I guess I wasn’t thrilled to see this in my social media newsfeed. I got all indignant. I’m not a slow cyclist!
That said, I like to ride with cyclists of all speeds. See Riding slow and riding fast.
See also It takes all kinds: Riding with people who are fitter, faster, slower.
And then this popped up, Do These 3 Rides Every Week If You Want to Get Faster
Fine. I can take a hint.
It’s time to think about getting fast. There’s a certain speed I get up to easily, just by riding lots. I think of that as my natural pace. But going fast (for me) takes extra effort.
Riding at my natural pace is fun and easy but I don’t make progress that way. I can endurance, sure. But not speed.
See How not to get faster.
To get faster I have to deliberately ride outside my comfort zone. I can do that with drills and timed speed workouts. Or I can do it playing sprint and chase games with faster riders. Both work but I confess I like racing against other people best. For the winter it’ll be the former. For spring I’m hoping to work in some of the latter. Fingers crossed.
In London I had faster people to ride with who played this role in my life. I loved sprinting with Coach Chris and the women he coaches on his Thursday intermediate rides. But here in Guelph I don’t know that many people who ride bikes. My spring challenge will be connecting with the cycling community here. As a midlife woman that’s not so easy.
If you’re a beginning cyclists who wants to get faster, see my advice here.
