[Closed] How old are you? Or really how long can I keep MTBing as long as I'm fit?

41 and had a blast down Golspie at the weekend. Brilliant and not thinking of hanging up the baggies anytime.

48 and possibly at my best ever... hoping to keep improving for a few years yet.

I think the electric assist bikes will mean i'll be on the trails for some time to come.

I also dabble with the Dark Side and will be doing that a while too.

Just love riding bikes.

Well, turned 72 last November---still at it at least a couple days a week. Rides shorter, risk-taking reduced, but I am not going to grow old(er) too gracefully!!!! Rather participate than observe.

My old road club had a (reasonably) active member who was in his 80s. I'm very sceptical I'll still be riding anything serious off-road if I get to that age.

🙂

I'm 52 and I have had to slow down a bit in the last couple of years, as I definitely don't recover as fast or mend as easily after injury. So, I've stopped racing and doing the really gnarly trails, but expect to continue riding at least untill I'm 60. The guy I do a weekly 45km rail trail ride with is 69 and it's as much as I can do to keep up with him.

I know a guy who did the Trans Provence aged 60 with a very respectable performance. He's still riding all the usual stuff a few years later (Alps, Lakes, Etc)

38, been riding for 20 years and I know I'm not quite as fast uphill as I was in my early 20s but I'm at my fastest down/through the techy stuff.
I'm happy reading the posts above that I should have years left in me!

Just bought my 1st DH bike at 45, loving it! Once I get too decrepit then it will be an ebike for mtb.
If I ever find myself considering road cycling at any age, then I will book myself a one way ticket to Switzerland.

55 and slowed a lot I do more road riding now my wrists and elbows cant take the hammering any more and I fear a serious injury that would most likely never properly heal at this age.

I broke my back on an mtb at 43 so I know shit happens.

Well I've already been outclassed in the wrinkle waving 😆

I'm 56, been riding bikes on and off for 45 years or so but it's only been my main activity/sport in the last three years, climbing and running were my main sports before that. The group I ride with vary in age from mid 30s to their late 60s, the older ones don't hold back either, they are more than happy (and competent) on reds and blacks as well as technical stuff in the Lakes and elsewhere.

As you get older you:

Don't bounce so well
Take longer to recover from injury
Have to move ever faster to stay still.
Don't feel like you have to prove anything.

Sure I'm not as fast as 18yr old kids down the descents but I get Strava top tens on climbs (and flats) on and off road so that's one to the crinklies 😀

It's only society telling you that sport is for young people - you don't have to listen.

A number of my riding mates see in their 50s still racing and sometimes winning. One is 57 and came 3rd at last round of ukge, but would have finished very high in seniors!

Our mate Paul is 59. If Im anywhere near his riding when Im 59 I'll be more than happy.

34 feel like a spring chicken compared you owd bastards

Roy Hunt is 58/59 now and is regularly top 10 in NW cyclocross vet races (40+).

There's no reason to let age stop you riding an mtb.

What will stop you is stupid injuries from failed heroics. Consequences get more severe and longer term for simple tumbles as you age.

24 hour events get really tough. 🙂

I'm 40 and I did a DH race, albeit slowly, at the weekend. I'll stop riding when I can't ride any more.

im 62
ride singletrack with gap jumps and drop offs twice a week in the evening and get home at 10:30 and shower, up for work a 3:45 am
ride at least 3 hours at weekends
im going to bike park wales on the 16th July, 2 days before i do the 3 countries tour from Chamonix which is a weeks riding.
Because our mid week rides are pretty tough, i find i cant ride 2 nights on the trot unless the in between one is a relaxed ride, and it does take longer to heal, and im ALWAYS knackered and aching, but i wouldnt change it.
bikes are mega am 26 and mega tr 650b

I have come back to riding this year ,after a5 year break.

I'm 60 now, can't ride enough, as others have said, takes longer to recover etc.

Enjoyment is still at maximum though.

Had a guy pop into my mate's shop & ordered a 120mm full-sus merida. He's 75 years young........

There was I guy I used to see around the local TT circuits a few years back. Dunno how old he was but he looked about 100. He used to hobble about the carpark on a walking stick. Looked like somebody's granddad come to give some support. Then he got his low-pro off the back of the car and give us young 'uns a run for our money.

