What cycling can do to your rate of aging

[Baz]

FB post today:

Dad, 96, is still rolling!
Today’s ride: 14 miles with 14 mph average with a high of 21!

[herr_oberst]

[wildthing]

How hard do you guys ride?

I tend to take it easy, like moderate heart rate, can still speak comfortably, unless it's uphill. On downhill, I take it slow for fear of going over the handlebars and into the dirt...

[recycled sixtie]

I have a mountain bike but tend to take it easy. I choose quiet routes, that is with few cars on them. It seems wherever I go I get the occasional near miss. About a year ago a truck nearly wiped me out when he came out of a side road and saw me at the last moment. Two summers ago I went over the handlebars and scraped myself in different places and got a mild concussion even with a helmet on. Yes I take it easy but enjoy the ride.

[herr_oberst]

It depends on where I'm riding. Long flat roads in the woods or the country are pretty much just ride so I an hold a conversation. Riding in town, It's stopping, starting, racing to make green lights, standing on the pedals on hills to impress the 20 year old girl in the Range Rover who someshow still finds me invisible. On every ride over an hour I try to hit it hard at least once on an uphill, HR about 165 or 170 if possible. My tendency is to always go pretty hard on the uphills anyway, and my genetic makeup is geared more towards endurance rather than outright speed and power, but I can still hammer at 66 years old.

One thing I often do on long rides is look for ways to find free speed; might be in the way I pedal, or try different ways of breathing, or get into an aero tuck. (Or drafting someone faster, ha ha!)

I'm usually the quickest up hills and slowest downhills in my groups.