You all helped me ride 45 miles yesterday!

[cherinyc]

Thank you so much to all of you in this forum - and to the women who started this forum. I could never know as much as I do now, without everyone's kind words and advice - about everything from queefing :o to LBS store frustrations :mad: to breathing problems :eek: (that's supposed to be me gasping for air after climbing a little hill).
I have received such awesome responses from everyone, and it's wonderful to actually have people respond with such compassion and understanding.
I have finally gotten a comfortable saddle, and have started meds for the asthma I didn't know I had.
AND - I made myself (and my bf) proud yesterday when I rode 45 miles (my longest ride) in my first organized biking event. YIPPEE! Boy was I tired:p

It has been exactly 38 days since I took my first real ride on a road bike. Here are my stats according to my journal on bikejournal.com :
Total Miles: 228
Total Time: 15 hours 32 minutes
Avg Speed: 15.54 (damn hills)
Total Calories Burned: 6898

WOO HOO!!!! I feel like a million bucks!!
Sincere thanks to EACH and EVERY ONE of you beautiful ladies!
cheri

[im4smiley]

That is great, 15.54 average is wonderful! It took me almost a year to get that average...keep riding :)

[Kano]

Congratulations on your big ride!

and, Never you mind those hills, Cheri!

15mph is a lovely average! I wish _I_ had an average speed like that!

Since I crawl up hills at about 4mph, and celebrate the heck out of simply getting to the top, however it happens, I struggle with keeping my average above 10mph yet!

Still -- awesome start to your biking "career"!!!!!

Karen in Boise

[redhot3368]

Wow!! That is awesome!
Congrats!

Great average speed!! I WISH mine was that good!!

Karen :)

[KSH]

Hey, all of that looks great!

And, uummm... I average 15-16 mph, and I have been riding for almost 2 years. So, yea, you must be a natural!

You should be really fast in about a year!

[Brandy]

http://www.paklinks.com/gs/images/smilies/yahoo.gif You go girl! Congratulations on the ride and your average ROCKS!

[Tri Girl]

Congrats on the very long ride!! Just think of how big those numbers are going to be a year from now. You're doing fanstastic! Keep it up!:)

[FreshNewbie]

Awsome results! Your average is very good, first hills kill you then you get addicted to them. There's no better feeling than after a good hilly ride finished with cold chocolate silk soy milk yam ;)

[chickwhorips]

great job! :D

just think it just keeps getting better.

[tulip]

That's great! It's a good thing that I'm not coming to Princeton in August afterall, because you'd likely leave me in the dust!

[cherinyc]

Really? 15.5 mph seems pretty slow. The local bike club does group rides, and they list the minimum avg mphs to go on certain rides. A, B, B+, C, etc. I barely even make a letter.

[Bikingmomof3]

FANTASTIC Cheri! I can only hope to do half as well as you are doing. I love this group, everyone inspires me.

You are doing AWESOME! Keep riding. :D

[mimitabby]

Hey Cheri,
that IS a good average. We averaged 13mph the first day and 14 for our 107 and then 87 miles this weekend..
Don't kid yourself; you are hanging with a fast crowd.

[Denise223]

Hi Cheri!

You are doing EXCELLENT :D !!

Most of all, STAY SAFE & HAVE FUN

Peace & Love,

Denise

[CorsairMac]

good on ya cheri! congrats on your ride!!

so.............when is your first metric century (62 miles)? :D ;)

[RoadRaven]

Really? 15.5 mph seems pretty slow. The local bike club does group rides, and they list the minimum avg mphs to go on certain rides. A, B, B+, C, etc. I barely even make a letter.

15.5 is a good average overall speed.
If someone tells you their weekly or monthly average is high (excuse me while I switch to metrics...)

OK... if someone tells you their average speed is, say, 30kph... its likely they are talking a load of bollocks... or they are not training well... or they are an exceptional cyclist.

While I race at speeds of 30-32kph and in sprints get over 40kph, my weekly/monthly average would likely be 24-26kph - it will be on bike journal anyways...

If you are training sensibly, then you should spend a significant amount of your time training below your "top" speed, building your aerobic base and distance endurance (depending of course on what your goals for biking are)

Cheri, the speeds your club suggests are for those specific club rides... I am sure if you talked to some of the seasoned/experienced cyclists in the upper/faster grades, you would find that not all of their rides are at the 'suggested speed' for the club rides.

The other thing to consider with club rides is that you are riding with a group, therefore a significant time of riding by the individuals in that group are drafting. Consequently, club rides will tend to be faster over a course which you, on your own, will do a slower speed on.

The other thing to bear in mind is your average speed over a week or a month will be how many hills you climbed, or if you decided to incorporate hill-reps into your schedule.

An example locally in what you might recognise as "Cat1" racers, their training would average under 30kph, although their race speeds are between 40-45kph.

[cherinyc]

The other thing to consider with club rides is that you are riding with a group, therefore a significant time of riding by the individuals in that group are drafting. Consequently, club rides will tend to be faster over a course which you, on your own, will do a slower speed on.

I never thought about that.