[Closed] Getting better as you get older

I didn't really start mountain biking until I was 46, so yes.

I certainly improved thru my 30s and 40s. Starting from a pretty low base I will admit

I ride stuff now without thinking, that my self 15 years ago would simply not have managed.

The wheelie thing really bugged me for years, a couple of summers ago I decided to put the effort in and did 10 minutes a day most days just up and down the road. It took ages as I'm not a natural but I can do some pretty decent ones now, few hundred metres if I get my eye in although need to practice more again. I was 43 or so then and I learnt on a FS 29er so yes it can be done.

Still working on the jumps though!

I'm better at 42 than I was at 18,thanks mostly to the massive difference between a 1993 Marin Eldridge Grade and my Bird Aeris 145 😆

I’ve gone downhill skill wise since turning 40 but so has my fitness so I accept they are correlated, so until I get fit I won’t worry about the other side of it

There is no reason why you can't keep getting better. I know lots of people older than you who have significantly improved since I've known them.

Both jumps and wheelies are good targets as wheelies can be learnt literally anywhere, even just outside your house in the road. Watch YouTube videos and ask other people you know for tips.

Jumps, I just built my own in the local woods. This meant they were the exact size I wanted (tiny) and the run in/out are straight and smooth. Then I've just built them up bigger and bigger over time. As the increase each time can be quite small, progress is sped up.

Start small, keep at it. I'm older than you and not ashamed to admit that I still get a wave of enjoyment from clearing a stick I've placed after the jump further than I have before.

Also, skills course.

Skills-wise, I went through the same kind of lull as you (51 at present) a while ago, and had a wee think about all the things I thought I couldn't do. Made a little list, and then just went at it one at a time.

The answers are out there- there's nothing in the world of MTB that doesn't have a course, video, tutorial, or someone on here that knows how. Just take it a step at a time, practice, and dont give up.

With fitness- I'm finding that my recovery is longer now I'm older, and I'm not as fast- but my endurance seems unchanged. I think you'll be the same.

I think the trouble is, if you didn’t learn these things as a kid when you had all the time to spare you won’t make the effort to learn. Once you have restricted time to ride, it feels a wasted opportunity if you didn’t go out for x miles. As per the poster above you need regular practice.

I’m still crap at wheelies and can't get significantly airborne. One weekend me & a mate didn’t do the usual Sunday am ride and just spent some time in a local skate park for a few hrs. At the end I was getting further in the air and more confidence than before.

I still get a wave of enjoyment from clearing a stick...

As I was reading that I initially thought a stick was how high you were bunny hopping!

I went to see Jedi when I was about 45 and he unblocked everything that was stopping me getting my wheels off the ground. I'm still not very brave but will get airborne when I see a suitable chance.

Just take the brakes off the bike and go down a hill - mandatory air!

Got into riding when I was 34, was fitter through my 40s than I've ever been. Though I've been injured since turning 50 last year.

A guy at our cycle club in his 40s decided to take it seriously and give it a year flat out training and diet etc. Now wears a National Champions (age group) jersey!

Embrace mediocrity. It’s better that way all round.

At 50 I’m the fittest I have ever been. Able to keep up with younger riders, just need more recovery days! Even won my first cup last year

A started about 10 years ago aged 27 and whilst not trying to be a hornblower I' m a much better/fitter rider now...though still faaar from the best even in my local groups. Though TBH my confidence on tech drops off quite quickly when I'm not riding much (The joys of being self employed, cant be spannering mesen)

Ultimately just ride to have fun though, its a hobby not a competition.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've had some skills courses in the past, one covering jumping in particular. Keep the practice going is always difficult. That's done to me, nobody else. Maybe a refresher will help.

