Hi I'm a sufferer of a bad back - crushed vertebra from falling off a horse in my late 20's. I'm not 46. Take heart that you can ride with some pain. I'm never really pain free but I will not let it stop me from riding. At 30 you probably don't want to hear this, but as I get older, I'm happy to do less mileage. 100 miles has always been hard on me and I have never liked doing it. But everyone seems to get it in their mind as riders that you have to do 100 all the time cause that's the magic number! Well, my magic number is 80. I can ride 80 and do okay after that I'm miserable so I don't usually ride over 80. 80's plenty and I don't have to prove anything - i've ridden 100 so I don't have to do it again.

What I'm trying to say is as we get older we have to adapt our activities to what is good for us and healthy for us and that is OKAY!

Just keep riding and having fun doing it. Oh, by the way, I eat Advil like candy but so far my stomach is fine I think I'm one of the lucky ones.