# Organised rides for Over 60s



## joesoap (3 Jun 2016)

Does anyone know of a club in the Preston, Lancs area that organises casual/social rides of about 20km for over 60s?


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## screenman (3 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Does anyone know of a club in the Preston, Lancs area that organises casual/social rides of about 20km for over 60s?



Every cycle club I know of has members that do rides like that in this area, I am sure yours is the same. In cycling terms over 60 is young.


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## joesoap (4 Jun 2016)

Thanks screenman. I'll have to do a bit of searching on google. If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?


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## deptfordmarmoset (4 Jun 2016)

I put my name down on a whim for a Sky Social ride yesterday. The route is around 15 miles and the area is pretty flat. I doubt that at 61 I'll be the oldest on the ride. As it's my first Sky ride of this kind I won't know what goes on until later this afternoon but I'll report back. Are there any Sky rides local to you?


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## joesoap (4 Jun 2016)

Thanks for that. I checked out the Sky Ride and there is a beginners ride starting tomorrow at 10.30 which does the Guild Wheel and takes about 3hrs 30 mins. That would have been ideal apart from the fact that it states....No Helmet, No Ride. I have a helmet on order from Argos but it hasn't arrived yet so I'm a bit disappointed. Now that I know about Sky Ride I wil keep an eye out for the next ride.


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## deptfordmarmoset (4 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks for that. I checked out the Sky Ride and there is a beginners ride starting tomorrow at 10.30 which does the Guild Wheel and takes about 3hrs 30 mins. That would have been ideal apart from the fact that it states....No Helmet, No Ride. I have a helmet on order from Argos but it hasn't arrived yet so I'm a bit disappointed. Now that I know about Sky Ride I wil keep an eye out for the next ride.


That's curious - the ride I went on had no such restriction and the leaders didn't wear helmets either. Maybe it's a beginners thing but, chatting with the ride leader, an instructor and a training instructor from cycletraining.uk, her views were very much along the lines of ''why should I protect myself from careless drivers to reduce their responsibility for driving with care.'' (And she's done a fair bit of ''changing places'' training with lorry drivers recently.) Better stop there or your thread will end up in the helmet thread graveyard....

Anyhow, the ride was slow but enjoyable and well organised ,and I learned a few hidden cyclepaths along the way.


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## snorri (4 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks screenman. I'll have to do a bit of searching on google. If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?


Age is just a number and some are fitter and healthier than others due to making a better choice when selecting their parents.
Just enjoy cycling to the best of your ability and forget about your age.


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## jefmcg (4 Jun 2016)

+1 to @snorri

Find a ride at your pace. There will be a mix of ages on it.

You could easily work up to doing 200km or longer riders. I know plenty of people old than you doing long distances. And younger people just starting out who probably couldn't keep up with you. Find a ride at your pace, keeping length and climb in mind. If you want and you don't have any serious medical problems (and sometimes even if you do), you could be doing 60km club runs soon enough.


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## mjr (5 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?


One of my local group opined today that one starts to slow once over 75. I'll let you know in a few decades if I'm still around and remember.


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## joesoap (5 Jun 2016)

So... I have another 4 years before I throw the towel in? Sadly, there are such a lot of folk that don't get to 75.


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## mjr (6 Jun 2016)

Not throw the towel in: just start to slow down a bit! They're still riding, after all.


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## Dogtrousers (6 Jun 2016)

Struggling up a hill yesterday, I was overtaken by a guy who said "these hills catch up with you when you're past 60, don't they".

I decided against informing him that I have a few years to go yet.


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## joesoap (6 Jun 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> That's curious - the ride I went on had no such restriction and the leaders didn't wear helmets either. Maybe it's a beginners thing but, chatting with the ride leader, an instructor and a training instructor from cycletraining.uk, her views were very much along the lines of ''why should I protect myself from careless drivers to reduce their responsibility for driving with care.'' (And she's done a fair bit of ''changing places'' training with lorry drivers recently.) Better stop there or your thread will end up in the helmet thread graveyard....
> 
> Anyhow, the ride was slow but enjoyable and well organised ,and I learned a few hidden cyclepaths along the way.


