You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
In 1999 I could knock out 60 high quality press ups in a minute & I did the 3 Peaks in 3:53.
In 2017 I could do about 10 press ups in a minute & managed 4:20 in the 3 Peaks (with a brief puncture & crash).
I can confirm that recovery definitely takes longer.
Peak aerobic fitness was probably when i was 14, it's a hard thing to quantify, but at 55 this year i'd say an 8.
Can still do 20+ deadhang pullups and i'm the only person i know who can do 10 front lever pullups, the downside is a beastie gym session can take it's toll, don't recover so easily now.
Probably a 9 or a 10 tbh - always been reasonably fit / active in layman's terms but never more than that. Mid 40s and started cycling more seriously, entering races and events which I never used to do outside of the odd MBO.
I definitely had the wrong perspective on races when I was younger - remember trying a few SXC mountain bike races 15 or so years ago and getting absolutely smashed [they had serious climbing up there, tbf], feeling like you needed to be levels above to race and that it just wasn't for the likes of me, only for serious whippets. I now realise that yeah, the sharp end was levels above, but the bulk of the field wasn't and it wouldn't have taken a huge effort to make that step up and enjoy racing.
Wakes in a cold sweat - It's Ten Tors weekend and I'm nothing like fit enough.
20 years too old as well, but the fear stays with you. Fact is I'm probably fitter now than then, precisely because of that fear.
Right now about 6-7/10 I'd think. I'm actually pretty fit for 42, but I had a couple of proper peaks to compare to.
Peak no.1 was at 16-18. Was properly into MTB and TTs (junior 10km record at my club). Also rowed at school, 8s and pairs. Took part in national champs at Holme Pierrepoint, etc. As well as that I did triathlons and duathlons, top 20 in the nationals one year.
Then i went to art college. Ha 🤣 2 years of that and i was properly unfit!
Second peak was at the end of my second year. I'd started cycling again, had got into clubbing and may have had some chemical aids along the way. Amazing how fit you get dancing all night 3 times a week. Like competitive aerobics!
Then I got a summer holiday job rickshawing tourists around Oxford. Cycling 100+ kilos of rickshaw & 4 fat Americans around all day, and a nightly regime of dancing and disco biscuits, I was ripped come September!
3 years ago pre 2 kids I was 72kg with a ftp hovering in the early 300s and could generally take a kom when I put my mind to it. now I'm 83kg with an ftp of 250ish. Strava depresses me these days. went from pretty quick to average. in also no longer a castelli medium 🙁
1
Currently 5/10. This time last year I was 8/10 and doing more endurance/sportive events, illness since then has seen fitness slip. I'll just enjoy riding mtb this summer and get back into training over the winter.
My fittest ie 10/10 was probably 10 years ago. I feel age is against me at 42, but it'd be nice to get back to that level again, I think it's possible, but will require a lot of effort whereas 10 years ago the fitness just seemed to come naturally.
I was probably fittest/ best condition when 14-18. Played in two rugby teams - 2 to 3 games a week and trained 3 times plus all the usual school sports stuff. Even 35 years ago we did lots of what would now be called HIIT fitness - shuttle runs up and down steep banks or with a bloody 16 stone prop on your shoulders. I was completely solid - like an ice hockey puck maybe if that makes any sense. But I had zero interest in running distance or cycling though and used to skive off cross country so I have no sense of my fitness at that age in that respect.
As a middle aged man mountain biking, bouldering and surfing are my main sports ( with some despised running for fitness). The fitness for the bike - we tend to ride long (4/6hr plus XC/natural trails) - is very different to what I did for rugby so it's differ to draw a direct comparison. But I'd say I'm about 6.5/10 at the moment looking to push that up to nearer 8 before a couple of big summer rides.
I'm 61 years old ..
I havent peaked yet ..😎😁
Having said that I felt really fit in the late summer of 2016 when getting a new bike just re-ignited my passion and I was riding three times per week ..
A long way. 5/10
2012 I got round the Dyfi enduro in3.55,with a face infection! Was training for my 3rd kielder 100(which was cancelled). Then my son arrived, I put on a stone and got two hernias. It taken a year to recover from the Bastid hernia complications. Just back in size small mtb shorts. I’ll never be that fit again unless they ban chocolate digestives.
1.
These days I'd have to ask for directions at the end of the neutralised zone. (Road)
Or get pulled off the course with more than half distance to go. (MTB)
I doubt i can average even 30kph for an hour. (Down from ~50kph or so.)
My small amount of winter zwifting puts my FTP at about 210W, peak was nearer 350W. I'm also nearly 25 kilos heavier. Oh, and my back is slightly poorly.