Quote Originally Posted by suzbyrd View Post
I recently bought a Trek Madone after riding a Giant OCR for about 5 years. I have found that I average a higher mph on the better bike. I ride mostly because I can't run much anymore bc of my knees. I just like to know that, as a 44 yr old, that I am doing what others are doing. Motivation, yes, but also I pride myself on staying young and in shape. I ride mostly w/ hubby and have found that I can leave him struggling to keep up (and he's 5 yrs younger!). I also like to try to do things others can't or won't do. Anyways, thanks for the answers everybody!
Isn't the Madone an awesome bike? It is a pleasure to ride, with great balance, control and acceleration, and makes biking the miles a delight on every ride.

I understand what you are saying about doing the best we can and therefore achieving results, accomplishing what many others in our age range cannot do. At my age, I am horrified at the number of women I meet who are younger than me, who have had bypass heart surgery, who suffer terribly from adult onset diabetes to the point of being in kidney failure, who have had knee or hip replacements/surgeries and who are already in osteoporosis. On the other hand, I meet cyclists who are in their 80s and 90s and they are riding centuries, and my reaction is I want to be like them in my 80s and 90s, not bed-ridden in a nursing home counting the days until I die. The secret I've discovered is as we age, we have to work harder at it, put more time on the bike, put more time in the gym and put more time into other physical activities like hiking, that the aging female has to work harder to maintain and increase fitness than a male her same age. As you get older, you will find fewer and fewer females in your age range who bike as well as you do because it does take a lot of time and commitment and avoiding injury and illness.

My weekend training group has a choice of routes this weekend. I am cycling the 55-mile route with a 5 1/2 mile Category 2 climb. I will be biking with the males and a female 25 years younger than me. The females in my age group will be biking the short flat route, a reasonable choice for them, but not one I would make for myself. I don't want to go through life saying to myself that I can't try something because it is too difficult. I would rather try and fail, than not try at all. When I try and succeed, it is a great joy.