Thoughts from a bike ride

[bikerHen]

I've been thinking since our half century ride last Sunday. Why am I so slow? The more I thought the more I realized I'm slow at everything I do. Not because I'm lazy, but because I enjoy what I do. Be it quilting, yard work or riding my bike I enjoy the process as much as the result. Since finding this site in April I have learned so much about cycling. And the more I read the more I realize how much there is still to learn. Right or wrong I have picked up the notion that you have to go fast to ride a bike. That has been a point of frustration for me. I'm not fast, therefore I'm not a good cyclist.
On my ride home from work today I got to thinking about all this. I really enjoy being outside, watching the clouds, checking on how much the wheat has grown in the field, reading road signs and wondering what the circling hawk had his eye on. Dinner? I'm having fun, and I slow down to enjoy it all. Our ride on Sunday was great fun, even in the rain. My daughter and I had a running discussion trying to decide if we were just really stupid to be out in the rain or terribly devoted to bicycling. You just can't be burning up the pavement when you're having these important mother-daughter talks.
So, I've come to terms with being slow. I have decided instead to look at what I have done. Since my first posting in April I have ridden 500 miles, bought a road bike, am riding clipless, have ridden hills I could not have dreamed of last year, rode my first half century and I've done most of it wearing lycra! The best news is I've lost about 20 pounds, only 80 pounds to go! I have done great things this spring and that is what I have to remember. I have a plan for my next group ride too. If I leave right after the century riders I'll have an hour head start on the half century riders. That way I'll feel better about being slow when I coast in with the "fast" 50-mile people and I will be back with enough time to enjoy all the after ride festivities! Maybe someday I'll be a hard, lycra clad body, burning up the road. But in the mean time I'm just going to continue to enjoy the ride.

[AutumnBreez]

Remember Ms. Turtle (bikerhen), Slow and steady WINS
Your enjoying the short life we are given.
I could use this lesson often. Live and enjoy the NOW.

[swlsue]

Don't worry about being slow!
You are having fun. No one really cares how fast you ride. really.
Enjoy your rides!

[Surlygirl]

I am the same, it is not a race for me and I was having a hard time riding with hubby because he's all about the distance, the avg speed and the GPS. I'd rather meander, watch the wildlife and just enjoy myself. I finally told him he can ride fast, long and hard with his buddies, but if he and I are going to ride then its at my pace and that seems to have relieved so much stress I was having. I can climb hills I walked last year, go longer distances and I don't feel like I'm going to die when I get home.

[spazzdog]

Bikerhen, there as many "types" of riders as there are flowers in the fields. It is admirable that you are, by nature, one of those that actually stop to smell them, to enjoy the world around you.

Speed isn't the "be all-end all". Not all riders need to compete.

All that's important is that you enjoy the ride, that you are joyous on your path and that you and only you choose your pace through the universe.

spazzdog

[DeniseGoldberg]

...Right or wrong I have picked up the notion that you have to go fast to ride a bike. That has been a point of frustration for me. I'm not fast, therefore I'm not a good cyclist.

...So, I've come to terms with being slow. I have decided instead to look at what I have done. Since my first posting in April I have ridden 500 miles, bought a road bike, am riding clipless, have ridden hills I could not have dreamed of last year, rode my first half century and I've done most of it wearing lycra!

It sounds to me like you're doing great! To be honest, I have to tell you that I'm another slow cyclist. I've never had a speed gene in me, but I have endurance - I can happily ride at the same pace all day long. In fact on a group tour many years ago, one of my fellow riders was pretty unhappy with me. He always took off like a shot in the mornings, passing me like I was standing still. But I always passed him later in the day, finishing the day's ride well before him. Slow and steady works!

It took me a while to accept that about myself, but a number of years back I managed to convince myself that there is nothing wrong with my style of riding. I'm happy, and I'm riding.

It sounds like you're at that place too. Just ride at whatever pace makes you happy, and definitely stop and smell the flowers! Happy cycling...

--- Denise

[Crankin]

I have been cycling for 4 and half years and i found that I have steadily improved my speed, but it has sort of plateaued. I haven't been working on speed as much and I really don't care. When I ride alone, I work on it or when I am with my husband, but he is not so much about the speed anymore and is perfectly happy to ride at a 15 mph average. I know I can never beat him on the hills (there is no such thing as flat riding here). I am now leading rides and most of the other people I ride with average a couple of miles ph less than me. It's fine. I get to stop and take a drink or just slow down and talk. I find that I feel better when i go slower on some days, mixed in with faster days. This strategy pays off when you are riding 40+ miles. I am never going to race, but I do notice I get a little competitive with certain other riders. I also like to be outdooors and enjoy, so there's nothing wrong with that. Going slow is better than not going!

