Are there many, some, a few of us over 50??

[Trek420]

At 52, I allowed myself a brief moment of feeling terribly superior.

Aw' cmon, enjoy it! Savor it. Then tell her how far you ride, and that you're 50. And enjoy the jaw dropping "You ride how far? You don't look 52"

Then invite her here!

We don't discriminate based on age and or mileage.

[Triskeliongirl]

That remark about looking younger really is true. When some women my age were commenting on my weight loss as we were staging for a club ride, one gal remarked, 'oh, its easy for you at your age' and I looked at her at asked her how old she thought I was with two adult children. And she said she thought I had my kids as a teenager, sweet (I was 29 when my first child was born, 31 for the second). Also, last time I went to pick up exams to hand out to our medical students the office assistant refused to give them to until I brought in an ID, she said I looked like a student...... Yes, our cycling does keep us young, both physically and in spirit. I ride with a 60-something year old women all the time, and until she takes her helmet off you'd really think she is 40-something. Our club has quite a few of these 60+ yo old riders, and to me what is striking is how much healthier than look than their counterparts I see at work or in other avenues of my life.

I have also noticed that you tend to see more of us out there, cuz the younger women are too busy raising families to have much time to ride. The female membership of our club is mostly childless women, and women whose kids are grown. Once a gal has a baby, while we might see her in the beginning, but then her attendance wains.

[evangundy]

Last summer, while chatting after a time trial, one of my 37yo guy friends saw a woman I know ride by, and commented on how "hot" she looked and why couldn't he meet someone like that. He's single and looking but says he isn't attracted to older women. He was quite shocked when I told him she was 48 or 49. He was sure she was his age. So cycling has definitely kept her looking young :-)

Edna

[Sgritn]

Hello, everyone. I'm a newbie to the forum and back to biking. Bought a Giant Cypress ST for my 54th. birthday{did I actually tell my age...oh my!}; I am really liking the experience...re-learning to balance and ride took about an hour on the sidewalk. Still shakey on the streets when I hear the pfft,pfft,pfft of 4 wheels coming my way but getting better on the marked paths and the park weekend by weekend. I'm glad to have found this forum.

[pardes]

[QUOTE=mimitabby;89534]
It is hard to tell how many of you are out there in my age group. Who's the oldest gal here?

62 here. An on and off biker all my life as a pedal putterer. Just started bus/biking to work on my very lovely, very light Trek 7.6 FX.

Last night I was googling about biker ages as I was wondering just how long a person can bike...to what average age....and other interesting statistics about aging. Here are a couple of interesting websites about biking and age.

http://www.bikexprt.com/research/kaplan/recom.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_n11446500

[JaneE]

Coming in late to this discussion, but figured I'd add my statistics: just turned the ol' Double Nickels on July 8.

A Schwinn Super Sport was my first major purchase (well, it seemed that way to me back then, anyway) with money made from my first after-high school "real" job. Still have her, too, though I don't ride her much anymore.

While I'm huffing and puffing my way up some of the hills around here one thing that makes me feel better is to try to imagine how many 55-year-old women would be capable of making it up some of these grades...I think we're in a minority and I'm darned proud of it!

Cycling definitely helps keep you young!

[shootingstar]

Not sure if I answered in the lst place, since I'm 5 months away from 50 yrs. as of now. And topic was originally.. 50+

Face of aging and cycling.
Photo taken in 2007, when I was visiting Toronto where I used to live. I am in purple jersey. I have cycling over last 16 yrs. regularily, several times weekly.

Woman on far right in orange was 51 in that photo. She is 4'11" at approx. 98 lbs. As you can tell, she is not anorexic. Less of a cyclist now compared to when I knew her um.... 15 years ago. But she doesn't have a car, plays tennis, hikes alot. Got her folding bike Friday (a 2nd bike) and went on her own little trip via Velo Quebec routes last yr.

Woman in middle, is I think 46 yrs. She bikes regularily and has been for probably over last 18 yrs. Doesn't own a car either. She runs a walking and cycling trips company for past decade. So she does alot of walking..

The diets of these women are probably similar to mine....we're all Canadian born, have some dairy in our diets, but at least 40% of our diets are Asian...or more for each of us. The other women have each done several solo, loaded bike trips 1-2 wks, long over the last few years.

[Sarabeth]

I'm coming up on 64 years old. Riding better than ever. I ride nearly everyday with my local bicycle club: Stark County Bike Club. I started riding when I was fifty-five years old. Rode cross country twice, once in '01 and again in '06.
I love my Trek WSD Madone 5.2.

