My cycle computer and I have a strange relationship. I use it on solo rides to make sure that I am at least maintaining my usual average speed on usual routes. However, sometimes I think that little computer makes me go slower. For instance, sometimes on group rides, I am feeling great, and we are flying down the road, and then a glance at my computer and see some crazy high number and then think to myself that I "should" be tired - that of course gets to my head and I end up feeling tired. Once last season, on a day when my computer was broken, a couple friends and I went out for a 30mi ride before work. I was doing a lot of the pace setting, feeling great despite some killer headwinds. When we got to the end of the ride, my friends were toast. They were like, "what was that?!?!?! we never go that fast/hard! Do you know how fast we were going?" Um, no my computer was broken, I was just having fun . . .

My point is that just going out and having fun without worrying about speed does not necessarily equate to going slowly. It just means listening to your body instead of being obsessed with some number on a tiny screen.