FINDING THE LINES

Deborah Delano rides headlong into older age: wiser, faster and a teeny bit more rad.

When we think of older woman, if indeed we do, our thoughts might turn to baking, auxiliary childcare for grandchildren or the creaking encroachment of debilitating medical conditions. Before we progress, I must tell you I am a woman of advancing years who does not think sixty is the new forty, nor yet forty the new twenty-five. Sixty is sixty. It is not a harbinger of imminent death, it is not the end of anything. Let’s not deny the inherent spiritual wealth and beauty in this most serene state of maturity by implying that forty is somehow preferable. For me this age brings opportunity unfettered by self-consciousness, love founded on knowledge and understanding. It brings accomplishment, a sense of purpose and, to my very great surprise, it brings mountain biking.