Rather than miss the ride I bought another helmet and glad I did. Sky ride leader, Brian, was great. We did 25 miles but it took us 5 hours to get round the Guild Wheel. A great day out with good company. I can thoghoughly recommend it and hope to do an encore next week.


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## deptfordmarmoset (6 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Rather than miss the ride I bought another helmet and glad I did. Sky ride leader, Brian, was great. We did 25 miles but it took us 5 hours to get round the Guild Wheel. A great day out with good company. I can thoghoughly recommend it and hope to do an encore next week.


I'm glad it worked out for you but 25 miles is quite a distance for a beginners' ride so well done. As I've never done Sky rides before this weekend I'm still finding things out but I gather that they're keen to get you to join a group or organise your own rides using other Sky registered riders. Somewhere on their website there's a ''group finder''.


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## Profpointy (6 Jun 2016)

Time to repeat the tale of two lads (well, 25 year olds) from work coming caving with me. Our 80+ year old club founder member asks if he can come along. The two lads look at each other, then look at me, but are too polite to comment so off we go. The old gent grumbles his was through the cave saying, "its rubbish being old, my balance isn't as good these days. This is as much as I can manage now" and much more in a similar vein. 3 hours later we emerge and the elderly chap repeats his grumbles, and strides off back down the hill. One of the lads sits down for a breather, and the other collapses in a heap. I knew that might happen :-)


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## mjr (6 Jun 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> That's curious - the ride I went on had no such restriction and the leaders didn't wear helmets either. Maybe it's a beginners thing but, ...


No, I think it's just a zealot organiser thing. I'd be worried that they have no clue about safety if they enforce such an obnoxious rule and look for a better group.


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## joesoap (7 Jun 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> I'm glad it worked out for you but 25 miles is quite a distance for a beginners' ride so well done. As I've never done Sky rides before this weekend I'm still finding things out but I gather that they're keen to get you to join a group or organise your own rides using other Sky registered riders. Somewhere on their website there's a ''group finder''.


That's the fist that I have heard of this. Joining a club or organising my own rides was never mentioned.


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## deptfordmarmoset (7 Jun 2016)

mjray said:


> No, I think it's just a zealot organiser thing. I'd be worried that they have no clue about safety if they enforce such an obnoxious rule and look for a better group.


Quite possibly. I just looked at skyride's T&Cs and there are some ''musts'' but the helmet thing is a recommendation. There may be some discretion allowed to the ride leaders - a sort of ''leader's decision is final'' kind of thing - but it shouldn't be a condition of eligibility. That way lies ''post code helmetry'' - certainly the guys doing the Greenwich rides allow helmet free participants (and when asked one to one prefer and practice helmet free riding).


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## deptfordmarmoset (7 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> That's the fist that I have heard of this. Joining a club or organising my own rides was never mentioned.


I just signed into the skyride website. It's worth looking around on it. Have a look at your dashboard. There are even ''nearest buddy matches'' near the foot of the page.


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## mjr (7 Jun 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> I just signed into the skyride website. It's worth looking around on it. Have a look at your dashboard. There are even ''nearest buddy matches'' near the foot of the page.


It's nowhere near as slick as CycleChat but it has some interesting features and is worth a try, but don't be surprised if people are a bit slow to respond because its email notifications are rather slow and intermittent too.


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## The Central Scrutinizer (7 Jun 2016)

I'm sixty three in a few days and through regular cycling i have never felt fitter.
Usually do about three thirty mile +rides midweek and 50 milers weekends averaging 16-17mph also do a few sportives through the year including this years london-surrey 100.
I'm not saying this to be big headed because i know i am just an average recreational rider and there are lots of people the same age or older than me who are a lot faster and cover more distance but it's just the stereotyping that gets me.It's as though as soon as you reach that number sixty you should be going to the local tea dance or darby and joan club.

