# Mad Respect...



## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

Meet Jim. This 80-year old Pivot Pilot(2016 Mach 4c 27.5/Eagle 1x12) just completed 15 miles of Singletrack... including a 2400 foot climb. PROOF, you're never too old to pedal!









Wayne is a 64-year-old Singlespeeder, running 32x20 on 2013 Siren John Henry 29er. He consistently leaves me in the dust:









Jim still skis moguls, plays tennis and has previously completed several Ironmans.:thumbsup:

Wayne loves to cook and ride, 5x a week. He has competed in ten 24 Hours of Adrenalin Marathons.

I'm so looking forward to retirement....


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## jcd46 (Jul 25, 2012)

Pretty cool!

Very encouraging for a late starter like me.


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

The Golden Rule is never stop.

Some folk get discouraged because they're not as fast as they were last year and everyone passes them now, or that climb now feels too tough.

Accept that but keep going. You can still do the same stuff, just slower. Ignore what anyone else does.

Remember you're doing this because you enjoy it, so if it takes longer to do it, then that's a bonus because you're getting more hours of enjoyment.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

Velobike said:


> The Golden Rule is never stop.
> 
> Some folk get discouraged because they're not as fast as they were last year and everyone passes them now, or that climb now feels too tough.
> 
> ...


Correct....stopping is literally dying. Jim told me if you use your body - it will continue to run like a clock.


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## TheBaldBlur (Jan 13, 2014)

The older I get, the more guys like those two are my heros. I was slogging up a climb this summer telling myself that I was too old for this crap when I got passed by a guy who looked ~20 yrs older than me absolutely hammering the hill on a rigid fat bike. At the crest of the hill he pulled aside for a water break where he had a few encouraging words for me. There's a time it would have pissed me off, but now I can't tell you how inspiring it was for me. I try to pass it along when I'm riding and see someone else struggling with either their skill or fitness level - not that I'm all that on either of those - by encouraging them to keep going, it's OK to go slow, it's ok to walk when you need to, just don't. ever. stop. I did for 10 years and I'm still paying for it.


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## jcd46 (Jul 25, 2012)

I do find it interesting that most of the "older" guys (I'm only 52) have a much simpler setups, usually rigid/SS, at least in my area, and what I read in these forums. 

We had a gentleman on Saturday that was of older age, but not sure how old, SS Rigid of course and killing it! another guys was on CX bike, and even though this trail is not particularly hard, and the ride was at a slow pace, he was shredding pretty well, dusting me on my FS. 

I guess with more skill, and experience all the hoopla of the latest tech becomes irrelevant.


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