Speed is a Matter of Perception

There are few things more exhilarating for me than riding down a hill going at what I think is breakneck speed.

After cresting a hill the one true payoff is letting go and enjoying the sense that you are moving along quite rapidly while not having to exert much effort. Breeze cooling you down and your heart finding a slower rhythm.

I try not to think about much while I'm on the road. Basically, my focus right now is not getting my tires caught in the remnants of frost heaves which have left the road I ride an utter mess. Yes they are in the process of repaving. My tax dollars hard at work.

When you ride the same road often, you become very comfortable with where you are. You know exactly when to shift gears so you can get up that really steep section which is only about 1/8 of a mile but leaves your heart pounding like it was 10. You know when you're going to hit a flat patch where you can find a fluid pace and if you time your music properly it feels as though the stars have truly aligned and you can literally ride for days.

The first 8 miles of my normal ride is mainly uphill. Not steep (except for that dreaded 1/8 mile) but consistent. It takes effort. On the return, obviously there is a huge difference because it is of course, downhill. You can pick up a great deal of speed which I find I do and push every chance I get. Yesterday I glanced at the speedometer and it read 31.9mph. Please understand that is not about to challenge anyone on the Tour de France, but for me it is fast.

We spend an enormous amount of our lives getting up somewhere. All the things that are worth doing take work. Up the corporate ladder. Higher Education. Successful relationships. On and on. Do we ever get a chance to coast? Sometimes and surely coasting is not a way of life yet something we might like to achieve permanently. How dull.

If you coast for too long and become complacent, you'll hit a downhill a little faster than you anticipated and if you're not able to readjust your gears, you'll find yourself in a pile somewhere off the road wondering 'what the hell just happened"?

Everyone's speed is different. Some people can handle the blur some can't. At times I can't. Its too confusing. Was I really going that fast? By some comparisons not by a long shot but it didn't matter because I was the one riding. It reminded me of when I first started skiing. Having the misfortune of discovering the sport in my early 30's my fear level was a little higher than that of a 5 yr old. I was careening down a hill (the term being debatable) and I panicked and stopped declaring to my boyfriend that I couldn't believe how fast I was going. He looked at me, shook his head and said "a 2 yr old can walk faster". I was crushed.

Picking up speed on a downhill is easy. Not staying focused when you least want to can result in costly rubble.

The speed doesn't matter. What matters is how you pace it.