A bit older, a bit fatter a bit slower.....

gtvlusso

As I get a bit older, I am finding that I am slowing down - definitely. I have given up on chasing people down for the thrill of SCR - not that I see many other cycle commuters anyway! I have altered my route to be flatter and "safer"....

My knee hurts a bit, the hair is grey I spend allot of time being knackered. Work is piling up, I don't care about it very much.

Whats wrong with me, have I hit middle age prematurely or should I just take a cocktail of drugs and MTFU?

And I have a pain in all the diodes down my left hand side......

UndercoverElephant

gtvlusso wrote:

Whats wrong with me, have I hit middle age prematurely

If I cut off your leg and count the rings, how many would there be?

gtvlusso

37......although, if I fell off my bike and embedded the chainset in the shin, it would be 1.

Personally, I think it is the kids....jeez, it is like mardi gras when I get home....except a mardi gras where I am the street cleaner....

robocolley

Ah suddenly I don't feel so old....I have all the above 'symptoms' but then I'm 50 this year. Keep thinking now is the time to buy my dream bikes before I get too old to ride them....

bdave262000

gtvlusso wrote:

37......although, if I fell off my bike and embedded the chainset in the shin, it would be 1.

Personally, I think it is the kids....jeez, it is like mardi gras when I get home....except a mardi gras where I am the street cleaner....

I find I become more grumpy the older I get and I was a fairly miserable B**tard to start with.

Gussio

I read that as "dildos".

Freudian slit.

Pufftmw

Yeah, deffo prematurely aging... MTFU

I'll almost 10 years your "senior" & still enjoy the thrill of the chase, the buzz of SCR, the dicing with cars through the traffic and in particular whupping the a$$ of peope 10 years or more younger than I You're still young and life is for living, that is unless you wish to descend into a land of myopia, endless routine and boredom.

Have to admit to having bought a Volvo Estate when I turned 40 but that was entirely for practical purposes - plus it was used to tow my track car around

noodles71

Just go for a drive around the Swiss Alps in summer and look at some of the ages of the riders you will pass, even up some massive hills. By massive I mean Ben Nevis is a speed bump.

Maybe you are just suffering from being surrounded by a few too many pessimistic people.....

graham.

Your 37 and you feel your getting old! Well excuse me, but FFS!
I'm 53 and Ive just been to walk the dog with the good lady wife, I took a rolled up umbrella as it looked a bit that way. Found myself playing "Umbrella Golf", trying to get a pebble into a drain.
Tomorow I pick up my first "Proper Road" bike since I was a teenager, I've been running around clutching my parts with exitement.
Just because you grow old, It dos'nt follow that you have to grow up!
Graham.

And before the grammer nazis jump in , I know I use too many exclaimation marks!

Jay dubbleU

What you need is a holiday - preferably you, the bike and the open road 8)

veronese68

I too am 3 years off 40, but the wrong side. Yes, my knees hurt sometimes. Yes, keeping up with the kids can be tough. Yes, hangovers are worse and last longer. No, I don't let it get me down. Yes, I still act like a twonk.
Don't mean to sound preachy but when I was 37 I was having a bit of a rough patch. I was having chemo for Hodgkins Disease, my knees were knackered from rheumatoid arthritis and I felt dreadful. I have been clear for nearly 6 years now. Getting rid of the Hodgkins also got rid of the arthritis. I feel better now than I did for several years before all that, I just didn't know how bad I felt. I enjoy life more now and still do stupid things for no good reason other than I can.
I'm not implying your ill, I just want to say ignore the little aches and pains and get on with life. Things are a lot worse for a lot of other people.
Does this make any sense? I should really go to bed now.

rml380z

37? Too late for MTFU.
You're so old, the only useful thing left is to boil you down for glue.

tlw1

Veronese68 wrote:

I too am 3 years off 40, but the wrong side. Yes, my knees hurt sometimes. Yes, keeping up with the kids can be tough. Yes, hangovers are worse and last longer. No, I don't let it get me down. Yes, I still act like a twonk.
Don't mean to sound preachy but when I was 37 I was having a bit of a rough patch. I was having chemo for Hodgkins Disease, my knees were knackered from rheumatoid arthritis and I felt dreadful. I have been clear for nearly 6 years now. Getting rid of the Hodgkins also got rid of the arthritis. I feel better now than I did for several years before all that, I just didn't know how bad I felt. I enjoy life more now and still do stupid things for no good reason other than I can.
I'm not implying your ill, I just want to say ignore the little aches and pains and get on with life. Things are a lot worse for a lot of other people.
Does this make any sense? I should really go to bed now.

In other words MTFU

Confusedboy

The older I get the slower I get. The slower I get, the faster I was....

I don't think it matters all that much how fast you are or if you cannot make the times you used to so long as you are enjoying your cycling. There would be absolutely no point to cycling at all if you didn't enjoy it. And if you do get the odd twinge from some ancient joint or other*, you'd probably have a lot more if you didn't cycle regularly. When some 20-something Adonis rips past you, just smile smugly and serenely as the superior being you are and console yourself with the thought that he'll be old and useless like you one day too. Award yourself extra SCR pointage for every decade over 40.