[Balrog]

bikerHen, I share your "cycling style." I don't even use clips! On more than one occasion I've described my approach to cycling as that of partaking in a Pagan sacrament. I once won a bike race -- I was ten and riding a three-speed.

But now I ride to be alive and to greet the Great Blue Heron, the Yellow Swallowtail, to "chukkk" back at the Red-Winged Blackbird, and enjoy the peepers sounding off in my favorite roadside bog.

I get passed a lot. I get teased by folks in my bike club. But as a cancer survivor, I don't want to go ANYWHERE fast anymore!

Love the ride you ride (sounds like you do!)

xx, Balrog

[SadieKate]

Bubba and I go on a lot of mtbike tours and are constantly amazed that when we get into camp, last of course, at the number of comments from others along the lines of "it was so beautiful, didn't you just want to stop and take it all in?" Our silent response is "Yes, we did want to and we did stop and take it all in, why didn't you? You in a race?" We then ask them, "did you see such and such?" Of course, they didn't. They had their nose on the bar and were going like a bat out of hell. For goodness sake, they've paid big bucks, flown from some far destination and they're so concerned with their speed that they get ahead of the guides, ride through critical intersections and miss the splendor of the location. They miss out on the local knowledge that the guides have to share (such as flora, fauna, geology, history) and are generally exhausted all the time. Boy, they must be having lots of fun. Perhaps they should try a road race training camp the next time.

[Veronica]

That's one of my goals this summer - to really take in all the sights.

V.

[MomOnBike]

Another Me Too.

I'm slow on a bike. My average speeds are abysmal, compared to those posted by others. But so what? I'm enjoying myself. I stop to (literally) smell the flowers, pick mulberries, listen to the sounds, whatever. On night rides I'm all over the road 'cause I'm looking at the stars. All this is Good.

I've often said that if I ever race again, it ain't gonna be my muscles providing the motivating force. I'll get a fast horse, car, motorcycle, whatever. Since I'm providing the power, though, by definition, my bike riding is not a race.

All the above being true, I DO so love those screaming downhills where I leave DH in the dust...

(No demons of foolish consistancy in this little mind...)

[JanT]

As a half-marathon runner, it was all about getting faster. I have to shake my head when I think about all those 12-15 mile training runs in the hot Phoenix sun, miserable and sometimes sicker than a dog. It took cancer to wake me up and slow me down.. Now I am hooked on mountain biking, where I can explore more territory than I ever could running, and have alot more fun. My riding buddy used to work at a wildlife rescue facility, and now is a geology student, and we frequently stop to look at things in the desert. Sometimes when I'm by myself on the road bike,I catch myself in that old speed groove, trying to go faster, maintain a certain average pace. I have to remind myself to relax, look at what's going on around me, come back to the world. For me, that's what is so great about riding, whether on the road or off on the trails: riding brings me into the present, the "eternal now."

[RoadRaven]

For me, that's what is so great about riding, whether on the road or off on the trails: riding brings me into the present, the "eternal now."

I find this inspiring
Well written Jan
I think you have put your finger on why I like riding so much - the eternal now - thanks

[bikerchick68]

just checking in to add that I am the same type of rider! I was just discussing this last night with a man I will be meeting for the first time soon... he is also a cyclist and I told him that I am not fast, nor do I have any desire to race, but I can go the distance. Riding is for ME... not to impress anyone else... my avg speed is about 15mph for a century... I can go a little faster if it's a shorter distance but frankly then I stress too much about trying to maintain my speed and begin to lose the joy of simply riding.

when I first got into riding I was married to a racer... talk about a miserable way to start... I was never fast enough etc... finally gave up riding with him and began riding on my own, and THEN realized that I really love cycling.

There will always be riders faster than me and riders slower than me. Works for me... we'll all meet up at the finish line and talk about our great ride...

[CorsairMac]

When I first started commuting - every night I would climb on the bike and push as hard as I could to get home faster than yesterday. When the weather showed headwinds I dispaired because it would slow me down. I would get home too tired to run the dogs, grouchy, cranky, irritable. One day I sat up and asked myself "who was I trying to beat? what was I trying to prove?....to whom?" Now when I ride my daily commute, I notice the water in the arroyo, the ant hills, my little roadrunner that comes out to "guard" his bridge. I have a nodding acquaintence with a elderly gentleman walker and a chippy good morning for the 2 ladies that walk together every day. At night - I notice the differences in the mountains as the sun is setting, I've met up with several people riding home about the same time I do and we ride together part of the way. Riding home just for the joy of riding was the best thing I ever learned to do!