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Hi all,
I am 40 years old and getting into mountain biking. Probably too late, too old, but I have fallen in love with roots & rocks, and I am just not ready for a road bike. I ride a Scott scale 960 29er hardtail.
Spent my youth on bmx bikes in the 80’s, then just peddled to work & back for many years, before an impulse ride on a technical singletrack while on holiday last year led me to start practising.
This forum looks like a nice place with good people, so I thought I would sign up & say hi.
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Welcome aboard. You will have just as much fun as the younger guys too. 😃 I started at 46 and 10 years later am still riding, although slower than the average Joe.
Get out there have some fun and post up some pics. -
Welcome, fox!
You may be surprised at the number of us that are doing our best to fend off the grim reaper. I definitely wouldn’t say your age put you in a minority.
You’re going to have a fantastic time and sometimes will go faster than common sense dictates. Just remember that our bones don’t mend as quickly anymore
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38 here and I still go over my handlebars at least twice a week…
Ride fast and take chances!!!
Welcome!
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HI!
I am a year older, but about the same story! For me MTBing has worked like the fountain of youth…hell I even started saggin my pants! 😆 Only because i have lost weight and can’t afford to buy new clothes! LOL!! -
I started mountain biking about 8 years ago at the tender age of 33. I am faster now then I was then .. a LOT faster. And a number of the guys I ride with are 50ish and faster than I am, so it seems to get better before it gets worse.
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Didn’t get my first bike until 35. Lost 20lbs that summer while changing nothing else about my lifestyle.
The best thing about starting late as you still learn fast, so you’re technical skills ramp up much faster than your physical capabilities decline. You’ll be 50 before you see an overall decline in performance, and you’ll love every minute of it.
After a few years of riding, I took a BetterRide camp in Fruita. One of my "classmates" was 63! There’s one major obstacle on the Prime Cut trail where we did some of our training. Out of the 7 in the class, we older guys were the only ones who cleaned it 😆
Better late than never — ride on!
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I am 62 years old and still riding strong. One of our winter riding partners is 74 and still going strong…he can go forever, if a bit slower on the single track. Started riding in Marin County in the very early 80s and never stopped. I don’t really feel like I have slowed down…and of course the equipment has improved so much…it is still a blast to get out and rip single track. I currently ride a Specialized Comp 29 which works perfectly in Southern Arizona, where I live, and Sedona, where I used to live and still visit frequently for the great trails. BTW the Sedona Real is a very bike friendly hotel in Sedona…decent rates, BIG rooms (you can take your bikes in the rooms), nice pool for the post ride cool down. The trail system in Sedona is really excellent…during the very warm summer the Aerie Trail is the perfect hour long sunset ride…plenty of time to do it from the Boynton Canyon Trailhead after the sun has disappeared behind Bear Mountain.
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Welcome, and don’t worry about the age! You are right in the mountain biking demographic! I’m 43 for a couple more days and am still riding strong.
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I started riding singletrack at about the age of 15, and I [i:1oxsahgg]still[/i:1oxsahgg] don’t feel like I started early enough 😆
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This sums it all up!!!! -
i started up this year, and i am thirty five. i feel great!
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"SCHucker" wrote
This sums it all up!!!!Nice, I dig that photo!!
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I’m totally going to rock that 4 wheeler at the end when I get it.
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There is lots of people in their 40’s riding in my area.Im 37 now and i started two years ago by going downhill in VT.Now im riding local trails in Ct and this is my thing.Good luck.Its never too late.And i also got Scott bike.Aspect 940 29er
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Im 42, and started riding last year. Doing maybe 2-3 rides a week, nothing crazy just 10-15 milers on colorado frontrange singletrack. I sometimes ride with a friend in his late 20s, and age and fit really matters on long rides. So last winter I did my best to sneak a ride or 2 a week, weather permitting, for fun and fit(doc recommended 😃 ) .2 weeks ago, I rode with my younger friend, and realized Im actually faster and fitter when I edged him on one of the climbs.
So all I can say is, as what everybody says, its NEVER too late. Go have fun.
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I just turned 40 myself. I took my first mountain bike ride with my Scout troop at age 16. I loved it, and was wishing I could afford to buy one (I was on a rented bike). Then I went flying over the handlebars and ended up getting stitches in my face and arm. It took me about 20 years to get up the guts to try again. Now I wish I hadn’t wasted all that time in between.
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"thefox" wrote
Hi all,
I am 40 years old and getting into mountain biking. Probably too late, too old, but I have fallen in love with roots & rocks, and I am just not ready for a road bike. I ride a Scott scale 960 29er hardtail.
Spent my youth on bmx bikes in the 80’s, then just peddled to work & back for many years, before an impulse ride on a technical singletrack while on holiday last year led me to start practising.
This forum looks like a nice place with good people, so I thought I would sign up & say hi.