Rant over


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## mjr (7 Jun 2016)

The Central Scrutinizer said:


> Usually do about three thirty mile +rides midweek and 50 milers weekends averaging 16-17mph [...] i know i am just an average recreational rider


I'm pretty sure that's faster than average recreational riders, whatever age. Even among Stravaists, who I suspect tend to be faster, "Average speed of rides were 23kmh (14.29mph) for men and 20kmh (12.43mph) for women" says http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...paint-picture-british-cyclists-compare-151542 - it's a rare ride of mine that gets near their _average_ for men!

I agree that age isn't necessarily a barrier to speed or fairly long distances, though.


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## screenman (7 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks screenman. I'll have to do a bit of searching on google. If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?



I have a pal of 85 who stopped road racing last year.


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## derrick (7 Jun 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks screenman. I'll have to do a bit of searching on google. If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?


Got a couple of 76 year olds come along every now and then,They are never the last ones up the hill. You are a few years behind me.


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## ufkacbln (7 Jun 2016)

Don't take this as a negative because it isn't

Take a look at the cycling obituaries in the CTC

The ages are impressive


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## ufkacbln (7 Jun 2016)

I had the honour of knowing one gentleman called Ron Beams

A true cyclist, advocate and role mode, as well as a pioneer of HPVs

He was still cycling until he died shortly before his Century


His "Club" the "Midweek Wayfarers"had several nonogenerians' a smattering of octogenarians and a few young whippersnappers in their 70s


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## DaveGM (10 Jun 2016)

@joesoap 


joesoap said:


> Does anyone know of a club in the Preston, Lancs area that organises casual/social rides of about 20km for over 60s?



I am 64 and relatively new to cycling having started last year. I have been on one guided Sky ride - 15 miles around the northern part of Liverpool. Quite easy and certainly not too fast. It was one of their "steady" rides.

I also recently joined the Skyride Social group West Lancs Friendly Cyclists Weekday Riders. I went on a "steady" ride with them of just 10 miles on Monday - around Crosby and Hightown. Very friendly bunch and quite a few of them about my age!! The pace was again pretty easy so I have booked on a more challenging 29 mile ride with them in a weeks time - hope I can make it!

Anyway check them out. the rides are from various starting points in the region. I am from Southport.


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## lpretro1 (2 Jul 2016)

There used to be a cycling section of the U3A in Preston - might be worth finding out?


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## rusty bearing (25 Jul 2016)

.....or if you prefer Guild wheel type of off road try www.rsf.org.uk


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## steveindenmark (27 Jul 2016)

I am waiting for Jannies dad to pack it in. He is 83 and rides his lovely Nishinki Trim Master every week in the summer. 50km rides are a doddle for him. The bike is from the 70s and is like new. I thought I had a chance when he cut his middle finger off with a circular saw a couple of months ago, but he was riding last week. Hes a tough bugger.


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## Sharky (30 Jul 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks screenman. I'll have to do a bit of searching on google. If over 60 is young in cycling terms what would you consider to be Old in cycling terms?


Y+1


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## lutonloony (4 Aug 2016)

joesoap said:


> Thanks for that. I checked out the Sky Ride and there is a beginners ride starting tomorrow at 10.30 which does the Guild Wheel and takes about 3hrs 30 mins. That would have been ideal apart from the fact that it states....No Helmet, No Ride. I have a helmet on order from Argos but it hasn't arrived yet so I'm a bit disappointed. Now that I know about Sky Ride I wil keep an eye out for the next ride.


Tell them you're a sheikh , and wear a tea towel? There is no offence meant to be implied to any religion by this post, it is said with tongue firmly in cheek


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## mjr (5 Aug 2016)

lutonloony said:


> Tell them you're a sheikh , and wear a tea towel? There is no offence meant to be implied to any religion by this post, it is said with tongue firmly in cheek


Actually, turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from most helmet rules - even the evil laws in NZ. Any group with a blunt "no helmet no ride" and no exceptions is probably discriminating illegally.


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