There is an incredible range of abilities among cyclists. My wife cruises at about 12 or 13 and averages about 10. She once gave it all she had, and she hit 20.

I measure my speed somewhat by how many people pass me on the bike path. If it's a busy day and no one passes me, I figure I'm doing well. If someone passes me, it's either because I have a reason to go slowly or he's the kind of amazing cyclist that I could never dream to beat.

But now I've started to race, so I ask myself again how fast is fast enough? I was in three races last night at the track. I remembered to turn my little computer on for one of them. It's not legal to have one of these visible while you ride it, so I attached it to my seatpost and it faced backwards. It said I averaged 20 mph and hit a max speed of about 29.5 mph. I think it was a 2 mile race.

So now I'm almost the fastest bike commuter I see anywhere in NYC but I'm also slower than all the bike racers I encounter. I came in last in all races so far. There are more gaps to bridge, if you want to. You will always find people who are faster than you are. The question is whether this matters to you.

I decided to race this year so I could learn and grow and have fun. I'm accomplishing all of that, while losing every time. I'm having a blast.