At 80, I ride my bike 80 miles a week in season. I fell. A doctor told me to stop. Not yet

Nov 05, 2024

On Oct. 21, I toppled over on my bike and landed on my left elbow and hip on the pavement. A few days later, I decided I better have my painful arm and elbow checked out.

I came away more rattled by the negative reaction of one of the doctors to the fact that I am still riding a bike at age 80 than I was by the small fracture in my forearm.

From the moment he came into the room with a frown, his attitude appeared to be "What was I doing on a bike?" I explained how I had mistakenly made a U turn too fast; I knew I needed to slow down with age.

As he left, he said that "there are some activities you can do both inside and outside" and that I should be doing mine inside. Taken aback, I replied, "I'll always be outside," affirming my love of the outdoors.

"I've seen some really terrible injuries from bike accidents," he said, admonishing me.

This doctor was clearly concerned and trying to protect me, but I felt unheard and dismissed. I thought about this for a day and began asking fellow cyclists and friends for their reactions.

"Inappropriate." "Insulting." "No place for ageism." "Disrespectful." Nearly all felt he had overreacted to a relatively small accident. "Life happens," a cyclist in her 70s said.

I tried harder to understand the doctor's point of view and wished I had spoken up to better explain my own.

Cycling means a great deal to me, both for the exercise, the mental health benefits and the perspective that passing through different landscapes provides. Like swimming, I hope I never have to give it up. I have been very active physically for years and try to weigh risks versus benefits.

When I started riding my bike to school as a child, I gained a wonderful sense of freedom. I started riding again in my 40s, that feeling of freedom returned and I never looked back.

It became my favorite outdoor activity with a careful, responsible group of friends. When I spent the day riding on weekends, I was happier, healthier, more sociable. I first learned to ride on roads as part of a group with the Charles River Wheelers, a Greater Boston bike club, and the Appalachian Mountain Club; and took a safety workshop with the League of American Bicyclists, whose motto is "Life is better for everyone when more people ride bikes."

In my 50s, a coworker and I who also lived in Cambridge once rode our bikes to work in Quincy, about 20 miles each way. We left very early and rode along Boston's Emerald Necklace, through Jamaica Plain and Dorchester to Milton's Blue Hills and Quincy. We loved it.

On weekends and weekday evenings, I rode 40, 50, once 65 miles at a time. In my 60s and 70s, I started to cut back. I still ride 14 to 25 miles a day, up to five days a week, in the summer and early fall. I've mostly stopped riding on roads and stick to bike paths with short detours on roads. I average about 10 mph. I always wear a helmet. I have headlights, flashing red tail lights and cyclometers on both bikes.

I have had a few bike accidents. In Plattsburgh, New York, some 20 years ago, I was cycling along a bike lane on the right side of the road when a driver passed me and then turned right, cutting into my path. I struck the side of her car and was bruised but all right. In 2018, I took a hard, fast fall when I rode over two steel plates in the road, covering some repaving work. The plates hadn't been placed properly and between them there was an open space just wide enough to pull the front tire in at an angle and flip the bike sideways, catapulting me off to the side. I had major league bruises on my hip, but nothing was broken.

With all this biking experience, I wished that I had spoken up and encouraged a conversation with the older doctor when faced with such obvious disapproval.

Two days later, I saw a recent blog post at Hebrew SeniorLife about empowering older adults in their health care and how to advocate for yourself in the doctor's office.

"As a geriatrician, I always appreciate when patients are ready to advocate for what matters to them," Dr. Matthew Schuster writes.

He describes the importance of preparing for a doctor's visit and said one of the basics of "age-friendly care" is, "What are your personal health goals? What matters most to you?

"Considering these questions before your appointment can guide your conversation with your physician. Even if what matters most to you isn’t health-related, it can still provide clinical value to your doctor."

Going back to my medical visit after I fell, it began very well with a younger woman doctor who came in with a very different attitude. She commented positively about meeting someone "who is 80 and still biking" and asked me to tell my story of what had happened to me on my bike.

I told her how I went down in an instant. One minute I was riding along a quiet beach road in Falmouth, taking a short detour off of the Shining Sea Bikeway. I passed the two empty osprey nests and looked out at the sun glistening on Buzzards Bay. I had just started doing a U-turn as the road came to an end. I knew I was going a little faster than usual as I turned and then my right foot seemed to catch on the pedal and I went down.

I got up, made sure that my left hand's fingers worked normally and that I had full range of motion in my left arm. "Good I didn't break anything," I thought. I got on my bike, called my friend to say I would not be arriving at her house to go for a walk, and rode 5 miles back to my car. I still felt fine. I lifted my bike up on the rear rack and drove an hour to get home. By then, pain and stiffness were setting in. My left elbow and forearm hurt. I no longer had full range of motion. I applied ice packs when I got home and took anti-inflammatory medicine.

When I told the first doctor my story, I said that I knew I needed to slow down on my bike as I got older; she accepted that and said she was going to order some X-rays of my forearm and my elbow. She left the room and soon returned with the older doctor, in his 70s, who was supervising her.

Most of the people I told about this felt the older doctor had overreacted in a negative way, but two out of perhaps 10 understood his point of view.

This all made me think about what age is "too old" to ride a bike or do other sports activities?

I asked this question online. Here's what AI replied:

"Age 80 is generally not considered too old to ride a bike, as long as the individual is physically capable and takes necessary safety precautions; cycling can be a beneficial exercise for seniors when done appropriately, with many older adults enjoying the activity well into their 80s."

A British blog asked, "How old is too old to ride?" and said that "cycling is sometimes seen as a form of exercise and enjoyment reserved only for children or the most avid of sporting enthusiasts. However, when you peel back the surface of cycling, it's a sport that is perfect for everyone, including people over the age of 60!"

Some other online advice: "It's a great form of exercise for older people ... It's an exercise you can perform at an intensity that suits your needs and abilities, is low-impact and can be very social if you ride with others."

There were cautionary notes: "If you have health issues or physical limitations that make biking difficult or unsafe, it may be time to reconsider."

"If you feel unsteady or are at risk of falling, it might be wise to evaluate your biking habits."

And then back to my own viewpoint: "If you still enjoy biking and it brings you happiness, there’s no reason to stop."

My primary care doctor recently told me, "The best thing you can do (to slow down aging) is to keep up your exercise."

The reaction of one friend was also more in line with what I would hope a doctor might suggest:

"It is an understatement to say that you are doing the right thing by being active and staying active despite a small setback. I support your actions 100%! You are a very diligent and disciplined person. I know you will do well with your recovery. In the meantime you have the opportunity to discover new muscles, new places and new workouts!"

Finally, I turned to my cycling friend Joanne Staniscia, of Franklin, who is 15 years older and was riding until age 90. She amazed other cyclists as she kept up her strength and passion throughout her 80s. She is now 95 and no longer rides. She also fell over on her bike when she was 85, and broke her wrist. "You all continue the ride without me," she said. We called an ambulance and off she went. Two years later she returned to ride and at 88 and 89, she was still passing me on hills with her well-conditioned set of legs.

No one ever suggested to her that she should stop riding outside.

"I just decided at some point that it was time to keep my feet on the ground," she advised. "It's really not for someone else to tell you. You'll know when you want to stop. It's your decision to make."

For now, I'll let my elbow heal, hopefully with full range of motion, and look forward to next spring.

Reach Sue Scheible at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: When is too old to be riding a bike? Doctor tells 80-year-old to stop