The thing about cycling is that, as long as you don't fall off, its a very low impact activity.

I'm 46 and have effectively hung up my wheels! Doesn't excite me anymore.

Like Whitestone, MTB has been my main activity for only about 6 years, following years of windsurfing and surfing and a bit of rowing and canoeing.
Still hill walk and snowboard now and then.
I've always had an MTB ( well since 87 anyway), but tended to ride short local loops or odd epics when there was no wind or surf.
Absolutely love it now though, had a new bike in 2008 and just replaced it a month ago, with a 160/140 trail bike.
55 now, ridden 30 miles off-road since Saturday and have the rest of the week off, so should hit 120 or so by Sunday.
55 now and hurt much more these days when I crash .

George Bernard Shaw — 'We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.'

Great quote jwt.
BTW I'm 41, 42 in Oct. Injuries are my fear, just dont want to be off the bike!

60 in October: ride 3/4 times per week;15-40 miles;just back from 3 days hardcore in the Lakes; compete(ish) in local Enduros;off to Whistler on Friday.......only sayin

I must say this is all very encouraging.

I'm 54, always ride the blacks at trail centres and take the gnarly route in the natural stuff. Oh, and I came 20th in the Tour de Ben Nevis last year out of about 400.

Mid 30's here and as fit as I've ever been, I don't see me stopping any time soon.

My dad is 64 with a double knee replacement and still rides 3 or 4 times a week, he's a bit slower than he was but he can keep a steady pace seemingly forever. As mentioned above, it's low impact you see, pootling along towpaths and the roads can be done as long as you so desire.

One of the guys that comes out on our Sunday leisure rides is eighty-something. There's no reason to stop unless you [i]want[/i] to stop.

Old cyclists do have a habit of keeling over and dying whilst out on their bikes though, it's happened to a couple of my parents' friends. That's either good, or bad, depending on how you look at it.

i'm 47 at the end of the year and feel like i'm still 15 🙂
i think i qualify as lesters carer 😉

you only get old if you stop

My dad is 77 and still rides offroad. Maybe not Radcore gnar but still offroad.

66, bought my first mtb in 1986 and still ride at least twice a week. I was always a crap rider so although I am sure I have got slower, it doesn't show as much as if I had been good! A guy I ride with is two years younger but can still embarrass people a lot younger. I do wonder sometimes how many of the people I see on the trail will be still riding when they get older but I suspect if you are daft enough to be on this forum you will be daft enough to be out there as long as you can!
Ps thank the Trail Fairy for electric bikes, should keep me going til at least 80.

George Bernard Shaw — 'We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.'

I've got friends who believed they were too old for cycling any more in their 20's.

I've got friends who are in their 70's and wouldn't dream of giving it up!

Guess who has more fun!

FWIW got a few road clubs local to me with many active members well into their 80's. As long as you're having fun and not hurting yourself too badly, I see no reason to give up at any age!

I'm 39 and feel a lot older at the moment!!

Young kids have pretty much stopped me from doing any decent (MTB) riding at the moment. I'm sure it'll kick in again at some point. Still commute regularly and that keeps a certain level of fitness up. But my body feels like it's breaking down at the moment, i really do need to step it up a gear!!

My son (15) called me up the other day after a ride he had done at Cannock with the guys he rides with up there.

'Guess what Dad, I meet someone really inspirational today. He was a man that got cancer in his 70's and beat it, now he is in his 80's and has taken up mtbing and rides 3 times a week... and he wasn't slow Dad!!'

Great for the guy and good for my lad to have met him, he tells pretty much everyone that he talks to if they are coming up with reasons they don't do any exercise or don't have a hobby.

Funny he never mentions my amazing exploits... kids.

40, and they'll have pry my rigid singlespeed out of my cold, dead,prematurely arthritic hands.

i'll keep turning cranks until my body completely fails (about another week and a half at this rate! )

40 and improving all the time. What I want to know is when will I stop being able to get better? I'm doing bigger gaps, higher drops than ever and am constantly trying to go bigger. How long have I got before I'm maxxed out and have to start winding it in?!

