The Midlife Cyclist: The Road Map for the +40 Rider Who Wants to Train Hard, Ride Fast and Stay Healthy

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The second more honest statement echoes the sentiments of many of us, and is “I train and race bicycles at this level because I enjoy it, not because I think it is necessarily good for me. Fifty times up Oxo Hill, 50 times around Claries Hairpin – leaning over so far that it felt like your knee would brush the tarmac (I still have the scars from the times that became a reality) – and 50 times up the false flat, eastwards into a headwind, past the start–finish line, clubhouse and spectators. Exercise may well be the finest drug the pharmaceutical industry never invented, but can we also have too much of a good thing?

My condition had unknowingly progressed to a catastrophic level, and if left untreated, I risked cirrhosis and several other serious issues. Cavell, a lifelong competitive cyclist himself, risks being seen as biased when he asserts that cycling can be “used as a panacea for solving the worst physical and cognitive effects of ageing as an athlete. As well as being an expert on the biomechanics of cycling, Phil has recently written ' The Midlife Cyclist' , a book for the 40+-year-old cyclists who want to train hard, ride fast and stay healthy. The ‘butterfly effect,’ known as ‘path dependence,’ is when decisions are made for social or political reasons and have long-term effects upon subsequent generations.There is a short section on nutrition, suggestion alcohol may not actually be that good for us, in spite of the popular press. Because up until relatively recently in human history terms, human beings haven't exercised past the age of 40. A climb that feels relatively trivial one day can be made vastly more challenging on another day because of a headwind, for example. To use a term that would infuriate evolutionary biologists – we’re existing outside of our ‘design life’.

It’s the same with intervals — if you feel good, do an extra rep or two, but don’t increase the power. Phil Cavell is a bike fitter by profession and has had years of experience working with both amateur and professional level athletes. We also examine the first principles surrounding these miraculous machines – how did the bike evolve in the first place?Some of this will be better achieved by regularly unplugging from the machine, whether that is indoor or outdoor. It’s also a how-not-to, complete with explanations of why we want to do it the wrong way and what a better way might look like. The knee is a big hinge joint in the middle of the leg and can only tolerate misalignment for so long before pain sets in.