Poll: How Old Are You?

[latremorej]

I guess Alan, Carp, and I are the babies here, I clicked 30's, even if it's for just another 9 months, then I'll have to bump it up to 40... (sigh)

 

[Muskrat]

Same as DuctTape. 30.

 

[Guest]

Only a year and eight months until I can get a Federal "Senior Pass" and save 50% on entry and camp site fees.

The glamping sites at Raystown (Corp of Engineers) were $32 a night. That is a little ca-ching for a 4 night stay. I've bought boats for less.

 

[dave0]

58 and my body is starting to feel like it...daily. In the gray matter well the better half says I act like a child! ;-)

 

[Shearwater]

Are we talking about physical or maturity age here.
Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

 

[daveo4]

Pushing 69 in the spring! The trick is to keep moving but stay away from mirrors.
​Regards,
Dave

 

[roadends]

34 for the time being. Hoping when I reach the age of the majority of the members here I will be able to spend much more time in a canoe.

 

[sweeper]

62 and glad I'm not younger.

 

[coldfeet]

No Title

In school I'm the biggest baby of them all. My wife reminds me that my license says 55. PS yes I shaved my head and the glued on mustache was a b*tch to get off. Kids were amazed in school....priceless! Someone has to speak for the trees. (I voted once)

 

[yknpdlr]

over 60, and i've been racing canoes for 20+ years. it has always amazed me at the number of "older" participants. Funny thing, they used to look a lot older than I, not so much any more.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I turned 60 this past spring...but I'm only 60 for the first hour of each day. After that I'm still 18, unless I get reminded by a demand for strength or a passing mirror!!

Other than the realities of the calendar, my age varies by activity:

In a canoe, I'm forever 25.
Under a canoe, I'm about 40.
On skis I'm 50 on the way up (AT with skins) but 30 on the way down through untracked woods.
On a bicycle, I'm 50 at the start of the season, 25 by season's end!
On a motorcycle, I'm still 20, but without the immortal misconceptions!
When building a boat...I'm ageless!

Seriously, I've always said most people spend the first half of their lives ignoring their health, and then spend the second half being reminded of it.
I've been active and fit all of my life, but not without consequence. The way I see it, if you're active, you're bound to be injured at some point. Only difference between the young me and the current me is the length of time to recover...oh, and my shrinking biceps!

I respect and admire those that are my elder, whether chronologically or biologically, and hope to remain active and involved for many more years.

I really relate to that.

A dear writer on another forum who, after a long and productive life, left this world earlier this year had a great response to this subject, which I will try to paraphrase here. "People ask me what it's like to feel old. I answer that I don't feel old at all - I feel like I'm only 30, but something's wrong with my body."

 

[Canoeyak]

58 for me.

I normally don't act or feel my age. As others above have said, I can feel things slowing down and getting a little more difficult to do every year. Recovery time is also getting a little longer. I really feel my age plus some this week.

On Wednesday I had scope surgery on both knees at the same time, so I'm moving pretty slow. It was not my first time at this so I guess all the fun I had over the years is catching up with me (motocross bikes, motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATV's, water and down hill skiing, etc.). Would I do it all again? heck Yeah!!

I may not be saying this when I eventually need both knees replaced like Kim and others on here have gone through.

A elderly lady I know, who is 101, told me it is much better to wear out body parts from over use then to have them fall apart from lack of use. I couldn't agree with her more. Age is just a number and it shouldn't be the only factor for determining if you should or should not do something.

Take care
Perry

 

[BobMills]

I'm in the older end of the spectrum. One of my daughter-in-laws ask me when I would stop going on trips - she's very thoughtful. I had just showed up at their house after a trip with a grey beard - I told her I'd paddle until I couldn't. I hope to go to Woodland Caribou next summer, or do some of the portages in Temagami again, because I still can.

My younger brother,who is 67, said he's worried each year that we won't go again. He's in great shape, last year he carried a heavy pack and a canoe on one long portage in Quetico. I told him even if it's us two (no kids) well go. It's our challenge to stay fit and look forward.

You all are a group of a lucky few - look forward.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I'm in the older end of the spectrum. One of my daughter-in-laws ask me when I would stop going on trips - she's very thoughtful. I had just showed up at their house after a trip with a grey beard - I told her I'd paddle until I couldn't. I hope to go to Woodland Caribou next summer, or do some of the portages in Temagami again, because I still can.

My younger brother,who is 67, said he's worried each year that we won't go again. He's in great shape, last year he carried a heavy pack and a canoe on one long portage in Quetico. I told him even if it's us two (no kids) well go. It's our challenge to stay fit and look forward.

You all are a group of a lucky few - look forward.

I will be by frequently to hold you to that
Remember I drink the coffee your store carries!️

 

[martin2007]

Bob, I'm always interested in the perspective of paddlers in your generation, i.e. half a generation ahead of mine. You're leading the way, and giving us younger old geezers hope. I don't want to think wistfully of the past, but one thing I definitely miss from "back then" is not being interested in measuring what has already passed and what remains to be squeezed out of the undeniably shorter period that lies ahead. Ah yes, when the "future" was an indistinct fat blob that extended off into the distant horizon...The "measuring" seems to be an inevitable symptom of ageing, as is the omnipresent sense that we're located a lot closer to the end than to the beginning. I'm as guilty as anyone. I'd like to banish the sense of urgency that comes with the consciousness of advancing age. Of course, I don't banish it. Instead, I pick up Ian Brown's book "Sixty: The beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning, a Diary of My Sixty-First Year" and dwell, taking some meagre comfort__better than nothing!__ in learning that we're not alone in feeling what we feel. And laughing out loud at some good writing. Twenty years ago Bob Dylan sang, "It's not dark, but it's gettin' there." He's 75 now and still making music and doing what he knows and loves. I like to think he started singing that song a little earlier than he needed to, but no, for many of us (Is it our biological clock?), the "measuring" tendency emerges in the mid to late fifties. Sorry, Glenn, for not responding directly to the question asked. Just paddling up a weed-choked meander...

 

[yellowcanoe]

I didn't start solo tripping till I was 50..there is time.. The list that isn't anymore is the "someday list" . Either it gets nailed to a specific year or it ain't happening.

 

[stevet]

65 here. I now wait for the bathroom mirror to fog completely before exiting the shower.

 

[sweeper]

Great strategy, I can now shower with the light on.

 

[Waterdog]

47 years until New Years Day. Up until my wife left for the OBX Monday I thought I was 48yo. She got my drivers license out and a calculator and cleared it up for me! Its like I got a whole extra year to mess around with.

Barry

 

[Abenakiregion]

70, but feel like 30 until I have to throw that 20' wood canvas onto my shoulders!
Dave