I think once one gets super old - providing one is taking things steady- it's safer to be riding trails than roads .. Maybe I'm biased though as I hate road riding ..

59 1/2 here and still feel pretty good on the bike. late nights after the pub ride are a killer now & injuries take a bit longer to heal. much more aware of the potential dangers of a serious stack now so tend to be a bit more cautious in places like the Lakes or The Peaks. lost the love a bit the last couple of years because of neck/headache problems but physio has improved it so enjoying it again. Ride a Superlight % Genesis I0 plus a road bike for commuting.I do have a problem at times keeping up with the young whippets or even the middle aged vets in our group but most ride 29'ers so I'm bound to struggle aren't I 😉

I genuinely think it is related to how old you feel in your mind.

I have slowed down and nowhere near as quick or have the strenght and endurance that I had 20 years ago.

But I'm still riding and enjoying, I can't think of anything better to be honest.

Haven't ridden for two weeks now due to food poisioning, but can't wait to get back out once I have gained a little strenght and weight.

Lost 6kgs , surprisingly, my electronic bathroom scales tell me that I have lost fat as opposed to muscle content. So perhaps it was worth it after all 😮
Regards

Denis

62. I go out once or twice a week, but more often on my own as I'm slower than the guys I used to cycle with although they are all of similar age.
I've just gone from rigid to hardtail SS as my wrists were hurting after a ride.
I'd really like to improve my skills, though. I'm no good at dropoffs etc and I can't wheelie.

42 here, and probably the fittest I've ever been (still crap though)
I see many old roadies (and MTBers) around where I ride, so hoping that I've got decades left in me. (seriously, some of them look really old - well into their 80s)

I got talking to a group of retired guys out for a road ride last summer, they told me the road riding kept them fit for MTB riding!

I'm only 50, so not really qualified to take part in this discussion 🙂 I've been riding a bike of one sort or another since I was 5 and can't see any reason why I'd stop. I have given up crashing though. Mind you, I was never very good at it.

40 and improving all the time. What I want to know is when will I stop being able to get better? I'm doing bigger gaps, higher drops than ever and am constantly trying to go bigger. How long have I got before I'm maxxed out and have to start winding it in?!

43 and still pushing the envelope. It's not a padded one yet... 😆

I'm 50 and didn't start cycling until I was 40.

Finding that over the last year or so I've lost my 'edge', from a fitness perspective - still riding as many times but just can't do the double-days etc.

Got better technically though, did the EWS Golfie stages on Sunday for example.

They're all wrong. I've pretty much given up riding my bike now I'm 45. The start of the downslope was when I was 41 and learned to ride a unicycle...

He reckons he'll still be riding his bike when he's 60 odd

I'm only 32 but..

It's the sinewy 60+ buggers you have to watch out for, they might not be as fast in terms of top speed, but they will ride your legs off over the course of a day given half a chance!

Know a fair few roadies in their late 60s, and a few in early 70s who still ride centuries regularly, less into MTB, but still know a couple of guys in their mid to late 60s who love a bit of dirt 🙂

At a local enduro I did last year there was a guy competing who was 78. He came last, but not by much and rode everything on the course.

49 here and riding 3 or 4 times a week. Last year or so has been difficult, initially with a couple of bad hospitalising crashes, then prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery end of last year. Ridden last 3 days though after a week off bike and feeling it !!!!

40 and improving all the time. What I want to know is when will I stop being able to get better? I'm doing bigger gaps, higher drops than ever and am constantly trying to go bigger. How long have I got before I'm maxxed out and have to start winding it in?!

Well of course if varies a lot (see [url= http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33409604 ]this[/url] for an interesting take on how ageing varies across people) but for me I think I peaked at 50, and am about 10% off my best now at 52.

still riding twice a week minimum at 60 and see no reason to stop, I've never been quick and I'm not the best [ by a long chalk ] technically but I love to ride and will happily play out all day .

I'm 52, the "lad" I ride with is 59 so I have to keep going at least as long as him. I hardly saw him in the Alps a couple of weeks ago as he was so much quicker than me!

The older I get, the better I was... (as they say)

I think the most important thing, to keep improving, is never to have been any good when younger. One must never admit this.

