How do you maintain your "form" as you age?



Gruber Assist!!

whenever im not riding im cyrostasis, this slows the aging down

At age 45, I still think I'm improving . Lucky for me, I didn't ride seriously when I was younger. So I don't think I'm losing anything. Yet.

There's always time to achieve what you want to achieve, depending on your age:

http://cycling-passion.com/2012/11/02/m ... age-group/"

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/1 ... ark-33217/"
Louis

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http://www.ccsalma.com

It hasn't (knock-on-wood). The trick is to get them each on separate systems (i.e., wife on Campagnolo, GF on Shimano), that way, there's no fighting about wheelsets, SRM's, etc.

I am 44. The best thing about being adult is that you can afford a premium bike. Or two.

The rest is experience. I don't have to hurry either. Just riding along.

Curse and swear a lot about not being able to ride very often. When I can, recovery doesn't seem to be to bad or much different to 35yrs ago.

Foo

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So long as you have tried your best, then you should have no regrets!

Buy a good bike. Have fun. Everything else will follow...right? If it doesn't, at least you've supported the economy!

KAC (age 59)

At 62, I've gone through several stages of aging.

For one thing, about every nine or ten years, I have to eat less or put on weight. First time was 41, second was 52, third was 60. And I took up running, then triathlons, then mainly riding to control weight starting in 1976 or so.

As others have said, I also find that I need more rest and more recovery as I age. I quit racing at 59 (had been doing track and TTs until then) and my program has become just one of riding based on how I feel. I can still climb almost anything (e.g. Haleakala in September 2011, 58 km almost all uphill from sea level to 10.023 feet), it just takes me a long time. While I was riding today, I did try to push a bit on hills. Yes, I was faster than usual but I couldn't last the whole way up - a signal that I was pushing too hard for my old body.

Now that I'm semi-retired, my mileage is as high as it's ever been because I don't have a lot of work days to put that stress on my body. I love to get out into the world (although after a crash a few years ago, I'm a lot more cautious about snow and ice than I used to be and am doing a lot of winter running, riding indoors and riding from the edge of town on warmer, above freezing, days). I have a lifetime supply of C40s (five of them, two NOS just being built and a couple more that were NOS in summer 2011), my favourite bike, and a few other bikes for variety. I ride for enjoyment, not to race. It's nice when my kids who are in their mid to late 20s want to ride with me. I rode a bit in Italy last year, a week in France and a week in Hawaii. One of the joys of riding when you're old is that you can afford to travel a bit and try some different roads.

Unless you're heavily motivated to racing (and there's nothing wrong with that, just recognize that you won't be able to race as much at your highest level), I'd say just enjoy it.