Embrace mediocrity? Completed it mate 😉

I'm 51 and always try to do stuff better, line choice, effort etc. Sometimes I race the clouds home too

Better now at 48 than I've ever been as a rider and speed

I didn't start mountain biking till I was 50 and for the first few years I would take the chicken line on most things but since I got the T130 the game has seriously upped and at 55 I'm doing things I never would of dreamt of 5 years ago. I still can't wheelie and I'm pretty poor at jumping but I am trying to get better everyday I ride, for me riding with people who are far better than myself has been the best way to improve my pretty poor skills.

its a hobby not a competition.

I like that.

I'm not the greatest rider as you know Colin, but I have got better this last year by doing strength training and riding a bit less - which has helped me enjoy it more.

Don't think I could motivate myself to learn to do proper wheelies, but I do keep meaning to work on my jumping. Shout me if you wanna do some sessioning sometime.

I’m not the greatest rider as you know Colin

Well I usually struggle to stay with you when we ride together. So I’d say you’re not so bad 😉 Definitely agree that strength/core training can have some real benefits.

One of the issues is that I think ever ride has to been done as fast and as good as possible. Rather than just enjoying it for what it is. I rode the off piste stuff around Ladybower a few weeks back and tried to follow a group of guys down one of the trials. Was chatting to them just before we set off and one of them said he can’t ride it cleanly and that he usually has to walk a few bits. So I tried to follow the, in and they had all well cleared off by the time I got to the bottom. Immediately lost my head and kept to trials I knew than try the harder stuff.

I think the strength/fitness thing is a good shout, the minciest folk you see on bikes are usually biffers.

BMX 35 years ago, I could wheelie around corners and clear a 3m gap on the ghetto track we built in the woods near my mams house,,, I can’t do either now,
BUT a typical loop nowadays is 40m and I piloted a HT down revs red tracks last year with no probs.

WGAF 😁

Absolutely but my mid week ride is “training” to keep me going at the weekends. Can’t wheelie to save my life but who cares.

You’ll never has as bigger balls at 50 as you do at 20. But you sure as hell can be fitter, stronger and more skilled. It just takes work and effort.

Keep the practice going is always difficult

That's a massive factor and one i've recently been working on with myself. Over the years i'll do something like go to Jedi and get training, but then spend the next 6 months riding nothing but the Ridgeway. So recently i've been working more on FoD, Swinley Skills and BPW to keep my skills going, keeping my eye in etc and it appears to be working well.

after years of cycling with bad technique, failing to wheelie and jump, i invested in a skills course. Having some analyse your bike setup, positioning, technique etc is really helpful. Changed how i brake, corner and during lunch we practiced wheelies for fun. Basically dropped into easier gear, practised jumping off the back, then covering brake and bringing wheel down, then covering brake and finding balance. 30 mins over lunch and i felt i could do it and now practice when i can. Starting to get better now i know the technique. coaching = best upgrade ever! Im 45 and did the coaching last year.

Wheelies are are target of mine too. Asking people for tips is usually no good because most people don’t really know exactly what individual skills to teach you, they probably learned when they were kids so can do it without thinking.

I’m following the Ryan leech 30 day wheelies course and it breaks the wheelie down into lots of little techniques then brings them together in stages, building the skill set gradually. I’ve gone from zero to about 50m at just over half way through the course. It’s honestly the most fun I’ve had on a bike in ages.

Cost about £25. He has a massive library of online skill courses, including jumping. If you want to improve it’s a good place to start. Manuals are next for me

The short answer is yes, you can improve with age. I’m 45.

Are you near a pump track?

If you are, N+1 and get yourself a jump bike. Great for skills, fitness and really good fun.

I'm 48 and without doubt fitter and more confident on the bike than I was 10 years ago.

This is all sounding very positive. Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to start being positive and be prepared to put in more effort than I would have 10 years ago. Will check out that Ryan Leech course, I recognize the name, have stumbled across his stuff before.

Unfortunately I'm not near a pump track, or any decent trials. I need to travel 40 minutes plus, to get to anything decent.

I'm more confident in my 50s than I was at 40, 45 etc. but strangely I'm not a lot faster. I reckon I've stopped kitting my bikes out with mincer tyres and obviously the bikes are LLS these days. Bars are wider.

