Originally Posted by
Homeyba
I'm not sure commuting is going to make anyone faster just by itself. I know a number of people who commute way more than 5km and still get dropped on rides. They have plenty of endurance but just aren't fast. It's not because they aren't capable, they just aren't training correctly. To be faster you have to actually train to be faster. She can certainly do that on her commute but she has to make it a concerted effort. Glad you guys had a great fist ride! Hope you have many more. 
Thanks for the positive stoke...
Your right of course that commuting isn't speed training. Since she went from essentially being a non-cyclist [but fit at other sports] I thought that some time on the bike getting her skills sorted and getting some miles in her legs might result in a speed increase at that very basic level. I rode with her to work at the end of 2010 and was impressed with her biking skills and how she used the road/signalled, etc.. She's becoming a skilled transportational cyclist, but a slow one! Ultimately I don't want to make cycling a "job" for her so unless she asks for help to train for speed I'm fine with the status quo now that we have the tandem as an option for rides where we need to achieve a minimum pace.
She's going to try our rando club's 50km populaire at the end of March. We'll try a 60km tandem ride before then....if it goes well we may tandem the 100km route instead...
