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Entering the last "quarter" of my riding career?

If I remember correctly, Pete Tamblin, the Stayin' Safe Instructor in Georgia, is 73 years old. He is still competent beyond description and just finished the Moto Mark Motor Officer course.
 
Well, you've given me something to thing about. I turn 70 this year and I do wonder sometimes if I'll know when to quit. Still, I hang around with a bunch of guys the same age roughly and one of them just picked out his new Ducati Multrastrada and another goes to Arizona in the winter so
he can ride dirt bikes. He's 82. I know I don't ride as far as I used to, but that's more a matter of circumstance. I lost my wife/riding partner in 2010 after 30 + years of traipsing all over the country. My new wife doesn't ride, so that's kind of slowed me down. If I ever retire, mybe I'll try for more cross-country trips. Mac.
 
This is my friend Jaroslav, who I call the "Goat", on Tent Ridge in the Kananaskis Valley:

img102-XL.jpg


He's in his high seventies now, and still works out every day, skiis, and hikes. He had his knees rebuilt last year, but he's back doing everything, except playing squash.

As I get older, he's my inspiration.
 
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Yeah well, this "old fart" races Ice Bikes, downhill skiis, and busts 100mph a good many times each riding season.

A life not challenged is a life not lived.
 
Said another way, we are what you will be... . .. :brow

chronological = 64.

I have decided not to participate in aging. :nyah


Too much to do :clap


Two weeks ago..

Dougrappel_zps8de7a45d.jpg



How about this:

WWII dive suit:
MenofHonordiving-1.jpg


Or this:

Modern stuff.. just about to start teaching a class of newbie divers on their first certification dives :

DUISuit.jpg
 
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I do not know what all the concern about the"fourth quarter" is. You go until you can't go anymore then you find something you can keep going at. I have been riding for sixty one years, still fly my own airplane, and play Handball three times a week. I work out all other days. When I am unable to do any of these things I will find something else I can do. This is life!

Two other riders I ride with are in their eightys. Some of the guys are in their fortys and fifties. We also do a good bit of dirt biking. The two guys in their eightys also have their own planes and still fly. If there are any worries it would be what will I be doing after the fourth quarter, or one hundred plus!

Jack
 
I'll be 65 next month and have enjoyed my 2010 RT for the past two years (purchased from Sierra BMW, Sparks, Nevada in August 2010). I've got 25K on her so far, with 22 states west of the Mississippi & 2 Canadian provinces under my belt. Planning a trip this summer to ride the additional 26 states east of the river to complete my goal of all 48. :) Would like some advice on physical conditioning routines used by some of you 'old guys' in preperation for a long jaunt on 2 wheels. Any recommendations are appreciated.
 
Would like some advice on physical conditioning routines used by some of you 'old guys' in preperation for a long jaunt on 2 wheels. Any recommendations are appreciated.

I'm not a certified trainer, but what I do is alternate aerobic and non aerobic workouts. So on alternate week days I swim 30 lengths in a 25 metre pool, and on the other week days I work out (resistance training) in a weight room / fitness facility. I don't do anything specific to get conditioned for riding, but my weight room workouts include a lot of core conditioning on special machines.

I think the core work is the most important aspect of getting conditioned for riding.

Good luck with your super ride! :thumb
 
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I'll be 65 next month and have enjoyed my 2010 RT for the past two years (purchased from Sierra BMW, Sparks, Nevada in August 2010). I've got 25K on her so far, with 22 states west of the Mississippi & 2 Canadian provinces under my belt. Planning a trip this summer to ride the additional 26 states east of the river to complete my goal of all 48. :) Would like some advice on physical conditioning routines used by some of you 'old guys' in preperation for a long jaunt on 2 wheels. Any recommendations are appreciated.

I agree with Rinty, and i too have no professional background. But what {I} do,[BTW I'm 63] is general conditioning training. What I believe helps most in terms of riding?

Anything hips & back. Light weight squats, Frog squats Lunges, and a side-to-side lunge like skiers do, anything that pushes the joints past the normal range of motion. Heavy weight is not needed, just a bit of resistance. Most days a week, combined about 100 reps per/day.

Throw in a little indoor,or outdoor bike,...is about it. {IMO} anything that reduces sitting around time is good.

Someone once asked me what I thought is the best workout for?? is. My answer was & is anything you will do is best. It can be added to/modified from there,depending on your goals, energy etc.
 
I realized this weekend that it is not always a physical condition that may cut short our riding days. I have a friend who is nearing 80 that is very healthy and in good condition. He called me Saturday and said he couldn't get the oil to drain out of his motorcycle after he removed the filter. I told him I would search for forum to see if anyone else had encountered the problem. After no luck, I called him back to see if he had stuck anything in the drain plug hole after he removed the drain. After changing oil for over 60 years, he had forgotten to remove the drain plug. I visited him yesterday and he asked me if I had seen an old car he had had work done on. I reminded him that I had gone with him to pick it up a couple of months ago.
 
I started this thread not so much a concern or dread that I am just barely starting the later phase of my riding days, but more so that I realize it and appreciate and enjoy all the pleasures, joys, challenges and fulfillment that motorcycling gives me. I don't plan to slow down any decade soon. Ride on!

Just didn't think this thread would already generate four pages of responses.
 
I started this thread not so much a concern or dread that I am just barely starting the later phase of my riding days, but more so that I realize it and appreciate and enjoy all the pleasures, joys, challenges and fulfillment that motorcycling gives me. I don't plan to slow down any decade soon. Ride on!

Just didn't think this thread would already generate four pages of responses.

It did {IMO} because it hits home with many of us.

Ron
 
I realized this weekend that it is not always a physical condition that may cut short our riding days. I have a friend who is nearing 80 that is very healthy and in good condition. He called me Saturday and said he couldn't get the oil to drain out of his motorcycle after he removed the filter. I told him I would search for forum to see if anyone else had encountered the problem. After no luck, I called him back to see if he had stuck anything in the drain plug hole after he removed the drain. After changing oil for over 60 years, he had forgotten to remove the drain plug. I visited him yesterday and he asked me if I had seen an old car he had had work done on. I reminded him that I had gone with him to pick it up a couple of months ago.

Your're talking early stage Alzheimers [sp] ? That's the one that scares the heck outta me.

Ron
 
don't run so fast anymore but i run hard (lotta hills and sand). i'll be 67 this year (got my ticket in '62).. still fly, snowboard,wakeboard, shoot and ride. (oh yeah, a bit of 'boom boom' once in a while, too).
ya don't wear out, ya rust out.

that's beach sand between 1.25 and 2.0 miles... note the elevation changes commencing at 2.5 miles:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/259375596

hey, at my age its okay to be an obnoxious old blow hard.

View attachment 36818

Sometimes we do wear out. prematurely.
 
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If not for knee and hip replacement I would be done with a lot that I do. Still can throw a leg over my GSA, couple of 700 plus days last summer, train Labs daily, duck hunt, fish and long walks. I like to say, "if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".
 
If not for knee and hip replacement I would be done with a lot that I do. Still can throw a leg over my GSA, couple of 700 plus days last summer, train Labs daily, duck hunt, fish and long walks. I like to say, "if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".

I had a 3 level ACDF a year ago. I have a bad lumbar disk and I could see my knees having to be replaced down the road. The thing is, the neck will never be the same again and they aren't done with it yet either. Like you said, I should have taken better care of myself.
 
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