{"id":534673,"date":"2026-03-13T23:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/534673\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:09:08","slug":"3-skills-that-help-older-cyclists-ride-faster-and-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/534673\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Skills That Help Older Cyclists Ride Faster and Longer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated4 min read<\/p>\n

Peter Abraham started riding at 16 because he had to. He had crashed his dad\u2019s car, and a bike was his only way to get around. A serendipitous meeting with Greg LeMond<\/a> a few years later cinched it: He was going to be a pro racer. \u201cGreg LeMond came into the store all kitted out\u2014he was buying Gatorade and some candy bars in the middle of a training ride\u2014but he stopped and talked to me for maybe 15 minutes,\u201d Abraham recalls. \u201cIt was like fate was intervening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham managed to put together a brief pro career but then hung up his race wheels until he hit his early fifties. Now, at 62 years old, he knows he needs more than just power<\/a>to keep riding strong. It\u2019s his tactics, his skills, and love of the cycling community that keep him going. If you spot him on a group ride, he\u2019s likely making a new cyclist feel more comfortable\u2014or he\u2019s up at the front with the fast riders, following their lines and marking them in corners.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s worked hard over the past 15 years to regain and then maintain his speed and endurance. He\u2019s the coach of Bicycling\u2019s member-exclusive Ride Strong at 50+<\/a>program. In addition to all the valuable training tips, workouts, and advice he dishes out in that program, he says these are the three of the most important skills to master.<\/p>\n

Bicycling’s Exclusive Training ProgramGetting Comfortable on Group Rides<\/p>\n

Finding your cycling community is the key to a happy cycling life, Abraham says. That may mean just having a few friends who are always up for a ride, or it may be something more formal like a club or team that you join. If you\u2019re a newer rider, though, going to that first group ride<\/a> to try to make some cycling friends can be intimidating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recommend looking for a group that offers different levels of rides,\u201d Abraham says, citing the Breakfast Club in Austin, Texas, as a great example. They offer an A, B, C, D, and E group, where the A\u2019s represent a stacked bunch including some local pros, and the E group is primarily people showing up with flat pedals and sneakers. They also offer a women-only ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook for a ride that fits your current ability level,\u201d he says. Starting with a group that\u2019s actually a little slow for you is a great way to get the hang of riding with a group, learning how to draft comfortably, and it lets you more easily chat with other riders and gain confidence, rather than going out with a group that pushes you to your fitness limit.<\/p>\n

Dial In Your Cornering<\/p>\n

There are plenty of skills you can develop that will help you ride more confidently as you age, but Abraham suggests putting cornering at the top of the list. On most rides and races, you spend a lot of time cornering. It\u2019s where crashes happen and where gaps in races can form. Corning with confidence can mean less time with erratic or panicked braking, which can erase your speed and lead to wrecks.<\/p>\n

Abraham recommends looking for a skills clinic or hiring a coach to help. \u201cAlmost every other sport recognizes the need for skills training, but in cycling, we just expect riders to pick skills up automatically,\u201d he says. \u201cBut focusing on skills training can make you so much faster than any interval workout.\u201d<\/p>\n

His favorite method? If you\u2019re able to, hop into a fast group ride or race and mirror what the speediest riders do. \u201cWe have a training crit here [in Southern California] called Camarillo Crit Practice,\u201d he says. \u201cOne evening, I went to do it, and [professional crit racer] Justin Williams was there, and I got to follow him for like 30 laps. You’d go into a corner, you’re in basically the same gear, pedaling the same and you come out of the corner and he\u2019s five bike lengths ahead. He was doing five little micro things that I didn’t even know were things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get Competitive <\/p>\n

Abraham believes that setting goals\u2014whether that\u2019s race results or aiming for your own personal bests on fun rides\u2014translates to better performance and the motivation helps fuel longevity.<\/p>\n

Just find the right type of race or ride that\u2019s right for you. Even though Abraham is a former pro road racer, he finds more joy and enthusiasm doing gravel rides these days. \u201cIt’s like running a marathon,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s a big, hard, long effort that you could do at any level you want, and you’re really competing against yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For him, it\u2019s about the community and the friends he makes on the start line and the finish line. \u201cWe all like the adrenaline rush and endorphin rush that cycling gives us. We like talking about our gear. We like community. No matter what ride you show up to, to some extent, we\u2019re all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more advice, tips, and strategies on how older cyclists can ride stronger, more comfortably and pain-free, check out our comprehensive program Ride Strong at 50+<\/a>. It\u2019s packed with expert advice and it\u2019s free to our members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"4 min read Peter Abraham started riding at 16 because he had to. He had crashed his dad\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82,144087],"class_list":["post-534673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-supes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}