A unique virtual club for those who have been around the block a few times.

(From an article originally published by Nicol in RIDE magazine March 2010)

It is not impossible to beat your age.

Golfers agree that bettering one’s age for a round of golf is one of the finest achievements to strive for in their sport, more so because it is reserved for older players. Lowest so far is a 59 posted by one Bob Hamilton, 59 years old. No less notable are the achievements of Arthur Thompson who beat his age when he was 103 and Ed Ervesti’s score of 72 when he was 93.

In running, only one percent of the world population is able to achieve a time in minutes lower than their age in years for a 10 km run. Kenyan Paul Koetch was 27 when he clocked 26:36, youngest ever to beat his age for 10 km. Current world record is 26:17 held by Kenenisa Bekele but he was was aged 23 when he posted this mark. Beating 60 or 80 minutes for 10km remains challenging when you reach those years.

How does this relate to cycling?

Very few cyclists can cover 30km in fewer minutes than their age in years. When Tony Rominger made his successful attempt on the world hour record in 1994, he was 33 years old.  En route he became the youngest person ever to beat his age for 30km when he covered the distance in 32:35. This record was done on an unconventional bike with tribars and was removed from the books by the UCI in 2000.  The honour of youngest rider to beat his age on a UCI-approved bike may now belong to Bradley Wiggins who covered 30km in 33:09 on his way to the hour record of 54,52 km in 2015 when he was 35 years old.  (When Victor Campenaerts got the Hour with 55,089km in 2019 he went through 30km in 32:41 but was only 28 years old at the time.)

How does this relate to you?

It seems that 30km presents a fair challenge to those who have reached 40 — they require an average speed of 45km/h to beat their age and that takes some doing.  The 40-year old rider may look with envy upon his 60-year old mate who only has to average 30km/h to become a member of the Inside Age Club but once he reaches that age, will find that it remains a challenging task.

And what about the ladies?

The ladies may choose to receive either a discount of 10% on distance or an allowance of 10% on time. Where distance is chosen, this becomes 27km for all ages. Where the time allowance is chosen, a 60-year old lady would have 60 + 6 = 66 minutes for her 30km time trail.

How are those who qualify rated against others?

By calculating the percentage of allocated time required for their ride.  As an example, a fifty-year old man clocks a 48 minute for his 30km time trial. His percentage is 96% as opposed to the lady of 60 who did a 62 minute and scored a 93,9% —clearly the stronger rider requiring less of her time allocation.

How to do the ride.

It has to be a solo ride; no drafting, an individual time trial.

Select a fast, flat course. It has to be out and home or a circuit where start and end points are reasonably close together in terms of distance and elevation. A cycling track may be boring but fast.

Road bikes are faster but some strong/slick mountain bikers may qualify — a cum laude category perhaps? Gear restrictions for the very young? Oops! Not applicable.

Enjoy the ride! May you soon become a member of this exclusive club and establish your position on the ranking order.