Motivation to ride

I don't want a bar bag.

If you intend to dip into the deep end of a 300km+ audax.

Simplify things to unleash your senses - for me riding without a derailleur is a cognitive game changer.

I'm the least competitive person ever. Except on a bike. I have a few work buddies who ride. Its good because we are all of a very similar speed and ability. I'm one of the faster ones maybe. I think its the motivation to be faster than them that keeps me going. To beat them up the climbs/ sprints, etc. Plus when I commute on my own I put intervals in to push myself.

Could you get a fresh circle of people to ride with maybe? Either through work or friends or join a fresh club?

I'd forever pootle if I didn't do track. If I'm riding just to get out the house it doesnt matter how fast I go, unless I'm late getting home on time.
If I stopped doing track I'd be disappointed if I couldn't keep up on a forum ride. I really enjoy them so I guess that would be my motivation to at least maintain an acceptable average speed for a while.

I don't want a bar bag.

Put the beards/mudguards/bar-bags stereotypes aside and give an Audax a try.

Fuck, I have mudguards and beard.

Fuck
I have the lake spandals

Bet you've got a Carradice too. See you at the information control...

Hangs head in shame

Carradice bag on the west london folding biek

And two limited edition tweed run panniers in my possession.

The last few posts make me want to stop riding altogether.

Who said you need all that shit you listed to ride in audaxes?

What do you reckon would be this acceptable average speed for a forum ride? I am letting my fear of not being able to keep up put me off attempting to join in. At some point. In the future.

Whats the bad consequence of only being able to keep up 75% of the ride?

Probably between 15-20mph.

People go faster when they're together in a pack due to less wind resistance, so I wouldn't worry too much.

When you go on forum ride, just speak up that you're worried about being slow, I doubt they'll leave you in the dust once you're doing less than 18mph.

It depends on the forum ride. HHSB slide to Cambridge will be quite a bit slower than AM Regent's laps (despite all the disc wheels on the former)

@Thuekr The Unbearable Shame. Good motivation to ride and get faster and further, you're right.

@edscoble Thank you. Sounds all right - I don't think I'd hold people up. Maybe not all the way to Cambridge at the moment though. Furtherest I've gone (fixed) is East Hertford, about 25 miles from my yard.

Yeah, I never solo 20mph. when I used to run a computer I was averaging around 16mph for 4+ solo hours, but in a group everything is much easier and quicker.
@tracerbullet there are always the bridges and Circle rides which don't leave London.

Book a holiday in some mountains. Either go ASAP so you can find out how much it hurts and that'll make you want to get stronger for the next time, or book it as a target to build your fitness up for.

Group rides definitely break up the monotony and I always push myself harder than solo riding. I think the biggest difficulty is finding a group suited to your ability, preferred riding speed etc. Our small country town club is about 10-20 permanent members , and ride at about 32kph with stronger and weaker riders within that spectrum. But the speed of the group is completely off-putting to newcomers to group riding, (though it's not really suited for beginners.) So finding a group ride that suits your personal riding ability is also a must.