Question: Because of my work schedule, I have ridden sporadically for the last 20 years, logging about 1,500 miles annually and doing one or two centuries just for fun. Last winter I took early retirement and decided to devote full time to cycling. I rode 5,000 miles in 8 months and improved fast. But now I’m tired and can’t stand the thought of hammering with the young guys on another group ride. What happened? I thought hard work was supposed to make me better. — Harry N.
RBR Replies: I only have anecdotal evidence, but I suspect that there’s a large number of new retirees who try to cram into six months all the things they wanted to do during their working lives.
And I’d bet that a fairly sizeable percentage are cyclists who go from 100 miles a week to 300-400 after retirement. They add intervals, racing and hard group rides, too.
Soon they’re exhausted.
New retirees with time on their hands and a craving to defeat aging think they can train like a pro. But pros are a lot younger.
Here’s another trap: Hard-charging and successful people often think that if they’re not as physically gifted as other riders at least they can outwork them.
But talented riders are talented at recovery, too. So they work really hard, recover fast and get stronger. The rest of us work hard, don’t recover sufficiently and get slow, tired, depressed and dropped.
The solution is pretty simple. Train sensibly and then rest. Don’t ride hard again until you’re recovered enough to garner improvement from the next training session.
You don’t need fancy medical indicators to tell when you’re recovered. Eagerness to ride again is the best marker.
I have been retired for fifteen years now and about five years ago started to “seriously “ cycle again. A long while ago I did some racing and rode with the “bad boys” in our club. I was at least twenty years older than my comrades but could put some seriously good hurt on them back then especially during our Saturday morning group shootout. I prided myself on being the fastest sprinter in the club. Oh how fragile the male ego!! I now try to bike five days a week doing twenty five to forty miles on some extremely steep mountain roads. I am,once again, Loving my time on the bike. Here’s the problem: I have been passed by other riders climbing the passes around here by obviously much younger and fit riders and. I cannot seem to accept my relative weakness . It, in fact, ruins my ride and sometimes I obsess about It all day! I am soon to be 75 years old and my ridiculous mind won’t let me believe that I can’t do what was once easy! I am not sure what to do about it other than to quit riding and take up couch surfing. Any tips from other readers that have had success in dealing with this ridiculous mind set? Any help is desperately needed.
Get an E-bike.
Ride with 80 year olds!
I am 76, have been retired for 21 years, switched from running to road cycling about 15 years ago and currently ride about 7,000 miles annually. I live at 9,700′ in the Colorado Rockies up where nothing is flat, so I understand and embrace climbing. I hit my peak cycling strength/ability at about 65 and the last 11 years have been about managing and mitigating the inevitable decline (squaring off the decline curve) – more younger folks pass me and it’s harder to hang on in a fast group ride,
Rather than getting depressed about being passed on a climb or dropped, I gain motivation from several places:
– being able to challenge younger riders’ paradigms and notions regarding age (you are 76?!). Many are shocked and hopeful for their own future. .
– comparing my Strava Segment times to others in the 75+ (or even the 65 & 70) Strava age groups with a goal of being competitive for or grabbing the age group KOM
– riding in events such as fondos or centuries like Colorado’s Triple Bypass as well as mult-iday tours. You will be amazed at how many folks you do pass!
– embracing and living by Satchel Page’s quote “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”
Never stop moving. I don’t own and e-bike, but I hope one is in my future. If not,, something else worse happened!
Look into the Specialized Creo SL pedalecs. Yea, they’re “e-bikes” but they’re programable (even to your heartrate!) and because their processer is so fast, the power feels like it’s actually coming from your legs!
Doing this will guarantee a great workout while putting you in a position to do what you want: beat’m, join’m, or ride alone and soak up the speed while putting out all the watts you want.
I’m 78. Come ride with me in Northern California. You’ll feel so much better about yourself.
Comparison can be the thief of joy. I have felt that too having peaked in strength and speed about 10 years ago when I was 55. I found a different and more age appropriate group to ride with and it has rekindled my love of riding. Try to be grateful for every ride as we all have a finite number.
Sound advice, as we age we simply cannot keep up with younger people. If you are riding with a younger group find a group of older people instead, there is usually a senior citizen group in most good size cities.
