Originally Posted by banerjek

I couldn't disagree more. Computers, HRMs, etc allow you to know too much about your performance and the temptation to take things up a notch is just too tempting. Computers cause me to operate at my limits.

For a long commute, I think speed is very important. I have 2 worksites, and one of them is 22 miles away. The majority of the time, I cover the distance in between 1 hr 1 min and 1 hr 4 min in good weather depending on traffic (addition of wind will speed me up or slow me down). Add 10-15 min to that for crummy weather when I'm not on a racing bike. That's a huge chunk of my day and I need to spend some time at home.

The best way to avoid pain is to throw away the computer and just do what feels good. I've found that not using mine only adds 2-3 min to the ride, but the difference in effort/pain is substantial