Reynolds 

There are a lot of different reasons why people try to ride faster.

AlmostTrick

So better = faster?

This seems to be a fairly common thought for some around here. More so on some sub forms than others. (like road)

I think the person who can avoid crashes in a variety of situations is a "better" rider. Night, rain, busy traffic, etc. Almost 10 years and 30,XXX miles since my last crash or fall. And while not slow, as stated earlier I'm likely not quite as fast as I was. But I'm MUCH better at properly mixing with traffic than I ever was in the past.

indyfabz

He's known for taking some beautiful rides in the Cascades.


Riding faster makes a long mileage day on tour end sooner, which can have practical benefits like avoiding afternoon thunderstorms that are common (and can be dangerous) in some places where I have ridden a good bit.

rydabent

+1 Being a 78 year old retiree, and not a racer boy, this is exactly what I have been saying for a long time. If I burn up the route I have decided to ride, and get home quicker what have I gained?

indyfabz

Maybe I will think that way when I am a 78 year old retiree, but since I am not I will think differently. As noted above, when on tour, being a bit faster can have its advantages.

DMC707

I guess its because its the easiest benchmark of performance improvement we have to go on ---

-- not all of us, -- but a lot of us are competitive minded, -- even if we're not racing, we want to beat our buddies times, speeds etc. --- Or we want to beat our own previous best time on a given route

Jarrett2

One of the reasons I decided to post this here in General. You have the real racer subforum ("The 33"-Road Bike Racing) and the wannabe racer subfourm (Road Cycling).

I get why the 33 folks do it, they need to get faster to win real races. Aside from actually entering and competing in races, why bother trying to go faster?

indyfabz

Now you are just being an ***. And I dare you to go to the Addiction thread in the "wannabe racer subforum" and repeat the above. I double dog dare you.

rydabent

Kind of makes you wonder how many that post here are licensed riders, and actually race.

caloso

I do. Crits mostly, some road races, some CX (although with two kids in soccer, my fall Saturdays are pretty well jammed). If we ever manage to get that velodrome built, I'll definitely start track.

DMC707

You already have one -- its in San Jose

I have to drive 200 miles to get to my home track -- its part of it

xodondum

time trial; I want to conquer 60 miles in (under) 3 hours not 4+

morfeeis

the main reason that i want to get faster is to keep up with the other cyclist around my area. i ride at about 13.7-14.2 MPH range and most guys just zip right past me. if i were faster i could keep up and chat with the other guys, i'm out here for fun and the speed would allow me to share that fun with a higher amount of people...

Plus Strava...

seypat

Not a good call there. Addiction modded like every other thread on BF. No special privileges there.

Scarbo

Hellyer is not exactly easy to get to from the Sacramento area, depending on traffic flows.

caloso

Yeah, I know, it's a mere 125 for me. I've tried to limit my race radius to 90 miles in the name of domestic peace and tranquility. It's a big spousal ask to be gone all day, although I may be able to swing it if I sell it as a father-son day out.

Ironically, the time I did ride the track was in Northbrook. We were visiting family in Chicago and I was able to do the Monday night beginner session. That was hella fun.

Jarrett2

I get this part:

It's fun to ride with people you want to spend time with. If they are faster, then it makes sense to get up to their speed. I'd suggest making sure they are actually the type of people you want to spend time with before putting in the effort to get to their speed.

I suspect this pushes a lot of people to be faster without really thinking about why.

woodcraft

Did he hit a nerve there?

supton

Going faster means stronger. If you can push hard for long, you can then likely back off a couple mph and then add hours of easy riding, in case you wanted to do so. Put another way: if you could crank out a two hour ride at full tilt (say 20mph average), you could probably do a century at 3/4 tilt and feel ok afterwards.

Since air drag goes up by velocity squared, small speed improvements mean large strength improvements.

corrado33

Faster for me = better. I can already do all of the other things you mention. Mountain biking has taught me many bike skills that roadies struggle with and commuting has taught me all I need to know about biking in traffic in my city. Bike control isn't something I want to practice on my road bike. My road bike is built to be ridden on roads... fast. And that's what I do with it.

If I'm not striving to better myself, then what am I doing with my life? You should always try to get better and be better. Sure, for some people, as you mentioned, it may be bike control. But for me, it's speed and endurance.

Going faster gives the lot of us a GOAL. Otherwise we're just exercising, and that's boring. If you're exercising hard to try to break your own record, or to get on the strava leaderboard, then that's something to strive for.

If you're just riding a bike to get the wind in your hair and seeing the sites, why not just use a e-bike? Or a moped? Same sensation, and you don't have to get tired doing it.

caloso

Riding with faster people is a time-honored method of getting faster. You'll push yourself harder than you ever would by yourself. And a lot of newish riders underestimate the benefit of drafting. If you can do 16-17mph for an hour solo, you'd have no trouble doing 20-21 in a group.

supton

See if you can join some group rides. I recently gave in and started going out with the guys at work, and it's been an encouragement, even if I hang at the back of the pack. They won't leave me (far) behind, work together as a team, build up together. Plus it's really important at the higher speeds to draft--once I slip out of the slipstream I fall behind. Group riding takes some practice.

That said, I don't think we chat that much. Some on the easy/coasting spots. But for the most part we just pound pavement. Chatting is for off the bike. I usually feel a bit guilty chatting on the bike anyhow, since that means we're not riding in a proper line--we're riding 2 abreast, which has some drawbacks on a number of roads.

GeneO 

^This and it is better for your health and fun.

indyfabz

No. Just a horribly inaccurate statement about all who post in the 41 (if only for the fact that there are people who race and often post there) and one made for no other purpose than to incite. If I had to guess, I would say it was the product of his own insecurities related to his limitations.

caloso

Some rides are more social than others, but in my experience, even the most brutal race rides have some social component. There's a neutral rollout, the main ride part, regroup after the sprint(s), neutral rollback into town. I love those parts.