Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
I love my job so much, that I just can't wait to get to work!
What is the obsession with going faster and faster?
- Thread starter Manonabike
- Start date
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thefollen
Veteran
- Location
- Balham/Tooting Bec
- Going fast and overtaking people is awesome, especially if an entire 'block' of cyclists
- It warms the legs in these chilly times.
- You gain SCR points
- A Strava KOM or top 10 could well be yours.
Of course (if well behaved and for the most part law abiding) a 'slow and steady' cyclist can potentially achieve the same overall commute time as you. Traffic lights/heavy traffic will stop and regulate you etc. It's just a nice freedom to go at the speed you want. I had an epiphany the other day- one of the main fundamental reasons why the tube annoys me in the morning isn't the crowding or potential for delay. It's purely the fact that you're forced to travel at the same speed as people who in real life 'walking/running/cycling' you'd scalp into next week
- It warms the legs in these chilly times.
- You gain SCR points
- A Strava KOM or top 10 could well be yours.
Of course (if well behaved and for the most part law abiding) a 'slow and steady' cyclist can potentially achieve the same overall commute time as you. Traffic lights/heavy traffic will stop and regulate you etc. It's just a nice freedom to go at the speed you want. I had an epiphany the other day- one of the main fundamental reasons why the tube annoys me in the morning isn't the crowding or potential for delay. It's purely the fact that you're forced to travel at the same speed as people who in real life 'walking/running/cycling' you'd scalp into next week
beanzontoast
Guru
- Location
- South of The Peaks
I'm someone who prefers a steady pace - I like to arrive not in a sweat. It doesn't bother me that I get passed on a fairly frequent basis. More often than not I catch up at the next set of traffic lights with the cyclist who overtook me, not that it matters. They have their journey to make - I have mine. (I don't count those cyclists I see who go through reds or take to the pavement to go around red lights in this comparison obviously).
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
A bit of speed can mean getting to those bits ahead of a pack of cars too (similarly, sometimes I'll vary my speed downwards to get rid of the buggers where it's safe for them to pass).
if you cycle a route regular then you want to push yourself to improve your time so you try to go faster , if your out on a family ride at weekend thats different but its the competitor in all of us that want to push ourselves not cause its a race but cos we want a challenge
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Dunno. Still do it, though.
Teuchter
Über Member
- Location
- Erskine, Scotland
I can understand what you mean about the obsession with going ever faster. I've recently found myself backing off the cycling pace slightly (to the tune of less than 5 mins difference over a 10 mile commute). I'm still getting good exercise and all of the other benefits of cycling, it's just a little more chilled out.
I'm slightly saddened to admit that this approach normally goes out the window as soon as another cyclist passes me.
I'm slightly saddened to admit that this approach normally goes out the window as soon as another cyclist passes me.
fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
I've been known to commute on my mountain bike at 6-8mph, then wind it up to 22-25mph just as
one of the lads from work catches up on his bike.
....... but only when its on my spare set of lightweight wheels and slicks
one of the lads from work catches up on his bike.
....... but only when its on my spare set of lightweight wheels and slicks
Andrew_P
In between here and there
Strava or it didn't happenBet I love my job more then you SD
endoman
Senior Member
- Location
- Chesterfield
Just been out on a Strava bagging ride, too windy though for one of the segments, great fun on another with it behind, missed KOM by 4 seconds , shame my computer only seems to output to Strava at 5 second intervals. Not a car in sight on 2 of the segments, great training roads!
coffeejo
Ælfrēd
- Location
- West Somerset
fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
Strava is where you wear a heart rate monitor while driving through a certain "segment" at 28.5mph,
while your girlfriend finds something to sooth her itchy tonsils.
Then you upload the record, win a KOM and nobody realizes you drove it because the heart rate shows
190bpm over the entire segment.
