I’m 56 as well, still work full-time, married, 3 kids and 4 grandkids. My youngest child is a senior in high school and will be heading off to college fall 2025. I quite racing in February 2020 after winning my local winter short track 50+ XC series and my last race. We all know Covid hit and shut down the world in March 2020. I subsequently gained some weight and have never raced since. I still “train” (3 rides, 2 runs, and 2 weightlifting sessions per week) but haven’t rediscovered the drive to get back to racing shape. I’ve thought about racing for “fun” but feel anxious about toeing the line while not being in my top racing shape. So feeling anxious is not what I want because my goal as I age is to reduce my mental stress, not increase it.
Good answer,
When people post “ur overthinking it just do X” when someone makes a long form post it should be against the rules .
I spent some time writing that because over the course of a couple of seasons I never really saw people talking about it in any other way than “just stop.” Ultimately that’s what it comes down to, but there are a lot of factors and other things to think about when it’s been a big part of your life for 30+ years. I kind of envy the people who could “just stop”, even though ultimately that’s what I did.
If you’re still enjoying the training process, e-racing is a viable option. Plus for “olds” like us, Zwift is obviously much safer. 
I enjoyed the ones I did, even though I wasn’t all that great at them (raw watts are better than W/kg in most of them).
Very true. If you’re not A Big Dude you need to choose your courses wisely.
At my peak I was around 4.3W/kg at 305-315W, and eventually I’d lose in flat B crits and get my doors blown off in the As. I raced some A climbing events and did… just OK. Zwift racing is not going to be great for the all-rounder.
This thread has struck a cord with me. Context - Mid 40s, married, 2 kids. Only started racing 4 years ago coming out of Covid.
In August 2023 during a race I had a nasty crash and broke my hip. After some complications I ended up needing a full hip replacement which took place a year ago. I spent 2024 building myself back up and am getting to the point fitness wise where I could race again this year.
The flame still definitely burns for me but the thought of injuring my hip again plays very heavily in a few different ways. Lots of thinking still to do but at the moment I feel I may dip my toe in again. I’ve entered a couple of mass start events this year to give myself goals to train towards.
I think this goes back to what your goals are. I know Zwift racing has gotten pretty serious, but I personally don’t have enough interest to treat them like target races. I used to do a good bit of Zwift racing in the off season, it was a great way to scratch the itch without any of the logistics, danger, or drama of IRL racing. As long as I could affect the race and be in the mix, that was enough for me. I was usually around 4w/kg and 310w FTP and near the pointy end of B races on lumpy courses. But it was never anything to train for, just fun to play a bit with the lingering fitness after the season. And zwift racing can be extremely tactical with many parallels to real racing (particularly gravel), so not just a wattage contest. But just like my B/C races in real life, I probably wouldn’t enjoy them as much without the leftover fitness from training for my A races.
I was similar and only racing a year or 2 when I crashed. Not quite as long term, but punctured lung, cracked ribs and a number of stitches. A few weeks off work, and took me a while to get over it and was just starting too, then covid happened. Ultimately racing was an itch that still needed to be scratched for me.
Managed to get into the Masters/ Vets where things are a bit calmer than open racing (it’s essentially a club, with graded races, so mainly the same people who all have responsibilities). Also they fit in with family life a bit better than open racing - it’s early Sunday mornings, home by 1pm (if you don’t hang around). Here in Ireland a lot of open races can be lunch time starts which is effectively the whole day gone.
You just need to get back into it. I had the same fear after a nasty crash sprinting in 2011 left me in the ER and wrapped in gauze after hitting the road at 30+mph and sliding for a long while. Took me years to trust sprinting again. Fortunately I was only racing triathlon at the time so that wasn’t a major factor, but even when I started road racing in 2018 it was a mental hurdle to overcome.
The only way out of that is to go through it.
I wouldn’t quit the sport for fear of crash/injury, unless that type of thing is really going to hamper your life, your job, your family, because it’s really just a matter of time before you go down again if you race road or probably MTB. That said, most of my crashes were far from catastrophic, but the string of 3 consecutive years being impacted by injury downtime (fx collarbone, seperated shoulder, and massive thigh contusion in 2021, 2022, 2023) from crashes was definitely a consideration for me. Coupled with two bouts of COVID and just getting sick more frequently due to school-aged kids bringing home the plague every other week, I had a lot more downtime which hampered progress and certainly caused frustration. That compounded the whole “not enjoying the training process” thing, because it was a lot of work to not really progress due to the setbacks.
