UKH

Anyone else finding this..... I'll be 59 soon and I'm now officially nesh!

In my young years I was hardy....was in Norway a lot and other cold places but managed fine. Now though I seem to get cold and stay cold...I might have to start wearing hats and gloves!

I'm 60 now and have been nesh for my entire adult life.

I'm 62 and have no idea what nesh means.

Having seen John Arran soloing E1 at Burbage N. on a cold, damp, misty, winters days,  many years ago I must admit, certainly wouldn't call him 'nesh' . Not then anyway.

John

I was out in minus temps at the Newstones on Monday. I know it took flippin hours to warm up properly afterwards. I have invested in personal insulation compared to younger years.

At 59 I havn't winter climbed for a few years. A few reasons, but one is that I was finding it increasingly difficult to function in the cold. A huge sack full of clothing on the walk in and seven layers to climb in including a Fitzroy belay jacket plus a really beefy belay jacket when actually climbing. I was waddling around like Michelin Man while everyone else seemed happy in three layers or so. I am convinced it is not only because I have gone soft (though I was undoubtedly more in to suffering when younger). I regularly hill walk in five layers on the move.

It's definitely affected me (58 now - how did that happen??). Always a bit nesh but when I was younger I must have been fitter/dumber/more pain tolerant.

Now if I get chilled it takes me ages to recover. I read that mature person's need more protein in their diet so I intend to eat more sausage and egg butties.

Sounds like we should form a club 😂

My resting metabolism seems a bit slow. I'm fine when moving, and don't need much more than base layer & shell, but sitting still, I get cold. Even watching TV. And I don't notice until I am significantly cold.

Mind you, the house isn't warm...

I take immense pride in the fact in the whole of our street, our house has the most snow/ice remaining on its roof. Not sure if the warmth generated by my smugness counter balances that fact that I’m sat here shivering. 

ETA, I’m a lot younger than most of you, 58

ETA 2:  I meant 57 !!  

64 in a couple of months. The thermolactyls having been unearthed around the end of September for at least the last 10 years. Usually go back into cupboard the following April.

57. Always wore shorts to cycle commute, rain or snow. Until recently. Today, at minus 5 degrees, I wore my Action-Slacks.

Used to love the friction of climbing in the cold and dry. Now I think ill wait till summer for my joints to loosen up a bit.

You are not alone.

This describes it Robert! I finished work early today and have been up my local hill Shining Tor.  I had a watering eye all the way, my ribs clamped up restricting my breathing, my outer fingers got really cold, my legs stayed cold...it was probably -2/3 and I had 2 base layers, a fleece and a down jacket on!

59......it's no age.🤔

I most definitely felt the cold more when I got into my 60's. So much so that I quit alpine and winter climbing. Winter climbing because I simply could not stay warm and alpine because I realised that it could kill me.

Where's my pudding...?

Funnily enough, I used to wear winter cycling leggings, or powerstretch tights over shorts, but I have worn just shorts for the last ten years or so.

wait till you get to 70 plus , it gets worse, any advance on that? 

In my twenties, I used to work in a mixed practice. On a Friday I would get the operations done as soon as possible, but there could be a number to get done.  I would finish those tasks, then run down the road, across the railway line, to the cattle/sheep market in my rolled up sleeves, left after taking the surgical gown off.  Then I would carefully check all the livestock in the various pens, to the frequent comment of "Hey up! Here comes thermal elbows" I was renowned amongst those farmers.

Now I too have several layers more on to keep the insulation level up. Nevertheless, I think that it does me good to go out in the cold, and feel it a bit, to begin with, either on the bike, or out on the peninsula at Rutland water.

Someone above described, what I presume is Reynaud's phenomenon (prev called syndrome): And the best help with that is to keep your core body warm (I suffer from it too). I learned a few years ago at a lecture on the subject, that you can actually further damage your capillaries, not just going out in the freezing temperature, but even between zero and 5 deg C!

Rob

There's a chap from Dolgellau who mountain bikes in all weather, all year round. Hammering the big routes in Coed y Brenin, he says that as long as he has a decent pair of gloves he's toasty. He is now 92! 

ps. he bought an eMTB on his 90th, so there's hope for us yet.

My core can be sweaty, but my extremities cold; I once cycled to an ECG test. The nurse applying the pads was a bit concerned that my chest was cold. But my back was still sweaty from cycling. I seem to have a high tolerance for significant variation in body temperature. Maybe I ought to fit some monitors, and see how it varies... I can be lying in bed, toasty warm, with one hand above the covers, reading UKC, etc, on my phone, and my hand will get icy cold.. 

Yes I get the cold hand syndrome when reading in bed: But then where to warm the offending chilled hand  when you turn the light out?

As a teenager, in order to try to forget about the lust for the female form in my year, I used to go on bike rides in the dark on winter's nights. We lived in the West Riding . Multiple times I'd go down into Thunder Bridge near Kirkburton, or down some of the hills near Shepley, or down from Thurstonland ; and my hands were that lacking in feeling, that I struggled to apply the brakes on these steep hills sufficiently to avoid coming off. I just did not have enough feeling or control.

I had a philosophical approach, and almost felt that the insensitive,  purple/white fingers were a penalty/penance for lusting for the opposite sex....

I just did something else with my hands. Sod the penance/penalty nonsense; lust is perfectly natural.

My hands continue to operate (mostly) when I have an attack of Raynauds. But then all the finger flexors are in the arm, not the hand itself. Just I can't feel anything, so dexterity suffers.

A while back did a bike ride over the Cat & Fiddle around this time of year and a bit underdressed, stopped in Buxton go warm up. Didn’t really work and my legs cooled a bit more. Decided to trim the ride via the Goyt reservoirs and head back to Macclesfield. There’s a long straight road dropping height fast, enjoying the speed until I started shivering and got until a speed wobble I couldn’t calm. That and my hands not really working to brake properly. Most scared I’ve been on a bike, rapidly heading for a drystone wall without much control. Eventually unclipped and started dragging my race shoes on the tarmac and braking, slithering to a halt. Didn’t like it.

I thought we were heading for the Inbetweeners numb hand scene for a moment there.

Although I'm not as old as some of the numbers above, as I got to late 40s (or some time like that?) I noticed that I was still quite hardy, not quite as before middle age when I had pretty much the cold tolerance and "eating" habits of  Geordie of the Antarctic)

https://youtu.be/jxXbpHeIrUc?si=3ipAr1tgZssnQJsy

But as I got older I'd find when working hard, like walking uphill with a rucksack I was still in short sleeve running top when everyone else needed thick parkas, however when I stopped for any length of time my core temperature would crash. Not the normal dip you'd expect, but a real crash! So unsuppressable violent shivering even in normal clothing. If I'd been working really hard for some hours in cold, it could even happen when I stop indoors when I get back!

So for me anyway, reduced temperature regulation ability with age... rather than exactly feeling the cold more as such

One would have to be a pretty ardent onanist for that to be your first thought upon arriving back from the ride