FTP over 60 years old?

[Manc33]

I have just acquired an indoor turbo trainer...

...should I just give up trying and buy an ebike?

Not if you've just got an indoor trainer, or I wouldn't anyway. I did it the other way around - I built an eBike (because I was sick of not being able to get up hills) and only recently got an indoor trainer. My plan is to use the trainer until I am fit enough to take the motor back off my eBike and not have to rely on it. Then, even if I neglect going out on my bike, I still have the trainer to keep at a level where it won't destroy me trying to get up hills on the "real" bike.

I bet I am weaker than you, I am sure from working out how much that eBike helps me, I am only putting out something like 50W You have the comfort of being able to be lazy on an eBike and that can't ever help.

[Blondie]

Thanks for all the encouraging replies folks!

I guess I am just suffering a bout of nostalgia, and have to come to terms with the reduced potential that comes with getting old.

You are not riding enough to blame age for your performance. There’s still plenty of potential for you to improve.

[The Path Racer]

Good thread, needs bringing back to life!
I know what ftp is but I neither monitor heart rate or power. No indoor trainer either. I'm 63, 5' 6" and currently weigh 73 Kg. I'm pretty new to cycling having started in May. I was 82 Kg back then - having put on quite a bit of that excess weight over the previous winter.
Pretty much as soon as I started cycling I gravitated towards the hills. I love them even though they are a real pain.
Best I've done is a 9% average, 0.9 miles. It took me four attempts over the course of a few months. I did it but I crawled up. Easiest gear I had was 36 chainring, 34 on the back.
I think the biggest improvements that I noticed was after I started focussing on posture and breathing.
You are going to really struggle up any hill if your chest is closed in and you are breathing inefficiently. I was very guilty of that and I still need to do a lot more work on it. It's pretty hard to focus on it when you are half way up a hill and just hanging on for dear life.
I tried nasal breathing but had more success with presenting a more open chest and belly breathing. Those opera singers know a thing or two about getting air into their lungs. Then there's the off bike strength training that you can do at home. Some folk report decent gains after doing that type of training. I've just started doing some of the strength exercises, probably a good idea because I'm not getting out on the bike much because of the winter weather.

[VinceLedge]

I'm 63 and still hope to get better at cycling, I started about 10 years ago and still see improvement in general (with a couple of years with gaps in cycling so had to get back to same level.of fitness. I can manage about 2.4 w/kg on long hilla on Zwift, which means I can generally keep up with the guys I cycle with especially uphill. They are all mostly bigger than me , so I end up drafting them quite a bit on the flat.

[briansnail]

Avoid the comparison trap.Some people can and can't ,,lift heavy weights,swim like a fish,run like a rabbit ,disassemble and reassemble bottom cycle frame brackets.and cycle fast uphills.Just enjoy!!!Life is short.Someone will always be faster and slower.
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I ride Brompton and a 100% British Vintage

[Anyoldiron]

I too am over 60, 63 to be exact. I too walked up the last bit of Ditchling Beacon in 2022 as I had rotten cramp in both legs. I was gutted to have walked but realise at my age and my weight (102kg at 5'10") it wasn't a bad effort after all. During the winter I have trained harder than I ever and have lost 4kg and definitely increased my overall fitness. (I am actually finding that I like the challenge of a hill). On zwift I find myself now in group C, which is a surpirse and according to their data my zftp is supposed to be 287 (I actually have no idea what that means if I'm honest). All I will say is that the more you do the better you get, no matter what the age. When the rain eventaully stops I hope to be back out there in the Purbecks working again with a view to this year getting to Dichlings peak still in the saddle.... Good luck and 'ride on'

[rualexander]

You should be able to wear the same waist size as you did at the age of 14 (I think it's 14).

Why?
At age 14 your skeleton is not fully grown.

[djnotts]

You should be able to wear the same waist size as you did at the age of 14 (I think it's 14).

Why?
At age 14 your skeleton is not fully grown.

Surely when one stops growing varies between 14 and 18?

I was same waist (30") from mid-teens until 72, when, as expected, hormone treatment following prostate cancer radiotherapy increased it to 31"!

[Gearoidmuar]

Never heard of FTP test until now. I'm 74. Cycling more than 40y. I cycle to enjoy it and don't race anyone.
A couple of things I'll reveal about my training before. I know this from having been cycling all this time, and from lots of bike tours. 87 at the last count.
1. Nothing will make you as fit on the bike as long easy miles. As an illustration.. I'd a 44 mile circuit I used to train on all the time. I could get around it at about 18mph when training as most people do. (That was in my late 30s.) After a bike tour I could do it at 20.7mph. My bike tours were about 70mpd unless very hilly and all done taking it easy. My average pulse on a day's touring was about 112.
2. If you're overweight you need to stop eating rubbish. I come from a fat family, but 10y ago I went on a low carb high fat diet and I've kept off 40lb for 10y. I don't count calories. I eat to satiety. Losing 40lb improves your climbing way more than anything else!

To get fit after a lay-off due to injury etc., I tried something counterintuitive and it really worked.
Cycle about 15 miles, totally effortlessly, 10-12 mph for 10 days in a row. Then, take a couple of days off. Then off you go. You'll be amazed.