>>1176100Most of the cycling people get romantic about is really pushing yourself for a few hours. The purest form of it is climbing up a huge hill. That's slow. It's not a speed thrill. The thrill comes from exhausting yourself, you get endorphins from it, it's called a runners high. If you do it regularly it increases your fitness and you do generally feel better. It does great things for mood in general.
I don't think that's what a commute should be, at all. If you're on a shared path you should slow to walking speed to pass someone. If you're commuting you should ride a comfy bike slowly, or atleast not exert any energy. Racks and luggage on the bike. Probably no helmet. It can be incredibly relaxing. You don't want to be tired when you get to work and you don't want to go fast at the end of the day.
They're mutually beneficial, because if you kill yourself in your offtime, commuting becomes effortless.
The third kind of riding that i think many casuals with bicycles do very occasionally and that's what they think cycling is, is a leisure ride, except you're not really interested in exerting yourself, so they just go a very short distance, maybe somewhere scenic and coast and maybe mash a big gear a bit to show how fast they are and then put it back on the car and back in the garage for another month or so. That's all very well and good too i guess.
Not sure what my point was here. Ok. If you commute, don't try and equate it to driving a car. It's a fast version of walking. If you want excitement then your ride should end with having a shower and a beer and putting your feet up, not 8 hours of work.
