On Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 10:22:24 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/18/2019 5:15 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 12:46:59 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Snipped
And if someone's not racing? To me, finishing a "training" ride or a
recreational ride ten seconds earlier is of no value whatsoever. In
fact, if my fenders or handlebar bag make me finish five minutes later,
they're still a net benefit.

--
- Frank Krygowski

That's you Frank. However to a lot of riders who enjoy riding fast and pushing their limits a ten seconds difference is quite rewarding.

For a long time I enjoyed informally competing against friends, seeing
who would be first to the top of a hill, or to the city limit, or
whatever. I did some low-level time trials. I did rides of 130 to 200
miles. I used to time trial home from work, trying to get a low elapsed
time. All that can be fun.

But if a friend had consistently beaten me to the city limit by a few
yards, then I bought an expensive super-aero bike and beat him next
time, it wouldn't feel like much of a triumph to me.

Not that I would expect it to work even that dramatically. I remember
many years ago when my best friend bought his high end Giant carbon
fiber bike "to beat Frank up the hills," as he said. He expressed a lot
of disappointment after our next long, hilly ride.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Did e tell you that you should be entering some of the Grand Tours too?

Cheers