I intend to consider giving up riding when I can no longer get my leg over a gent's frame. Even then I will only consider it, and may continue using some sort of step through frame. The modern trend towards top tubes which drop to the rear is my friend here.


*but get it checked if it won't go away.

Confusedboy

The older I get the slower I get. The slower I get, the faster I was....

I don't think it matters all that much how fast you are or if you cannot make the times you used to so long as you are enjoying your cycling. There would be absolutely no point to cycling at all if you didn't enjoy it. And if you do get the odd twinge from some ancient joint or other*, you'd probably have a lot more if you didn't cycle regularly. When some 20-something Adonis rips past you, just smile smugly and serenely as the superior being you are and console yourself with the thought that he'll be old and useless like you one day too. Award yourself extra SCR pointage for every decade over 40.

I intend to consider giving up riding when I can no longer get my leg over a gent's frame. Even then I will only consider it, and may continue using some sort of step through frame. The modern trend towards top tubes which drop to the rear is my friend here.


*but get it checked if it won't go away.

veronese68

In other words MTFU

Yeah, that works too.

don_don

You sound like a classic case of needing a long holiday, or a change of lifestyle..

There's nothing you can do about getting older (although at 37, I'd say you are still a young pup ), so don't worry about that.

The slower and fatter bits can be reversed with a bit of work (and that holiday I mentioned).

Maybe consider getting the knee seen to by a physio, in case an orthotic is all that's needed. Make that the first step in creating the new GTV.

Then you'll be fit and sexy when you're 45, just like me 8)

ps. women love silver haired smoothies like us, honest..

meanredspider

Bit older, bit slimmer, bit faster....

Nearly 10 years older but getting quicker & thinner - no bugger has passed me in the last 14 months and 4000 miles - wearing the same sized jeans now as I was wearing at university. Got plenty of reasons & excuses to be fatter & slower not least of which is my 14 year old son's cancer we've been fighting (and beating) for 8 months now.

Just an attitude of mind I think. I was probably more like you when I was 37 but you just need to decide to do something about it. I'm sure you can too.

freddiegrubb

:oops: I'm not going to go on about I do this or that but at 37 get yourself sorted mate, this ain't no dress rehearsal . My riding mate is 30 years older than you & he can still ride up Wrynose (L/district). Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life!!!!!

BelgianBeerGeek

I'm 38 (no kids though) but the rest rings true. Seems like the others are suggesting a change of attitude - maybe you need a mid-lfe-crisis, but forget the Porsche, how about a new bike . BTW, and this is a general question I seem to be asking myself a lot lately, am I too young for a mid-life crisis?

hells

My bf is 38 and is still a toned adonis, he rides like a speeding bullet and out runs most guys in their 20s. He has some pains in his hands from old boxing injuries but thats about it. 37 is not old, wasnt Lance Armstrong still racing at that age? Ironman champion Chris MCcormack is your age and is now trying to get on the australian olympic tri team and Chrissie Wellington is in her 30s and setting world records in Ironman. You are not old.

gtvlusso

LMAO at this thread!

Thanks guys, I think I was having a bad week....the old corporate game was playing up and a few late nighters with annoying Americans is enough to kill anyones soul!

And my knee hurt a bit and I am feeling a bit fat at the moment (although I am putting that down to my addiction to Munchies and red wine!)

Gonna start with the running, sit ups and weights again, lets see if I still have it in me to produce some kind of six based pack type thing......

edhornby

maybe you need a couple of rest days - try car commuting one day, that'll recharge the need for leg speed

ChrisLS

corr you youngsters :roll: I'm 58 and still bashing out the miles. I know a 72 year old who can ride me off the road...it's probably having young children that takes it out of you gtvlusso...use your cycling as time for you. You'll be fine we all have bad patches... keep riding through it or give yourself a rest...

Headhuunter

I'm 38 and although I get aches and pains and little twinges here and there which seem to last longer than before, I think I'm fitter and stronger on the bike than before. My lowest resting heart rate does seem to have edged up slightly though, it used to go down to around 40 BPM when I was sat on the sofa vegging in front of the telly, now it seems to be 44/45 at the lowest...

Mark Elvin

I'm 38 & I feel I'm actually getting faster with age. Perhaps I was REALLY bad to start with.

dugliss

I reckon it`s the kids wearing you down. I`m 45 now and have got kids of 20, 18, 13 and 5 so have always had young kids around for 20 years and it really can drive you mad sometimes. Also you could subconsciously be aware of the impending big 40 approaching although no need to worry about that as you`ll come out the other side and realise nothings changed

snailracer

gtvlusso wrote:

...
And I have a pain in all the diodes down my left hand side......

What are you, a cyborg ???

gtvlusso

snailracer wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

...
And I have a pain in all the diodes down my left hand side......

What are you, a cyborg ???

Quoted "Marvin the Paranoid Android" from Douglas Adams' "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy"

Don't Panic....