Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
I think I've been lucky, I preferred Sunday Social club runs over time trials when I was younger. Which means utopic lack of anything to measure against, and a lack of caring about speed.
How has your fitness changed over the years?
- Thread starter Crackle
- Start date
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gavgav
Legendary Member
I'm similar to you @ColinJ in that I believe I'm fitter now than I've been since I was a teenager, but when pushing things too hard uphill I can get ectopic beats from my heart condition and it's a bit frightening when it happens.At 60 I am actually probably fitter than I have been for years but I can still feel the damage inflicted by my serious illness of 2012/2013. I can't push myself as hard as I used to or my heart gets into distress. I do not mean just beating very fast, I mean worrying heart rhythm problems which can last for hours after I stop. It wouldn't be wise to take too many chances with that so I try not to go much above 90% these days except for very short steep climbs (>20%) which I tackle as slowly as I can without the bike wobbling.
I still have room for improvement but I think the ceiling of that improvement is a lot lower than it would have been without my illness. I certainly don't think I will be doing any serious time trialling as I get older, but that is no great loss because I never did it when I was younger either!
Turdus philomelos
Guru
- Location
- West Lothian
At 50ish, I'm probably the fittest I have been since a nipper. I only took up cycling a few years back, and has been the only form of regular exercise my entire life.
On my daily commute I occasional push my heart to well over 160 mph so I can be amazed at just how quickly my breathing and heart rate returns to normal. This then helps me gloat, if that's the right word, when climbing the stairs with far younger colleagues at work. My breathing is perfectly normal when then they are puffing away like old steam trains.
On my daily commute I occasional push my heart to well over 160 mph so I can be amazed at just how quickly my breathing and heart rate returns to normal. This then helps me gloat, if that's the right word, when climbing the stairs with far younger colleagues at work. My breathing is perfectly normal when then they are puffing away like old steam trains.
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swansonj
Guru
"The ordinary ambitions and aims of men in my position seem to me dull and unattractive.... And sometimes I have a fancy - the superstitious would call it a presentiment - that my part in life is not altogether played.... Therefore I exercise myself in arms, and seek to put off the day when the vigour of youth must leave me."
(Of course, he had something slightly bigger in mind than merely completing another Friday, but the principle still holds...)
(Of course, he had something slightly bigger in mind than merely completing another Friday, but the principle still holds...)
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
[QUOTE 4306702, member: 43827"]And I thought I was doing well at 20 mph! 
[/QUOTE]
Maybe he's got one of these.
View: https://youtu.be/uEL605yOY1s
[/QUOTE]Maybe he's got one of these.
View: https://youtu.be/uEL605yOY1s
Garry A
Calibrating.....
- Location
- Grangemouth
At 43 I am now the fittest I have ever been. In my younger years I liked the pub and computers. A couple of years back I started running, cycling and hillwalking. I now weigh the same as I did when I was 21 and feel great. Last year I did my first half marathon and since then completed other events such as a duathlon and trail races with a marathon booked for next year. I think if I didn't start pushing it now then I would have went down hill and ended up the same as some of my old drinking mates who have started to look a bit tired. I hope to stay fit for as long as I can.
Turdus philomelos
Guru
- Location
- West Lothian
@User43827 it was an easily typed typo, it was early morning. You knew I meant bpm.
Bazzer
Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
- Location
- On the edge of reality
Always been reasonably fit and fitter than most of my friends, whether squash, running, swimming etc, although age has caught up with me. Doubt I could do a sub 3.15 marathon now. 
Weirdly, so far as the bike is concerned, I am probably faster on my bike than I was 10 years ago, but thinking about it, my mileages are higher now than then, which might account for that change. Biggest bugbear is the recovery after a long ride. Previously I would just carry on as normal, eating and drinking whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and just carry on as normal. Now I try to actively manage the recovery period.
Weirdly, so far as the bike is concerned, I am probably faster on my bike than I was 10 years ago, but thinking about it, my mileages are higher now than then, which might account for that change. Biggest bugbear is the recovery after a long ride. Previously I would just carry on as normal, eating and drinking whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and just carry on as normal. Now I try to actively manage the recovery period.