(I may even be half serious - certainly in many sports it's often the best athletes/pros who, having performed at the highest level, give it up completely when past their peak. Me, I don't have this problem.)

Anyway, I'm 52 ffs, and take heart from this thread that I can think of another 10 years at my current sort of level. I'm pretty fit and enthusiastic but could probably benefit from a skills course to maintain a notion of upward trajectory... (Any old ****ers done this?)

I'm 50 and riding as well if not better than 10 years ago. I take less risks now so that I can ride twice a week plus once with my 11 year old son. I still enjoy it and even on a bad day I'm happier on the bike than sitting at home!

Main issues are injuries which just take a very long time to fix, I've started to realise that gentle recovery rides when injured are better than riding through the pain!

I'm 55.

I race in the LVRC. And during a circuit race or crit you can see the ageing process in action. There are three races 40-49 50-59 and 60 plus.
I get lapped by the 40 plus group round about the same time I/we lap the 60 plus group.
I notice how slow my climbing has become, even compared to new young riders. Even if I say so myself that my riding is far superior. Technically I don't feel I've lost a thing.

It really is an individual thing - how you cope with injuries, if you stay clear of joint problems etc. I maybe have the wrong build to go on as long as I want, always been stocky build so now I am 53 it means a battle against weight. It's the wiry, sinewy types who go on the longest.

Did the Bowderdale classic trail on Thursday, pretty tough going all natural single track up and down, one of the lads was 71 and did it all. At the back fair play but we never had to wait more than a minute or so for him, he's that type too - looks skinny as a rake but is as tough as old boots.

I discovered MTB last Autumn aged 61. I'm completely hooked and I'm on the bike everyday even if it's just an hour practicing manuals and bunny-hops in the park. I'm fitter than I have been for 20 years.

I eventually passed two old ladies on tandem trike this morning. They cornered side car style. I'd guess they were in their 80 s but that could well be an underestimate!

@johnx2 I went on a skills course with Ed Oxley (Great Rock). I found it very useful. You do need to do lots (and lots) of practice afterwards though to drill home what you've been shown.

Some people have come away saying they've learnt nothing but that is more likely to be a mismatch between teacher and pupil, not everyone gets on with every teacher.

48 and out on the mountain 2-3 times a week. Broke my collarbone with a fast downhill OTB in the rocks 6 weeks back. Was back on the bike in less than 3 weeks (carefully) and doing some cheeky FOD DH trails last weekend. Off to the Alps in 3 weeks and have another MTB Orienteering event the week before. Many of the MTB orienteering lads are in the 45-65 age category, and I seem to remember when I did the Brecon Beast a couple of years back over half the field were in the over 40 age class.

Life in this old dog yet, for many years to come I hope.

Me: 40 and (pretty much) as fast as ever; I rode the Transrockies last year and the Taiwan KOM the year before that.

My father is 69 and completed the Strathpuffer in a team of four last year; he is still zooming around his local woods and planning a coast-to-coast to celebrate his 70th this year.
So there's plenty of years of riding left!

My dad still rides at 75. He claims to be getting slower but I checked strava (where he's been riding with me). He's not.

From my experience if you're still riding at forty plus without issue you tend to go on and on, assuming you avoid injury and remain in good health.

How many here though have to work a little harder away from the riding? My diet is a little stricter than ever before. I take it easy with booze and avoid ill people. Plus a little amount of weight training helps.

@oldgit - yes, it's running (at an ever increasing pace) to stand still.

turned 38 earlier this year. been riding mountain bikes since i was 13 and i'm not planning on stopping any time soon. i'll keep going as long as my body will allow me to. plus got 3 kids...the eldest is starting to get into it and i'm sure the other 2 will follow once they're old enough
i've ridden pretty much everything from xc to dh...but nowadays its mostly enduro/all mountain/trail riding has the appeal for me right now. too lazy to ride up hills nowadays so i prefer riding at venues where there are uplifts.
eventually will get another dh bike so i can get really gnarly!
someone's got to show the young ones how its done! 😀

my eldest brother mentioned to me about 2 months ago that he felt that i should give up riding bikes...i just had to laugh at him and say no!!

Kevin is 58 and still enjoys every minute of it since he got his first Marin in 1987. We are off next week for a three and a half weeks Alps trip, Verbier, Pila and Finale. We will be riding most days. Cant see him giving up.

