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The original was posted on /r/velo by /u/Xienleng on 2023-09-21 16:53:09.
Posting to remind myself what day I decided to take my cycling much less seriously. Started around 15, I guess. At 18, went sub 1 hour for 40 km on a road bike during the ITT State Champs, was happy with that suffering. My fastest speed 88.3 kph only about 6 years ago, and Strava has only about 100,000 km of my riding because I'm old af. I knew nine people who died on their bike, quit crit racing after four weeks of broken bones and, more importantly, shattered carbon. Stopped riding in a group a few years ago after a massive boulder flew through my group and almost hit me - time to lessen the odds of crashing. Haven't crashed in forever, decades. Won a few races. Won a stage race. Finished DFL enough times. Tried to race with the pros, and got embarrassed. Did ride across a few countries (USA included, TransAm trail) when I got older. I'd rate my career a B-. Not worthy of a reddit post, but I don't care. lol
What happened today? Well, a few years ago I started wearing prescription glasses for my riding (had laser surgery maybe 20 years ago) and I simply don't trust myself anymore. 50 kph into a few easy corners today had me really questioning my vision. This wasn't the first time. I simply know deep down I can't do what I love to do anymore. Fast, sweeping descents. I spent decades loving it. I was never great, which is why I never stopped. A corner at 70 kph is life-changing. lol. Now I'm probably scared at 55 on the same corner. I know, really know, that if I think I can get back to the "old me" I will crash. Crash hard. I just know.
Sure, I'll keep riding around and having fun. Maybe some sprints for fun, but I'm done.
40 years. It was my life for a long time. My reflexes seem ok, power is still acceptable (last week averaged 37 km for 10 minutes (remember, I'm old) , but that doesn't matter if I can't trust my tires on a road steeper than 6 percent.
I know this might sound like it's all about me and who really cares, but maybe there is one guy reading this in the same boat. Maybe you handled it way better than I will. My eyes will only get worse. Anyhow, don't cry for me, it's time to do more running races (my first running race was in 1985) and hopefully I can do that until I can't walk.
getting old is really interesting. Curious if any old folks struggled with the same problem.