Jeez, I was considering getting back into racing this year but all this talk of inevitable crashing is making me reconsider 
.
What other sport / hobby are serious injuries to be expected, are we mad!
I’ve had plenty of race crashes but luckily nothing serious.
Pre crash I was racing in a bit of both (Masters and Open). Certainly agree with you that Masters can be a bit calmer with higher riding standards. So yes I think more Masters may be the way to go if I can find the races. In the past I’ve found them a little harder to come by in the UK that are within a reasonable distance.
Thanks, that is my kind of thinking as well. I think I need to just get that first “return” race out the way and see how I feel after that.
Potential for injury is my least favorite aspect of bike racing. I quit crits after a particularly bad concussion and I don’t do much road either. Even if you are doing everything right, you are at the mercy of reckless/stupid people who are happy to put everyone at risk for the win. I’ve been pretty lucky with gravel and marathon MTB racing (knock on wood) and once you get past the start your fate is mostly in your own hands. That said, I’m perfectly capable of causing my own wrecks. I took a nasty fall and lost some skin in my last MTB race of the season in November. Just a “fun” race and the only goal was to keep it upright (fail). No hospital and I finished, but a fun couple weeks of seeping painful wounds, poor sleep, and constant annoyance. Bike racing is so stupid, but that didn’t keep me from signing up for a bunch of events for 2025. Doing stupid stuff gets harder to justify as you get older, but in many ways it keeps you young.
As I was lifting weights this morning, and my right shoulder was “hurting”, I was thinking, my goal with bike riding/exercising at this stage of my life is to do no harm. I separated my shoulder in 2008 after going over the bars on my MTB and it still annoys me today with just little pains here and there, luckily nothing major. The older I get, the more I cherish feeling good and being healthy. The last thing I want to do is crash in a race from doing something stupid and causing another physical ailment/injury that will be with me the rest of my life.
I had two crashes this past year on the MTB.
The first was literally about 100 yards after leaving the truck on a training ride in Colorado. Definitely not race pace, nobody else involved, maybe just not warmed up or paying attention enough, next thing I know I’m on the ground picking gravel out of my arm and my hip after losing the rear tire on the very first turn which was a little looser than expected.
The second was after finishing (and taking) a pretty brutal KOM on a hill climb near home. Had that “I’m Done” moment, sat up on the bike, started to turn right and stupidly tapped my front brake - BAM, right on the ground again, this time with even more gravel and blood and a little bit of bike damage (Fortunately not the frame or anything important or expensive)
Literally at the moments when you don’t think they’re going to happen for me, and so far it hasn’t been the racing, just out having fun…
Yeah, but I get stupid when racing. I will push so hard that I’m sure my brain is deprived of oxygen and my eyesight and decisions are impaired.
When I moved from doing open category races to Masters events, there was a notable uptick in predictability from the riders… almost like everyone had jobs and families to go home to. My 3 crashes from 2021-2023 were all caused (at least in part) by younger riders, in their 20s or teens, all at least Cat 3s. Most of the dumbest stuff I saw done in crit fields was by guys in HS or university age.
So I never believe that moving up in competitive category (like going from 4->3 or 3->2) makes anything safer, but I absolutely believe moving up to a Masters category generally does.
Found exactly the same, Masters races generally much safer. Think it also helps that it’s a smaller cohort and many of them have been racing for years so know each other pretty well.
The flip side is they tend to be smarter racers and compared to younger riders it’s much harder to get them to work or chase if it’s not in their interests to do so!
I restarted cycling when I was 47 mainly due to more time available with all of the kids having left home and to get my weight and cholesterol under control. At age 50 I started racing and found also that there were too few masters races and due to my late star, the master races were too long for my endurance ability. I found that Humana sponsors the National Senior Games for ages 50 and older. All events are broken into 5 year age groups, which makes competition a little fairer. Almost every state has cycling events each year, 40 & 20K RR + 10 & 5K TT.
I also like the Gran Fondo events and bucket list rides. One such bucket list ride is to complete riding all the roads in Yellowstone. Almost done and I live on the east coast.
In short is it the riding or the competition that you enjoy? Analyze what you like and dislike about cycling. Then pick events or activities that support what you like. Finally analyze those bucket list activities for distance, time, effort, etc to determine what training is needed to achieve your set goal(s).