Whether you’ve been riding for decades or are considering getting back in the saddle later in life, cycling is one of the best ways to stay fit as you age.
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00:00Today we're talking to Peter Abraham about Bicycling's How to Ride Strong at 50 Plus program.
00:05Let's get to it. All right, Peter, you ready? Yeah, ready. You ready, ready? All right, let's do this.
00:10Peter, when did you start riding? Oh gosh, well, I started riding bikes as a kid like many people,
00:16but I started racing bikes and getting seriously into it in high school. I was working at a liquor
00:22store in my town stocking shelves and these two guys came in really all kitted up. Well,
00:29they spent 20 minutes talking to me. It turned out one of them was Greg LeMond,
00:32the greatest American cyclist ever before he was going to Europe. He was training
00:38and I had just started racing and that really like launched a lifelong love affair with bikes for me,
00:43I would say. Greg LeMond came into the liquor store you were working at? Yes, yes, in the middle of
00:48nowhere out in the country in Valleyside, California. And he was with a Belgian guy
00:53named Noel Desjardins. And Noel, I said to Noel, I said, oh my gosh, I race bikes. He was like,
01:00oh, maybe you know my friend Greg LeMond. I was like, oh my god. That's amazing. Yeah. Did Greg
01:07stop and talk to you for five hours and tell you stories? 100%. Yeah, that's great. And that was
01:13before his first season in Europe. But yeah, he was so gracious and nice. And you know, then I
01:19kept racing in high school and then raced in college for a few years. And I have probably
01:26fallen in and out of love with bikes like five times in my life. But I'm currently riding a lot
01:31for the last like six, seven years. How has your riding changed as you've gotten older? Gosh, that's
01:37a good question. I would say I'm, let's see, how's my riding changed? I would say number one, I've
01:44really come to understand the value of consistency for fitness. So like I've really, like I have a
01:50Zwift set up in the garage and I really try and just get something done, let's say five or six
01:57days a week. And then I've really come to understand the value of strength training. So I do that two
02:02or three days a week. And I've come to understand the value of nutrition. You know, when I was like
02:08really into racing bikes when I was much younger, all these things were like, you know, total
02:14unknowns, honestly, like strength training for cycles. Why would you do that? Nutrition? I don't
02:18know. You just need a bunch of pasta. Like nobody really cared about that stuff. And now there's so
02:23much information that is widely available. And so you really can get fitter and faster and, you know,
02:30have a better time with using all these other things. And when you do Zwift, are you doing
02:34workouts, group rides, races, or? I do a little of everything lately. I'm doing the tour to Zwift,
02:40which every like hour, there's one every hour and there are three different races, short, medium,
02:46and long. No matter which one you jump into, there's like 500 to a thousand other Zwifters
02:51in that group. So you can always find a group at whatever pace you're going at, whether it's easy
02:57or super hard, you can always find a group to ride with. And I do find it actually motivational.
03:02Like it really does help me go a little harder to be with another group of people, even though
03:06it's all virtual, who are also trying to go hard. So I like it. I like Zwift. Yeah, I do a lot of Zwift
03:12too. It's pretty great, especially in the winter when it's cold, but you don't have that problem
03:15where you are. So what can, uh, what do you think cyclists can learn from our new how to ride strong
03:21after 50 program? You know, what I'm hoping to just get across is, um, just a number of basics for
03:27people, right? Like just the, like the basics of training, um, some strength training work, um, you
03:34know, uh, spend a minute on indoor training and Zwift, um, talk about nutrition a little bit,
03:39like just try and give people like the one-on-one on, um, staying fit as you get older. Obviously
03:46things change when you, you know, you get past 50. Like one of the things I've noticed is losing
03:50weight becomes like way more difficult. And you have, you just have, um, a smaller margin for error
03:57on a lot of things you do as you get older and that's okay, but you just gotta like be aware of
04:01this at the same time, you know, it's so fun, um, to ride bikes. And I think like, I've just read,
04:09um, the book strength to strength, which talks about how we think differently later in our careers
04:14and both at work and personally, like, and what, what happens once you get past 50, you have this
04:20thing called pattern recognition. Like you can really like kind of see a situation and, and kind
