I'm really not interested in going faster; OK?!!

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Ascent

Active Member
Location
Bomber country
I'm very much a lone rider. I like to just settle into a a rythm and then my speed is set by whatever gear feels comfortable at that rythm. I seem to average about 14-15mph which I'm quite happy with.

I'm just working now on getting my miles up but it's finding the time to do the distances.
 
Location
London
I'm very much a lone rider. I like to just settle into a a rythm and then my speed is set by whatever gear feels comfortable at that rythm. I seem to average about 14-15mph which I'm quite happy with.
.

That's quite a high average over a full ride. You are hardly a slowcoach.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
So nothing to do with the driver being an incompetent fool then?

I hope action is taken, at a minimum a driver improvement course if that’s how s/he drives on closed roads
 

classic33

Leg End Member
I understand that some people are motivated by the need for speed when cycling, and that their style is head down and go for it. That's all good but I wish my mate would leave me to ride a bike in the style that motivates ME - that is going out for leisurely paced rides, which for me means 13/15 mph, taking in the sights, sounds and smells that mother nature provides us with while exploring new places with plenty of stops. It's not like I don't do reasonable distances.

I'm really not interested in repeating the same old local routes day after day trying to beat my Strava PB's., so stop trying to convince me that that's the way forward. If I'm in a hurry I have a bike with an 800cc engine!

I'm just getting a bit tired coming up with excuses for NOT coming out for a ride and trying to keep up with people going at a much faster pace. Yes I know it's the best way to get faster but at 56 years old I'm just not interested; I'm happy doing what I do. I've tried it and didn't like it.
If faster isn't a consideration, how about further or longer(time wise)?
 
I'm very much a lone rider. I like to just settle into a a rythm and then my speed is set by whatever gear feels comfortable at that rythm. I seem to average about 14-15mph which I'm quite happy with.

I'm just working now on getting my miles up but it's finding the time to do the distances.

That’s a good average, higher than my average, which is around 12.5mph
 
Reversing my previous behaviour, I've now got a cycling partner in the shape of my youngest stepson.
He's starting back into cycling and I'll do anything to help.
There's some rough edges but we're doing ok. The first ride got a bit competitive but I've got a few decades head start.

He's also 6 foot 6 and built like a brick privy so I feel safe in the big cruel world now!
 

Ascent

Active Member
Location
Bomber country
My comment wasn't so much about the speed I go (which appears to be better than I thought) but more about getting into a comfortable rythm that I can do when I'm on my own but that I might struggle with if I had to match to someone else's.
 
I went out today and averaged 15.5 for the first time today, it was general undulating roads, light hills, that sort of thing, but it started raining, so I went home, before Honister had a chance to reduce my average back down.
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
When I was a young man on a road bike, on flat roads, I rode fast, too fast and I was knocked off my bike a few times by car drivers who didn't realise the high speed I was travelling, they thought they had plenty of time to pull out. I hit a few potholes too, I was travelling too fast to see them in time to avoid them, I have the scars to remind me.
 

tradesecrets

Senior Member
I understand that some people are motivated by the need for speed when cycling, and that their style is head down and go for it. That's all good but I wish my mate would leave me to ride a bike in the style that motivates ME - that is going out for leisurely paced rides, which for me means 13/15 mph, taking in the sights, sounds and smells that mother nature provides us with while exploring new places with plenty of stops. It's not like I don't do reasonable distances.

I'm really not interested in repeating the same old local routes day after day trying to beat my Strava PB's., so stop trying to convince me that that's the way forward. If I'm in a hurry I have a bike with an 800cc engine!

I'm just getting a bit tired coming up with excuses for NOT coming out for a ride and trying to keep up with people going at a much faster pace. Yes I know it's the best way to get faster but at 56 years old I'm just not interested; I'm happy doing what I do. I've tried it and didn't like it.

Like those who think there in the TDF whizzin past ..
 

Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
When I was a young man on a road bike, on flat roads, I rode fast, too fast and I was knocked off my bike a few times by car drivers who didn't realise the high speed I was travelling, they thought they had plenty of time to pull out. I hit a few potholes too, I was travelling too fast to see them in time to avoid them, I have the scars to remind me.

Perhaps you are accepting too much responsibility here, and not placing the responsibility where it really lies, i.e. with those drivers who misjudged your speed, as opposed to not realising what it was. If they think they have plenty of time to pull out when they don't, they have not fulfilled their duty of care to other road users properly, hence they are driving negligently. As a cyclist you are a road user with the same responsibilities and the same rights as those car drivers, so if you are in a position where you have precedence, drivers have to give way or ensure it is safe to manoeuvre without doing so. Even if you are going too fast for the conditions, their responsibility is not reduced - 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Apologies for the sermon, but it winds me up no end when drivers fail to give way to me on my bike in situations when they would do to a car. It seems there is a prevalent attitude of "it's only a bike, it can't go much more than walking pace", or "it's only a bike so I can just pull in front because they're not as important as cars / have secondary road user rights / they'll get hurt not me / it doesn't matter", or they just aren't looking for a bike so don't see it, and before you know it, the bike is right on top of them trying to avoid a collision, sometimes with dire consequences.
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
Perhaps you are accepting too much responsibility here, and not placing the responsibility where it really lies, i.e. with those drivers who misjudged your speed, as opposed to not realising what it was. If they think they have plenty of time to pull out when they don't, they have not fulfilled their duty of care to other road users properly, hence they are driving negligently. As a cyclist you are a road user with the same responsibilities and the same rights as those car drivers, so if you are in a position where you have precedence, drivers have to give way or ensure it is safe to manoeuvre without doing so. Even if you are going too fast for the conditions, their responsibility is not reduced - 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Apologies for the sermon, but it winds me up no end when drivers fail to give way to me on my bike in situations when they would do to a car. It seems there is a prevalent attitude of "it's only a bike, it can't go much more than walking pace", or "it's only a bike so I can just pull in front because they're not as important as cars / have secondary road user rights / they'll get hurt not me / it doesn't matter", or they just aren't looking for a bike so don't see it, and before you know it, the bike is right on top of them trying to avoid a collision, sometimes with dire consequences.

I agree, but my reality is that a riding at a high speed on a bike makes it more dangerous, car drivers shouldn't, but do pull out on bikes, with "dire consequences" as you have stated. The faster the bike is travelling usually the more dire the consequences. Let's hope things are improving on the roads, I think they are.:okay:
 
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