Hazard of cycling as we get older

I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.

"Joe Davidson" wrote in message
om...
I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.

Cyclists don't age. Have you ever seen anyone die of old age while riding a
bike? Didn't think so.

RichC

"Joe Davidson" wrote in message
om...
I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.

What difference does it make? Would you stop riding if you learned it did?
I hope not. Ride until they pry your cold, dead fingers off the handlebars.
Perry
--
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mohandas Gandhi
http://www.afsc.org/

"Joe Davidson" wrote in message
om...
I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.


Your chance of injury probably increases with age from every other activity
as well. The only way to be completely safe is to stop all activity.
Bicycling helps your body stay strong and fit and it certainly helps you
maintain a good sense of balance. Why should you give up something you
enjoy so much just because you're getting a little older?

BTW, 62 is not old. There is a group of women who regularly ride the forty
mile round trip between their town and ours. The youngest looks about 68,
the oldest about 75.


Arlie C.

On 26 Jul 2004 15:50:36 -0700, (Joe Davidson)
wrote:

I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.

Important thing is to bike and exercise regularly. This gives you a
feeling of empowerment, and if you push yourself, it leads to
confidence. Even though you might be a bit more at risk, the
confidence will pull you though it.

In addition, it will impell you to do things you might not do. For
instance, I just spent two weeks vacationing at Va Beach with my
brother riding twice a day, every day. We're planning on riding an
event together in Oct. Normally I wouldn't do this, being somewhat of
a homebody, but desire for continued improvement biking was strong. (I
don't have such good places to ride where I live).

I can forsee travelling to other places in Va once I improve some
more, just for the fun and adventure of cycling.

Finally, I have a hip injury and had to be using a cane to walk even
short distances. That has improved so markedly by biking that I
rarely bother to get my cane when we go out.

Good luck, and keep going.

-B

"Joe Davidson" wrote in message
om...
I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.


Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.
I do not know when the injury rate would start to climb
a lot, but after age 60 you will have longer recovery times
if you do get injured. I personally would not want to just
quit having fun just because I was afraid of getting hurt.

On 26 Jul 2004 15:50:36 -0700, (Joe Davidson)
wrote:

I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Probably true; also probably true of anything.

The rate of injuries and falls among people over 65 does increase,
sure, but that shouldn't stop you from riding a bicycle if you're
still fit and sharp.

My granddad rode a motorcycle until he was 80.

-Luigi

That is like asking at what age you should curl up and die?
Or when should you stop having sex?

I hope to bike tilol Im into my 90s
Carefully though
My father is 85 and golfs every day. In winter he curls every day,
of course Im in Canada,


Id be more careful and wear all the protective gear you should,
maybe even consider the knee protectors as I hurt my knees once and
developed temporary Bersytis. obeying and followigng safety procedures.
You wont know if this is good because if it is good nothing will happen....


Allen

"Joe Davidson" wrote in message
om...
I am 62 and getting older at the rate of one year per year. Since
childhood I have bicycled, both around the block and on 450 mile per
week tours. My bicycle is my most important material possession.

Recently a friend my age fell and broke his hip. He is now fully
healed, but has sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

It won't be long before I'm your age. I was a couch potato up to 5 years ago
and I was aging more than one year per year. Then I took up commuting and
now feel many years younger and far more confident and adventurous.

I used to hear of all the injuries suffered by those who did any exercise of
any kind and think how silly they were. But without experience I could never
even imagine how good one feels with exercise. I wouldn't have believed it
if it could have been possible to tell me.

I've had 3 good falls on road, many more off road. I've bust a collarbone
(too tired & harried,) been on crutches for falling on my hip (drinking &
riding,) and had to sleep on my back for a month (careless on ice & snow.)
None of it can compare to how unbelievably better I feel from riding.

Of course we should be sensible. The article in Bicycling mag on osteo has
me intending to crosstrain. I'm sure I'll do it sooner rather than later.
Although it would help if I could find something as elegantly simple and
naturally appealing as commuting to work.

I'd like to take up windsurfing but there's not enough impact to work
against osteo. Jogging is a bit slow after biking. Weightlifting sounds
tedious. Maybe Karate or Muy Thai?

You should remind your friends that the saying "use it or lose it" keeps
proving itself true. The fastest way to incapacity is to quit.

Of course, maybe your friends have other conditions that make exercise more
dangerous. Perhaps their brains are impacted by early onset Alzheimers and
they are losing their balance along with everything else. The same "use it
or lose it" still seems to apply but maybe the best they can do at this
point is the shopping center shuffle. It might be cruel to rub their noses
in their misfortune.

Doug

(snip!)sworn off bicycles saying that the injury rate
increases sharply as we age. Another friend, who has not been
injured, has quit for the same reason.

Does anyone know if this is true? Please tell me it is not.

March 2004 Bicycling magazine special report sez cyclists (refers mostly to hardcore racers, but can also be applied to lifelong commuters of all ages) are sweating calcium along with all those other minerals. Osteoporosis is a concern, and loss of bone density makes injuries more likely, esp. as we get older. Good news: regular calcium supplements and a balanced diet that includes calcium rich foods (not just dairy!) can mitigate the risk of bone density loss, and keep you off the injured list...