I was a casual cyclist until a couple of knee operations led me to think of taking up a low-impact sport. At about the same time I retired, so I gradually could devote more time to leisure activities. I started following a training program about four years ago, but it was relatively unstructured, and I began to enter gran fondo/sportive events.
After a couple of those, and after joining a cycling club and finding that I was holding everyone else back, I joined TR in February 2018. There are two things about this story that seem important to me. First is motivation. It does not matter that we are 60 or 70 or 80: we still have to keep up with some peer group that might include people 20 - 50 years younger. Obviously, they are not elite cyclists, but they are the peer group with whom one rides. Second is time. I now spend about 10 hours a week riding, following TR workouts on the trainer and on outside rides. I do 4-5 hour gran fondos and tours of 15 - 25 days. I could never have done this when I was working.
Back in February 2018, my FTP was measured at 170. I’ve done the sequence of standard plans. Now, nearly two years later, my FTP is measured at 212. I guess that if I had been riding seriously all my life, my power output would be in decline. But for those of us who did other sports when they were younger, or who got caught up in the jobs-kids spiral of inactivity, there is still plenty of improvement to be had once the motivation [to keep up] picks up and the time constraint is reduced / removed.
I am 67 and still working full time. I am gone from home 12 hours a day usually 6 days a week. Like a lot of people I rode bikes a lot as a kid and rarely since. In 2013 my doc said I needed to get more exercise to ward off high cholesterol.
I have never been athletic but have always had jobs that weren’t desk jobs. I started riding a old bike I had from riding with the kids when they were little and soon bought a new hybrid. From it I moved to road bikes but the last two years I have discovered I enjoy old steel bikes more than my carbon fiber wonder bike.
That winter I found TR and have used it every winter since. I just haven’t been able to make myself get on the trainer after spring arrives. I am planning on retiring March 31 and hope to get my dismal FTP up some from the 192 it is now. That doesn’t sound too bad but I weigh 175 lbs. I have increased my endurance from when I started, I did RAGBRAI last summer with my daughter & granddaughter in which we rode 470 miles in 7 days. I felt good when we finished so I think I can up the volume when I get more time.
I too would like the TR crew to address us older folks more on the podcast but they do give us a mention every once in a while so I know we aren’t completely ignored.
I’d say you’re doing great already if you can successfully train for RAGBRAI while working fulltime!
We now have the option of doing TR outside if you use Garmin or Wahoo head units, which helps extend the training season. I think it’s a game changer for extending our structured training when the temps warm up. I’m doing a group ride today and plan to try and incorporate my scheduled TR workout within that ride.
After a 35 plus year layoff from cycling, at the age of 64 and north of 220 lbs., I got back into it spring of 2017. Dusted off the Mercian went about 1.5 miles and thought I'd cough up a lung. Now when I had hair and a flat belly (a.k.a. in my 20's) I hung in with some great cyclist for 100 mile rides. Very humbling. Fast forward to this year I'm 177lbs. with about 17lbs to go. I cycled 4,000 miles last and participate in a lot of group/ charity rides. This year I found out, as the wise one (Chad) says, miles mean nothing. I found my fitness not improving so I have started the plan builder program Jan 1st. I have no interested in racing but have set my goal this year to see how fit I can become with the help of Trainer Road.
Now when are we going to get a "old fart" on the podcast for us "nearly deads"......??? After all we have the time and $$$ and as someone else pointed out, we are a big demographic supporting the bike industry.
I want to affirm several points in your excellent post.
Realistic personal motivation is essential. Early on I got caught up in motives and activities that weren’t sustainable. I eventually came up with this mantra: “My motive must be from me, to me, by me, for me. Motives thrust on me by others or adopted through a sense of obligation, guilt, or peer influence are not sustainable.”
You cite the incredible gift of time. If ever I’m in conversation with others either on or off the road and they inquire about the issue of riding at my age, I always point out my advantage of available time which simply doesn’t exist for anyone working, caring for families, etc. Most of them already perceive my advantage and appreciate having their own life status recognized and acknowledged.
While I could never do what I do without TR, the longer I’m at it the more I see that my personal motivation, objectives, and accurately projected maximum potential (Ramp Test?!) must be reasonable and rational first. The majority of my former companions on the road who are no longer out there ran aground on the issues of motives or objectives. Your post teases out those concepts with insight.
Nice to see your still riding. My goal is to keep at it into my 70s as I hope it keeps me healthy.
I have turned riding into a fairly consistent 4 times a week of riding. The part that surprised me is how well I feel in general from riding. I started 4.5 years ago after 35 years of not doing much. I have learned to take things one day at a time. I dont race but just ride to improve my health. I still aim to ride faster though.
One question I have is I have learned to add a recovery week when I think things are just not quite right with how I feel. I still get some physical injuries that I do go see a physio for. I have learned best to deal with these quickly and at the same time slow down on my intensity. As you use TR do you put in a recovery week every 2-3 weeks?
I have a Garmin 520 plus and may try some TR workouts outside. We have a industrial park that never has done much and there is usually 0 traffic. Its 1/2 a mile each way with a slight grade. I just don’t know how many laps I can make on it until I get bored. Other than that we have service roads we ride on but they are neither straight flat or traffic free.
