Re: aging and riding

On 5/1/2025 9:27 AM, Ted Heise wrote:

On Thu, 1 May 2025 07:13:57 -0400,
   zen cycle <funkmasterxx@hotmail.com> wrote:

   Joe Friel's book Fast After 50 has detailed tables showing the
  performance loss with aging of age-group competitors. Let's
  just say it isn't linear (and rather depressing TBH). I can't
  find any snips from his book online, but this is a pretty close
  representation:
>
  https://www.whyiexercise.com/images/jogging-hiking-aging-decline-estimate.jpg
>
  which is from here:
  https://www.whyiexercise.com/aging-and-exercise.html
>
  Not discussed there is the time to recover, which is also
  non-linear. Last fall I went on a rather hilly 75 mile ride. We
  weren't exactly hammering, but I was surprised at how whipped I
  was the next day - And that was at the end of a summer of
  training/racing.

 You guys are bumming me out.  At 69, it feels as if the
progression on that chart is about right--at least for me.

69? Heck, you're just a little kid! ;-)
Yes, we're all slowing down. As I've mentioned, I love Frank Patterson's pen and ink artwork featuring bicycle touring in Britain, mostly in the inter-war years. I think I'll be comfortable as the old guy on a touring bike (check!) with full fenders (check!) and a saddlebag (check!) gazing at the rural scenery. I gotta get myself some tweed plus fours and a tweed jacket.
Just keep moving.
--
- Frank Krygowski