Your post made my day:
Quote: [b]"I am 40 years old and getting into mountain biking. Probably too late, too old……………….I started mtb in 2008 at the age of 59. After 25 years of riding Harleys I sold my motorcycle – wasn’t gettin’ much exercise just twisting a throttle. I purchased an ’08 Gary Fisher superfly hardtail and hit the trails non stop. After 4 years of ‘pounding’ on the hardtail I bought a ’12 full suspension Superfly 100 Pro. (I gotta tell ya, this bike makes even an old man a decent rider) XC singletrack riding is my favorite. Over the years I have ridden many epic trails such as Bent Creek, Tsali, Dupont, Kerr Scott Reservoir, FATS, Shingle Mills, the "Big M" as well as numerous other trails in Michigan and Ontario, Canada. All trails are good – some are just better than others. Am I the fastest on the trail? NO. Am I the slowest on the trail? NO. I’m probably somewhere in the middle as far as speed and technical skill level goes but the main thing is the enjoyment, fun and the comradeship that mtb provides – not to mention bumping up the fitness level. What’s really cool for me is the fact that I bike faster and better each year!
You have many, many years of fun biking ahead of you. Enjoy!
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When I was in high school and college I rode almost every day in Boston (commuting in heavy city traffic). Back then I was riding on several 10 speed road bikes. After college I did go through a bunch of years of moving all over the country and ended up not riding at all. I noticed that I still was doing all of my own bike maintenance even though I was still not riding. I really did miss riding.
I finally ended up settling in Connecticut and decided to transition to a hybrid rigid bike. I rode the hell out of that bike. Most of it was on easy walking trails, fire access roads, and on suburban streets. I found some really nice bike parks in CT where mountain bikes where tearing up the technical trails, so I decided to hit those with my hybrid bike. Little did I know that riding that rigid frame bike at such rough off-road and technical riding conditions, ended up catapulting my MTB riding skills and fitness level way beyond anything I could of ever imagined.
I did pause riding for around 6 years again and ended up moving to Iowa. I once again found that I really missed riding. This time I had a tiny bit more cash available and purchased a full suspension bike (Airborne Zeppelin Elite). I am riding the hell out of this bike too, and I ended up upgrading some of the components so it now really fits my style. Bikes sure have come a long way by leaps and bounds. I am now able to ride much more technical trails with almost effortless ease compared to my older rigid frame bike. No complaints, that old bike really upped my skills so that I can now confidently ride anything almost anywhere… 😃
Now-a-days I am focusing more on the fitness side, and the fun of traveling to as many different bike parks as I can. DUDE!! I just hit 49 years old and I am feeling so much healthier and stronger than ever now that I am riding again.
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40 😏 Hell,I went back to Mt biking full time 2 years ago after a short layoff.I’m 55 now and having a blast!We have some awesome single track In NW Montana and I’m feeling braver than I was a kid.GET GOOD BRAKES!
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"pepperbiker1" wrote
40 😏 Hell,I went back to Mt biking full time 2 years ago after a short layoff.I’m 55 now and having a blast!We have some awesome single track In NW Montana and I’m feeling braver than I was a kid.GET GOOD BRAKES!
Nw Montana? Whereabouts do you live? I lived in the Kalispell area for about a year and a half.
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Go for it. Just got back from 18+ mile ride on new trail. Started at 53, now 61 and riding best I ever have. Can often keep up with and even pass guys in their 20’s & 30’s. The sights, the sounds, the opportunity to think, being with friends, enjoying the beauty of God’s creation – makes it all worthwhile. Road with 67 year old today and he’s still loving it.
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45 here and just started last year on single track and the year before on a hybrid streeter. I’ve broken a few bones, mostly ribs, so try not to do that, but it’s just to much fun. I’d rather rip up hill then down, Then I feel like I did something, and not almost died. 😆
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"mtbgreg1" wrote
[quote="SCHucker":1t9cpyq7]
This sums it all up!!!!Nice, I dig that photo!![/quote:1t9cpyq7]
Same here. Who came up with that one?
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46 Fat and happy. 260 lbs ride a giant xtc291 hard tail keep an eye on heart rate. Ride single track till I die.
Pissed wasted 20 years chasing the wrong high. Get out and ride. Keep within your limits and paddle like hell. -
"CraigCreekRider" wrote
[quote="mtbgreg1":2f42cnsx][quote="SCHucker":2f42cnsx]
This sums it all up!!!!Nice, I dig that photo!![/quote:2f42cnsx]
Same here. Who came up with that one?[/quote:2f42cnsx]
Giant did:
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Don’t ever think you are too old. I am 61 and have been riding for about 20+ years. I planned to enter a MASS race this past March but back surgery put that on hold but I looking forward to next season. Too old….never! Just go and have fun at your own pace.
Mark
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"maddslacker" wrote
[quote="CraigCreekRider":34vqpbxi][quote="mtbgreg1":34vqpbxi]
Nice, I dig that photo!!
