Cycling UK Forum

I live near Cannock Forest in Staffordshire and have been mountain biking on there for over 20 years, mainly single track, gravel sections plus climbs mainly a circuit of about 12 miles went for my normal ride in the week and found the gravel sections and climbs really difficult and tiring. Today went out feeling good on a ride from home that took in Shoal Hill common, then Penkridge and the canal to Brocton and up the chase road hill to the forest and through the chase to Marquis Drive centre and then back home in Cannock a total of 20.76 miles a route I have done regularly in the past with no problems. Today on the gravel sections on the chase and climbs again I became quite tired and failed to unclip in time at one section when I stopped with the inevitable result, rest of the ride had been okay including the ride up Brocton hill which anyone who knows it will confirm initially is a bit of a climb. It seems my days on the gravel sections are over and are too much for me with the lack of traction and the extra effort required being too tiring, so at the age of 72 I have had my last Cannock Chase ride and will now do canal and bike path rides on my mountain bike and my road bike.

Sorry to hear that, and I hope that you enjoy your future rides.

If that tiredness has come on quickly then I suggest having a chat with your GP, whatever your calendar age.

Jonathan

I have come to the conclusion that it is the loose gravel sections and loose climbs that tire me so much as I go the same ride distance on my road bike and I feel fine afterwards, I suppose I have to accept I am not as strong on the bike as i used to be.

Would an e-MTB be an option? I hired one and it was so much easier getting up the hills and running bigger wheels with softer tyres than I used to made the gnarly sections easier. I would give one a trial, you may be impressed and hooked

I concur on checking out an e-MTB, our local Tuesday night MTB ride has a few guys in their 70’s that nearly stopped coming with us but invested in e-MTBs and now are out more than us youngsters in their 40’s and 50’s.

rotavator wrote: ↑26 Sep 2021, 4:10pm Would an e-MTB be an option? I hired one and it was so much easier getting up the hills and running bigger wheels with softer tyres than I used to made the gnarly sections easier. I would give one a trial, you may be impressed and hooked

Thank you for your comment as I am okay on my road rides I have never thought of an hybrid electric bike, but it may be worth trying one particularly an e-MTB as I enjoy being off road and the advantage of virtually being able to almost go anywhere on a ride appeals to me.

Aikon wrote: ↑26 Sep 2021, 4:22pm I concur on checking out an e-MTB, our local Tuesday night MTB ride has a few guys in their 70’s that nearly stopped coming with us but invested in e-MTBs and now are out more than us youngsters in their 40’s and 50’s.

Thanks for your comment, just checked the bike shop on Cannock Chase hires out e-MTBs will go and have a look.

Is this the first time that you have felt like this after this ride? Could it just be a bad day, or has it been building up? Is it worth trying it again next weekend? Although the eMTB does sound like a good next step.

Sounds like the OP is struggling a bit on some sections, might be wise to see a Doctor though I wouldn’t happily accept ‘what do you expect at your age’. I am reminded that an older local guy, who had always been as fit as a fiddle, died of a heart attack whilst out Mountain Biking.

I suggest a couple of changes:
# I don’t clip myself into pedals, to my mind it’s too restrictive. Toeclips and straps can allow feet to quickly detach from pedals but (IMHO) clips can be a hazard.
# What I can’t reasonably ride up I walk up, sometimes I don’t even bother pushing myself at all and get off early (it’s allowed ) .

No one has suggested lower gearing and I don’t know what’s possible for the OP so I won’t suggest it either .... but the OP could investigate. Electric Mountain Bikes are, I am assured, wonderful. They sound like cheating to me and aren’t cheap; pragmatism is a wonderful thing, just don’t run out of charge and don’t spend what you can’t really afford.

Carlton green wrote: ↑26 Sep 2021, 9:30pm Sounds like the OP is struggling a bit on some sections, might be wise to see a Doctor though I wouldn’t happily accept ‘what do you expect at your age’. I am reminded that an older local guy, who had always been as fit as a fiddle, died of a heart attack whilst out Mountain Biking.

I suggest a couple of changes:
# I don’t clip myself into pedals, to my mind it’s too restrictive. Toeclips and straps can allow feet to quickly detach from pedals but (IMHO) clips can be a hazard.
# What I can’t reasonably ride up I walk up, sometimes I don’t even bother pushing myself at all and get off early (it’s allowed ) .

No one has suggested lower gearing and I don’t know what’s possible for you so I won’t suggest it either .... but the OP could investigate. Electric Mountain Bikes are, I am assured, wonderful. They sound like cheating to me but pragmatism is a wonderful thing, just don’t run out of charge.

He needs to accept he's 72 for gods sakes. .which is admirable for still being out on a MTB. E bikes are massive amongst the MTB community of all ages so absolutely no shame there. I know some serious riders in their 40's/50's who swear by them, it gets them up some of the highest peaks in Wales so they can enjoy the descents.

FREDO wrote: ↑26 Sep 2021, 2:52pm It seems my days on the gravel sections are over and are too much for me with the lack of traction and the extra effort required being too tiring, so at the age of 72 I have had my last Cannock Chase ride and will now do canal and bike path rides on my mountain bike and my road bike.

I'm more than ten years younger than you and I frequently have trouble getting up the steeper and more slippery sections on my rides. My solution? Get off and walk. I use flat pedals on my MTB and prefer this to being clipped in and the shoes are easier to walk in. I'm a relative latecomer to cycling off-road and I enjoy every minute of it. Mind you, I draw the line at excessively muddy routes. We all have our limitations and different pleasures. Happy riding!

I don't know how weather conditions have been oop naarth but down in the New Forest it's become quite challenging. This is common down here after a prolonged dry spell

A lot of my usual hard pack gravel routes have turned back to their native components - sand and stones. This makes it not only tough going on the flat but treacherous on both ups and downs. Another factor, perhaps unique to the forest, is that usually softish hoof churned trails have turned into very rough concrete which is seriously hard work

On a long ride at the weekend I took several 5s on trails I'd normally breeze* up and I got home feeling like I'd done 700 miles not 70.
There's a couple of local climbs I ride regularly that I've been unable to conquer for nearly a month due to poor traction and inconwenient deep sand pockets

I expect things to be much better tomorrow as it rained quite a bit today.

* wobble at 2-3mph on the verge of blowing a gasket or taking a dab but making it 9/10 times

I returned to pinned flat pedals once I reached 70 - much less stressful!

That is something I am thinking about now after Sundays ride on the MTB and not being able to unclip in time on a gravelly section leading to a cut knee and hip, although in the future I will only be using hard packed tracks and trails on my mountain bike. The only draw back I was thinking about was using flats on my MTB bike and still using clip ins on my road bike whether that may cause a bit of confusion at times, although I suppose I could use the one sided clip in and one sided flat pedals on the road bike, anyone else have other any other ideas.

FREDO wrote: ↑28 Sep 2021, 12:10pmThe only draw back I was thinking about was using flats on my MTB bike and still using clip ins on my road bike whether that may cause a bit of confusion at times, although I suppose I could use the one sided clip in and one sided flat pedals on the road bike, anyone else have other any other ideas.

I use single-sided SPD pedals on my upright tourer.

My wife uses toe shovels.

But those are solutions to the shoe problem, and wouldn't remove any confusion unless you use the same on both bikes.

Jonathan