On the bike this morning I've got a fairly cracking pace up and I go past this dude who's struggling to make 20kays up a small rise. He catches up with me a little later at a set of lights. Brief chat and we're off. Ahead is one of the more painful and dangerous little climbs, with cars chopping and changing all over the place, drivers getting aggro with each other and innocent cyclists.

The guy clearly wanted a ride partner for that section. I wanted to keep the pace up and complete my quota of suffering. So I left him in my wake to fend for himself.

So what should I have done: do the social thing and ride with him for a chat and risk getting tangled up in commuter hell, or stick to the training plan and let him sort out his own problems?