Slowpoke

What a slowpoke of a cyclist I am! I was watching a bit of the Tour de France today and Paolo Savoldelli (the stage winner) came in with an average speed of about twenty-six miles per hour over a course of almost one-hundred and fifty miles. Whilst that would be impressive enough on its own, that was stage seventeen of the twenty-one stage race and they've been cycling enormous distances of that ilk for all but two of the last nineteen days.

It's hard to believe human beings can perform such cycling feats. I do wonder if their being so fit is taking years off their lives. I could get into that whole doping debate but it's ground covered many places elsewhere and I honestly don't know an awful lot about it. Back onto my point about shortened lifespans; Obviously these professionals are super-fit beyond my wildest dreams but pushing one's body to such extremes can't be done without suffering long-term damage, can it? My guess is they are so passionate about their cycling, they think the risk of long-term damage is worthwhile. It's their choice and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt them.

Road racing is a completely foreign world contrasted against the leisurely cycling I do. If I average over sixteen miles per hour over a route of between thirty to sixty miles, I'm pretty happy. If I don't manage even that, it's no big deal to me. Now, I know the professionals have the roads shut off, are cycling on faster all carbon bikes (apart from a couple of teams and that's through choice) with no mudguards, don't have a rack pack on their bike with lunch, a mini-tool, a train timetable, sun cream, a mobile phone, a squished Powerbar which is unlikely ever to get eaten and a couple of spare tubes in it, have team car support, are cycling in a big group etc. but all that would probably only add a couple of miles per hour to my average speeds and I still wouldn't be able to keep that speed up for those sorts of distances and definitely wouldn't stand a chance in hell of scaling the mountains they do. Well, I might manage them in installments, with a number of cafe/lunch/rest stops along the way. The obvious point is that the blanket term of cycling (even just referring to cycling on the road) is pretty vague when it comes to the type of cycling someone does.

My choice is to partake in leisurely cycling, just pottering along at my own pace and making sure to stop off and sample the delights of any nice little cafes (this will lead to much flabbiness) along the way. It doesn't, however, mean I have to be a complete cycle-Nazi and deride the way other people choose to enjoy their cycling. All too often it seems people can't seem to let others enjoy cycling the way they choose. I'm sure we've all been out cycling with people we barely know and one of the first things they say to you is 'You should do...'. I know I've been out cycling with groups before when strangers have told me I should get a new bike, I should get rid of my rack pack, I should train to cycle in this manner (when I'm not interested in training at all) etc. Sometimes I'm told I should do or get things I've already been doing or already have.

To be honest, I do this sometimes with Kirby Girl but it's something I get rather annoyed at and it doesn't make me feel too good if I realise I'm doing it. Partly I should use this as an apology to Kirby Girl and a reminder not to do such things again. Telling people what they should and should not do isn't the greatest way to get them enthused about an activity. It's not wrong to talk to someone and find out what they want to do, then suggest they could make the choice to try something if they wish to but practically barking commands at them is counter-productive. It doesn't matter if you mean well if you're being a complete twat about it. Please (and this is for me as well) try to be respectful of other people and let them enjoy discovering cycling the way you got to. Different people want different things from cycling and can enjoy something equally as much as you without having to do exactly the same activity. Why, some people might even enjoy an activity other than cycling, perish the thought.