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andyp
clubman
There's a lot of luck in this
I don't think it's really a question of what sort of bike you ride - it's more about how well preserved each rider is, and there's surely a lot of luck about that. First you need good genes and then you must have got through several decades of cycling without permanent injury or debilitating illness.
After that there's the question of what you believe you can do. Personally, I've done more on fixed this year (just on a whim) than I have for the past few years, but when I first got back on my 67" gear I certainly did have some doubts about what hills I could get up. In practice I've found my age related deterioration has been relatively mild -although I'm certainly not going very fast. This situation won't last for ever, so I'm going to try to make the best of it now.
If you haven't seen my A.G. Duckett thread in Current Projects you might take a look at it:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/369572/#comment16331168
I will be off for my 2022 ride (Deo volente) this Saturday, so if I never post here again you will know that I was over optimistic about my abilities!
N.B. for some reason this link takes you to the middle of the thread - if you haven't read it before you will need to go up to the first post to understand what I'm trying to do.