How Much Does Age Matter in Cycling?

Older athletes have performed and competed in competitions for centuries, but our current generation is the first to be involved in such large numbers. Society has embraced the active lifestyle, and the older generations are seeing the benefits.

For endurance athletes, it raises an interesting question: What are we capable of as we move through the years? And how do we find our own path to athletic longevity and personal success?

Dropping Power and Recovery

You've probably heard the well-worn axiom that most master's athletes have less power and endurance, and recover slower than their younger counterparts. Not so long ago, this line of thinking was so popular that a generation or two started to believe it was true, and there were activities that most people believe "old" people shouldn't do anymore.

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If you consider yourself to be a kid in spirit, you probably just ignored this kind of chatter. Call it lying to oneself if you like, but recovery and performance are more about understanding how to defeat engrained cultural limitations with a healthy mind-set. That means you should avoid believing universal truisms about who you are and what you're capable of—athletic or otherwise.

But masters athletes still recover slower and aren't as fast as their younger counterparts, right?

A recent Wall Street Journal indicates that this isn't necessarily true in the higher echelons of endurance cycling. The interview between Shell and 70-year-old cyclist Michael Patterson, and Brent Ruby, director at the Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism at the University of Montana, is a breath of fresh air for anyone who fits into the category of "older-generation athletes."

70-Year-Old RAAM Athletes

Shell's article explains how Patterson's 4-man team, all 70 years or older, competed in the 2013 Race Across America (RAAM). Patterson's cadre of septuagenarians covered the distance in 6.55 days, blowing away the previous record for the 60 to 70+ age category. How did this compare with one of the top team efforts in RAAM?

Their performance was just two percent slower.

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The previous overall record time of 6.45 days was established by an elite British team, using similar training methodology as the 70-year-olds—but the Brits average age was only 37. The only other measurable difference was that they consumed slightly more calories than the old guys, who were probably more concerned about maintaining their weight and youthful physiques.

"We clearly need to rethink our ideas about what older people are capable of doing, yet we discount those capabilities all the time. As people get older, we can still do amazing things" says Ruby. It's true that the RAAM ride by the senior team stands as a hallmark achievement that should make us reconsider some of the traditional roadblocks we set for ourselves as we age.

As one of the original four founders of RAAM, and a 2nd-place finishing individual participant, I would add that while endurance training and racing seems to be the exploratory arena of more active older athletes, a healthy sense of deceit is needed to counter our self imposed limitations.

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We Lose Some Capabilities, But Not All...Not Even Close

Performance stats can be important. When you're younger, it can be used to boost self confidence when compared to your previous achievements and to those of your peers. But as we age, measuring numbers like VO2 max can be self defeating. Why remind yourself that your performance is on the skids? You might lose as much as a quarter of your VO2 max over time, and the same could be true of your power wattage. The horsepower won't last forever.

But there are plenty of "old folks" who still hold a category 1 racing license and can hold their own against the young guns in training and racing. To borrow the spirit of Sun Tzu's manifest from The Art of War, coaching is like following water running down a rocky hill; we must follow the path dictated by nature. Similarly, the formula for finding a cyclist's inherent strengths, irrespective of age, is to address his or her weaknesses.

Here are the facts: While it's important to know maximum sustainable power numbers and heart rate with an appreciation for cardiac drift, monitoring such variables plays a small role in the total performance equation. It's far more important to find personal idiosyncrasies that affect range of motion (ROM) and strength.

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Body work dynamic motion drills or active release therapy can pinpoint immediate soft tissue impingements, which dramatically affect our ability to leverage power. Systematic balancing of power for both hemispheres of the body is critical to maintaining a linear vector of force, which in turn is important for holding on to "what we have" as well as turning it into "what we need."

ROM must first be improved before strength training is implemented once the "chisel" phase begins. Strength training must complement the same motor action as pedaling. A customized program that addresses individual flexibility, strength and biomechanical variations is an absolute must for improvement. Simply put, as we lose our vital capacities, we need to engage an array of creative training applications that fit our specific goals that aim to stretch human potential.

John the Praying Mantis

A personal example will illustrate my point. I've had lower extremity x-rays that show a 7 mm variation of left/right femur length. I've chosen to deal with this biological fact through improving flexibility and working more on my core strength rather than the traditional approach of "shim the short side." I've adapted my position on the bike and found a setup that works for me.

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These adaptive measures have worked because core activation and flexibilty saves the big muscles from fatiguing. By utilizing the core as a true and stable platform for reducing heart rate, cyclists can support and coverup some of their deficiencies, even as they become more pronounced with age. 

For masters athletes, you can compensate for prolonged recovery periods too. As one's bodily function slows— say our oxygen carry capacity—we switch gears and train another capacity that is standing idle. An individual plan should work other functional components to take up the slack. While you may lose some of your VO2 capacity, you can still increase your flexibility and upper body strength. You can add more actual hands-on body work, replace missing nutritional essentials, and generally make yourself a better, more well-rounded athlete than you were in your 20s.

Summary

As you age, there are a few common areas you should dedicate your focus:

* Get a thorough, honest assessment of your strength, flexibility and range of motion.

* Turn any weaknesses into strengths: mobility and stability trumps everything else.

* Search for the right combination of training, recovery and rest that works for you and don't worry about anyone else.

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