Same here. Who came up with that one?[/quote:34vqpbxi]
Giant did:
[/quote:34vqpbxi]I was checking out the suspension design on the MTBs and thinking, "that looks like a Giant." 😀
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I started a year ago. I’m 48 now and in the best shape in years. I did BMX in the late 70’s/early80’s. Rode dirt bikes(250) late 80’s/early 90’s, then tended to my kids. Now they’re grown and they’re proud and happy to see me enjoy myself so much in two wheels. I’ve even join a few 6hrs races for fun. Did not win, but I wasnt last, and that included younger guns. I’m a faster and smarter rider now and still having a blast while learning more and visiting new trails and meeting new ppl who share my ever growing MTB passion. For the joy of the trail!!!
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They shouldn’t let anyone over 30 on the trails! Was sitting on my couch with a few extra pounds and in the worst shape of my life. Went for my first MTB ride and was hooked. Bought a bike that week and ride 4 days a week for the past year. Lost the weight and feel great. I was 49 about to turn 50, so it was one of those crisis points in life- you know the "Oh shit I’m turning fifty and feel like hell". Do wish I had started younger, but wishes are like….. Now I ride with the 20 somethings and keep up. Ski lifts are the greatest invention of all time for us old guys. 😆
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Like a lot of the replies already posted I rode many miles 25 years ago and just recently started mountain biking again, bought my giant xtc the first of May and have put over 450 single track miles on it in the hills of East Tennessee. I turn 50 in a couple of weeks and ride with my older brother who’s pushing 60 and can’t keep up with him but we both blast by many of the younger guys we meet on the trail. I’m a long time runner who’s averaged 75 miles a month for years and it is great exercise but I never had my butt clinch up making a sharp switch back or laughed as much as I have since starting mountain biking. It’s a great sport for any age!
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Hey group well im 46 an have been off and on MTB sine 2005 a walmart huffy something. It was away to exercise with my lab who loved to run. Funny thing he could run faster than I could pedal so hmmm lots o being dragged around but it tired him out. I was starting to ride more when my cousin well needed transportation. He lived in the same city and the whole city was like 3 miles long he was obese badly. so badly a few months later I went to his place and found my MTB I loaned him uhhhmmmm bent. how do you bend a MTB just riding it on city streets? He did. anyhow things kind of went down hill lost my house and most everything else in 2008 moved to a big city and apt. Found out we were close to everything I mean everything 7 miles you name it you could walk or ride there. So the life changer moment After having really bad asthma, early onset osteo, my teeth falling out due to all the prednisone they fed to me and random muscle spasms no one know why they happen, in 2011 I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. t was a life ender for me. I really spiraled down a deep dark hole. Because well after that so many more things start happening and quality of lif starts to really suck, But then I said screw this. I am not going to have diabetes. Its medicine and weight driven so Im not having this anymore. So I bought a mongoose detention 26inch. Awesome bike for me disc brakes, full suspension 24 speeds just perfect. Rode it a little bit getting some well endurance to ride it longer then one night someone decided they wanted it more than me. I knew I was in trouble when people kept saying nice looking bike. Woke up the next morning my massive cable lock cut and it was gone. They even stole my wifes seat and post thinking it would work. Police couldnt find it even with ser# no pawn shop would touch it or even the scrap metal places So it must have a been a special order for someone never saw it again. So I started walking and well now ive reached a plateau dropped a ton of weight and can walk daily 17 miles a day if I wanted to so now I need to turn to more of an exercise and getting back into mountain bikes. mostly road but some trail here to. I just purchased new bike a 29er and well might be a touch too cold to go on long rides 11 degrees right now so probably short grocery store rides some upgrades to it a well. something abut being outside in nature and working out is so much better than listening to music or mindlessly watching TV while on a gym. Ive changed my lock type as well U lock from hell yeah I know 2 50 seconds wit ha high speed grinder and It can be taken but everything is insured like the last one so Ill enjoy it while it lasts. Hope to connect with others on here as well.
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It’s great to hear all these encouraging stories. As a fifty-year-old woman, I p art of an extreme minority. I took up mountain biking for a short time a few years ago, but then got sidetracked by running and rock climbing. I recen decided to take up mountain biking again as my primary sport.
Tomorrow I pick up my first FS bike. I’m so excited. Unfortunately, the weather has been so wet here in GA, i haven’t been able to ride as much as I like.
My favorite part of mountain biking is the mental part.
It requires problem solving skills and quick thinking.For some reason, I am more fearless now. Maybe I feel there’s not much to lose?
😀
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"LucindaInGA" wrote
It’s great to hear all these encouraging stories. As a fifty-year-old woman, I p art of an extreme minority. I took up mountain biking for a short time a few years ago, but then got sidetracked by running and rock climbing. I recen decided to take up mountain biking again as my primary sport.
Tomorrow I pick up my first FS bike. I’m so excited. Unfortunately, the weather has been so wet here in GA, i haven’t been able to ride as much as I like.
My favorite part of mountain biking is the mental part.
It requires problem solving skills and quick thinking.For some reason, I am more fearless now. Maybe I feel there’s not much to lose?
😀
Or maybe you realize there is a way around or through some of those obstacles! Welcome back to the sport, I hope you enjoy your new bike 😃
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