My friend is in her 60's and still does plenty of xc, and all the most technical riding in Bingley, Cottingley, etc, Alpine riding and regularly shames girls in their teens and twenties when it comes to downhill and enduro.

apart from a damaged knee that is not getting any better she is still fitter than me and just as prepared to launch off anything reasonable 😉 Not 20 foot gaps etc,
But now she is riding motorbike enduro and getting better at that, I think a Rally beckons next

58 here. Got in to road cycling when I was about 47, had my best season at 50 and swapped to MTB XC racing, hoovered up Vet & Super Vet titles for a couple of years. I've fallen out of love with the road bike bike but love my Spesh Enduro and the Scott Scale XC. Can't see me stopping until I cant get my leg over or see well enough to miss the trees. Dinghy racing is my other passion - my wife continually frets about whether I'm drowning or crashing. I'll agree with all those who say you take longer to recover/mend. I seem to ache 24/7 these days
🙂 (I come from a background of Climbing, Scuba Diving & Competitive Rowing with my fair share of injuries....)

I'm 48 now and starting to consider if it's time I should sell the Patriot... and buy a Demo 8 or LV601 instead 😛

and the upside of turning 50 soon is that I'll hopefully be higher placed in my age-group at the Mega.

One of my riding buddies' dad still rides with us on occasion. He's at least 75 now I think and still doing high mountain all-day rides. He just sets off a couple of hours before us... and quite often we don't catch him!

will turn 40 in two weeks time but ride as much MTB and road as ever, smashed a 112 mile sportive on sunday, knees a bit sore but loved every minute. Will probably move more toward road cycling as the years fly by, as I cant be arsed driving miles to trail centres

i,m 54, 2 months ago was in hospital, in the critical ward with big blood clots too both lungs and one in my leg, last summer i was averaging over 100 miles a week, these last two months im gradually getting my fittness back, doing round about 70 miles ish a week at the moment, but these are very much slower miles these days, as ive been told not to stress my heart too much, so everytime i start to get out of breath i take a rest, there was a guy who was cycling around cardiff barrage last year who was over 90, havnt seen him for a while though, cant see me lasting that long.

I'm 47, been riding proper MTBs since I was 30.

Through 2013/14 I went through a pretty significant episode with cancer - my Macmillan nurses encouraged me to ride as much as I could manage for as long as I could (either side of five operations in the neck / throat and a six-week spell of radiotherapy); then they told me to get back out on the bike as soon as I could.
My return to the great outdoors was not pretty - but it was critical to wellbeing, both physical and mental recovery. Finished Rad-treatment end of April, rode Mayhem mid-June ('14) - coming in from lap-1 was fairly emotional, finishing the event with a bunch of mates was priceless.
The bike for me, and no doubt many others is more than just a past-time.
Hope to be riding for many years to come.

62. Blast along the Ridgeway and up and down the ways to get there. Love Swinley. About to try a Santa Cruz 5010 CC to go alongside my Trigger

Commute a minimum of 10 a day but like the 20mile hilly route in.

^^^ grtdkad inspiring stuff. Cancer at our age sucks, but it seems selfish to say so ! Hope you've kicked it into the long grass !

I'm 55, I've slowed down over the last few years, and as above, I know I won't mend as quickly as I used to.
I'm still enjoying it, though.

I was 58 in May and managed to improve one of my Strava KOM's this week. I haven't been riding my MTB's offroad as much lately but I've been riding my CX more.
I'm looking to retire ASAP so that I can ride more.

I ride at Chicksands Bike Park, and local gent Paul Mounsey is 68 (possibly 69 by now) and rides 4x nationals and BMX.

You don't stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing.

24 now and hope to be doing it for the next 40-50 years

steviecapt - Member
...i,m 54, 2 months ago was in hospital, in the critical ward with big blood clots too both lungs and one in my leg,...

Don't worry mate, I was in the same position. Both lungs, blacking out, critical etc.
6 weeks later I did the 'Puffer solo (not very well though).

I did ask the doc if it was ok to do a bit of cycling...

Blood thinners are magic*, and the NHS is brilliant. 🙂

*Just don't fall off.