Bob
29th June 2008, 22:29
Went out for a long ride today. Had loads of time on my hands, so decided to ride a lot of roads I either don't know well or have almost never/never ridden. Lot of nice country stuff/single lanes etc., instead of the usual dual-carriageways and town roads I ride in the week.
With a combination of not knowing the roads/not knowing where I was/some really lovely scenery (I'm lucky enough to live in a town environment, but the countryside is just a short ride away), I slowed things down.
And it was SO enjoyable.
In the more twisty forest roads, slowing down gave me the chance to work on my positioning, put more effort into picking up on visual queues and so forth. Even when things opened up, just being out in the country meant that taking things slower meant I could enjoy the views, just decide to go on a route because, well, why not and generally get a lot out of the ride without having to try to push myself.
I reckon overall, I probably covered the same kind of mileage I'd have been looking at - so my average speed must have been close to what I'd have been doing if I was riding faster, but having to drop speeds much more for cornering.
We all get the idea of really pushing ourselves hard shoved down our throats ("Go faster!" "Push harder!" "See just what you are capable of!" is the clarion call) - but try slowing things down from time to time. Slower riding gives you a lot more time, both in terms of time to work on your riding and time to enjoy what is around you.
And if you get your lines right from riding slower, when you do up the pace, if the lessons learned really are learned, then your faster riding should be much smoother.
Give it a go - I found it fun, hope you do too.
With a combination of not knowing the roads/not knowing where I was/some really lovely scenery (I'm lucky enough to live in a town environment, but the countryside is just a short ride away), I slowed things down.
And it was SO enjoyable.
In the more twisty forest roads, slowing down gave me the chance to work on my positioning, put more effort into picking up on visual queues and so forth. Even when things opened up, just being out in the country meant that taking things slower meant I could enjoy the views, just decide to go on a route because, well, why not and generally get a lot out of the ride without having to try to push myself.
I reckon overall, I probably covered the same kind of mileage I'd have been looking at - so my average speed must have been close to what I'd have been doing if I was riding faster, but having to drop speeds much more for cornering.
We all get the idea of really pushing ourselves hard shoved down our throats ("Go faster!" "Push harder!" "See just what you are capable of!" is the clarion call) - but try slowing things down from time to time. Slower riding gives you a lot more time, both in terms of time to work on your riding and time to enjoy what is around you.
And if you get your lines right from riding slower, when you do up the pace, if the lessons learned really are learned, then your faster riding should be much smoother.
Give it a go - I found it fun, hope you do too.