Lesson learned........Just enjoy the ride !
 

I was out of cycling for 20+ yrs and the fiancé mentioned last summer that she always wanted to cycle but, never had anyone to ride with. So, I took the bait and we bought Hybrids. My thought at the time was although years ago I was an avid cyclist, I wouldn't get back into it like I was years ago. I would just enjoy the time we spent together. WRONG ! After only a month we both bought roadies and the training and mileage began piling up. I found myself riding 20-25 miles every day and rides of 50 - 70 every weekend. Over the last year I've put 2000+ miles on the bike. I'm constantly competing with myself, always pushing to go faster ride harder. And, you know what ? I started NOT having fun when I was out on the bike. Lately I've slowed the pace. We enjoy the scenery, good conversation and the road going by under the wheels. I've decided that at 55 It's more about the ride and not about how fast or how far I've ridden that makes me love cycling. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks............. I love to make those wheels spin

Carry on

Sometimes being competitive with yourself is a good thing. Sometimes it goes too far. ;)

Well - there is one good thing about being competitive with one's self. One way or another, the "self" always wins (but then again, the "self" always loses. Darn :) )..

But, I agree. I stopped caring about all those things several years back. Yesterday a wonderful ride, at my own pace with a stop for a swim in the middle of the ride. And you know, I was the winner all 'round.

Good lesson.

I have to keep this in mind. I've rode about 800 miles so far this year and am trying to push myself which is good but I've got to keep it fun.
My first ride in late march was 1.9 miles at 10mph and I was beat! I just did a 16.3 mile quicky ride at 14.5 mph and was bummed out it wasn't faster. I've lost 45 lbs since that first ride and have another 40 at least to lose and I should be happy with what I've accomplished so far this year.

Thanks for helping remind me of where I've come from and to always enjoy my time out on the bike, even if it wasn't as fast as I'd like.

The paradox here is that the better condition I'm in, the more I can enjoy the easy rides. So in order to fully enjoy the rides where I "just ride" I also have to put in the long miles and hard rides.

Setting aside your main message, this little arithmetic detail bothers me a bit. 20-25 miles every weekday alone would be 5200-6500 miles per year. Adding in a single 50 mile ride every weekend would bring the total up by another 2600 miles. Yet, you claim a mere 2000+ miles.

That little plus sign must be working overtime. Maybe its frantically putting away miles in the hopes of retiring at a reasonable age.

You know, I noticed that too but decided not to mention it. I must be getting soft in my old age.

Because it's not necessary to point out every inconsistency, when it doesn't really impact the message.

B.Carfree does ride a lot, and would be justified in being proud of that, so I can understand why he'd point it out.

By coincidence kc4sox describes my own actual riding precisely, except that it's been 4500 to 7000 miles annually depending on how consistent the commuting is. So I can relate whether his actual mileage is really 2000 or 6500 miles, or it's 2,000 year to date, or whatever he meant.

should have read every day I can

A lesson I never had to learn! I've never been an avid (rabid?)cyclist.
There has been some sort of bike around since I was about nine, but I never thought of it as a sport or fitness so I didn't pick up any silly habits like "strava". What's that about anyway?
It is a great accomplishment in my mind to ride a 100km a few times a year and make it back before dark. I do ride almost everyday but put no performance specifications on myself.
As I write this I'm listening to an old Dion song (All I want to do is Live my Life). The lyric that keeps sticking in my mind is "who has more fun, a dog or a millionaire?"
We should all enjoy every ride.

People have different tastes, and needs. The fact that theirs differ from yours does not make them "silly". And no, I'm not a Strava user.

Sometimes I'm training, sometimes I'm touring, sometimes I'm just riding around. I'm always enjoying the ride. But for me, the physical challenge is a significant element of the pleasure, I actively enjoy testing myself against my limits. Your choices are equally valid, but not more valid...

It's about the ride; always has been and always will be. I ride solo, most of the time, just so I don't have to abide by anyone's rules of speed or distance and I can do my own thing and go as fast or slow as I want.

I'm slow, and a Strava user. You have a problem with that ;)

Sometimes when I'm feeling strong, I enjoy pushing the pace and piling on some miles. At my age, the pushing and the piling are not much to brag about but at those times it does feel good. Mostly I amble along enjoying the wild flowers along the road and the scenery in general. Today I road extra slowly enjoying extra fine weather before cold weather sets in which the signs point to an early winter.

I stopped in an area known as The Commons to see some small boats a man had for sail on his lawn. There was a 16 ft. dory, a Maine guide boat, an Old Town 17 ft. canoe from 1911 and a smaller canoe he had built. All these boats were nicely painted and varnished. We enjoyed a pleasant chat about boats, woodworking and traditional methods for 15 minutes or so. Had I been pushing and pacing I would have missed that meeting. The result of stopping is that my day is a bit richer than it would otherwise have been.

My problem is while I have endurance to do a century and a metric century, I am not fast, even after being back into cycling for 4years. My avg is generally 12.5, which is ok if you're only going 100k, but it sucks for longer distance. I hate using up an entire day to do the full century. I just watched my hubby do a 5hr full century on HHH today, with a solid 20mph avg. I only dream of being that fast...it depresses hell out of me to be that slow.

Nope.
Its just that my dear old dad said to stay away from things that may be addictive.:) I must admit some time ago I assumed "strava" was some performance enhancing drug that Lance took. I'm not a total luddite though, I do record my riding on Garmin Connect.

Yeah, I'm with you on this - for me, it's all about the ride and as soon as something makes me not enjoy it, I've got to make some adjustments. I don't generally think of cycling as "exercise", rather cycling is simply something I love to do and is its own reward.

I mostly ride solo, so I'm free to go at my own pace and as long or short as I choose. I will some group rides (doing one tomorrow in fact) and I do sometimes ride with my wife, but I'm mostly doing my own thing.

Heh, yeah, I had no idea what Strava was until very recently. Not really for me, but I can see people digging it. I am also currently (sometimes) using Garmin Connect to track rides, though I often don't bother bringing the GPS.

Don't be depressed.

Are you enjoying it? If so, nothing more needs to be said. If you think you'd enjoy it more by building some more speed, that can be done. It takes a bit of effort and a slightly more systematic approach than just riding around, but there's lots of advice available on BF if you want to go down that road.

I also can ride far but not fast. I work 11-12 hour days and don't like to ride in the dark, so I pretty much ride only on weekends. I run during the week, and that keeps my aerobic fitness up. I occasionally ride with some faster friends to push myself, but mostly ride by myself or with a friend where we keep a moderate pace and enjoy conversation and seeing the sights, although we generally do a lot of climbing.
But I do find that I get a bit stronger and faster each year.

Cycling can be so much fun if you would just relax and enjoy it. Personally I say forget cadence, speed, and the kit.

Consider the difference between Almond Joy and Mounds. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

I don't have any electronic goodies on any of my bikes, because I don't want to become a slave to speed, cadence, etc. I spend enough time in the gym doing interval programs on the exercise bikes, and there is where I watch the electronics. When I ride for real, I just want to go out, reap the rewards, and have fun.

Besides, I sweat so much, I'd probably short the little doodah's out.