Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Today was Camino Cycling: 20.69 solo kilometres. It took about an hour and 6 minutes (did you catch that I was using the GPS) so my average speed was about 18.8 km per hour. But it of course not about speed. But it sort of is about speed. The Tour de France just finished and the average speed for the winner was 39.78 km per hour. That of course is for the whole thing; average for flats and the ups and downs. Near the end of my ride there is a bit of a downhill where I hit just over 40 km per hour. I go gaga when I hit that - it is as fast as I go. During a flat I can hit,for a few hundred metres a speed of 27 km per hour. That is a touch faster than the first Tour average speed in 1903. So it is about speed.

We are getting faster, the Tour is getting faster, the stats matter, the reading on the GPS matters, the top speed matters. But why? Why does the speed matter? If I could do this little route I have of 20.69 kilometres in less than an hour would that be good? Would it be better for my health? Would it be better for my heart? Would it be better for the Camino experience.

I have no answers, I am still tossing things in the stew pot and maybe will have a chance to think things out on Sunday.

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