When I was offered an in-line skating course recently, I jumped at the chance. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but somehow never got round to. A great way to get fit and spend more time outdoors, I thought. In a matter of weeks, I’d be freewheeling through sunny parks, tanned, toned... And then it dawned on me.

I am 40. I’m not quite sure how I got here. I certainly don’t feel 40 — and in a good light, I don’t look 40 — but the fact is, I am. I know it’s not that old, but you don’t wear a hot-pants-and-boob-tube combo at this age unless you are about to make a guest appearance on The Jerry Springer Show.

As the first day of the course approached, I began to come out in cold sweats. Would I be surrounded by lithe teens and fearless twentysomethings in string vests and legwarmers? Would the other members of the class smile pityingly as they admired the sheer front of “someone’s mum” turning up to have a go? Maybe it was a really stupid idea.

When I got to the sports centre, however, I was in for a surprise. Not one of Citiskate’s Rollerblading for Beginners students was under 30 — in fact, more than a handful were knocking 40 or more (there was a 12-year-old in the advanced group, but we’ll ignore her). Forget posing and dressing the part: this lot were wearing jeans — and not the kind you’d queue up in Harvey Nicks to buy. What’s more, this was no special “for the parents” day. Every year, Citiskate teaches more than 2,000 people to skate in London, and the average age of the students is 34.

You don’t have to look far to find other examples of this phenomenon. Check out the great outdoors this summer and I guarantee that the people kite surfing, mountain-biking, practising Freestyle Frisbee moves and even skateboarding (Tony Hawk, the world’s biggest boarding star, is a 35-year-old dad of three) will all be in their mid to late thirties and forties — their teenage and twentysomething kids are far too busy smoking fags on local bandstands or sleeping off their hangovers in front of MTV.

The Extreme Academy in Watergate Bay, near Newquay, Cornwall, offers instruction, facilities, equipment and clothing for some of the hippest summer sports of the moment, including kite surfing, wave-skiing and blokarting (see below). According to the academy’s sports manager, Ben Jones, the bay is often awash with the sporty thirties and forties brigade.

“It’s a time and money thing,” says Jones. “Once people hit their mid to late thirties, they’ve usually got good jobs and can afford to indulge in their chosen sport.”

Last year, however, the World Health Organisation released research that suggested adrenaline junkies who were hooked on extreme sports such as kite surfing and mountainboarding had the same risk-taking genetic make-up as drug addicts. Could it be that today’s midlifers — suddenly aware of their own mortality and a strong desire to remain young and fit — are seeking to replace the party lifestyles of their twenties and early thirties with something healthier but just as thrilling?

Dr Lucy Goldby, a partner in Balance Performance Physiotherapy in London, a clinic that specialises in training people for high performance, endurance and extreme sports, says it’s a possibility. “Many of the older clients we see are definitely hooked on adrenaline. They often have hugely competitive jobs and lifestyles, so these kinds of sports are merely an extension of that. The guys that take up kite surfing or Freestyle Frisbee are looking for a sexy activity they can talk about and that will attract attention.

Let’s face it — you’ll get a very different reaction from people if you say you’re going mountainboarding than if you mention you might pop out for a round of golf at the weekend.”

That said, the typical sporty 40-year-old has usually been pretty fit for most of his or her life. As they have grown older, they have started to find themselves overtaken by younger athletes. They can no longer claim the county championship, so they are looking for a different sport with a different thrill at which to excel.

Ian Carey, trip leader at the Nae Limits outdoor pursuits centre in Dunkeld, near Perth, believes extreme sports also offer a much-needed antidote to routine city lifestyles. “A high percentage of our clients fall into the 35-plus age bracket,” he says. “We offer white-water rafting, cliff-jumping and abseiling, among other things. The sporty forties come to thrill-seek. They’ll often want to revisit sports they tried at school or college, like rock climbing or kayaking, and they can be quite competitive. When we do cliff-jumping, they’ll jump off the highest rock — just to prove they can.”

It’s this attitude of “proving I can still do it” that worries Goldby. “You need to know what the activity you intend to do will require from your body. You may be someone who runs several miles a day, but skateboarding or mountain-biking is going to tax your body in a completely different way to jogging. Both require upper and lower body strength and agility, not just aerobic fitness.”

Worse still are the sporty forties who were fit in their twenties and conveniently “forget” that the only exercise they have done since is to run for a bus.

If you’re thinking of taking up one of these sports, you need to do your research. “Ease into it gently,” advises Goldby. “And train for it carefully if you want to avoid serious injury.” Not that that would worry most sporty forties. They’re just imagining the conversation opener a plaster cast or crutches would make at the next board or PTA meeting.

CONTACTS

Citiskate (www.citiskate.com). Extreme Academy, Cornwall (01637 860840, www.watergatebay.co.uk). Balance Performance Physiotherapy, 113 Gauden Road, SW4 (020 7627 2308, www.balancephysio.com). Nae Limits, Dunkeld, near Perth (01350 727242, www.naelimits.co.uk).

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