Originally Posted by
coominya
A lot of people here on the forum talk of wanting to go faster but it's never so they can get to work on time, it's invariably because they want to "keep up" with some group of riders.
For me, it's about fitness. If bicycling is my workout, I'd like to know that I'm getting some sort of an improvement out of it. Riding alone, it's very easy to slip into a very casual pace and just coast along. That's a lot better than doing nothing, of course, and probably a nice time outdoors.
I agree that going fast on a bicycle can feel unsafe and uncomfortable if you're not used to it (I mean roads, in city traffic one should behave). I was gradually getting up in speed over this past summer, and it was definitely an adjustment. I live in a relatively flat area and I definitely started to appreciate hills in a new way - getting the exercise without the speed. There are some downhills where I get up to 50 km/h even with braking.