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The big ride

2K views 32 replies 21 participants last post by  mileslong 
#1 ·
I just turned 50 late last year and it's got me thinking that I may not have the stamina left for a lot of big rides in the near future.

This summer, I plan to ride the Lord of the Squirrels trail in Whistler. I've read that it's around 5,000' of climbing and an all-day effort.

I can see the window closing for the big mountain rides that I love so much and really want to get this one in before it's too late. There are some others too in the Cascades that I'd like to knock off while I can.

Is anyone else trying to fit it big rides before age diminishes the ability to do so?
 
#2 ·
Don't overthink it. Just do.

You'll be able to keep doing big rides for a lot longer.

(Remember the message in the joke about the young bull, the old bull, and the herd of cows in the next field.)
 
#5 ·
Age is just a number.
The only one holding you back is you!
Granted you might not ride as fast as you use to but who does.
I walk parts I use to ride if I don't think it is worth it or it is early season.
I use to be one of those that had to ride it or at least attempt it all but now I no issue walking it......I still got there just like everyone else.
I ride with a guy who is 69 and sometimes he out climbs me......that more depressing then getting beat up a hill by a young rider. LOL

Cheers,
kc
 
#6 ·
I am 57 and rode Lord Of The Squirrels (LOTS) twice this year. I made it up faster than most of the other people on the trail who where much younger than me. My friend put a lot of youngsters to shame on that trail as well, and she is only 60 years old! Keep riding, have fun, and don't start thinking about quitting riding. You have LOTS (see what I did there?) of years ahead of you!
 
#9 ·
This great to hear!

I wouldn't consider giving up riding until I just can't get out of bed anymore. I'm just worried that I won't be able to do the really big climbs anymore.

I'll just keep at it and not worry so much. Thanks for the encouragement guys.
 
#8 ·
I turned 50 late last year too. On my 50th birthday I did a 6+ hour ride in 100F heat, so I know I can still ride hard but I've found I've become more interested in shorter 1 hour rides with lots of payout rather than long rides simply for the sake of pedaling. If I'm visiting a different locale then I'm all for an epic route but for my local trails that I've ridden a thousand times I'd rather cut to the chase and hit the fun stuff, then go do something else with the rest of my day.
 
#11 ·
The only thing stopping your endurance at 50+ is your ability to keep riding and training. I'm early 50's and can hang tough on long races. While I'm not necessarily faster than I was 15 years or so ago, I think I'm much smarter in my training, nutrition and recovery.
 
#12 ·
Too old?

Nah, you just need to take more time, train up, avoid pushing big gears, walk to avoid blowing up, hydrate and eat right.

I spent the summer doing epics up the Carson range and around the Lake, lots of all day rides with big vertical. Bike set up and conditioning are key, you need the gears and legs to spin the vertical.

At some point I'll get some assist, but not until I can't do what I want to do (within reason).

Both my bikes are geared for climbing: 11sp, 26t elliptical x 11-46. I'll get an 12sp 10-50 when the prices drop. Don't need tall gears for going downhill and who cares about how fast you can ride on gravel and pavement ;)
 
#13 ·
Too old?

Nah, you just need to take more time, train up, avoid pushing big gears,

Both my bikes are geared for climbing: 11sp, 26t elliptical x 11-46. I'll get an 12sp 10-50 when the prices drop. Don't need tall gears for going downhill and who cares about how fast you can ride on gravel and pavement ;)
I rode Lord of the Squirrels late last year. The up track was in great shape, the decent, not so good! I rode with the 28t by 9 x 46 and wish I had a 26 chainring for a few sections! I am going to try and find a 26 chainring for my e-thirteeen crank! Not sure if you know about how the good the riding is in Squamish, but make sure you plan that into your trip!
Denis
 
#15 ·
I think you gotta do what fits best with your typical discipline.
IOW be safe. Build up to that level of fitness and stick with it. Do so and you'll be riding big rides for a long time and I hope it isn't a big downer as it may get tougher and tougher.

I say this because I'm more the weekend warrior and that's who the hospitals and Dr offices see .
I know this about myself so I do play it safe and thus I'm 'afraid' to go out and go big. My time, family stuff and energy better fits my routine of rides and days as is and I'm pleased that I have it working this way.

If I really wanted to, I'd have to build up to the big rides, big miles or big climbs but my recreation comes in smaller doses and I don't have that yearn to go and accomplish at that level.
** I think it's great for those that do and certainly a fitness / longevity pay-off ! :thumbsup:

My big ride was at birthday 54, I'm now 56. Seemed like a good time to go and do a 54 mile ride but that wasn't big climbs. I found a simple path that probably runs from 7400 feet on down to 6600 or so and I figured a north route of 17 out and back, then south 10 and back. Aside from the fun of being on a bike seat for hours upon hours :eekster: it was smooth and easy.

Make plans to do those fun things and big accomplishments and just keep it 'real' in the common sense side of the equation for your health and safety ! :cool:
 
#19 · (Edited)
50 is still relatively young, but the time will come when the list of things you cannot do gets longer and longer. What to do about it? I think a couple of things that are somewhat complementary.

First, don't be delusional. You are good at it, I think, just the fact that you ask the question shows that you are not living in the la-la-land of "50 is the new 30". But I think it is important to really recognize the limitations of our biology: no matter what one does it is very unlikely that he or she will be riding to 100. A very large majority cannot do much in their seventies, just look at the pool with the age distribution for this forum http://forums.mtbr.com/fifty-years-old/official-50-years-old-age-poll-thread-993787.html

Second, and more important, forget what you could do in the past, or what you think you cannot do any longer. Enjoy every ride as if it was your first!

