Am I wasting my time

Depends on when in the season you're doing them and how much time you are devoting to training overall.

My roadie friends do nothing but base miles from January to some time in April.  Like 150W for hours upon BORING hours, but they are pretty adamant about it (OK, the occasional town line sprint creeps in, but overall it's slooooow).  They're perfectly content to let "hacks and triathletes" blow past them in March, so they can crush it in July.  So, pre-season or base building, I'd say you're good.

In season, I would think it depends on both your goals and overall time you have available.  The first would determine how you want to ride in events.  If you're racing (as in, REDLINING), then you would likely need more intensity in training, yeh?  The caveat there is that if you have a lot of time devoted to training and are doing these miles as your base miles (not junk, just base) and can devote the time and have the physiology to handle separate workouts with intensity, then you're good.

Otherwise, these rides won't get you into peak form later in the season.

Net, net, then, I suppose it depends.  

Enjoy the rides with her whenever you can, is my only piece of real (if relatively worthless) advice!

I agree with everyone else that you certainly aren't wasting your time given that you get to ride with your wife.  It's one of my favorite things to do.

There are things you can do to make it a little more challenging for yourself.  Make yourself and your bike less aero, use slow tires, wear baggy clothes that catch the wind.  Do the opposite for her, fast tires, tight fitting clothes (double win ) etc.

x2

Chalk the ride up as quality time.

Use the rest of the week to get the workout you need.

I agree that any time on the bike is goo.

That said, if those are your only rides and are therefore your training rides, then you could maybe do some stuff to help you get a better workout. You can change your gears...do some high cadence spinning or put it in a tough gear if you hit a hill. My husband and I do intervals together on a 2 mile out and back stretch of road, we are pretty much the same speed but if one of us pulls ahead then we just yell encouragement to each other as we pass. Another idea would be to get out on a quick but intense ride first and use the ride with your wife as a cool down.

If these are just fun rides in addition to your training then I say just enjoy them with your spouse. My husband I ride together and it's awesome!

Long time lurker but first time poster.

I second what "the bear" said, get a good top quality tandem! When we road single bikes together, neither my wife nor I was happy.  When we got our Co-Motion tandem everything changed!! Since tandem riding requires LOTS of communication, we slowly got in-sync with each others pedal effort, cadence comfort zone and perceived exertion. Since my wife (the stoker)  likes to take it easy and cruise, I use our tandem rides as my easy ride day when trying to integrate it into my triathlon training schedule. We maintain a moderate cadence of about 80-85 RPM and don't push to hard. Hills can be a challenge for the Captain, and can really give you a workout at times. I've set up our cassettes and triple chain ring so that we have more than enough gear to deal with most hills. We just shift down and spin away! Fortunately going down hill on a tandem can be a real rush!! With a combined weight of around 320# with bike and rider, you can really fly down hill and on the flats.

Investigate it! It gives bike riding a whole new dimension!

Option 1 - its a recovery ride, it has use for your training, it has more use as quality time with your wife.

Option 2 - you're time constrained and it needs to be a training ride.  Make your bike and self heavier & less aero. 

• Use a heavy commuter bike 
• Wear a big baggy shirt, not so baggy it can touch any moving parts
• Running shorts (over bike shorts if neccessary for comfort) 
• Rack & panniers and load up on weight (nutrition, spare tubes & repair kit)
• Carry all but one of the water bottles on your bike (if its going to be a long one when you have several each)
• Big thick tires for higher rolling resistance

Also I've found short, hard efforts with the brakes slightly applied wear me out and make me want to do recovery pace.

Or you can just buy your wife a $5000+ superbike and try and keep up

Precisely

OP---Very easy to get a harder workout and quality time with wife, GF, kids or weaker riding buddies.

1. I wear ankle weights when I ride with slower riders  I have several different size ankle weights. A 5lb pair and a 10lb pair.  The 5lb pair even has slip in weight bars to adjust how much weight you want to wear.  

2. Next, wear a small nylon backpack. I put another pair or two ankle weights in the backpack to give the other rider more of a handicap as needed to make our effort more equal.  The backpack is also good to haul her extra stuff in to make HER ride more comfortable and mine a little harder.

3. Wear a workout weight vest.  I have done this also in the past to make our efforts more even.  The weight vest works great and allows you to easily add or subtract weight as needed, but personally it is my least favorite.

4. Back in the day when we had round seat tubes  I used to take a piece of aluminum pipe 16inches or so long, pour in melted lead, let cool, remove seat post, slide lead pipe (gently) down inside seat tube and replace seat post/seat. This worked great, especially when someone wanted to pick up my shiny ti bike to see how light it was 

Hope this helps

T.I.T.S.

Time in the saddle!

ride just ride!!!!

"but I am a little concerned that I'm really getting no benefit from these rides."

Sad. I think riding a bike outside is one of the most fun things you can do with this mortal coil. If you'd rather be sitting on the couch drinking beer (also not bad, by the way), that's just your choice. But if it's possible and not impractical, always choose the thing that's more fun. 

My wife and I run and ride together sometimes, and I'm 'faster' than her as well. She often tells me to just 'go on, meet you at home', and I always refuse. She always thanks me afterwards. 

Personally, I would say just drop me off at the house and you continue to bike afterwards.  I must say I like the idea of you carrying all my water bottles, snacks, and maybe some extra weight.

Just remember last time I did beat you on the bike portion of the tri   Ok, now I'm just talking trash. 

NOPE!

Happy Wife HAPPY LIFE!

?(I know there are Gals out there that are in this position too) so for all of us in the position of running or riding at a slower pace just enjoy the company!

On the bike I work on leg speed and spin I can always ride faster during the week with my group or at events when other members ride.

You might pick the pace up a bit; you may be surprised she is not as slow as you think and more so she is faster than she thinks!

Either way no lost/wasted time only focused attention on what's important...  

Love it!

Think your water bottles are ALL yours from now on!

But yes; I'm sure thats something one would never forget (nor be allowed to)