Been MTBing since the early 90s and I had no technical skills to speak of before ~2011. But I've lost some gung-ho over the years. Perception of speediness is fake news. I think I'm going faster but in more control (because skillz), but reality is probably that I'm more in control because I know better where the dividing line between triumph and disaster lies because... better tyres, better suspension, better brakes, better fit. Those grippy tyres on a heavier bike mean I'm (to some extent) just going slower.

Time is the enemy. My physical output is nowhere near what I could do in my 20s. The spurts of training I indulge in can yield ok results but its nothing like being active all the time with a younger body's recovery.

That said, I got my first ever MTB podiums last year (Scottish enduros) after 27 years of trying so compared to my peer group I'm holding on.

I think you can get better as you get older but it's down to time on (and familiarity with) the bike more than anything else I reckon, being comfy with what the bike's doing underneath you and knowing what it'll do, that sort of thing. I'm happy doing stuff now that I wouldn't have even looked at 10 years ago (I'm 45 now) but I've definitely plateaued and that's perfectly fine by me.

Going out on your bike, from the door, and just messing about on it is fun and is a really good way to get 'better' quickly.

I may have started from a low base, but at nearly 50 I’m better than I was 2 years ago which was better that I was 10 years ago, so still improving.

It takes two things though, the desire to do it and time.

I've noticed with other riders if they don't want to try new things and push themselves, they never improve. You've got to want to give it a go.

Then it's the time to practice new skills and the time to keep those skills sharp, which for me doesn't come from a 30 minute skills session, but doing it again and again over weeks until it's muscle memory.

Unfortunately I’m not near a pump track, or any decent trials. I need to travel 40 minutes plus, to get to anything decent.

Look again at what's outside your door, there will be urban features you use for skills.

I pop up and down kerbs, jump steps, work on my body position in every corner, try to ride benches and walls etc. It doesn't have to be purpose built or forest trail.

One other thing is after a big crash a few years ago I stopped trying to be faster and worked on being better – putting wheels and weight where I wanted them – and generally ride at no more than 90% though with the better skills I’m now faster than when I was pushing 100%.

FB-ATB

I think the trouble is, if you didn’t learn these things as a kid when you had all the time to spare you won’t make the effort to learn. Once you have restricted time to ride, it feels a wasted opportunity if you didn’t go out for x miles. As per the poster above you need regular practice.

Don't know if it needs to be regular but both of these are things you need to decide to set time for and practice and so it's a decision to do that or go ride.
It's really a matter of priorities...but if it's important for you set aside the time somehow.

Interesting points there fooman. I have tinkered with the idea of going out to ride like I used to before the days of Strava and Garmins. Leave all that at home and just go out for fun. I have some woods nearby which I can utilise, although there is no elevation (not that it really matters).

Colin, I think you've got my number on whatasap - once the evenings get lighter and the woods a bit dryer there's plenty of scope for jumps practice (and pub, nach) locally

Interesting points there fooman. I have tinkered with the idea of going out to ride like I used to before the days of Strava and Garmins. Leave all that at home and just go out for fun. I have some woods nearby which I can utilise, although there is no elevation (not that it really matters).

JFDI! You can't measure fun and it's ok to play out if you want to 😎

I've been thinking about this recently. Definite lull in riding in the past 4 years (I have a 4yo daughter, go figure). Then... have got out a bit in recent weeks and am beating Strava times from years gone by and oddly, on the steep techy stuff in Tweed Valley, I feel remarkably comfortable like everything is falling into place. I'm not talking super quick, I'll never win races, but at an age when I thought riding would be dropping off and my body falling to bits, I feel strangely zen on the bike.

Four year lull and then that? Fair play. I find if I don't ride for 4 weeks I feel like I've lost most of my fitness. That might not be the truth in reality. I find I go faster when I've got a smile on my face from riding well. Doesn't happen often though!

