13 in less than 2 months!!
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13 in less than 2 months!!
Check it out! TE Forum "represents"
We all rock! :D
H&B
~T~
Eight more days and I will be fffffffifty.
****runs and breathes into paper bag*****
OK.
I'm fine with it. Really. I am. :p
Hmm, we must do something on Sunday to commemorate the occasion !
I'm 35 :( ..
I started biking about 4yrs ago...I would love to be as fit as many of the ladies over 60 on TE..If i keep at it, I shall be!!!
C
Congrats Snap! I will drink to your health and your biking in 8 days. (Any excuse will do. :) ) I'm 46 11/12 and I hope to be biking when I'm 50 and 60 and , well, who knows...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
I'm 23 and none of my close friends ride. I got into cycling from my mom and her boyfriend. Most of the people my age, that i know, are more concerned with going out to happy hour and staying out till 4am on the weekends drinking then they are spending time outdoors.(they think i am crazy becaused I prefer to stay home so I can get a 50 miler in the next day)
Hopefully this will change soon though! I am moving from south fl to albuquerque- whole different scene of people :)
54 now, but :eek: 55 later this year! Double nickels--seems like grounds for a huge party.:D
To second what Nina said, I didn't ride for a few years in my 40s, and I'm sorry to have missed those years I could've been cycling. But, it makes me more avid now about making time for my bike. And time for me.....
I'll be 24 in July. I ride with a lot of women who are older than me (in my group the next age up is early-mid 30's) and they pedal just as hard and fast as I do. I only hope to be like them and the ladies on this forum when Im their age:D
I think that many 'kids' my age dont ride because a). it does cost $$; I had to save for months and work extra hours to get my first bike, which was 'low end' (about $600). b). people my age are too busy partying it up.
I do a little comparison to my twin sister's lifestyle and mine and it kinda proves the point: we're both in grad school, have jobs, live in large towns/cities (she's in Tallahassee and Im in Orlando), have exposure to extracurricular activities, such as riding. But, I go to bed around 9-10 pm on Friday(but cant sleep 'cause Im too excited for the ride) so I can get up on Saturdays at 6am to ride 50+ miles with my group. She, on the other hand, is too busy partying on Friday and then getting over her hangover on Sat. morning. She'd rather spend her money on the beer sale at the local grocery store, while Im again srimping my dough to get a new, higher end bike, which seems like it'll take forever:(
48, or as my dear younger brother put it "4 dozen", last month.
Back in college I had an old Peugot bike (given to me by a boyfriend), but I didn't ride it much because I hated the traffic. I got into mountain biking about 10 years ago because of a different boyfriend. That slowly morphed into road biking, and now triathlons. No boyfriends now, but LOTS of bikes.:p
Boyfriends may come and go but bikes stay forever, hee hee:D
Kathy, a little drift here. I don't know how may people even know what a Frejus is. My brother and I each bought our Frejus bikes in 1960 from an LBS owned by a 1956 Olympian tandem cyclist - Don Furgeson. He was a great guy and let us work on our bikes in his shop with his tools. We learned a lot!!He even let me ride one of his Cinellis for a while. When I went away to college, my mother asked if she could give my bike to a girl in our neighborhood who was recovering from rhumatic heart disease (her Dr. said cycling would would be good for her). I said "sure". When my brother went to Viet Nam in 1968, he gave his bike to our neighbor - a pediatrician. Believe it or not, I think he still may have it, although I have lost touch with thatQuote:
Originally Posted by dakay
family. Incidentially, my Frejus didn't fit either - at least by today's standards. Nobody talked about "fit" in those days. You just "made do".
Those years are some of my fondest memories!!
Nina
I just added myself to the 50-54 group. Although I'll hit the big 5-5 in September, I'm still in that younger category...er, this minute! :D I so wish that I'd kept cycling after college, when I used my bike strictly for transportation. I missed out on so much by not riding. Bought an mtb about 9 years ago and didn't get back on the road until 2-3 years later. Now I'll happily admit to anybody who wants to listen that cycling is truly an obsession. And yep, I got the flat wallet to prove it!
I think the 20-24 set tends to be very preoccupied finding their way in the world, etc. There's little peripheral available for athletics etc. And... you have to admit, the "I hope I can get a 50 in" mindset is very rare in this given age group. It's like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. At 'our' age, unless we're predisposed or have a specific motivation, we have yet to build our bases. Boozing etc serves as stress reduction while we still find novelty in alcohol and other vices, hanging out with the friends builds that support system we all need for emotional reinforcement. We're still finding our way in the world (aren't we all?) just out of the nest and starting to realize that though Mom wanted us to get married, settle down, etc or go to school, settle down, or whatever- we need to do what we need to do. Oh- and the real world is a freaky amalgamation of being just like high school and nothing like it at all.
As we reach our later 20s and the whole of our 30s to early 40s, we have that support system, or the confidence in ourselves, or both, and boozing has lost much of its novelty, to the point where, having sated our requisite base needs, we are freer to seek out more self-fulfilling and altruistic goals. It's at that point that being able to say "I got my 50 in" is more for *us* than someone else. Also, at that age, we are (generally) out of school and making enough money to start enjoying it. I'm not talking tons, I'm talking not living quite paycheck to paycheck. Here's where it comes in that you can maybe afford to set aside for that entry level or slightly better bike...
