Can I be Mr Sensible for a moment please?
I've been commuting 4 months, average (as shown on computer, so not including stops at traffic lights etc) started at 12mph and I worked up to 15mph after 2 months.
Then I got knocked off. It wasn't my
fault, the car ran into me from the side, but having sat and analysed the incident I have to be honest with myself and admit that had I been concentrating more on looking around me and less on getting my average speed up I
may have been able to avoid it.
My average is now at about 13mph - I'm still working on increasing that, but only by increasing my speed on the bits of my route where there's very few potential conflict points. I'm riding slower on the sections that I consider to be riskier.
Depends on your route of course, but I've come to the conclusion that my 13 mile commute from one side of Nottingham to the other isn't the place to try and set personal bests - I'll leave that for the weekend leisure rides on relatively safe roads.
Sorry if that's a bit boring, but my next bike ride, later this morning, will be to see an orthopaedic surgeon to see what (if any) the long-term effects of being knocked off will be