Cycling Past 50

Now that I'm 50 I've been doing a little more reading on what to expect over the next 10 to 20 years with my training and racing. At this point I'm actually riding stronger than I ever have short of those PR times at the Tuesday time trial. I did actually set a PR last year on the Blue Streak course and my average times at the local course are about the best I've ever held. My wattage zones also have gone up a little each year instead down. I'm sure I'll be doing another field test (2x8 minutes) this winter. Last time we did this I held about 370 watts on each. Ideally this will stay the same or even go up a little. One of the keys to staying fit and fast as we age is consistency in our training. This means riding over the winter, whether inside on the trainer or outside in nasty weather. The indoor training in a controlled environment can be some of the best training we do. Another key would be setting goals. Even if you don't compete, you can set goals for climbing your favorite hill, riding a century, accumulating miles for a week or month or year, etc. Use the SMART objectives as noted on my website. There is no doubt that regular and well planned exercise (ie, vary the intensity, take the recovery days, etc)will slow the aging process, keep our muscles and bones healthy, keep our nervous system functining at the highest levels possible, and reduce the chances of any of a number of conditions like diabetes, stroke, stress, etc.