Older women riders?

[rebeccaC]

(I'm 61 and as strong and have as much or more endurance than I had when I was in my thirties and raising a child, working and taking care of a home on my own).

I hope i can say that in 30+ years when I'm your age....

and +1 on keeping fit and having a positive attitude/healthy lifestyle

[ny biker]

I have friends (men and women) who are over 70 and they ride several days a week, and faster than me.

[PamNY]

+1 to what Raindrop said.

I'm 63 and don't have any special needs related to age. The only thing that might be different is a slightly greater need for recovery time. Other than that, nothing. How strong I am is related to how hard I work on fitness, same as it's always been.

[lauraelmore1033]

I will echo what others have said. At 51, I am stronger and have more stamina than I did in my twenties, and I frequently ride with older, stronger women as well. It does seem that my sitting bits are more delicate as my hormone levels change with age, however, and I have become more paranoid about stray aches and pains, having had first hand experience with referred pain from a herniated disc( seriously wish I'd known that pain in my hip meant a disc was about to blow...).

[Crankin]

I'm almost 61 and I don't consider myself old. I am in great shape, strong, weigh the same as I did at 25. I do need more stretching and recovery, and speed is not as important to me.
I've dealt with the 2 issues Laurelmore mentions, but, I keep going.
I am younger than most of the people in my riding group, who do little things like run the Boston Marathon, ride 200 miles a week, Gran Fondos, gravel grinders, on and on and on. I'm a slouch compared to some of them.

[shootingstar]

I wish I could retire early...anyway. I celebrated 55 this past winter....bike riding http://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/...f-becoming-55/

I seem to have to eat a slightly bigger breakfast nowadays. I seem to need to simply eat abit more frequently during 4-5 hr. long ride. Other than that...I would say I'm tougher now just to cycle down to -24 degrees C in winter which I never did 20 years ago.

Introduce yourself smile... this question has been asked and answered here over the past..um 8 yrs. At least once a year in some iteration.

[Awsmile]

Thanks for the info! I started riding at 61 and have been riding about a year. I ride with my husband and have never ridden with any other women - we live in a rural area of PA and it seems that I only see guys riding. I am averaging 40-50 miles a week on a hybrid with flat pedals. I don't ride clipped in as both hips are artificial as well as one knee - I started riding to try to get the knee back in shape - and will stick with flat pedals as a fall for me would be much more serious than for those with their own parts. I'm on a Cite-X saddle from Terry and wondered if my delicates were going numb from age - estrogen is LONG gone - or if all women experience the problem. Thanks, Laurelmore. Would love to hear any other comments!