Any other old timers enjoy riding slow?
08-16-18, 10:02 AM
#26
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I, too, don't have speed as a primary goal. I do check my average speed after every ride and will take note if it's faster than usual but I don't think about it enough to set a goal to beat a previous best. Prefer to ride in whatever way comes to mind ... sometimes slower meandering and checking out the scenery, sometimes cruising at, what for me, is a fast pace for a while, or just plugging along at whatever speed feels right at the time.
08-16-18, 10:36 AM
#27
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If you ride less than 12 mph, then you, or at least I, won't be riding more than 20 minutes during half the year down where I'm at. Being able to sustain better than 15 mph for hours means I'll have enough air moving by me to evaporate my sweat at a rate that sometimes almost feels like having an air conditioner blowing on me when conditions are right on a 95 plus day.
And I never understand the thought that I don't enjoy nature because I ride a faster pace. I see and notice quite a bit of nature. 15 and 20 mph are not a detriment to me seeing enough details in a leaf or a bird that I can't get back to the house and google up a search to determine what I saw. Sometimes the slower people just have too much time and get into mischief that they don't realize like the guy that innocently stopped to poke a stick in ant hills and get the fire ants stirred up. I'm sure those walking that day loved him.
And I never understand the thought that I don't enjoy nature because I ride a faster pace. I see and notice quite a bit of nature. 15 and 20 mph are not a detriment to me seeing enough details in a leaf or a bird that I can't get back to the house and google up a search to determine what I saw. Sometimes the slower people just have too much time and get into mischief that they don't realize like the guy that innocently stopped to poke a stick in ant hills and get the fire ants stirred up. I'm sure those walking that day loved him.
08-16-18, 11:14 AM
#28
Banned
Rate Of Speed is entirely secondary
My long bike tours were at generally , under 10mph, or 16kph..
daily miles covered, less
because of Stopping for a nice Breakfast , lunch ,
Sitting in at Pub Music jam sessions ,
making friends, along the way..
etc.
...
daily miles covered, less
because of Stopping for a nice Breakfast , lunch ,
Sitting in at Pub Music jam sessions ,
making friends, along the way..
etc.
...
Last edited by fietsbob; 10-17-18 at 04:39 PM.
08-16-18, 11:52 AM
#29
Senior Member
12 mph may seem slow when you figure a 4 minute mile is 15 mph... however, while I'm old and slow and only go about 12 mph on average, I could very easily go a lot faster than 15 mph for a single mile on flat ground...
08-16-18, 12:23 PM
#31
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I have dreams of how far I could go if I could just go a little faster. 
Yesterday I finished 160 miles towing a loaded trailer... And will admit that average pace wasn't that fast.
Yesterday I finished 160 miles towing a loaded trailer... And will admit that average pace wasn't that fast.
08-16-18, 12:28 PM
#32
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I'm faster than the average bear - or citizen - but slower than a fast cyclist.
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08-16-18, 12:45 PM
#33
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08-16-18, 12:59 PM
#34
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Even when I 'think' I'm going fast, I'm still going slow. Can't get much up over 13 mph on a 10 mi stretch of slightly rolling terrain. After reading some of the accident/injury reports on a couple of other threads, I'm thinking that at age 72, I don't ever need to go faster than that.
08-16-18, 02:29 PM
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Speed is not always my goal. But, I do enjoy spinning and doing a good pace. When I ride too slowly I can't climb and I don't enjoy being on the bike. On a typical 30 mi. ride with 1800 ft. of climbing I average around 15 mph. I actually find riding slower more difficult.
08-16-18, 02:51 PM
#36
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This time of year I like to do a recovery ride once a week or so for an hour or less. I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy, but on those rides my pace is much slower than usual. But then my so called faster rides are pretty danged slow in the greater scheme of things.
08-16-18, 02:59 PM
#37
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I like to mix my rides up, and yes, there are times when I relish a more casual pace. I do find something very therapeutic in the occasional slower ride where I'm just taking everything in and delighting in the freedom to go where I want as I choose, stopping whenever I feel like it with nothing to prove and no need to get anywhere in a hurry.
I have a couple of routes that I deliberately ride like that and I think they are very beneficial to my mental health.
Certainly I do some hard rides too and I can enjoy the feeling of a good workout. But I'd get pretty bored of cycling if all I did was go all out.