04:25of figure it out. And that applies to bikes too. Like how you're doing training. Like you can just
04:30figure it out much more, um, quickly. So I I'm getting great joy out of training on my bike right
04:36now. Well, I would hope so. I get a lot of joy out of riding my bike and training too. Um, I'm 52 by
04:41the way. So I'm in the, I'm in the, I'm in the same boat. So yeah, I feel it. So what was something
04:47you learned from how to ride strong after 50? I was just talking to friends in London this morning
04:54on a call who are like super passionate cyclists. And we were just in violent agreement about the,
05:02um, um, intoxication, if you will, the power of getting fit. And I really feel that now more than
05:10ever, like it just feels so good to get fit, even though like I'm of course not as fast as I was
05:16in my twenties, but still I feel the enjoyment and, and the empowerment of getting fit and getting
05:23faster and getting stronger. Like that's just a really intoxicating feeling that I'm way more
05:28aware of now. I think that I was younger and I think at any level in your life, you can enjoy
05:34getting fit. And I think that's one of the main things for me. You know, for me, one of the things
05:38I recognize is like, I appreciate, appreciate it when I feel faster because it's so much harder
05:46to achieve that extra speed than it used to be. It used to be like, Oh, I just ride a couple of
05:50times. I get faster now. It's like, man, I really got to work for it. I feel faster. Oh man. I'm
05:56really glad I did that, but yeah, it feels so much better. So what do you think are some of
06:02the benefits of cycling as a 50 plus person? Well, you know, like I, I think cycling appeals
06:09to very specific personality types. And I would say how cycling appeals to people different from
06:17say, let's say running or yoga is number one. It appeals if to people who like endorphins,
06:24because fitness is a, is part of it. Number two, it appeals to people who like adrenaline
06:29because it's a little bit fast and a little bit dangerous. Number three gear is a part of it. You
06:34can't separate the fact that gear is a really important part of cycling. And lastly, I think
06:41for many people, not everyone, but community is a big part of it. Like getting coffee after the ride,
06:46going on group rides, seeing friends, going to races, that kind of thing. So I think when you
06:52have those, um, personality type, it's like a dating app match. If you go to a cycling event
06:58and you meet somebody at the cycling event, you're like, God, I just feel at home here.
07:02And I immediately click with these people. That's why, because you automatically have
07:05these personality traits in common. So I've really come to understand the beauty of that.
07:10And, um, I kind of celebrate that, you know? Yeah. You're being, you're surrounded,
07:14we're surrounded by our people, right? That's right. We, we have this thing in common. So no
07:19matter who they are, we know we have something, something in common. Yeah. That's incredible.
07:23Here's an example. Like this weekend, I'm going to the all clubs event, which is like
07:27kind of a national gathering of the black cycling community. It's in LA every January.
07:32And, um, this will be my third year in a row that I've gone. And you walk into this room,
07:37everybody's like different ethnicity, different background. Most of these people just got on
07:40bikes during the pandemic. They look different. They're different age. They come from a different
07:46point of view. They didn't grow up like obsessed with the tour to France. Like maybe I did,
07:51they just got on bikes, but man, they are passionate about bikes. And you walk into this
07:55room and you're like, immediately you're like, wow, I feel welcome here. These are my people.
08:00And we're like in five minutes, you're arguing about tire size and Strava posts,
08:05all the same things that cyclists talk about. Yeah. How fast the group rides are. I thought
08:11this was going to be a slow group ride, you know, all that stuff. So what's your favorite thing
08:17about riding as a 50 plus cyclist? You know, I think like my favorite thing is going out with
08:22a group of friends and having a really good ride, having coffee after like, I would say
08:28the community and group part of it is really fun. Like I do gravel races all over in the U S in
08:34Europe. My favorite part of the gravel race is the shakeout ride the day before, which is super
08:40not that fast, really fun. Have a coffee after that's like, I would say my favorite, you know,
08:46part of a gravel race weekend, even more so than the actual race. So I really like the community
08:51component is important to me. And what's, what's your favorite gravel race or what's a memorable
08:56one you've done? You know, like I would say my favorite is SBT gravel in Toronto, which I've
09:02gone maybe three or four times. And I just, the gravel is beautiful. There is campaign gravel.
