Racing isn’t on the minds of most bicycle commuters, unless they happen to be messengers or deliverymen who, typically, ride to work! And in such instances, it would not be too surprising to find them employing what could pass for ad hoc racing strategies of the sort found in informal alleycat contests.
It may seem surprising that people who have to ride all day, every day, would also ride so fast, especially when not actually on the job but merely commuting there. Wouldn’t such individuals rather take a little break from any kind of racing for a while? Wouldn’t it make more sense to slowly ease oneself into one’s day instead of rushing, rushing, rushing all the time?
Most people would agree. But for the speedsters, it’s all about the speed. For such individuals, it is like how fish have to swim and birds have to fly. It’s not so much a conscious choice as an inborn need. If anything, it is how they warm up for the day ahead.
Of course, the majority of people commuting by bicycle would like to get there as fast as possible, too. But for them, what’s possible is a lot more limited, in all likelihood, than for the racers who tend to make their living from bicycling all day.
Such people have so much practice, and they’ll have accumulated so much experience. They are almost fearless – and though fear generally lend wings to feet, fear when bicycling, particularly in an urban environment, can be an impediment to speed.
In fact, habitually slow riders tend to be those with no confidence. They are afraid – and understandably so. But the fear slows them down – not that speed is an absolute necessity for them anyway. The point is that it isn’t a matter of some being fast so much as others being slow.
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