I’ve been thinking a lot about speed lately. For years I would have agreed with the words of movie star and occasional cycling fan Tom Cruise in his seminal work Top Gun: ‘I feel the need, the need for speed.’ But more recently I’ve been wondering, do I? Do I feel the need for speed? I’m just not sure anymore.
Pete Muir Editor
Whenever I head out for a weekend ride, I always record the details on my bike computer, and I always take note of my average speed. But is this just habit or do I really care how fast I’m going? It’s not like I’m in danger of smashing any Strava segments or even setting a PB. It’s one of the simple realities of getting older that ride times just get longer – a bit like nose hair.
Maybe that’s exactly why I do check my speed after a ride, to reassure myself that I can still mix it with the kids and I’m not ready for the old editors’ home just yet. But there’s another part of me that says (to quote another movie), ‘Let it go. Let it go. I am one with the wind and sky.’
I feel like I should be chucking my bike computer into a bin and just riding for the joy of movement, drinking in my surroundings instead of poring over my data. I feel I should be stopping occasionally mid-ride to lounge in a pasture, pick daisies and watch the world go by.
And yet I can’t quite bring myself to do it. I’m trapped in some sort of transitionary phase where I no longer want to know my performance numbers, but still can’t help recording them and guiltily snea
