R was talking to Jason at work who is a bike enthusiast. R told him that I’ve been riding, that I got a new bike, and that I’m going to be doing a 32 mile ride this weekend. Jason asked him how fast I rode. He told him I average 10 mph. Jason said that was too slow. Then he asked what my max was. R didn’t know.

Of course, R told me this and I thought, “I’ve got to be faster.” So I rode this morning and averaged 12 mph. My max going uphill was 13.6 and my max going downhill was 20.5. But my average, on the straightaways and the greenbelt, was 12 mph.

I can ride forever at 10 mph. I can just keep going and going.

At 12 mph I can ride an hour, an hour and a half, and then I am exhausted.

Originally, when I first started riding, I could go about 2 miles and it took me 20 minutes. Obviously I’ve improved. But I’m not to 12 mph an hour forever. And I’m fairly sure Jason would say that is too slow too.

But I am not racing. I’m recreational riding. I am riding for fun. And I’m a newbie. I don’t want to work at it so hard that I hate it. I want to like riding.