Originally Posted by coasting

I was tired. It was a gruelling unpleasant ride mostly in the rain and I had been in a foul mood since the rain had started 20 minutes into the ride. But finally I was nearing the end and a warm shower beckoned; a warm shower followed by some hot food to revive the spirit.

My mind had wandered and at a set of traffic lights, I forgot to put the front gears onto the small chainring. As I pulled away, it was a bit more of an effort but not so much that I looked down to check which gear I was in, but after a couple of turns, it felt normal again and I was turning the pedals with gay abandon feeling the smooth whirring as I leisurely spun my way towards salvation. The ease of the pedaling was almost hypnotic and I almost drifted into a dream like trance.

Suddenly I realised I was catching the cars ahead and then motorbikes and then another cyclist and then a group. It cannot be! I was hardly putting any effort into the twilight of today's ride. I was like the wind, a thundering typhoon, tearing my way through the chaotic streets. I sped past lycra clad fellow cyclists shouting "woo hoo" as I scorned their friendly but futile waves.

I learned that keeping the bike in the big chainring makes me faster with hardly any more effort compared with riding in the small chainring. Once the momentum had been achieved, the steady routine pedaling did not take more effort. I will be leaving the chain on the big chainring all the time in future.