“The part that surprised me is how well I feel in general from riding.”
This is precisely why I do what I do and don’t ever plan to quit. The overflow effect of the demands of the trainer can hardly be over valued. Sleep, energy levels, endurance for daily living all ramp up to levels I wouldn’t reach if I wasn’t on the bike. Not to mention I very much enjoy the process, it never feels like work. Its a win win scenario.
I do recovery weeks whenever they show up in the TR plans. At the same time, I keep in mind what I’m trying to accomplish and why I do it. If its not my day I don’t force the issue. A missed workout here or there won’t make any difference. In my mind its all about the long pull. I monitor the TSS trends over the weeks and call it good. I have found it critical to stay on task. I can’t take even a couple weeks off without a precipitous decline in work capacity. That’s part of aging, I’d guess. Its better for me to stay on task and alter the intensity of the task if need be. This is one reason why I never push just to hit a number or make a workout if things aren’t going well. If I end up dinging myself in the process, the recovery time and loss during recovery time will be much more than it was 20-30 years ago. At the same time, when things are going well I always push the limits of what I can do. Like much else in life, its important for me to keep it all in the proper context.
I received a memorable “context” lesson several years ago when I had a bad fall. I went in for hip xrays that showed no damage. I just made an offhand comment to the doctor that maybe I should reconsider the risks of my time on the bike. To say his response was very direct would understate it considerably. He said the risks I run by being on the road or on the trainer pale in comparison to the risks that come from doing nothing. He pretty much said “Your issues I can fix. Most in the other category I can’t fix.” Point made!!
Ald1, the second try didn’t work either. I can read it an email so I’ve just copied the text and will paste here. Fantastic accomplishment in losing over 40 lbs. and getting fit again!
Ald1’s post:
After a 35 plus year layoff from cycling, at the age of 64 and north of 220 lbs., I got back into it spring of 2017. Dusted off the Mercian went about 1.5 miles and thought I’d cough up a lung. Now when I had hair and a flat belly (a.k.a. in my 20’s) I hung in with some great cyclist for 100 mile rides. Very humbling. Fast forward to this year I’m 177lbs. with about 17lbs to go. I cycled 4,000 miles last and participate in a lot of group/ charity rides. This year I found out, as the wise one (Chad) says, miles mean nothing. I found my fitness not improving so I have started the plan builder program Jan 1st. I have no interested in racing but have set my goal this year to see how fit I can become with the help of Trainer Road.
Now when are we going to get a “old fart” on the podcast for us “nearly deads”…??? After all we have the time and $$$ and as someone else pointed out, we are a big demographic supporting the bike industry."
I’m doing the low volume plan of 3 rides a week. Rest/recovery days are important, and unless it was a true low intensity recovery ride, I would not do back-to-back days right now. After competing the low volume plan, I may try mid-volume. Yesterday, in lieu of the TR Warlow plan on my calendar, I did a 38 mile outside group ride with 2,000 feet of climbing. The IF for both was 81 but the ride TSS was 174 v. 111 for Warlow. Definitely felt the burn but I could tell that I was already stronger from just 4 weeks doing TR. Riding outside on a challenging ride was worth both for my head as well as my heart!
60 yrs old here and I just signed up for TR. Casual rider since 1989 then about 15 yrs ago started doing more and more racing, mostly MTB then added CX and then Fondo’s. 2012/14 I worked with a pro coach just to see what might happen and how to plan workouts so that I did not undo my previous days ride with another dumb idea. That taught me the value of outside advice so after buying set century plans, gravel plans I signed up here so we shall see what happens.
I’ll be 77 this year. TR has kept my fitness ready for the season here in the Catskills of upstate NY.
I use the sweet spot plan which works well for me and seems to up my FTP well enough to climb the mountains here. I recommend TR for any age. It’s so much better than Zwift’s training plans.
I’m 59 1/2 - I’ll be 60 in June, training for Ironman Canada.
I haven’t signed up for TR, primarily because I don’t yet see support for the older rider. Alas, Plan Builder ignores my age, and creates the same plan it would for a 30 year old me, which I know would result in either being overtrained (because I did all the workouts) or undertrained (because I skipped a bunch of workouts).
So I’m still using TrainingPeaks with plans designed for 55+ athletes.
Seems that 3.4w/Kg (using the ramp test, 3.6w/Kg was with the 8/20 style tests) is about my ceiling. I’m happy with that and am now just looking for a way to just sustain that FTP. Build after build after build is too painful for no additional gains but my FTP drops when using just the HIT-maintenance (mid-volume) plans.
I wonder if going back to base builds (lower intensity but higher volume than HIT-maintenance) would be the way to go. Anyone else just trying to maintain their current level? What plans are you following?
Sure it’s possible to work around the issue in different ways, but it’s kind of missing the point that the plan is wrong, and more irritatingly, everyone knows it’s wrong and keeps leaving it up to the user to fix said plan.
The reality is that a 60 year old body needs to ramp slower than a 30 yr old body to get the same adaptation. So an 8 week plan needs to be a 9 or 10 week plan, -or- it needs to not ramp as quickly in duration or intensity.
