You may know someone who is catching the cycling bug. That’s great, and you’d like to help by giving him or her some on-road pointers. But to do so means riding at a pace slower than you find enjoyable.
Here are some ways to defeat the tedium. You’ll have more fun and your friend will get the benefit of your companionship and knowledge.
—Ride your beater bike. Leave your ultralight carbon bike with aero wheels in the garage and use your gravel bike or even your mountain bike. You won’t have to try hard to ride slower.
—Stay in low gears. Demonstrate high cadence and limit your speed at the same time by using a gear that lets you ride at your friend’s pace while cranking at 90-100 rpm. That’s good for your technique and fitness.
—Kill your legs in advance. If you train hard earlier in the day or the day before, you’ll want a slow recovery ride. Cruising with your friend will be exactly the speed you need. You may even be asking her to slow down!
My old man used to give me a heads up about what he was doing, take off fast up the next hill, u-turn at the top, come past me to get way behind me, hammer until he caught me, and then ride alongside for awhile chatting until the next challenging hill he didn’t want to slog along at my beginner’s pace. That worked well for both of us.