You get tired sooner? Take a brake and look at the flowers. Enjoy the sight of the younger riders passing by. Marvel at the fact that you are still doing it, marvel at your luck: you are still alive! So many of us die before 50 ...

Love your life now, do not regret the past!
 
#24 ·
...First, don't be delusional. You are good at it, I think, just the fact that you ask the question shows that you are not living in the la-la-land of "50 is the new 30". But I think it is important to really recognize the limitations of our biology: no matter what one does it is very unlikely that he or she will be riding to 100. A very large majority cannot do much in their seventies, just look at the pool with the age distribution for this forum http://forums.mtbr.com/fifty-years-old/official-50-years-old-age-poll-thread-993787.html

Second, and more important, forget what you could do in the past, or what you think you cannot do any longer. Enjoy every ride as if it was your first!...
Pretty much it.

I'd add remove expectations and just do.

Don't worry about speed comparisons with your younger self or other people.

Distance is still no barrier. That you can do, it just takes longer.
 
#20 ·
I can't hardly fathom those climbs I see posted by so many.

Sunday afternoon I was out with friends riding some open space area at 6000 to 6600 ft for a few hours. I really felt the ups and downs and had what thought of as an impressive ride and work out. I suppose if tracking it properly, I get credit for the number of ups and downs as cumualtive elevation ?

I mean 600 feet is really nothing at all when I see it expressed this way. The rider leading the way said our ride was about 75% climbing. It sure felt that way.

I'm still coughing and weezing a bit from a cold and was down a week ago quite ill with fever / chills so I know I'm really in recoup mode but I don't beleive I'll ever come close to big climbs I see posted at times.
 
#21 ·
I have a friend who's 55 and an amatour athlete. He's been cycling for years but thought he'd try track cycling. He's only been doing it for a couple of years but he's on the top step in races! I find it amazing but it just goes to show what you can do.

Here in the UK there is a game show on TV called Total Wipeout, a crazy obstacle course. A few years ago the guy who won it was 65! Beat folk a third of his age. Do it until you can't do it.
 
#25 ·
About a dozen years ago when I was in my mid-40's, a friend and I decided we should do the "Durango Death Ride", or as my wife called it "The Stupid Ride". It was an unsupported 225 mile road ride, with 17,000 feet of climbing -- Durango to Silverton to Ouray to Ridway, past Telluride, to Dolores and then back into Durango. There are 6 mountain legitimate mountain passes/lengthy climgs in there, 4 of them topping out at over 10,000 feet. At the time, it really never crossed either of our minds that we would fail -- and we didn't. It was a big day, but we just went and knocked it off. I've had opportunity to drive sections of that route since then, and the last couple of times my thought was "how the hell did we ever pull that off?". I've stayed fit and active since then, training in much the same way as I did back then, but I can't imagine just going off and doing doing something that big in the cavalier way I did then.

But between thinking about how I've become (comparatively) scared of the big ride and inspired by this thread, I decided to up the ante a bit this year. I have a race plan of the Gunnison Growler, Laramie Enduro Epic, Steamboat Stinger and our local mid-week race series. The training will require some nice long rides -- road and gravel centuries in the spring, and weekly 4 to 5 hour mtb wanders in local hills once the snow clears. I felt like I'd turned an emotional corner with respect to big rides and long days, and not in a good way -- hope this gets me back on track. That, or it will kill any confidence I have left...
 
#26 ·
Curveball, I'm 57 and do a lot of big climbs in the Cascades. Most of the guys I ride with are younger than me, some in their mid-30's, yet I am usually the first one to the top of the climbs. Of course when it comes to going down I'm usually one of the last to the bottom (which I chalk up more to wisdom than lack of skill :)).

My "secret" is for the last ten years I ridden my bike to work everyday logging ~30 miles/~2000 feet of ascent round-trip.

I occasionally ride with a friend in his mid-60's who rides more than me and I have trouble keeping up with him. So the message is just keep pushing the pedals and you'll be fine.
 
#29 ·
bachman1961 said:
How do you get the resources or calculate the total climb elevations on something like that or is there a souce for that kind of info ?
I did the ride well before Strava (we didn't even have a cell phone), but that would get you close to what reality is for total climbing. I use Strava now and it seems like it gets both distance and climbing pretty close. At the time, there were a couple of published accounts of the ride and we choose to believe the one that said 25,000 feet of climbing! But now there's several sites that report (only) 16,500. I think Bike Maps, Cycling Workout, Biking Routes | MapMyRide will get you the sort of information you might want for a lot of different routes that you have or think you might ride.
 
#32 ·
Thanks for the input guys.
It'll be nice to at least see what I'm doing on current rides, monthly or any tally of specifics. I'd like the freedom to make bigger ride plans knowing what I'm up for or needing to prepare for.

Take a look at this link to interpret the stretch of trail and elevations posted for this 3.8 section. Do you add the ups and downs for a cumulative total ?
Trail Segment 1-1a | Friends of the Peak

I can see two big climbs are 6470 - 7250 or so and then 6980 - 7350.
This is part of a 60 mile loop that might be a fun 2 n - 3 day event for a few of us. It starts around 6400 and the highest point is 11,300.
 
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