30s thru 50s seem to be spent more in self-realization, and there you see more of our cycling demographic, though it's been said "30 is the new 20" as people are living longer, going to school, not getting married as young, etc etc...
I dare not presume too much, though. I'm "not there yet" so to speak. Just observations.
I'm 54, and also "not there yet" in many many ways, so don't feel too lonely.:) And, depending on your perspective, "not there yet" could be just another way of saying "ready to go toes-up." And I'm definitely not THERE yet.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Kitsune06
I don't think any of us on this board want to be in THAT place, BadJuJu! :eek:
Toes and rubber-side down, TYVM :D
I meant that I'm not in my 40s or 50s so I can't really presume much there
No offense taken by this 40-50+ person, Kitsune. I though your observations pretty spot on...at least as far as I can remember my own 20-30's (many, many years ago)! :D
A lot of women in their 20's and 30's have small kids at home, making it a bit more difficult in general to get out and ride. Even if riding is do-able, they may have less time to hang out on internet biking forums! ;) I remember how much freer I felt to look into pursuing things for my OWN health and wellbeing once the kids became more independent, when I was about 38-40 or so.
Ah. I forgot about kids. :p :o
Lisa beat me to it, but I was going to mention the kid thing as well. Where I live, EVERYONE has kids. It is extremely family oriented around here. When we go on group rides, the men are mid-30s and up and the women are mid-40's and up.
DH and I discovered from many, many conversations with these recreational/club riders that these are the 'dads' and the 'moms' are at home with the kids. In fact, more than a few times I hear "she used to ride with me, but now she stays home with our children." The women who are out there with us, are usually past the age where their children are young. And, a couple riding together? Very, very few of us...I could count them on 1 hand and I have yet to see any other couples our age (late 30's).
That might skew the numbers a bit.
I tried to, but they kept whining for food.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitsune06
(just kidding!)
LOL!:p :D
Don't you feel like asking them, "So why doesn't SHE ride while YOU stay home with your children??"Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
Well in my case that would be true. My husband looks after our three kids while I ride. Im off to my first Brevet this weekend and as its 3 hours away Im staying the night in a hotel close to the start. My husband will be on babysitting duty all weekend. I know Im lucky to have a husband that is so supportive.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Grog
As far as young kids go and being in your 20's/30's my youngest is five and I will be 43 this year.
Sweet deal, TrekHawk.
GOOD LUCK in your FIRST BREVET!!!
Thanks JuJu.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Bad JuJu
Yes, yes, as much as I enjoyed my kids (all four of 'em), they do tie you down. Everything is a major event, babysitters ("you got HOW many??"), food shopping, getting to work, getting 'em off to school in the morning. My husband was willing to babysit on the weekends, but my idea of fun was usually putting my feet up. Joining a bike club did not cross my mind. My youngest is now 16, I am "50" and finally getting to do so many of the things that I used to do years ago, like bicycling. Did I wear a helmet back then? Probably not. Also very cheap bike, but I digress....
I just turned 45 on the 20th of February. I started riding two years ago and it has been a blast. Love to see the ages of everyone...it is so inspiring.
I am just now looking into the sport at age 26. But I know several young men my age who actually cycle (not just baggy-pantsed mountain bikers!), and who've been doing it for quite some time. I've dated 3 cyclists- one who did it recreationally, one was a former nationally-ranked triathlete in his late teen/early college years, who also mountain bikes, and the most recent one raced both road and mountain bikes in college and still cycles/mtbs regularly for fun and is looking to get back into racing. I think for most 20-somethings though, it's a money issue. Certainly for me; I just finished grad school in May and up until now I've really not had enough income to spend on something like this. Plus, I used to be a dancer (undergrad in theatre), so didn't have time for extra sporty hobbies. And because I used to be a dancer, everyone sees me as some weak, wussy girly-girl, who can't hack a real sport (ie, all of my cycling exes). But I recently got into rock climbing, and am trying to branch out more, because I really enjoy athletic pursuits. Dancing is actually very athletic, just in a different sense.
I'm 48 and still have my first 10 speed racer, bought in the late 1970's. Got the OGK helmet when Australian road rules changed and we couldn't ride without one. (My 60yo husband has an attractive white Bell helmet, however his has a bright red speed stripe around the rim. ;) ) Back then there wasn't the style choices we have available now. My old 10 speed hasn't had a lot of use, it's never been in a race, and still has it's original (now perished) tyres, which will be replaced soon. It was only ever used as a short distance commuter around our small city and I'm about to start using it for that purpose again. (Saving my new bike for the longer rides.)
Bike riding became less popular here once the helmet law was introduced. Up until then there were many older people who rode regularly to shop and visit etc. Then they seemed to disappear. "Helmet hair" was not popular among the "blue rinse set." I think everybody just became reliant on cars instead.
Now that there is a focus on health and wellbeing many more people are exercising in different forms (jogging, walking etc.), and more cyclists are beginning to appear. That's part of why I'm riding now. I love the freedom and I can go much further quicker than I can walk, and it doesn't really matter if I am by myself. When I ride I'm very much more aware of my surrounds.
Our country regional development board is in the process of promoting our region as a cycling destination for tourists and locals. So, hopefully more people will take up this activity in the future. The more the merrier.
P.S. It amazes me when riders don't acknowledge other riders. It only has to be a nod, especially when you are the only ones on the road and meet face to face, so to speak.:D