QUESTION: Back in the day, I used to pull at the front of just about every group ride I joined. These days, in my 60s, I’m still riding strong — but on the really hard rides, I’m starting to get popped off the back. I’m not racing anymore, but I still want to feel fast. Is there anything I can do to recapture that sensation, or is this just the natural trade-off for staying in the game this long? —Leonard R.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: To some degree, it is a trade-off, since it is completely normal for cycling speed to decrease with age (which is why most professional cyclists retire from competition by about age 40), but there are some strategies that may help you recapture the sensation of speed on the bike.
For one, focusing on aerodynamics can boost your actual speed, especially if you haven’t paid much attention to minimizing wind resistance in the past. Here are some specific ways to minimize the profile you present to the wind.
For another, optimizing your equipment may help, such as getting faster tires. Here are some to consider. Make sure to keep them properly inflated.
If you haven’t been doing so, or haven’t been doing so recently, add some interval workouts to your training rides. Just because you are in your 60s doesn’t mean you are frail, so you can likely do this. Also, add some weight training to your regimen.
Make sure to allow for adequate recovery after high-intensity rides. Aging bodies take longer to recover, so allowing a recovery day between high-speed rides can help you get back to peak performance on the days you do ride.
Your mention of missing the “sensation” of speed, leads me to a suggestion that in your 60s you may or may not be ready for yet, but moving to a road ebike can make that feeling possible again. I’m nearly 80, but am currently riding a couple times a week with two friends who are both 10 or more years younger than I am. They are riding regular bikes and are both fast riders. Frankly, on a regular bike, I would not be able to keep up with these guys, but on my ebike, I can. And neither they nor I view my use of an ebike as “cheating.” We often ride 60 or more miles, and I vigorously pedal every one of them. It’s a great feeling to cruise with them at an average speed I can no longer attain on a non-electric bike.
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Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
Of course some drop in performance with age is normal, but NEVER forget that middle-age and older guys can develop heart disease causing us to slow down. PLEASE get checked out. My club lost a rider on a ride last year 🙁
After turning 60 I was still racing – triathlons and running races (I was never a “pure” cyclist, though I could hold my own on group rides with those over 50) I too experienced a drop off in my performance, What I found what worked best for me had nothing to do with actual training in any sport. See, as a life long coach, teacher and researcher in neuropsychology and exercise physiology I took a completely different approach. It worked for the athletes I coached and for myself. The problem that could be addressed wasn’t about your performance, it’s about how you view your performance,
We have to accept where we (our bodies and our training) are at every moment in our lives. We ALL have bad days. Weeks where our other (more important) factors disrupt our training and performance,
First, we all have to accept where we are – our lives and our performance.
Second, we all have to adjust our expectations and sometimes our goals.
Third, we all have to and usually make adjustments to our goals,
Setting goals is a continuous process. It should NEVER be static. When our goals are fixed and do not change with the changes in our “status” we will never improve, When we have a surprisingly great month of training, holding on to our original goals will keep us from reaching a new goal, that became possible because of our improved state in our performance, mental and life status,
Make the mental changes first, Change what you expect of your self – what you honestly and currently see as a goal you can reach. Re-assess you current life and performance status, It may help to write these things down and to discuss your decisions with friend, both cycling and non-cycling friends, Next look at changes you can make adjustments to your training,. Finally, make changes to your goals, Now enjoy your rides and get to talk to those in the middle of your “peloton” that you were in front of and give them encouragement to attack that next hill with you. Do the pulling in the middle of the group,
Having hit 61, it’s my first season not being able to hang with the fast pack for more than a short period. It feels natural though, my body just can’t hit that top gear anymore and at this age, not a surprise. Lucky was able to fly up until now.
Thanks for this full reply. I especially like your recommendation that the rider get acquainted with those in the middle of the peloton and pull for them.
E-Bike or stop riding will be your choices. Pick an age (for me it was 70).
Agreed. I’m 73 and just gotta recumbent e-bike. I was going to slow up 10% grade hills that I was losing balance on my standard recumbent. Now my problem is making sure I get a decent workout. I just try to average 20 mph to make that happen
I was worried I would slack off, but nothing was further from the truth. The e-bike makes me want to put in even more!
Do group rides with slower riders.
I switched to longer Century rides, leaving speed to the younger crowd. At 66yrs, and in my third season of cycling after suffering a stroke in 2023, I found the training and fitness level necessary for the longer rides gives me the same return competitively as my running half marathons and 10k’s did in the 1990’s. These days, I’m happiest rolling past the 80 mile marker on a Century exhausted and weary, knowing I still have 20 miles to go.
Vanity. Loose that image of the bike stud and just enjoy that one can turn the pedals. From an 80 yr old with no e-bike, just a 30 yr old lite speed ultimate.
So true. Leonard R. I can’t believe you’d be satisfied with an e-bike or riding with a slower group or riding easier routes or just going longer. I’m not saying e–bikes, slower group rides or longer rides are not valid alternatives. For me they are not alternative’s I’d consider. I was, and still am, much too competitive. I have always been primarily competitive with myself. There’s always that inner voice asking “it that your best?” When I was competing that voice pushed me on faster and longer. I’ve been a coach since 1965 and have had to come to terms with the conflict between me the competitive athlete and me the coach. That voice is still there, but my answers are always within my current capabilities. The hardest thing for my athletes to understand, and for me to understand about myself, is the changes we go through and accepting the effect of those changes on our performance, then finding a way to adjust our view and goals. These days I concentrate on the feeling of my effort – is it the best I can (and want) to do at that moment. Accepting that it changes from day to day and from mile to mile. While I know the routes I ride intimately, I never look at my cycle computer (accept for occasionally to confirm my sense of what my effort and my cadence are). After the ride I note my feelings about my ride and only then the statistics – average/max HR average/max speed and average/max cadence. My objective is always to know what I did before I look at the numbers. Maybe I am lucky in that i’ve been a high level and successful coach for so long and that I’ve never been a competitor that focused on the others around me and the numbers. I did it all because I loved challenging myself and still do it to challenge myself.
Enjoy it for what you can do during each moment of each ride,
At 69 I fully recognize that I will not be riding as fast as I was at 40, 50, or 60 years-old. But what I can do is enjoy the rides that I do, whether they’re group or solo, intervals, fast or slow, short or long and be joyful in the ride. Being retired, I can pick the time of day, and company or not, and tempo, effort and distance as I choose. It’s not so much about how I measure up to others as how I measure up to my own desires and expectations. It’s delightful.
Amen, brother.
Right on Brother! (hehehe)