I'm 42 been riding off-road for about 15 years. My fitness ebbs and flows based on how much actual riding I'm doing but I'm definitely better at technical trails than ever.

Some stuff I used to stop and stare at before giving up and walking down I barely notice now. Its not true every day, some days you just don't feel it and its fine to take an easier line but generally the level of stuff I ride is a lot higher now than 10 years ago.

I'm 60 on Friday, been riding for over 30 years, now really struggle to keep up on trail rides - not sure what to do!
In the meantime I'm spending more and more time at uplift days, we're booked in to Dyfi on Saturday for a birthday treat - not been before, hopefully I'll survive 🙂

I am the same age as you, but I am blessed without very much competitive spirit, so I'm happy to go for a bimble and just enjoy it. I certainly could be fitter, and actually ride quite infrequently, but the big difference to my riding these days is having confidence in the abilities that I do have.

If you genuinely want to improve anything, then accept the need to actually practice. A normal ride will possible only give you a handful of opportunities to try getting airborne, to bunnyhop an obstacle or to carve a corner. I have met riders who have far less experience than I have, but have concentrated on core skills to their dividend. This is probably the hardest bit for an older person to tackle. I feel quite self-conscious just rolling around the neighborhood trying to practice my wheelies, but in a small group it is much easier to pick up tips and to properly focus on practice for an hour or two.
We started doing a weekly 2 hour session of 'skills gym', where we each just work on the particular skill within a supportive group environment. It has helped get me to the pint where I can almost manual 🙂

So, since posting this it has been a very dry spell of doing any exercise. I went to Wharncliffe Woods last weekend and it was a day to forget. Had an OTB early on twisting my knee a little bit, then 2 more stupid falls put an end to my day. I was very very frustrating, and have been annoyed with myself since. Conditions were challenging, very muddy, very slippy, and I was unable to ride sections that I could previously.

I'm off skiing this weekend (another thing I'm very anxious about) for a week, so I would like to get back on the bike when I get back. Here's hoping for an improvement in trail conditions.

I have been thinking about entering some races this year, mainly a couple of PMBAs, Maybe a Welsh Enduro round or two, and the Midweek Madness XC series.

Practice. Cant say it more plainly.

OP it sounds like confidence and the right mind set is something you are struggling with.

But you cant get better by sitting on your arse doing sweet fa.
You posted 3 weeks ago and say its been a dry spell of exercise. Moaning about it here wont help.
But getting out on the bike and riding up and down the pavement practicing wheelies for 15 minutes each and every evening certainly will help.
Years ago I decided I wanted to wheelie longer and jump higher. I got some odd looks from the neighbours but I simply rode around outside my house most evening for about 6 months. I felt a bit awkward, neighbours must have thought it was odd. But who gives a **** what anyone else thinks?
Youtube tutorials are a great resource.

So 15 minutes each night. Do you think you could manage that? If not, then what is the obstacle that prevents it?

At 38, I'm currently the fittest I've ever been. Took up running (couch to 5k) to keep the fitness up during the winter, not being able to get out on the bike more than once every 2 weeks sometimes sucks for staying fit. I've got 2 more weeks of C25K left and I'll try and continue and get in a couple of 5k runs per week with another run increasing distance, I'd love to be able to run 10k comfortably.

After getting back into MTB in April 2018, that first summer was hell with lack of fitness, not being able to enjoy the downs because I was blowing out my arse on the ups really limited the fun I was having. Also, I remember 18 months ago going for a group ride and being show a drop off (which could be rolled) and thinking there's no f****g chance I'll do that - the other week a few of us ticked off some drops/bombholes/rolls on a session including that same one I swore I'd never be able to do.

I do still need to practice the little skills though: endo turns, bunnyhops, manuals etc. I'm at the stage in my riding where to go faster (in the current conditions) I need (and want!) to be making small gaps on the root nests and natural lips rather than ploughing though them.

Still, fitness is the main thing for me, if you don't have that it's very hard to improve everything else as it limits your ability to ride, full stop.