There is no need to get upset if younger people pass you, instead of looking at those younger people passing you and getting bent over it, instead take pride in yourself that you’re still riding, look around, and ask yourself where are all the 65 plus-year-olds passing me? Then ask yourself where all the 65-year-olds at? Because most of them can’t do anything physical anymore due to health issues, but you can! I bet a lot of those younger guys that pass you are envious that you can still ride at 75, and they hope they can do what you’re doing when they get to that age. Retrain your thinking, and don’t get down on yourself, you have a lot to be thankful for.
I’m 70, but I’m a flatlander, there are no mountains or even major hills where I live, I used to race as well, but I bet if I came to your hometown, you would smoke me when we hit the mountains!! Heck, I’ll even go as far as to say that if a younger 40-something cyclist that ride where I live and came to your neck of the woods, you would smoke them too! Flatlanders do not have the physical ability to ride fast up mountains, regardless of their age. I knew a guy who was 30 years old, and won races all over the flatland state I live in, he decided to move to Denver to ride and race mountains, he called me about 6 months later, and said he was just a clown on a bike! After a year he gave up and moved back to my state.
Be positive, you’re doing fantastic in my book
Get an Ebike.
Nope.
I bought an e-bike when I turned 70 because I could no longer keep up with all my friends (most of them younger)., It’s the best thing I ever did . I keep my heartrate at the same level I always did on me regular bike but can still keep up. I use the lowest level available on My Specialized Creo and didn’t have to find a new bunch to ride with. Best decision I ever made!
I have both and electric road and Mtn. bikes and I fell like it is the best thing I’ve ever done to keep me going and enjoying cycling as much as I ever have. I throughly enjoy both of them. They allow me to do the things I used to be able to when I was younger. If only most people could get past the ego thing about ebikes they too could be enjoying biking as they used to be able to do. Ride On.
It sucks getting old. But maybe better than the alternative. I’m about to retire and looking forward to more time to ride but I was never fast and always struggle on climbs. Your very common sense advice is good to keep in mind.
I have been retired 17 years. I moved to town, from the farm, in 2006, and rode almost everyday until this year. In 2008 I did a L.A. to Boston transcontinental tour which had been at the top of my bucket list for many years. We have a state park 8 miles from our home that has several steep and long hills to get to. I have ridden the 16 mile round trip regularly ever since I moved to town. I had ridden ~7,000 miles a year for several years. About a year ago, I noticed that I was slowing down. I turned 80 in January and just don’t have the energy that I used to have. I, at least, ride my indoor spinner every day but have not been riding outdoors, everyday, like I used to. I, also, try to walk a mile or so with my wife everyday but generally feel tired while doing it. I’m not gaining weight or anything like that. My BMI is around 19. Should my energy level have dropped so quickly or am I just feeling my age?
You are awesome! Nothing to complain about. Enjoy the activity (especially with your wife) and if you are feeling fatigued, have your doc check your blood, diet, etc. chances are that you may be overdoing it and need additional recovery time between workouts and fluid/protein replacement. Good luck and keep it up
I should add that I started serious cycling when I graduated from college in 1965. I grew up on a farm that was on a very hilly gravel road so I didn’t do much cycling back then.
My retirement plan is to ride my bike on every sunny blue sky day, and so far it’s worked out very well
More specifically on the training side of things:
Short rides in march-april
Longer rides in april-may
Long rides / hill rides in May-June
June-July onwards go for it.
Enjoy cycling, have fun and be thankful for the ability to do it. Hammering isn’t my goal on each ride and I enjoy riding by myself at my own pace than with a group. Unless you are competing or a professional, who cares.
I retired during June 2017. I live near San Francisco. From 2000 thru 2017 I had been required to either work Central Time Zone hours, start early morning day shifts, or allow for commute time. By 2017 I had come to have irregular sleep patterns. Until early 2018, I had very erratic sleep patterns which affected my fitness workouts and riding. Further interruption followed due to home renovations. At present I ride three times per week at distances between 50 and 70 miles. My cruising speed is about 18-20 miles per hour. I have the strength to get up most hills. I do not have the fast twitch muscle tissue which was present when younger. I feel that the first year or so after retirement is a recovery year for the effort taken to finish the last periods of employment when we were all performing at high levels of work performance.
