Originally Posted by
gecho
I also like knowing the speed, but I've found it can get me in trouble. When I used to see the speed getting "too low", I'd up my effort. Generally going too slow meant I was fighting the wind. Once last summer on my mountain bike during a particularly windy day I really over did it and arrived home completely exhausted. I had trouble walking the next day and couldn't bike for several days.
I absolutely gave up on trying to maintain a given speed on the road bike today. On a local loop, my speed on the upwind leg was about 14 mph; downwind, with less effort, I was cruising at 22-23. It would have been more productive if I had a power meter to watch instead, but I'm not going to spend that kind of money as long as I'm not training for races.