Aravis
Putrid Donut
- Location
- Gloucester
Many of the contributions to this thread seem to be saying things which are very similar, but from an individual's perspective. I think I'm about to do the same thing.
I'm still 55, but only just. I've always ridden much the same way - alone, reasonably briskly but always at a comfortable level. Compared to myself a quarter of a century ago, I'm about 2-3 mph slower than I was. It's very obvious that I'm not able to increase the effort on the hills as I used to, so I drop down and take it slowly. But echoing what many have said, the distance seems to be coming more easily. Overall I'm happy with this progression and hope I can continue in the same vein for a good few years.
About this time last year I started to enjoy cycling again having done very little for a decade or more. I made the step up to 50 miles fairly easily, and after about half a dozen rides of that length I unexpectedly found the confidence to go up to 100 miles. This year I went straight back to 100 miles after about 3 months off.
But I'd be fooling myself if I suggested that I am or have ever been particularly fit. I have a method that works for me; once I have the muscle tone, at my pace 100 miles is pretty easy. Many other things I do, which most people would regard as normal activities, I find more fatiguing.
For various reasons I've been off the bike for a couple of weeks. I expect to go out on Tuesday when my intention will be to do 150 miles, but I won't commit myself to that distance until I have a good idea how I'm feeling. It will be interesting to see how that goes! If I'm successful I will break my record for the longest period off the bike prior to a 150+ ride, but I did set the existing mark for that earlier this year.
It's a voyage of discovery.
I'm still 55, but only just. I've always ridden much the same way - alone, reasonably briskly but always at a comfortable level. Compared to myself a quarter of a century ago, I'm about 2-3 mph slower than I was. It's very obvious that I'm not able to increase the effort on the hills as I used to, so I drop down and take it slowly. But echoing what many have said, the distance seems to be coming more easily. Overall I'm happy with this progression and hope I can continue in the same vein for a good few years.
About this time last year I started to enjoy cycling again having done very little for a decade or more. I made the step up to 50 miles fairly easily, and after about half a dozen rides of that length I unexpectedly found the confidence to go up to 100 miles. This year I went straight back to 100 miles after about 3 months off.
But I'd be fooling myself if I suggested that I am or have ever been particularly fit. I have a method that works for me; once I have the muscle tone, at my pace 100 miles is pretty easy. Many other things I do, which most people would regard as normal activities, I find more fatiguing.
For various reasons I've been off the bike for a couple of weeks. I expect to go out on Tuesday when my intention will be to do 150 miles, but I won't commit myself to that distance until I have a good idea how I'm feeling. It will be interesting to see how that goes! If I'm successful I will break my record for the longest period off the bike prior to a 150+ ride, but I did set the existing mark for that earlier this year.
It's a voyage of discovery.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
I'm 64 and I've cycled most of my life, but I've never raced, I'm very fit but slower than I was twenty years ago, very slow on the hills, but my distance is fine, I've just got to allow for it to take longer. Twenty years ago I'd get under two hours for thirty miles, now I'm just over two hours for thirty miles, between two and two and a quarter hours, maybe a bit more on a bad day, My close encounter with angina a few years ago hasn't helped things. I think theres a gradual slow down as you get older, but we are all different, some people slow quicker than others, its also affected by how fit you were as a youngster and how hard you are training. I have friends who are still time trialling into their seventies and some of them are setting times a youngster would be proud of.
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
I had to stop commuting and was generally unable to ride regularly for about 4 weeks, recently.
At a check up the doc noted that my blood pressure had risen about my average by 10 spots on the diastolic (spelling)
Two weeks of commuting three times a week and its back to normal rates.
I was pretty amazed not only at the speed of return but at how much NOT cycling makes me unhealthy.
At a check up the doc noted that my blood pressure had risen about my average by 10 spots on the diastolic (spelling)
Two weeks of commuting three times a week and its back to normal rates.
I was pretty amazed not only at the speed of return but at how much NOT cycling makes me unhealthy.