Great advice, summary, train smarter, not harder
I added an Orbea Gain M21E to complement my road, mountain, fat tire bikes for exploring paved and gravel — love it.
2023 Orbea Gain M21E – One Month, 660 Miles, and Comments
– Bike build: My O custom color, Carbon OMR, Mahle X20 with iX350 battery, SRAM Force eTap AXS, 40t chainring, 10-44T cassette, tubeless Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H 35mm, bike weight 28 pounds / 12.72 kg.
Comments:
– Don’t worry about the weight (bike and you)
– Setup tires tubeless (I use Stans sealant)
– Use tire pressure gauge and SRAM app for tire pressure (https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure)
– Use power mode one to come up to speed and then to zero
– Use power modes as needed to manage effort / speed
– Recharge if needed for next planned ride
Sample rides:
– https://www.strava.com/activities/9958735844
– https://www.strava.com/activities/10016118623
– https://www.strava.com/activities/9940294908
– https://www.strava.com/activities/10002881521
RBR’s answer was perfect.
Overtraining may feel virtuous, but it doesn’t make you a better athlete — in any sport. It just wears you out.
Ha, ha. Just thank God you are still riding at all. As we are already in the top 90% of our population age group. Chasing emphermal dreams in pace lines of the past is meaningless..Maybe focus on admiring seasonal changes of nature.. Our best cycling pace will be tomorrow’s ride, 20 miles out for lunch, then back home for nap.
Keep your wheels rolling!
I’m 78 and happy being functional and alive. Most males born in 1945 are dead, many of my friends have passed. Aging means less intensity and fewer miles and more adaptive behavior., despite what you read here.
Take a break, stream some bike races, watch a bicycle movie. Get back on your bike and keep fighting.
Just before retiring I attended bike school for a week. It nicely augments my cycling and the more you know about the mechanics of a bike the better cyclist you will become. Plus it’s super satisfying to have a silky smooth ride after a good tune up you did yourself. I have about 80% of the tools my local LBS has and it’s nice to wrench on my own bikes and those of family and friends. I see there’s an article about a bike school in this issue too.
I didn’t get as much out of bike school as I had hoped because of another student completely dominating the class and the instructor somehow allowing it to happen. Thankfully, I knew quite a bit going in and my LBS buddies will help me learn lesser wrenched things as needed.
I’m 68. Been riding all my life and (masters) racing for the past 25 years.
I could hang with the young guys until I was around 65, and ride 5 days a week, though I did struggle on short sharp hills.
I no longer ride with the fast riders and definitely need lots more recovery.
But I do race age group events (65-69 for me). I love the intense competition but also camaraderie of us old guys. I especially enjoy track racing, and have pivoted from a road climber to a points race specialist, gaining a number of Australian state and national medals.
The top step of the podium has so far eluded me, but that may change in 2 years time when I’ll be the youngest of the 70-74 (masters 9) cohort.
I’ve also enjoyed non-competion events like Everesting. I completed one at age 64, and failed on another attempt last month. I will be doing another attempt next year.
Age is just a number. For me it’s all about the enjoyment that I experience on the bike, that ranges from the peace and serenity I gain from a long meditative solo ride through the countryside, to small group rides with old mates (followed by a good espresso), to the intensity of competition, or to planning a new challenge.
I am not a racer, not a competitive cyclist, but I do ride a lot. Touring is what I like best. But still, overtraining has caught up with me a couple of times. Last winter, we in northern California had a super stormy winter, made the roads unusable for cars at times, for bikes for weeks at a time. So I was off the bike, other than a few half hour roller sessions, more than I had been for years.
When I got back on the bike as the weather calmed down, I feared I would have a long recovery time. Nope. I felt better than ever, and now that we move into fall, months after that experience, I am still feeling better than I used to. I am a covert to the idea of plenty of rest, including an occasional major break from the usual workouts.
Oh, – context – I am a 72 year old woman who got my first road bike when I was 51. Since then I have ridden across the USA twice & have done many centuries and have (just barely) even completed the Death Ride.