I have a couple of routes that I deliberately ride like that and I think they are very beneficial to my mental health.
Certainly I do some hard rides too and I can enjoy the feeling of a good workout. But I'd get pretty bored of cycling if all I did was go all out.
08-17-18, 06:38 AM
#38
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Every once in a while I like pushing myself where I'll average around 15 mph over 10-15 miles just to stay for but for the most part I enjoy a more relaxed pace of 10-12 mph. Where I can more enjoy the scenery around me. A lot of riders get too worked up over how fast a pace they can keep and miss everything that's going on around them.
Cycling happens to be an activity and a sport though so not sure why you would take a jab at riders that like to push themselves and go fast.
I am not fast by most standards but I average 18-19 mph and still take in the scenery.
08-17-18, 06:55 AM
#39
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started off slowly yesterday, but them a cpl times I got an itch to go a bit faster. bikes are fun cuz we can do both!
08-17-18, 07:20 AM
#40
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Slow or fast is relative and all good.
Cycling happens to be an activity and a sport though so not sure why you would take a jab at riders that like to push themselves and go fast.
I am not fast by most standards but I average 18-19 mph and still take in the scenery.
At 64 I don't consider cycling as a sport, I'm too old to race but I do like to push myself
occasionally but not all the time. I say to each his own.
08-17-18, 07:43 AM
#41
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"Fast" and "slow" IS all relative as @downhillmaster said. My "fast" is relative to whatever my "fast" was before, and that's maybe the most important part of it. If all my rides are like a low-effort stroll, I'm never getting stronger, probably not even hanging on to what I've got, and that's not what I want out of it. Fast or slow is just how you keep track of it, as fast or faster than you were before when you're giving full effort.
08-17-18, 08:01 AM
#43
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I'm always blown away by the average speeds a lot of the old timers around here post (with strava charts to prove it too). A lot of those folks have been riding for years with groups and are oriented toward performance. My wife and I started riding about 12 years ago and have always been oriented towards recreation. I hit 70 this month and am more like you in the speed department. 15-16 on the flats at times, quite a bit less in rolling terrain or against winds. I suspect my average is somewhere from 12-13 but I don't bother tracking it. My wife and I ride for fun, typically in the 25 mile range. We will occasionally do longer rides but speed and distance are not what it is about for us. What makes me laugh is how impressive most of our friends think our riding is. They should read some of the posts around here - they would think we are wusses. 
08-17-18, 09:34 AM
#44
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I can remember a lot of rides in my younger days where we would average 18 to 20 mph for 50 to 70 miles. When we got done all I could remember seeing was the rear brake of the rider in front of me. I now have learned to spend my miles enjoying the sites in nature.
Bottom line - Ride to have FUN based on the type of fun YOU want to have at that particular time.
Bottom line - Ride to have FUN based on the type of fun YOU want to have at that particular time.
08-17-18, 09:54 AM
#45
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I enjoy riding slow. Riding slow up a hill is different matter. 
08-17-18, 10:08 AM
#46
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I started at 60,
I’m still trying to discover “fast.”
My fast is slow to most here, but
my overall average is increasing .
So , Riding slow is enjoyable, but I think riding fast would be fun too.
My best is 21 miles & avg’d over 14 mph, that’s fast for me(no wind , some small hills)
I wonder what could’ve been, had I stared in my younger years.
I’m still trying to discover “fast.”
My fast is slow to most here, but
my overall average is increasing .
So , Riding slow is enjoyable, but I think riding fast would be fun too.
My best is 21 miles & avg’d over 14 mph, that’s fast for me(no wind , some small hills)
I wonder what could’ve been, had I stared in my younger years.
08-17-18, 10:44 AM
#47
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Yes.
Sometimes I wonder if the constant "I rode 50 miles at 19 MPH" does more harm than good here. 11-12 MPH is just fine.
Sometimes I wonder if the constant "I rode 50 miles at 19 MPH" does more harm than good here. 11-12 MPH is just fine.
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08-17-18, 12:01 PM
#48
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08-17-18, 12:29 PM
#49
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08-17-18, 01:22 PM
#50
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Well great! I'm only 51 so I have 9 more years of posting my 20mph+ rides before I potentially drop over dead.
