I have been worrying about how unfit I am after a winters lay off so Today was time for a "Fun Ride". Just a gentle ride down to the coast for coffee and to see a couple of my old customers.

8 miles to the first customer and had the Garmin on and left off the Heart monitor and put the I Pod on instead. After all- it was only a gentle ride and I did not want to arrive at the customer all hot and out of breath. Couple of miles to warm up and Status Quo came on and as usual I matched the cadence. About 95 on this song. Looked at the speedo and I was up to 18mph. Wonder if I can get to 20 so up a gear and push. Looked down and I was at 25. I don't do 25 unless it is downhill and with a tailwind. It was as near as dammit flat and it was a cross wind. Saw the customer and onto the cafe. Picked up another rider after about 100 yards and he was on a Giant Defy-and had a low cadence. Into a headwind and he was slow so I took the lead and just went up a bit from his pace. 3 miles later he drew alongside me and one of the questions was why I pedalled so fast. Without getting technical- I just told him I wasn't fast but he was slow and explained the problems of low cadence. 3 miles later and I got to the cafe and he stopped and thanked me for upping his speed. He had got the bike about a year ago and just rode it on his days off and today with the higher cadence he found it so much easier. Hope he did as I had been heading into a 15mph headwind and shielding him. Had coffee and onto the next customer. They were upset that I wouldn't have coffee with them so 20 minutes later and I was on my way.

I Pod still on and I went up the MUP to get a bit of shelter from the wind. Won't try it again--It's full of old people out getting exercise by cycling- walking the dog and chatting to any one they see. It got crowded at times. Now most of my music is at a cadence of 85 to 95 so tried to get comfortable on cadence to the beat. Today- for some reason- I had to keep changing into a higher gear to stay on top of the music.

So one good ride where I didn't train- didn't bother about speed- didn't worry about working. I still want to know how that ride normally has an average of just over 13mph. Today I managed 16 and I know that is wrong because I forgot to pause the Garmin at the last coffee so that included a 20 minute stop on a 24 mile ride that took just under two hours door to door.

I'll have to do more leisurely "Fun" rides.