Roadhump
Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
- Location
- The flatlands of South West Lancs
Yep, 11-32 for us more mature, well nourished types.
Hills - Should you back off as you get older ?
- Thread starter kingrollo
- Start date
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jefmcg
Guru
This is well outside my knowledge (my asthma in remission at the moment, and I've never had to monitor flows) but this sounds like nonsense. (S)he's administering a test, and then just ignoring the results. It sounds to me (not a doctor!) that the rest of your CV system must be in stonking shape, as you have the normal lung capacity of an 85 year old woman according to a chart I found online. But it's also with the normal range of a short women your age, and short mid fifties women can conquer hills so it's not impossible to be able to ride a bike, just a lot less than you are capable of.
Ring the number for Asthma UK. Apparently it's manned by asthma nurses, who will be able to clarify what could be going on and what you should do.
OP
OP
kingrollo
Guru
28 is an easy swap - much (anything) above that and I need a bigger cage etc - see how the 28 goes...
Why would it wind me up, I'm not the one asking if it's going to kill me red lining, the answer is yes it's possible to do that. What you should be asking is why can't I get up it in a reasonable state and the answer to that is for your current level of ability your useing the wrong gearing
OP
OP
kingrollo
Guru
you sound irritated - weakness of the written word I suppose. no problem.
Yes - Ive been pondering changing the sprocket for some time - its on order now
S-Express
Guest
This is simply just alarmist nonsense. Hitting mhr at age 54 (or any other age) is perfectly safe if your heart is healthy, as any cardiologist will tell you. No idea why you think otherwise.
Hundreds/thousands of 'older' racing cyclists do this every day, ffs.
S-Express
Guest
As above, training to failure is a well established method of establishing aerobic limit or threshold. It's still training.
I'm 62 & started cycling as a sport 11 years ago. I can ride up hills faster now than I could at 51 (or any time previously). Being unable to climb a particular hill without stopping, or being overtaken, were my motivators to get fitter. I train on a local loop of all the steepest climbs combined. I am now rarely overtaken on hills by anyone of any age (descending is another matter) and on audaxes, sportives, etc I can judge my hill-climbing ability directly against others.
I monitor my heart rate on most rides but not out of concern - just for curiosity. The fitter I am the lower my heart rate stays for the same effort and the faster it reduces. I had my heart checked out with a scan several years ago just to make sure there wasn't a latent problem - seemed like a sensible precaution.
Age is certainly not a limiting factor for me - in fact the reverse. I just see it as another challenge.
I monitor my heart rate on most rides but not out of concern - just for curiosity. The fitter I am the lower my heart rate stays for the same effort and the faster it reduces. I had my heart checked out with a scan several years ago just to make sure there wasn't a latent problem - seemed like a sensible precaution.
Age is certainly not a limiting factor for me - in fact the reverse. I just see it as another challenge.
Really, so those squash players I used to see dropping dead on the court were dying of tiredness ? Feel free to test your theory on yourself then. On the training point what I'm saying is you could more effectively train to climb that hill in other ways with a better result than just trying to ride up it and failing
Whatever you do, don't play squash though.
S-Express
Guest
Can't believe you're equating deaths on squash courts and somehow drawing what you think is a valid parallel. Those people didn't die because they were in their 50s, they died because their hearts were diseased or otherwise congenitally defective. Go along to any veterans' squash tournament and witness many players in their 50s, 60s and beyond playing squash and - crucially - not dieing.
As for myself, I raced well into my 50s and I know many others older than me still training at a high intensity and still racing. And it's not my 'theory', incidentally - it happens to be scientific fact. The nice thing about facts is that they remain true, regardless of how much you might like to disagree with them.
