Imagining myself at 60, bicycle edition

My current bike is about 15 years old. She's a heavy cruiser - nice for tootling around on bike paths and my short commute to work. But she doesn't inspire me to ride farther, faster, and more often.

So I've been thinking about a new bike and thanks to advice from a bike-expert friend, I've found one (on sale!) that will meet my needs. She's a sweet road bike, designed for women, light, and good for anything from a Sat afternoon leisurely ride to my dreamed about longer rides - fifty plus miles.

When I showed another friend the picture of the bike I'm getting she was surprised. She said, "I thought you were just getting a lighter cruiser. I don't see you at 60 wanting to be hunched over on a bike like that."

She didn't mean to hurt me, but it did, deeply. Implying that at 60 I'd only be up for gentle, easy rides (which actually makes sense, given how I've been riding these last years).

She was envisioning this: 

And I'm envisioning this:

There's nothing wrong with either vision, but I want a bike that lets me do both! At 60, I want to be as badass as I can possibly be, as a biker, and at life in general. I'm planning to bust out.

So, that hurtful comment was exactly what I needed to hear, because hurt turned to anger, and then to inspiration, for biking and beyond. 

At 60, I envision (and plan to be):

• A serious recreational biker
• Fit and toned
• Engaged with art and music - as both a participant and creator
• Not taking BS from anyone
• Clear, smart, calm
• Best grandma ever
• Downsized so I'm living great with less
• Traveling to amazing places - maybe biking in amazing places!
• Surrounded by people I love and who love and support me
 

I've got some of that down already (especially the friends), and a year to do the work I need to do to get to the rest in place. I'm on it. 

But first, the bike!