Mountain biking for over 50s a growing trend
Mountain biking is about more than thrills and spills; it’s also a great opportunity to build fitness, fun and friendships.
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Tearing down hills on two wheels, jumping over logs and cornering cliff edges, with the wind in their hair and riders hot on their heels, for mountain biking enthusiasts Geoff Luders and Sharon Tucker, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Luders, 65, took up the sport after receiving a mountain bike for his 40th birthday. For Tucker, 64, it was a way of staying fit and healthy after a heart incident aged 50. Both started out riding single track roads for recreation but, after joining Adelaide Mountain Bike Club (AMBC), it didn’t take long for the thrill of competitive riding to take hold. “Mountain biking is really welcoming – if you’re out there and prepared to do it, everyone encourages you,” says Luders, who regularly races locally and nationally.
Competitions run across four skills categories – A, B, C and D grade – with riders selecting the category that’s right for them. “Once you start doing that, it really increases your skill levels,” Luders says. “I race C grade – I’m racing kids through the whole age groups. I’ll never get above C grade but that’s more than enough for me. We still have our little competitions within the grade.”
Tucker has also learned her skills in the competitive saddle. “We started riding with a group of my husband Clyde’s off-road motorcycle riding friends who were keen to improve their fitness for motorcycle racing,” she recalls. “There was no way that I could keep up with these blokes. At the time I didn’t know any other women who rode mountain bikes so I volunteered to ride with the young sons of two of the riders. What a gift that turned out to be. Young boys just know that they can ride any obstacle on a bike. They had the confidence, self belief and a willingness to try anything. I decided if they could ride that tricky section of trail or obstacle, I should have a go too. They taught me so much, mainly if you have a go, mostly you will succeed.”
And it’s this have-a-go attitude that makes a successful mountain bike rider – which doesn’t mean taking unnecessary risks. “For every track you ride, you’re really looking at what’s there and your own skill levels. Sometimes the reward is not worth the risk,” Luders says. “There are parts where you stop, get off your bike and say, ‘Can I get through here?’. You might not do it for ages but if there’s someone else in the group better than you who can do it, you watch what they do, where they go and you go, ‘Oh yeah, I could probably do this’. Once you’ve done it once, you have a sense of relief but also a sense of achievement that you’ve actually managed to overcome your fear.”
And facing your fears can open up a whole new world of experiences, with mountain bike races held all over the country on an almost weekly basis. For Tucker, racing has taken her to Ottway, Noosa, Alice Springs and Western Australia, as well as backpacking adventures in New Zealand and more. “The skills I have had the good fortune to acquire in 14 years of mountain bike riding have opened up the opportunity for me to visit lots of the many mountain bike destination anywhere in Australia and overseas,” she says. “Now I’m semi-retired, it means doing more riding, not less.”
Luders also has no intention of parking his bike now he had retired. The ex-office manager is currently engaged in a 17,000km, 10-month trip around Australia, cycling from Adelaide to Melbourne, across to Tasmania, onwards to Canberra, north to Cairns, then Darwin, WA, across the Nullarbor to Port Lincoln, then Port Augusta and home. “I’ve been wanting to do it for such a long time,” Luders says. “There are so many roads still to cycle. And you see so much when you’re on the bike, it’s really amazing; and the people you meet, people stop and ask where you’re riding.”
That social aspect is another part of the attraction of racing for Luders and Tucker. “Through the AMBC we met and formed friendships with others our age who had been involved in the sport for many years,” Tucker says. “We formed a social riding group and ride together on the Sundays we don’t race with the club.”
Luders also has formed new friendship through racing. “On Saturday mornings we go for a ride and then it’s back to the organiser’s place,” he says. “He has a bread maker so makes bread before we leave then it’s coffee and a nice big slice of bread when we get back. It’s as much the social element, because you can ride by yourself as much as you like but it’s never as much fun as riding, even with one other person.”
The advent of the e-Bike means that thrills and benefits of mountain biking can be enjoyed by everyone, even those lacking the fitness to cycle up hills and mountains. “an e-Bike is nirvana,” Luders says. “Because you have the extra power, you can have a lot more suspension, which protects you from the roughness of the terrain” Luders says. “You can ride for about three to four hours on the battery, with a spare for longer ride. I can see that’s where I’ll end up.”
For now, both Luders and Tucker are going strong under their own pedal power. “By age 50, I had become very unfit and overweight and had a heart incident that indicated if I did not change my lifestyle, I was heading for substantial health issues that would affect my quality of life,” Tucker says. “Through racing, I have fun, adventure, challenges, confidence, fitness and health. Mountain biking gives me a reason to feel positive and excited about my future and ageing.”
TOP TIPS TO GET ON YOUR BIKE
The best way to get the most out of mountain biking is to join a club – even if racing is the furthest thing from your mind, it’s a great way to meet other riders and see what it’s all about.
“What we say to most people is come to a race, have a look, sneak out and have a little bit of a ride before or after and see if it’s for you,” says Scott Keneally, treasurer of Adelaide Mountain Bike Club.
Confidence comes with experience but, for those starting out, help is at hand. “There are a number of mountain bike coaching clinics, such as Escapegoat Adventures, who do beginners, intermediate and advanced skill sessions,” Keneally says. “Go on those and get your confidence up a bit to ride through some of the obstacles. I’ve never heard of anyone who’s been to one of those and thought it a waste of time.”
By far the best way to improve your skill level is learning by others. “If you ride with a group, there will always be one person who’s better at one skill than others; so people will practise things and someone will say, ‘You should try it this way’,” Keneally says. “You start to ride and you’ll meet other people and then just the sheer number of hours you ride will increase your skill level because you’ll be practising on a more regular basis.”
And once those skills are at a comfortable level – and fitness levels subsequently improved – it’s time to enter into your first competitive race. “For most people doing their first race, they just can’t believe their heart rate, how exhausted they are and generally how much fun they’ve had,” Keneally says.
Find out more at ambc.com.au or search for Adelaide Mountain Bike Club on Facebook