You stated; ” If the operator of a bicycle is making effort, to the best of their ability, to travel at a reasonable speed, there is no impediment.”

I have no argument with this statement, rather, I wish to add to it.

This does not mean that the cyclist has to be in top shape to operate on the roadway, and that he must be expending maximum effort. Nor that he be lollygagging along with a resting heart rate, either. What is a reasonable pace for one cyclist will not be a reasonable pace for another. A pace that this person can sustain for the length of his trip- not measured in MPH, but in “effort expended over time”.

If a cyclist is confronted with a headwind or steep terrain, he will naturally travel at slower speed than if he were going the opposite way.

Here is the whole of it: For a long while, I thought that I must ride at a brisk pace to take the lane- faster then I was then capable of. I was mistaken in this belief. Don’t fall into that way of thinking yourself.

Tailwinds to all!