I'm not usually a "type A" competitive type, but when it comes to cycling, I'm very competitive, even against myself. I'm always trying to shave a minute or even a few seconds off my commute time. I usually average about 16 mph on my commute.

We have a shower room where I work and I am usually pretty sweaty by the time I get to work riding at that pace. There was a plumbing leak this week and the shower room is closed. So, I decided rather than drive the money guzzler, I would just shower before I leave, give myself some extra time, and slow way down so I don't get sweaty. I only averaged 11 mph this morning and found it very pleasant and almost relaxing to ride at that speed. I felt like I was coasting most of the time. More time to see the beautiful autumn leaves, watch the sun rise, and enjoy the morning.

If the sun is up (which for me, won't be at this time of year), slowing down to notice the fall colours is a nice thing to do.

Q. What do you call two people on bicycles?
A. A race
Good post! Why does riding a bike bring out that competitive instinct? I hate it when a racer wannabe passes me as I'm riding my touring or commuting bike. Everything else in modern life seems so rushed it's nice to be able relax and slow down on the bike.

for me it has nothing to do with competitive instinct and everything to do with the fact that i live 15 miles from my job. time. time. time. time. time. time. time............ we never seem to have enough of it.

if i lollygagged my way along at 10mph, it would take me nearly 2 hours to get to work in the morning, once stop lights and traffic are factored in. by pushing myself pretty hard i can usually keep it under an hour, which is a much more practical amount of time to spend getting to work in the morning.

I feel so inadequate! 11-12mph is my haulin'-ass speed... Of course, my commute is so short that I'm just getting warmed up by the time I'm here.

I've started to notice that too. I used to average 15mph but would get to work breathing hard and covered in sweat. I now average about 12mph and am ready to work after a few minutes and a change of clothes.

The thing is, my time is still improving. I think before I was really pumping it on flats and then struggling up hills. Now I am much more consistent in my speeds, keeping it around 15mph on flats and 10mph up hills. Average speed down (my computer doesn't measure when I'm stopped), but I get to work 10 minutes sooner.

Normally the sun wouldn't be out here, but since I didn't have to get to work early enough to shower I got to ride part of my route with sunshine. I got to work with just enough time to change my clothes, which allowed me to have about 10 minutes of daylight on my morning commute.

That was another thing about this morning's commute that I noticed. Since I was really taking it easy, the gigantic hill about a mile away from my work place seemed way easier since my legs weren't already fatigued from 6 miles of hard riding before getting to it. I usually make it to work between 26-28 minutes depending on wind, and this morning it took about 38 minutes. So, I added 10 minutes. Not so bad if you leave a few minutes earlier.

I should add that my commute back home in the afternoon is usually only about 14.5 mph even when I'm pushing hard. The route coming to work is a lot of downhill, while going home is more uphill. So, you can see how I manage 11 mph at a leisurely pace if I'm spending a lot of time going downhill; that and I'm on a fairly light roadbike with 700cx23 tires.

I keep thinking I should try that. Maybe I'll do it this afternoon on the way back.

My cruising speed is 20mph, so 10mph would double my time. But I do make the effort to ride slowly twice on my commute, taking the time to ride through 2 parks (1/4 mile long each) to slow down, enjoy the sunrise, the changing of the leaves, the rabbits, the fog rising off of the river and the beauty of a bicycle commute. Life is a waste if it is all rush rush, and a little time to slow down and smell the roses makes the commute beautiful.

(Yesterday smelled wonderful with a damp path from an earlier rain shower enhancing the crisp fresh smells of a fall morning).

Slow is the new fast for some of us when we factor in the cleanup time.

Ah, okay, I feel a little better, my route is kind of U-shaped, bit of downhill at first, then some flat, then some uphill.

I completely agree. I've always said that if you really want to prove the validity of a subtle postulate, take the subtely out of the equation. 26" vs 700C? Hard to tell which is the faster wheel... 700C vs 20"? I've done it, I know what the answer is but it isn't relevant to my main point. 170mm cranks vs 165? Sheesh, who knows. 175mm cranks vs 130mm... hmmmm, if you don't feel a difference you might be dead. 15mph average commute speed vs 12mph... meh... how about 5mph or even 2mph... walking speed. Now you might be talking. I for one am still way too sweaty at 10mph for it to make any real difference. I will do some experimentation with a 5 mph average speed and get back to this thread.

H

I get sweaty just taking the bike out of the closet. :/

It would probably be good for me to slow down from time to time. Yet, I am emotionally incapable of it. Rode 10 miles to the gym, trainer kicked my ass pretty good and I went to ride 10 miles leisurely to the shop. Met a dude at a stoplight who complimented me on my custom bike with e-bay frame and we started chatting. He has a personal training business and looked to be about 35-40 years younger than me. Couldn't help it, after a while I had to push the pace and eventually ride away from him even as I was trying not to.

Tomorrow I go on a group ride. There are a lot of nice mid-30s triathalon ladies on these rides. They tend to be very fit, but not hard core cyclists, they cruise pretty good but don't like hills. Every time I go on this ride I say I am going to relax and hang out with them. Instead, when we have a rest stop, I inevitably get antsy and take off all by myself several minutes before the group, trying to see if I can haul ass enough to keep the group from catching me before the next rest stop or the end of the ride.

Occasionally we have somebody slower on one of the rides I organize, or a even "walker" when we encounter a steep or long hill. That's about the only time I go less than 105%. Not that my 105% is anywhere close to some riders' 60%. I am not boasting, I would like to change this. I have read its not the best training to go flat out all the time.

Is there a support group out there?

Don in Austin

Studded Tires. The fatter, the knobbier, and the studdlier, the better. They punish you for trying to go fast.

I ride fast going to work, but slow down and sight-see on the way home.

But I am still going to be at maximum exertion. Its not that I am too fast, its that I can't seem to help always going at the maximum speed my 66 year old engine and conditions allow.

Don in Austin

I guess I'm not convinced that's such a bad thing for a 66 year old to be doing. The beauty of the human engine is that the harder you work it, the longer it lasts (within reason).

Anyway, what happens to me on studded tires is that eventually I give up trying to go fast and just accept that it's going to take me longer to get anywhere.

Yep, now is about the time of year that I'm thinking of gearing down in preparation for going slower on studded tires.