How's your health John? If you're ok there's no reason why the US - or any other destination, should be that difficult to get to.

I'm not that far behind you - 64 next birthday, and I honestly have not given a second thought as to whether I'm too old to do any bike trip I want to do. I have too much baggage, family connections and economic roots here to go off on an open ended RTW trip but something lasting months is quite feasible. I still have a list of places I want to go to and fully intend to get to as many as possible. As it happens the next one on the list (for 2015) is the USA and I'm just about starting the planning for next Sept (probably about 7-8 weeks). I've been to the US a few times over the years and ridden there a couple of times before but despite the commonality of speaking English, as a European there's definately a culture shock when I arrive. Many of the things we take for granted in the UK and thanks to the EU, throughout Europe, are different in the US. It really is a foreign country (no offence to our US posters ).

Changes in technology etc have made bike travel a lot lot easier than it used to be in (say) the 60's. At a guess I'd say it's about as tricky to ride to South Africa or Mongolia now as it used to be to ride to Istanbul or the Black Sea fifty years ago even allowing that it's a lot further.

Wanting to go to places is the key to it. I still want to travel, to travel by bike, and to go to places that would be on your "worry list". Going back to your first post I wonder how many young people here (or anywhere come to that) leave the UK and head off RTW or into Africa as their first trip. Planning and doing can be miles apart. And even if you set off and it goes wrong, as long as you're not seriously hurt what does it matter? You may be out of pocket but 5 or 10yrs later I doubt if it makes any difference.

As for a "soft life" .... not yet!