IF YOU go out cycling and forget to switch on your bike computer, did that ride really happen?

The other day I found out halfway through a ride I had forgotten to recharge my bike computer.

This handy little gizmo not only tells me how fast - or slowly - I am riding, but also my distance, route map and cadence.

And if I wanted to dig out the box from the drawer stuffed with cycling stuff and 1000 words on instructions, I could even link it up with a special monitor and keep track of my heart beat.

Which would be fine if I was wanting to do an Anna Meares or Rebecca Wiasak and compete at the elite level.

Which I don't.

But it is good to keep a note of how many kilometres I ride and I find it motivating.

However, the other day I was enjoying a speedy downhill ride in one of those wonderful gaps between traffic.

It seemed as though I had all of Ballina Road to myself - apart from a few kamikaze magpies - and I looked down at my bike computer to see how fast I was going.

It's easy to get to 60km/h between the roundabout at Rotary Drive as you continue down Ballina Road.

The shoulder is nice and wide and as there's about a 300m stretch with no cross roads it's a good time to check your speed.

I looked down... nothing. A blank screen.

But you know what?

Just because the bike computer did not show my speed did not mean I wasn't cycling.

In a way it was kind of freeing.

Rather than thinking I should be cycling faster to make a personal best or at least make my average time, it meant that whatever rate I was pedalling was the right one.

Instead of feeling bad I wasn't riding hard enough I felt I was doing my best.