Dare to Dream e-Coaching | Bike or Body? | Start Up Advice | Too Old? | Big Mistake | Understanding Pain | Cornering | Fitness Measurements | Professional Braking | Motivation | Overtraining | Bike Fit | Better Coaching
Too Old?
I get this question all the time:
"Am I too old to start racing?"
What I want to do is help you to analyze bike racing and age, and
then let you answer that question for yourself.
First, we know that the average person loses approximately one
percent of their muscle mass by the time they are about 50 years of
age which means that they don't have more than about 99% of their
maximum strength potential of when they were in their early to mid
20's. That is on the negative side. On the positive side, we know
that you can keep increasing your aerobic development long into life
depending on when you get close to your top aerobic potential.
Next, we know that no athlete has ever gotten within 10% of their
maximum physiological potential which is a lot when one considers
that there is less than one per cent fitness between the top pro's
in Europe. Plus, we know that if you are drafting single file behind
a rider of your own size, you are doing 30% less work than the rider
in front of you at just 25 miles per hour (40kph.) In a pack, the
difference is even greater.
Other benefits to aging are experience and increased maturity which
permits a rider to be more relaxed, clear headed, rational, and
logical in a race.
Put all these things together and it should be obvious that the 1%
loss in muscle mass can more than easily be made up with continued
aerobic development and strategic adaptation.
Over the years, I have seen plenty of examples proving this but have
unfortunately not kept a record of names so please excuse me for not
having the names of the individuals I will refer to.
I first became aware of the over emphasis and myth of aging
concerning sports when I read the book "Aerobics" in the early
1970's. I have not seen, read, or talked about the book in about 25
years but I believe the author was Kenney, PhD.
In the book, the author told about a man who had a heart by-pass in
his mid to late 50's and was sent to the author for rehabilitation
through fitness development. It turned out that the elderly
gentleman had never been in sports, knew nothing about sports, and
was starting in the hole as far as fitness development.
By the time the heart patient had been working with the author about
5 to 6 years, he had obtained enough fitness to where he was racing
bicycles and consistently placing against the top Senior Class
riders.
A few years later, I read an article in a cycling magazine about a
problem they were having with older riders in Europe. It seems that,
at that time, the UCI didn't permit anyone over 80 years of age to
race in UCI Masters events. So there were a lot of riders who were
as much as over 100 years of age lying about their age to get into
road races of from 50 to 100 miles.
My favorite example is a guy I saw racing on a regular basis out of
San Diego, California, USA in the 1980's. I was informed that he had
had a multiple heart bypass in his mid to late 50's and was put on
an aerobic training program. He was starting from scratch, as an
athlete at almost 60 years of age after heart surgery because he had
never been involved in sports, knew nothing about exercise
physiology, and had no motor skills development or intellectual
experience from sports.
When I last saw him race in about 1990, he finished in the top five
in a break against a number of pro riders, at 71 years of age.
I love racing in Mexico against the older riders because they are so
much more mature and use really great team tactics. I have met a
number of other racers I raced against over 30 years ago who are
still going at it including one old guy who is 72, was Professional
National Road Champion of Mexico on the Pepsi Pro Team about 30
years ago, and is still kicking butt against the younger 30+
Masters.
They have been around so long and seen so much that their team
tactics are very good and force you to think while racing. I
absolutely love it.
I personally believe that bike racing might very well be the best
lifetime sport in the world. I have seen a lot of evidence that you
can keep racing competitively until any where from 70 to over 100
years of age.
I have learned from plenty of others that, at 50, in cycling, you
are still a kid. To my joy, a friend and racer in Juarez, Mexico who
was over 70 recently called me a kid, and I was over 50 at the time.
It sounded good.
So regardless your age, just keep stomping those pedals. And think
about buying my book, A Better Way To Train
to learn more - and go faster!
Back to Top
