When Are We Too Old to Ride Hard?

“Aren’t you a little old to ride bikes?” I could hear my ex’s eyeballs rolling in her head from across the hospital exam room as the words rolled past the lips of the emergency room nurse. And I promptly delivered a barbed reply to the question. That was not my first trip to the ER for a cycling-related injury, and it wouldn’t be my last. Over the years, during other hospital, urgent care, and office visits, several medical professionals similarly queried me about my riding and proclivity toward falling off bikes. My response was always at the ready: No, I was not too old for bikes. Bicycles are my passion and my career. Crashes and injuries are a byproduct of my riding. Last November—20-something years removed from hearing those words for the first time—I was, yet again, laid up in a hospital bed from a cycling-related injury. An overnight nurse making her rounds asked me, “Aren’t you too old for bikes?” while checking my vitals. But rather than a quick and witty retort, I silently shrugged my shoulders. After the nurse left, I remained awake under the blue-green glow cast by the medical devices at my bedside. As they beeped and clicked in the stillness, I wondered if I had finally reached the point in my cycling life where I was too old for racing and riding hard. I had asked myself the same question numerous times over the previous 36 hours. [View in Browser]( [Bicycling]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [When Are We Too Old to Ride Hard?]( [When Are We Too Old to Ride Hard?]( [When Are We Too Old to Ride Hard?]( “Aren’t you a little old to ride bikes?” I could hear my ex’s eyeballs rolling in her head from across the hospital exam room as the words rolled past the lips of the emergency room nurse. And I promptly delivered a barbed reply to the question. That was not my first trip to the ER for a cycling-related injury, and it wouldn’t be my last. Over the years, during other hospital, urgent care, and office visits, several medical professionals similarly queried me about my riding and proclivity toward falling off bikes. My response was always at the ready: No, I was not too old for bikes. Bicycles are my passion and my career. Crashes and injuries are a byproduct of my riding. Last November—20-something years removed from hearing those words for the first time—I was, yet again, laid up in a hospital bed from a cycling-related injury. An overnight nurse making her rounds asked me, “Aren’t you too old for bikes?” while checking my vitals. But rather than a quick and witty retort, I silently shrugged my shoulders. After the nurse left, I remained awake under the blue-green glow cast by the medical devices at my bedside. As they beeped and clicked in the stillness, I wondered if I had finally reached the point in my cycling life where I was too old for racing and riding hard. I had asked myself the same question numerous times over the previous 36 hours. “Aren’t you a little old to ride bikes?” I could hear my ex’s eyeballs rolling in her head from across the hospital exam room as the words rolled past the lips of the emergency room nurse. And I promptly delivered a barbed reply to the question. That was not my first trip to the ER for a cycling-related injury, and it wouldn’t be my last. Over the years, during other hospital, urgent care, and office visits, several medical professionals similarly queried me about my riding and proclivity toward falling off bikes. My response was always at the ready: No, I was not too old for bikes. Bicycles are my passion and my career. Crashes and injuries are a byproduct of my riding. Last November—20-something years removed from hearing those words for the first time—I was, yet again, laid up in a hospital bed from a cycling-related injury. An overnight nurse making her rounds asked me, “Aren’t you too old for bikes?” while checking my vitals. But rather than a quick and witty retort, I silently shrugged my shoulders. After the nurse left, I remained awake under the blue-green glow cast by the medical devices at my bedside. As they beeped and clicked in the stillness, I wondered if I had finally reached the point in my cycling life where I was too old for racing and riding hard. I had asked myself the same question numerous times over the previous 36 hours. [Read More]( [Read More](   [Jhonatan Narváez Rumored to Sign with UAE Team Emirates]( [Jhonatan Narváez Rumored to Sign with UAE Team Emirates]( The Ecuadorian and Giro stage winner could bolster the team’s dynamic and provide Grand Tour support to team leader Tadej Pogačar. 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