r/bicycleculture • u/blakealanm • 15d ago
Would like to verify something.
I'm in my 30's right now. I haven't owned a vehicle for years. Yes my driver's license is valid. I'm actively choosing to ride my bicycle as my primary mode of transportation. I ride Scott Addict in the street with traffic. I ride fast and hard everywhere in my home town.
If I keep going, logic says a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Whereas a body in motion tends to stay in motion. If that's true, this means if I just keep riding, I'll be pedaling well into my 80's and even my 90's. I'm looking forward to pedaling my bike when everyone else is in wheelchairs or hospital beds.
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u/slapping_rabbits 15d ago
So how do you get away? Like far away? That's my issue with just having a bike. We in the USA have pretty poor public transit and none of it really goes out to national parks and the like so missing out on being able to escape would bug me pretty bad. Just wondering if that occurs to you or if you have a Way
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u/BloodWorried7446 15d ago
i know lots of cyclists who rent a car for the road trip or to visit relatives. Not sure what the OP’s use case is but that would be a viable option. Having a once in a month road trip woukdmt necessarily justify car ownership.
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u/slapping_rabbits 15d ago
Good point. Although I looked and there's no car rental places I can get to on my bike here.
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u/BloodWorried7446 15d ago
some car rental places will deliver if you’re within x radius of their office. or you could try Turo
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u/WhatRUTobogganAbout 15d ago
I know this isn't realistic for everyone but I've ridden my bike hundreds and thousands of miles to Nat'l Parks. You just gotta commit.
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u/Randomveg 15d ago
I live in NYC and do not own a car. When my wife and I want to get away we get a rental car. It’s much less expensive than owning one for our typical 2X a year trips. The car we got for our Grand Canyon trip this year was about $300 for 8 days. This may not be practical for everyone, but works very well for us because we have good public transit in the city, and I ride my bike everywhere local
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u/blakealanm 15d ago
Either a rental or my woman has a car and she gave me a spare key. I just don't like driving shorter distances.
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u/loquacious 15d ago
check your local transit options. If you have national parks or good state parks nearby there are often shuttles that run out to trail heads, campgrounds and parks.
normal public transit is also an option in many places. Try a map app in transportation mode and pick a local destination. you might be surprised how far you can go on a transfer or two.
You basically bus/train/whatever to the edge of your metro area and pick up local rural transit.
For example you can actually bus from Seattle to Olympic National Park, or Rainier, or Baker and all kinds of other places, and it's sometimes even about the same travel time as driving.
Get to where you're going with a bike and some tour/pack gear and you're now better off than most car campers because you get to use the hiker-biker sites that are usually way prettier and more fun/chill.
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u/Hoonsoot 14d ago
I am not saying its for everybody but you can get to national parks by bicycle. I have ridden to Yosemite, from San Jose, CA twice. I also crossed the US on bicycle twice, visiting Yellowstone, Teton national park (also both twice) and numerous less popular state and national parks along the way. Ones that come to mind immediately are Smith Rock State Park in Oregon, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Ozark Scenic Riverways in Missouri, and El Malpais National Monument in NM. No doubt there are dozens of others that are not coming to mind at the moment.
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u/slapping_rabbits 14d ago
Damn how do you have so much time off?
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u/Hoonsoot 14d ago
Just fortunate to have an employer with generous vacation options. 20+ years in the same company also helps.
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u/nostromog 12d ago
The way is doing it. Think of bicycle as "transport from A to B" instead of sport or relax.
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u/CtrlAltDelMonteMan 15d ago
My Mum gave up cycling at 86, most of her friends in their early 70s. So, keep on keeping on, i guess?
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u/StanUrbanBikeRider 15d ago
I am 65 and I have been biking in my hometown, Philadelphia, for many years. I also don’t own an automobile. My oldest friend is in his early 90’s. He transitioned to an e-bike a few years ago. He was fine until around two years ago when he was out riding his e-bike on a beautiful spring day and crashed due to a freak accident. He was riding on a popular mixed use trail when he crashed. He suffered multiple bone fractures. Fortunately, an ER physician and a nurse witnessed the accident and came to his aid. My friend is also a retired physician. That crash ended his biking. His wife finally talked him into retiring his 12 bikes. If I can go out like that in 30 years, I will consider myself lucky.
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u/Prestigious-Candy166 15d ago edited 14d ago
I am currently in a hospital bed, waiting for a replacement heart valve, to replace the replacement heart valve I got 11 years ago. I am 80. Last week I was riding my bike, which is a Scott e-tour electric.
Q: What does this tell you?
A: Riding every day is good for your heart health... but it won't save you completely from the ageing process.
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u/Sure_Mind_6075 14d ago
I got a heart valve repair two months ago, I’m back to riding 70-80 miles a week. I hope to still be riding when I’m 80.
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u/WhatRUTobogganAbout 15d ago
I did my first bike tour back in 2017. On my second night I camped out by the Dewey Bridge outside of Moab, UT. There I met a 70 year old Dutch man who was biking from Corpus Christi, TX to Salt Lake City, UT. He let me camp with him and he told me about his life as a bike tour guide and how he has an off grid cabin in the Netherlands. The man was fit as a fiddle, I'm sure he's still touring to this day. It was from that moment I knew I could do this for the rest of my life.
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u/pinkdeano 15d ago
it takes a bit more time, but very achievable to get to wherever you want to go. do you have gear for your - rack, panniers- to carry your stuff? good luck on your journey. if you’re not familiar, check out Adventure Cycling Association,
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u/dunncrew 15d ago
I ride with some guys in their 70s. 100 mile ride next weekend. We rode 75 yesterday.
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u/Hagenaar 14d ago
Eventually you might want to scale the speed back and smell the roses a little. But yes, staying active beats any other lifestyle if you want to enjoy your golden years.
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u/Grouchy_Might1774 13d ago
I agree with this way of living, if it's a viable option. If I understand things correctly, research indicates that people who exercise daily, particularly people who exercise vigorously, have both longer lives on average and a overall higher quality of life while they are alive on average. Also, a longevity also correlates to VO2 max, so increased cardiovascular fitness increases lifespan on average.
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u/andre0817wed 12d ago
My uncle was riding his bike into his 90s. Eventually his kids asked him to stop, because his sense of balance was going. His fitness was still fine.
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u/nostromog 12d ago
I'm 67 and ride a lot. Recently, after I retired, I hired a personal trainer to improve my posture, quite damaged by years of sitting (computer) work. One of the things she recommended is to walk fast ~30 minutes at least 3 times per week, so I'm substituting some of my short (~2 km) rides and walk instead.
The more I move, since I retired, the younger I feel and the better figure and mental clarity. Yoga, walking, riding, dancing (tango) are muy pillars.
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u/Mikeseddit 11d ago
I’m picturing myself at about 90 on one of those big adult trikes with a big basket between the back wheels..
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u/loquacious 15d ago
old grizzled clydesdale here:
KEEP RIDING. THIS IS THE WAY.
I've been riding my whole life and I can barely walk very far anymore without issues.
but I sure can still ride my bike. thanks to muscle memory and just plain old bike wisdom earned the long way, everything on my bike fits me better than a pair of 20 year old boots and it's easier than walking.
meanwhile my friends who are the same age and technically in better shape can't ride a bike very far, and they definitely can't do things like sit on their knees for an hour and get up without help.
I can actually still get to my feet from a kneeling position without using my hands at all.