Jumps and wheelies? Well, wheelies can be practiced on every single fireroad climb - try 10 per couple of miles and you'll get there.

Jumps, I have less interest in, a Jedi course helped with this though, went from nothing to clearing a 6ft gap with relative ease. My targets this year involve riding lots - more stuff, steeper stuff, rockier stuff, mountains, big days and so on. I have 8 trips already planned for this year to take me out my Kent and Surrey comfort zone (more of wales, west country, Lakes, Peak district, Scotland) with some proper wild natural riding in there so if that doesn't force me to improve I don't know what will!

After 33 years mtbing I like to think I'm like a fine wine and have got better with age.
In reality more like an Aldi £5 red. Average but to most can't tell the difference. 😉

I'm average. I'm not bad I'm not too slow now and again but I've plateaued.

Need to push myself more.

Ps I can wheelie but I grew up in formby where it's so flat it's all you had to do.

If your out on a mnpr I'll happily see if I can share some tips from my wasted youth

But you cant get better by sitting on your arse doing sweet fa

Couldn't agree more. Perhaps there is a bit more to my reluctance than I’ve explained. Fear of failure being one reason, the others, a little more complicated.

It’s been interesting to hear that many people are fitter now than they have ever been.

Mrs Devbrix was riding red at Haldon today and met a MTBer who, get this, was 86. He was on an ebike, but nevertheless that’s amazing. You’ve might have nearly 50 more years to nail those skills, maybe longer!

I’m out regularly twice a week, not training or very fast but usually a few climbs and natural descents.Im 55 and whilst I may have plateaued now, the last 5 years on a full suss bike and getting to grips with enduro style riding has transformed my riding. I’m fairly confident on rocky, rooty, steep stuff and any other skill I have I’ve picked up along the way.

Fear of failure being one reason, the others, a little more complicated.

It sounds like if you get your head in a better place then getting out on the bike more will follow?

Cycling and staying fit in general has saved me from pretty dark times in my life if i'm honest. Maybe you're setting the bar too high for yourself and expecting to fail.
Take it right back to square one. start on the basics like its the first time you've got on a bike. dont worry about pulling a wheelie for 500ft. focus on lifting the front wheel and getting used to falling over past the balance point.

whatever you do mate just get out on the bloody bike. please.

One thing I’ve learnt in the last 10 years is that with focused practice you can achieve results at any age.

As an example, when I packed in my job in the university sector and started my coffee business I never thought I’d get any good at latte art. I’m not much cop at fine motor skills other than playing musical instruments, and my early attempts at latte art made me think Id never get it.

However, after a few months of making hundreds of coffees a week, I found that I could do 20 layer tulips on demand. None of it was natural aptitude - it was all a result of focused practice.

I’ve found the same with my piano and guitar playing - I’ve focused closely on key areas, rather than just randomly playing stuff - and I’ve improved more in the last couple of years than the previous 20.

JP

The older I get the better I was. At this rate by 2030 I'll have been a riding god in the '90s.

My advice is that you can indeed get better as you get older (I am 55) and this might help get to grips with things

https://betterride.net/blog/2019/here-are-the-mtb-skills-you-should-be-practicing/

he advocates that if you execute the basics really really well you will be a much better rider, and by basics he means Vision, Body Position, Balance

So I have been focusing on these core basic skills and trying to get them as perfect as I can and it really has improved my riding.

John I'm going to Nick that.

Just to confirm what's being said really.

53 very soon and currently the best I've ever been.

I'm not a natural but I do enjoy the challenge and work on both fitness and technical skills on every ride.

Going out when I simply don't fancy it helps, pretty much never regret it.

As said above, manage your expectation, improvement is incremental.

50. Ex roadie, nothing like as fit as I was before a car driver broke my back 4 years ago, when I switched to MTB only. That said, I set two local PB's on descents in filthy slippy mud recently, way faster than in the dry.. I don't understand it, other than my 'skill' is improving.