[shootingstar]

Sigh, one day I will figure out the photo adjustment software. Seriously not intending to blur aging results here...

I don't pretend I look much younger in the face than my chronological years. However most likely overall health is probably good/youngish. Well, the woman who works in my dept. is about my age or 1 yr. older and her health is problematic that it's affected her work, alertness, and she has back problems, doesn't like much walking over 3-4 kms. For certain is caused by her need to lose 20 lbs. or so.

I admit, I actually find it strange (almost irritating) that a few men (who are not macho/arrogant type) at work, just 5 years older than I, refer to me as a "young" lady...in a way that they think I'm in my 30's. It must be mannerisms. I DO have some life experiences and maybe...some wisdom just like them?

[mimitabby]

Shooting star, when they call you "young lady" they think they are giving you a compliment!

It IS fun getting mistaken for being younger. One of my favorite things is young guys in cars following me on the bike.. Haha, from the back I look 1/2 my age. It amuses me.

[Ann G]

I'm 58. I was 53 when RAGBRAI came through town. I hosted some riders and had a great time. The next morning, I got up too late to join the early riders, but I hopped on the 10-speed that I'd bought in grad school, and joined the riders for the next 8 miles. At that point there was a breakfast fundraiser in a farm yard, with picnic tables under the trees. The weather was ideal, and the smell of coffee, bacon, and pancakes was in the air. I sat at one of the picnic tables, talked to some riders, and for a few minutes pretended that I wasn't going to turn around and go back home. I bought a recumbent a few weeks later because the 10-speed just killed my back and rear. I started thinking that maybe I could do this. That November I got more serious about fitness, and started walking and strength training at the wellness center. I lost 35 pounds between November and the following July. I did the next RAGBRAI, and have done all of them since then. RAGBRAI is weirdly fun, and training for it keeps me in better shape than I might be otherwise.

I was in junior high during the Cuban missle crisis, and should remember something about it, but I just don't. I was in 8th grade, in study hall when JFK was assasinated. A teacher came in and made the announcement, and it didn't seem real. I was used to doctor shows like Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare where they always saved the patient. I remember being glued to the television for the next 4 days, and seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, seeing the casket on a horse-drawn casson, and seeing John Jr. salute the casket.

I'm from small-town Iowa, but I remember seeing a water fountain on vacation that was labelled "whites only." Creepy. I started college in 1968, during the middle of the war in Viet Nam, and I remember war protests.

I was in my bedroom, age 13, when I first heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on the radio, and I loved that sound. Of course I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, and I wrote all of their names on the cover of my denim-blue 3-ring binder. The first album I bought for myself was "Meet the Beatles." My favorite was Paul, the cute Beatle. Some other students were Beach Boys fans, and some Dave Clark 5, but I was a Beatle fan.

Later on, I also liked the Mamas and the Papas, and then Judy Collins and Joan Baez.

[ladyicon]

Just turned 51 last month. Don't you hate it when all those young girls go by you on hills? Well....maybe not for some of you. Could it be just me????

[crazycanuck]

Actually what drives me nuts are all the OLDER ladies who beat me uphill

I love the memories of world changing historical events!!! I'm only 35 so my memories of world channging events from the late 70's & 80's are not as exciting..

Anng-whenever I see the early footage of the Beatles when they hit America i too get a bit teary. It must be the screams and the excitement but it sends cool shivers down my spine!

Shootingstar-i'm young and people still call me 'young lady'

[shootingstar]

Shootingstar-i'm young and people still call me 'young lady'

Yea, cc you ARE young for real.

I guess, it's all perspective, mimi.. I work in a heavily male dominated organization. Of all the managers there, I am only 1 of 2 managers who are female...the rest of the other 9 managers are male. I don't want to be the female manager puppy dog 'mascot' in that organization.

I dunno..maybe when I walk from the bus stop to the worksite...with my bike gear on...it makes me look young, especially wearing spandex cycling shorts ...or just slightly ..stupid. Honest several construction guys have yelled at me." Where's your bike?"

I give them the location of my bike locker..which is 30 kms. away and tell them I live downtown. Which is 45-50 kms. away from work ..over highway bridge, several road highways, long hills and more twisty routes with more transport trucks, etc. I can't commute by bike all the way. They are appropriately surprised by where I commute from in whatever mode I use.

If I did bike all the way this horribly convoluted and long route one way..I would truly be a young goddess.. in ...their eyes.

[Grasshoppergirl]

I just turned 50 and bought myself a bike for my birthday. Four women on the club ride today out of 22 all the women in our 50's - 42 miles in the Sierra Hills 1900 feet of climbing.