Re: Old riders

39 views
Skip to first unread message

rgw...@aol.com

unread,
May 4, 2026, 9:08:35 AMMay 4
to randonn...@googlegroups.com
I was very interested to read the stories from other senior RUSA randonneurs.  In 2023 I rode PBP at age 72. I'm pretty sure there are a few other senior RUSA riders who were older than me at PBP - I encourage you to hop on this thread so we know who you are!  

My riding speed, stamina and some injuries have taken a toll in the last two years so I am not planning on another PBP ride but am continuing with shorter populaires and brevets. I'll be 75 in two weeks and I still love riding my bike.   

I do have a unique relationship with PBP as I rode it for the first time in 1979 when I was 28, 47 years ago. I rode it with John Pixton, a 56 year old former racer also riding his first PBP.  I would not have made it through the ride without John's experience and support.  Shortly after this I got married, had kids and didn't ride a brevet again until 2007 when I did PBP for the second time (DNF), got interested in RUSA randonneuring and was the Minnesota RBA for a dozen years. 

Last week I rode a 100k ride with long time friend Dan Diehn. We both joined RUSA in 2007 and both recently earned Galaxy awards.  Dan passed me in total RUSA kms on this ride and undoubtedly will continue to widen the gaps. At 56 Dan has many more years and opportunities to enjoy RUSA and PBP events. 

Cheers.

Rob Welsh, 3737

On Monday, May 4, 2026 at 01:26:34 AM CDT, <randonn...@googlegroups.com> wrote:


Keith G <commut...@gmail.com>: May 03 08:33AM -0700

I rarely weigh in here, but this thread spoke to me. I've been unusually
introspective on this subject lately.
As a rider that has said "no" to myself for too many years - especially ...more
Lois Springsteen <lo...@bryant-springsteen.net>: May 03 09:10AM -0700

As a female ride, I've experienced power drops and loss of recovery ability since my mid 50's as Kerin describes. My last 200k was about two years ago and at the time I had an inkling that it might ...more
Jim Koegel <koeg...@gmail.com>: May 03 02:25PM -0400

Anyone know the age of the oldest American rider to finish PBP?
I once heard the oldest ever to finish PBP was a Frenchman age 83.8
 
On Sun, May 3, 2026 at 12:10 PM Lois Springsteen <
 ...more
Rob Hawks <rob....@gmail.com>: May 03 04:05PM -0700

On RUSA's own website
<https://rusa.org/pages/PBP-short-history#:~:text=Still%2C%20despite%20so%20many%20DNFs,Jean%20Guillot%20at%20age%2086.>is
some information on that.
 
rob
 
 ...more
Colin Moy <moyb...@gmail.com>: May 03 06:16PM -0700

Nice mention of Lois!
 
I echo everyone's sentiment. I was 69 in 2023 PBP and DNF due to a rookie
mistake as a first timer. Lack of confidence, too fast/too hard at the
start, and over trained. ...more
Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org>: May 03 09:05PM -0400

I was working on another project and started looking through the RUSA Team names. Some are pretty funny (err, punny). Brooks Brothers is a great name, for example. Although as a Frank Zappa fan, I'm ...more
Bill Bryant <bi...@bryant-springsteen.net>: May 03 08:33PM

Those three guys are really something — the first ACP PBP randonneurs had a triple with French riders but their bike failed fairly early into the ride. Not so with the Class brothers: ...more
You received this digest because you're subscribed to updates for this group. You can change your settings on the group membership page.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it send an email to randonneurs-u...@googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages