Seems like I saw these links a year or two ago, so they've been around.

I note this quote, though: "Case in point: Carey Rogers, a gent “nearing 60” in Nashville, who bought himself a bike to stay in shape but..." There's a problem there. The reason you can go fast on a bicycle is that it increases your efficiency. The flip side of this is that if you ride at a walking pace, you'll actually use less energy than you would walking. So if staying in shape or getting in shape is part of the desired outcome, you need to be working at it, not coasting around using no more energy than you would sitting on a sofa. And if you coast down to the Sonic and get a nice shake every day, you can probably gain weight doing it. If you really work at it, if you're fat and out of shape, that may mean riding 10 mph, but if you're athletic and in good bicycling shape, then getting a good workout on one is going to involves some speed.

A second consideration is if you have any destination in mind. In randonneuring, I've known faster riders and slower riders, but generally, the "slow" riders just end up not riding period- for them, speed makes the difference between riding with friends or riding solo, and getting in before dark vs after dark, etc. You don't have to be "fast", but being "average" or better really helps.

Its true! I suspect going slow at low RPMs shifts weight from the feet to the saddle. I'm much more comfortable at a brisk pace than when I'm out with the 20km/h crowd.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but the local cycling club has fast rides, slow rides and intermediate rides. On the main ride I do, sometimes I'm in the fast group, sometimes the slow group.

I've witnessed several of these slow riders. To be honest, I thought they were high or on some kind of drugs because they seemed to look just.. baked, fried, stoned etc.

SlowBikers really don't need pedals, sprockets or any of that other nonsense from what I've observed. All of that stuff can be removed and I think it would help the movement graduate to the next level. Drop the seat so that both feet easily touch flat on the ground then you can safely push yourself down the sidewalk without harshing the buzz with complex pedal/shifting challenges.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=337604

I heard Mikael Colville-Andersen talk about this before; why ride so hard and fast, and arrive out of breath and sweaty? Ride comfortably, within yourself, and still be a bike rider. It comes with the comfort and lack of ego that the casual, almost unconscious "the bike is a part of my life" that America just doesn't get.

Contrary to the American mindset, where everything has to have a productive purpose, the 'slow ride' Mikael quietly advocates is simply a more comfortable pace of life itself.

Just because of my personality, I don't think I would get along with that whole idea. If I'm not at a certain level of intensity, I'm not having fun. If I'm not having fun, I might as well be riding the bus. At $45/month for an unlimited bus pass, I could ride for 3-4 years for what I have in my Kona. So I ride, as I've said other places, for JOY.

Last year I rode this route:

http://www.mapmyride.com/us/delhi-ny...route-96862877

in about 7 hours, i.e. 10 mph. Very close to the end I was taking a short snack stop and a fellow stopped his car and asked if I was OK. Actually I was so exhausted I felt like I was going to die and I guess I must have looked it! But I got back to my car all the same.

This was a group ride advertised for all levels. I lost sight of the second-to-last rider after about 10 miles. I actually missed a turn about five miles later, which added maybe ten miles but also two monster hills to the ride.

Funny thing - toward the beginning of the ride, when I had a few other riders still in sight, I passed a fellow on a bike. I chatted with him a little. It turned out this was his regular route and he was not part of the group ride. He said I was the only person passing me who said "Hi".

There really are a wide variety of riders and riding styles!
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=337622

It doesn't matter if you said hi. Did you wave?

I am for anything that gets folks on bikes.

i think its kewl,,I happen to love anything bicycle. I sometimes stay up a couple of hours later just to see different things about bicycles on the computer. Anything different than the standard helmet and 5000 dollar road bike just is so interesting to me.

But you can't coast if you are walking...

I'm not disagreeing with your post; but the link I posted earlier in the thread (this one) is Carey's group here in Nashville. If I remember the story correctly, he had already been riding solo for fitness, he wanted to ride with others for camaraderie. He ended up starting this group - after first joining an existing group that just ran off and left him on a couple of occasions.

This is their guiding principle:
This ride will be guided by the principles of Grant Petersen in Just Ride , his book about how to be an “unracer”. One of his admonitions is “don’t count miles”. So we won’t. He also says “don’t overthink the underwear” which means to dress comfortably and that lycra is not required. You are welcome to join us for just the ride in the park or meet us somewhere for any part of the route. No one will be left behind.

I live in a reasonably well to do area, and $5G road bikes are anything but standard.

I am absolutely 100% WITH folks who want to bike slow for camaraderie, enjoyment, or because the bike is just part of their lives and they have nothing to prove; GO, roll your way, pedaler! Just be honest about it. If you're doing it to work up to being faster because you've been off the bike for a generation, cool -- that's the only "fitness" clause I'll accept. If you've been riding daily for 23 years, and you go 9mph downhill, don't talk to me about fitness.

I've had a bad back for years (3 herniated lumbar discs), and recently, a bone spur on the heel has cropped up; these issues keep me from running, or walking real distances for health and fitness. Plus, I LOVE to ride, I LOVE getting sweaty and huffing/puffing from the exertion. I've eased back a little bit over the last year or two, but I'm still 'in the sweet spot'.

I'm just sayin', I hate pretense.

I ride in The Villages, FL where there is easily 80 miles of MUPs. There is also riders of any speed that you may wish to do. I usually ride solo and avg 13mph for a 25-35 mile ride. I've always been more of an "enjoy the scenery" type of person and speed has never been my forte anyway. One of the reasons I ride solo is because I usually get out at 0630 to ride and most of the people around here don't get up that early (unless they have an early tee time) but riding slow lets me clear my mind and enjoy the ride which is what riding is all about for me.

Bike riders all the way back to this guy have been accused of riding too fast and hard to enjoy themselves:

http://thebikeshow.net/wp-content/up...07/velocio.jpg

I consider myself to be in good company. Don't tell me how fast to ride, and I won't tell you how fast to ride.

Me too, except for the rare times I have a tailwind.

So what's the story with that bike? Looks like it has a drivetrain on either side.

"It hurts my motor to go so slow."

Not sure which one this is exactly, but it's one of Velocio's bi-chain bikes where the low gear was engaged by pedalling backward.

So get a recumbent trike. My friend Sylvia has been all over the U.S., Mexico, Austrailia, Vietnam, Thailand, China...

http://texasrecumbents.files.wordpre.../01/sylvia.jpg

I can only see this when I read about a SBM. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrzqBwuxHV8

I was a Teamster for many years. So I have the "slow walk" perfected.

This isn't about how fast to ride; this isn't about fitness; this isnt about pretense...what this is about is a different idea about what a Saturday morning group ride should be. This idea says it isn't about speed (slower is more comfortable), it isn't about a pre planned route where we cover x amount of miles. It is about enjoying a group ride, at a slower pace, mileage not known but stops for coffee, beer and/or ice cream are pretty certain. I go out with a couple of friends like that and average about 12 mph when we can be bothered to check a 'puter. That's a lot faster than walking but slower than any other club ride around.