Shifting gears...

MojoK · Dec 6, 2018

So here I am at RRB. I've been in love with bicycles for a long, long time....road racers in high school, and mountain bikes for my entire adult life. Now my body is worn out past the point where I can ride bikes with a ton of intensity, but I just can't give 'em up. This fall I picked up my first lot of craigslist bikes ( 7 for $100) to start wrenching and re-imagining...I wound up on this fine site looking for photos as I set about building a Raleigh Sprite27 (maybe a '72?) into a Pashley Gov' styled path-racer. The result might shed some light on my sensibilities.

The entertaining bit for me is that there are cleaver ways to marry the new with the vintage. I left the original finish, the "earned patina" , which includes a bike license sticker from 1976, on the Raleigh because it tells the story of the bike, swapped in a double crankset/ bottom bracket off a '64 Rudge and finished it with modern wheels. The rear hub is a flip-flop style wearing two freewheels for a "dingle speed" drive.

us56456712 · Dec 7, 2018

You can't give up on bicycling. Keep riding anything. I retired at 62, then took 3 years of daily walking before I could easily walk my dogs around the block, then 4 miles a day on a Woman's Huffy Cranbrook. Too much sitting for years at a computer. Work will kill you and the sooner you can escape the better. At 68 I discovered mountain biking and have managed 1500 miles a year since despite double carpel tunnel surgery, meniscus clip, rotator cuff surgery and three spinal surgeries including a double fusion. I plan to die on my bike. My goal is for 2000 miles/year but orthopedic problems keep getting in the way. Each year since 68 I have managed to squeak by with 1500. You need to get a bunch of bikers, one for each condition you ride in and then buy many seats and handlebar combos until you find what works for you. I have about 40 bikes but ride 6 of them most of the time, the others are for events. Get something you can throw your leg over to start with. I can still remember the joy I had when I could toss my leg over a mans bike. I started out having to lay the woman Cranbrook down and step over it, but then if I crashed, it was easier to bail out. As long as you have reasonable balance, you can ride. I can't stand on my left leg for as long as I can on my right so my balances staring to fade. I practice each day to keep my balance but the time is fighting me. I'm considering a carbon fiber electric assist road bike. Old folks can't improve their VO2 max. Two year ago I rode daily doing 10 miles a day with 1000 feet of climb. Nothing got better, I still had to down shift at the same palace and 40 year old women who I invited to join me for my interval training easily kept up dispute not going this daily. Then my Doctor told me that my heart rate was the limiting factor. The heart rate of old folks decreases with age but the ejection fraction stays about the same. No wonder I get winded on B group rides and can't keep up. I got the skills but my heat/lungs want to explode when I ride with the 50 year olds. As my 72 yo riding buddy says were F&*%d.

RustyGold · Dec 7, 2018

Welcome to RRB!

I dig the dingle drive!

Jason

horsefarmer · Dec 7, 2018

Nice bike! Googled "VO2 max" looks interesting and prob deserves its own thread.
I have a stationary heart monitor, and also one of those things that strap around your waist to measure heartbeat but don't use em much. At 63, my problem seems more allergy related and many times just the process of getting out riding gets the phlegm out of my lungs. Have to try the heart monitor around our big "country" block loop (something like 15 miles with some hills) when weather is suitable.

MojoK · Dec 7, 2018

Thanks for the welcome guys. Let me clarify...I'm not done with riding! I am done with lift access down-hilling, free-riding, enduro racing, chasing Strava KOMs, and fixies. My issues aren't from sedentary work or age, but overuse injuries...a couple of A/C separations, double total hips , vascular surgery ( the list goes on). I'm a "late model, high mileage" man.

Wildcat · Dec 7, 2018

That cottered crankset really gives it a vintage look. I had the same one on my original early Hercules 10 speed.

I just qualified for social security, but I ride in leisurely mode 90% of the time now only in an upright position. I'm hoping to be able to ride for another 20 years. I've been riding since 1962, 56 years! My low geared 3 speed Hawthorne cruiser is it for the time being. I think the warm weather here helps too. It's perfect riding right now.