"over 40"...show of hands?

[zameth]

I turned 40 about 6 months ago so just qualify for this post. I haven't ridden a bike in over 20 years but am all enthused to start now. My husband has a mountain bike and rides the trails around us with the kids so look like joining him in that rather than road. Just need to get myself a bike now! That can be an expensive process but hopefully well worth it.

[Just Joiey]

I'm 55 and just getting started with biking since I was a teenager. But I have been running for the past 3 years. . . Nice to meet you all.
Johannah

[Marionette]

Does anyone else here use more pain relievers than before? I feel like I need an Advil after every ride, just to relieve shoulder and neck fatigue/aches.

[tulip]

Does anyone else here use more pain relievers than before? I feel like I need an Advil after every ride, just to relieve shoulder and neck fatigue/aches.

What is causing your shoulder and neck fatigue and aches? Is it that your bike doesn't fit you properly, or that your position is not good (putting all your weight on your hands, arms, shoulders) because you are not engaging your core or you don't have the core strength to hold yourself up? Seems like figuring that out will help you relieve the cause of the pain, and then you won't have to take the painkillers.

[2WheelsNMe]

Er, I'm 44, haven't biked in nearly 20 years when I rode 125 miles per week...I and have just started the process of regaining my fitness. I'm waiting for my bike to arrive...

[deskrider]

59, and before I bought a bike last week my last ride was 2001 for 8 miles. Prior to that the last ride was 1996 :-( I had a twitchy roadbike that was too short for my torso and too tall for my short legs, and a heavy street bike. Time to give this another try, given that I'm retiring this month.

[Nessa]

Hi! I'm a newbie. I did have a really pretty (that is all I cared about!) 10 speed in college that I rode a few times to work during the summer, but other than that I rode when I was a child...growing up in the country.

I'm 55 and my husband and I just bought Trek 7.3 FX's about two weeks ago. I am already so addicted to cycling! I got the FX's because I didn't feel safe on the bikes with the curled handle bars. We live in a very hilly area in the Ouachita mountains in Arkansas. I just knew I would never get up some of the hills, but I have! I have so much to learn! That is why I'm here! The most I've ridden in one day is 20 miles, but after reading about some of the LONG rides....I'm motivated to hit the road!

[Kris]

I'm 61, and I started riding, very slowly and very short distances, about 5 years ago. I like it better than any other form of exercise, and I'm pleased to say that I now weigh 60 pounds less than I did when I started. I still don't go very fast, and I usually don't go really far either, but I can if I want to or need to. Lately I've been riding to work and to the grocery store. I'd like to try a road trip, but I'm a little bit afraid of roads.

[stella2]

I'm 61, and I started riding, very slowly and very short distances, about 5 years ago. I like it better than any other form of exercise, and I'm pleased to say that I now weigh 60 pounds less than I did when I started. I still don't go very fast, and I usually don't go really far either, but I can if I want to or need to. Lately I've been riding to work and to the grocery store. I'd like to try a road trip, but I'm a little bit afraid of roads.

Kris, that really inspiring to me were you by any chance nervous of going downhill when you started (see thread Nervous Nelly scared of hills!). Anyway, you sound brilliant.

[Kris]

Kris, that really inspiring to me were you by any chance nervous of going downhill when you started (see thread Nervous Nelly scared of hills!). Anyway, you sound brilliant.

Thanks. I live in Central Illinois, and hills here are pretty tame. I did ride as a child, and that helped too. I haven't had, or made, many opportunities to ride downhill at breakneck speed, but when I started, I was more afraid of going up than coming down, of the humiliation of having to walk my bike up the little hill I live on. I had to master using the gears before I could make it up on the bike. Now it's almost easy.