“I’m Getting Older” is no excuse. Overcome your fears of trying something new… but use caution. My wife and I just completed a bicycling trip through the Canadian Rockies. Banff, Lake Louise gorgeous – great food, fine hotels, interesting people – so why didn’t I want to go? – Read on for more
Ellen, 58 is a biker. She rides over 40 miles a week and even participated in a 600-mile charity ride from Monterey to San Diego, CA. I’ve been a runner my whole life, but at 63, the legs ache more, the knees throb and recovery time has slowed. We do lots of travel and she really wanted to try a bicycling trip. Reluctantly, I gave in.
I actually referred to this trip as an, “I Love My Wife” adventure.
My hesitation was two-fold; I was fearful, that biking would be counter-productive to my running and may expedite my jogging demise and secondly, a colleague of mine, an avid bicyclist was killed in a very freak accident while riding. With my internal neurosis, I was fearful that I’d be next in line.
But alas, compromise is essential is all good relationships, so I went. The trip was marvelous! The group we used, BACKROADS, was organized, efficient and catered to all of us. Since I was not much of a biker, I used an electric / e-bike. Although this enabled me to get lots of great exercise, by pushing the throttle it made pedaling that much easier. It also allowed me to fly passed many of my fellow riders who struggled on manual bikes.
I could go on about the beauty of the place, but I’ll wait for a future blog to do so. The real takeaway for me is what I learned about myself. You can’t be afraid to try new things and you can’t let your age stop you. That is only an excuse!
What you do need to do, is to build-in some level of moderation. For me, as a non-bicyclist, the use of an e-bike enabled me to focus less on the difficulties of biking up steep hills and more on the magnificent beauty of the Rockies. We all can’t be experts in everything, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t experience new adventures.
Have you had any similar experiences? Where fear may have prevented you from trying something new and different. How’d you overcome it? We’d love to hear from you. Shoot us an email at [email protected] or leave a comment below! For more cycling relating articles, click here.
