[elhigh]

Don't let that average speed mislead you too much. They were doing this as a loop in downtown Washington DC and Alexandria VA - back and forth from Mount Vernon to DC. 21mph is actually not far off from what you would aggregate in typical driving. I doubt they passed anybody, but I don't think they were unsafely slow, either.

I grew up in the DC area and I can tell you, there are a lot of places where hitting 21mph can be a heady rush of progress, especially at rush hour - which these guys hit at least three times. And on weekends, traffic heading into Mount Vernon can be pretty darned tough, too.

I missed my ride to rowing practice one day. We rowed on the Potomac. My ride left five minutes before I got there, I leapt back onto my bike and pedalled like fury. I rode from Falls Church VA to the boathouse on the Potomac, and I beat them by five minutes.

Traffic in DC is tough. 21mph isn't as slow as you might think.