Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

There’s Hope For Us All

09.22.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

For the last few days, I’ve been kinda down about cycling. Some minor equipment malfunctions, some nagging aches, and less time in the saddle because of the requirements of the job have combined to push cycling out of the foreground of my consciousness. But then I come across an article that convinces me to get out there and ride — and keep riding.

You’ve heard of Senior Olympics. It turns out those games have cycling events. It never occurred to me that that might be a possibility. All you have to do for inspiration is scan the results columns or find some pictures.

Link Lindquist

For example, I discovered Link Lindquist when I came across the results for the USA Cycling Road National Championships held early this month in Bend, Oregon. Link took third in the Individual Time Trial, over an 18-kilometer course. But he didn’t stop there. He was also the oldest competitor in the criterium portion of the championships, where he also placed third. Link is 84.

That’s pretty impressive. But he still has some catching up to do. Dave Ward of Massachusetts was still competing — and winning his age class — at the age of 91. Here he is (right) at that age in the 2007 Senior Olympics.

What? You’re not up for racing now, you say, and you’re certainly not going to be up for it when you’re in your 90s. I can relate. That’s pretty much my attitude right now. I like to go for longish relaxed rides, where I’m not worried about putting the miles behind me. If I can explore new areas while doing so, so much the better.

Well, there are a number of bicycle touring companies that offer tours for seniors. In the case of bikers, that means anyone over 50 years old. The tours are well supported, and in many cases offer posh accommodations. But plenty of people opt to head out on their own.

Bike clubs are certainly an option. I’m in a club with several 60-plus riders, and we all generally do pretty well. We’re not going to keep with with the A group — uh, come to think of it, several of those 60-plus riders are in the A group!

Tom Goodwin

In fact, you might find your club’s ride leader is in the senior-senior category. The Sacramento (Calif.) Wheelmen’s Tuesday and Thursday morning rides are led by Tom Goodwin. He’s 83. According to his fellow riders, he can still kick butt on younger riders in the hills.

I might not kick butt when I’m 83. I might not even go on group rides anymore. But you can bet I’ll still be riding a bike when I’m that age.

Heck, I think I just came out of my funk. I’ve gotta get out there this weekend and attack some hills. And ride far. And just ride.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // fitness Tags // age

It’s Amazing How Fast You Get Out of Shape

02.13.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Rode this afternoon with my wife. It was my first ride in a week. In fact, it seems that the only riding I’ve been doing for the last month has been on the weekends, and this week, I didn’t even ride Saturday, because of a day trip out of town.

All that time off the bike is finally catching up with me. Man, am I out of shape! The out of town trip was to visit some relatives, and four of my cousins were there – so we took the obligatory cousins pic.

I’m not running it on the blog, out of deference to them. Suffice to say, it shows five American males in their mid to late 50s, all with substantial girth. In a couple of cases, the gut hangs over the belt buckle.

My wife looked at it, and said, “Well, you have the skinniest gut of them all.” Her definition of skinny differs from mine. I ain’t skinny. I suppose I am the least rotund.

My weight, which usually goes up in winter anyway, is true to form.  I’m about 10 pounds over my good summer biking weight.

That contributed to the way I felt on today’s ride. Oh, I felt good enough – but it seemed that I was putting much more effort into the ride than I normally would.

Disirregardless, the ride served as a needed wake up call.  I know I can get back on track by doing two simple things:

Riding more.

Eating less (junk).

All the nifty organized rides that I want to be on have opened registration. Time to start signing up. Time to get back in shape.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // fitness Tags // fitness, weight

What’s Your Biggest Health Improvement From Biking?

11.02.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

I picked up my mountain bike from my neighborhood bike mechanic this evening.  It had been shifting poorly, and he took care of it.  Getting the bike was important to me, because I’m still not riding my road bike.

In case you missed it, the front derailleur on my road bike broke over a week ago.  I haven’t received the replacement yet.  Maybe it’ll be all set in time for the weekend.

But as long as I have one bike in operating condition, that’s a good thing.  Because biking is good for me.

How do I know?  I look at the numbers.

I recently had my annual physical exam.  I have some health issues that I pay close attention to.  My cholesterol has been high as long as I can remember.  So has my blood pressure.

I could count on a typical blood pressure reading of around 151/90.  My cholesterol used to be as high as 250.

Just 36 hours after I rode in the Outlaw Trail 100 last month, my BP was 113/69.  A year or so ago, my doctor would have been happy to get it to around 135/85.  In fact, for awhile, that was our target.  Now, we’re shooting for much lower readings.  I’m normally in the 120/80 vicinity these days.

Is it all because of biking?

Not completely.  I’m on blood pressure medication, but at my last physical, the doc told me to stop taking one of the two types of pills I was on.  He says that while the meds brought the BP down, it’s the biking that is keeping it in the target zone.

He was also pleasantly surprised to note that my resting heart rate is 56.  That’s all due to biking.

Ditto the cholesterol.  I take medicine for that, too, but it’s the smallest dose made — 5 milligrams.  The doc says it might as well be a placebo.  He credits biking and diet for my recent big drop.  Oh, I forgot to mention — it’s now 158.

(I’m still not super careful about diet, but I do eat smaller portions than before, and I don’t snack as much.)

How about weight?

I don’t have a super weight-loss story to tell, but I have lost about 12 pounds from what it was at the beginning of the year.  One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get below 200 pounds.  I’ve done that, but I didn’t stay there.  Right now, I flirt with it.  By year’s end, I should be there permanently.  More gratifying to me than the weight loss is the girth loss. I’ve gone from pants with a 40-inch waist to pants with a 38-inch waist.  And depending upon the brand of pants, some of those 38s are fitting too loosely.

So that’s why I was glad to get one of my bikes in operating condition this week.  I’ll be out on it soon.  While the main reason I bike is for the fun of it, the health benefits can’t be ignored — especially at my age.

How about you?  What kind of health benefits have you enjoyed as a result of your biking?

 

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // fitness Tags // blood pressure, heart, weight

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d