09:08They call it campaign gravel. It's just the right size town. You see everybody around all weekend,
09:15like usually the weather's pretty good. You might get a rainstorm, but anyway, that's my favorite
09:21gravel race. I can understand why I live down in Durango. So yeah, I've, I've been up to steamboat
09:26a few times. It is quite a magical little town. Yeah. So we talked about some of your favorite
09:32things about riding as a 50 plus cyclist. Let's talk a little bit about some of your least favorite
09:36things. You know, I would say crashing probably, I would say number one, like, and you know,
09:43if you ride a lot, like it's not a question of if you're going to crash sooner or later,
09:47you're going to hit the deck. Hopefully you don't get injured, but it's a reality a year
09:51and a half ago, I got a pretty bad concussion from a mountain bike crash. That's number one.
09:56I think the other thing with bikes is not really a problem for me, but it takes time like versus
10:01going out for a run or getting on Zwift, like to go for an outdoor ride, like you got to gear up.
10:06Yeah. Like downhill sections and stoplights and things where you're not working out. So like
10:12a ride takes a long time. You know, it takes more time than like, you know, running or swimming.
10:18So that is something that I've just had to kind of learn to deal with. So yeah, it is,
10:24it can be a big time commitment. You know, especially I lived in LA for 11 years. So,
10:29you know, one of the things was like, oh, we're going for a mountain bike ride. We got to pile
10:32everything in the car. We drive to the trailhead and then you ride and then you got to, you know,
10:36so yeah, it's, it is, you need the luxury of time to do this sport for sure. Which,
10:42which can be challenging. And I feel you on the, on the injuries, boy, I, I've been through it
10:48myself, you know, and but yeah, you're right about how it makes it more, you know, the adrenaline
10:56rush, it's thrilling and yeah, you got to be careful, you know, safety is a big part of it,
11:01but it all, it's always worth it, I think. That's right. So what's, what's next on,
11:07what's your next big trip, next big ride, next big race, what you got coming up?
11:10That's a good question. I mean, I think I'll go to the Bicycle Leadership Conference
11:16in Tucson in March so I can ride up and down Mount Lemon, which is such a great climb.
11:21Mount Lemon is an amazing climb. Have you done it before?
11:24Yeah, I've done it. Yeah. Yeah. It's so good.
11:26And I'm sure I'll probably do Big Sugar Gravel in Bentonville, Arkansas
11:30in October. I like that event and I love going to Bentonville. I love riding there,
11:34both mountain and gravel. So are you going to do just Big Sugar or
11:38will you do Little Sugar too? I'll probably just do Big Sugar.
11:41Okay. That's a really good race. It's really hard
11:44because the hills are short and steep and it's like hill, hill, hill, hill over hill.
11:48Yeah, just all the little punches up, down, up, down, up, down. Yeah.
11:52But I love also going to Bentonville and just gather, I have a lot of friends who live there
11:56and a lot of community comes there to ride. I'm fascinated by it there and I love riding there.
12:02Great food too. They've got good food there. And great food. And I may get a trip into Europe
12:08this year at some point for work. And then I'll ride when I'm in Europe, which is really
12:13interesting. Each country has its own sort of bike personality, right? Whether it's for France,
12:20for Spain or UK. And it's really interesting to go riding and connect with cyclists in these
12:27different countries. Yeah. I've got my wife and I've got a trip planned to the Pyrenees
12:32at the end of June. We're going to go ride How to Cam and Luz Ardenen and that area down there.
12:39We're staying in a little town called Vilong and yeah, that's been my motivation to like
12:45lose weight and train because she'll kill me on the climb. She's so fast.
12:50I just rode in the Pyrenees for the first time in June on the French side and I found it
12:58fascinating. There are like no cars there. It's like 10,000 miles of bike lanes, bike trails.
13:07And then even when you rarely did see a car, it would give you like 10 feet of space and go really
13:12slow. And there are all these signs on the roads like this bike route and that bike route. I was
13:17like, man, this is a place where bikes are really respected. Yeah. You rarely feel here in the US.
13:22So like I thought that was amazing. And yeah, it's really the Pyrenees is its own unique
13:29kind of area within France and within Europe. And the climbs are incredible, obviously. And
13:35yeah, you'll love it. So yeah, my wife from last year and she had such a great time that I was
13:40like, I'm going, you know, you convinced me I'm going. So I'm really looking forward to it. Well,
13:44Peter, thank you so much for your time. This has been awesome to meet you and connect with you and
13:49talk nerd out about some bike stuff for a while. So thank you so much. You're welcome.