeps my left side thinking that it's overworked...NOT!
Spin class is going great. The first one i took 4 weeks ago was tough and yesterday I almost stayed for the second class. I'm loving it as i get stronger adn stronger.
I wrote down the tire info. Thanks!!!!
and as for hills. I HATE HILLS. Guess i better get over that, huh?
My game plan is to add a "hills" day to my routine when the weather gets nice. Our house is sorounded by hills and i'll just make a course of hills around our neighborhood. (My neighbors will think i've totally lost it).
Joining a local bike club is also on my "List-O-Things-To-Do".
Time to take the doggies for their walk!
Thanks again! : ))))
I'm 42 and have been riding off and on since age 27 or so. Got much more serious about it last year and rode my first four full centuries (other than one stoking a tandem about a decade ago). I plan to ride til I'm in my 70s - or longer! Seriously, the average age in our bike club is 40s! All the "young'uns" these days seem to be into mountain biking and leave the road biking for us oldsters! ;)
Emily