Quote Originally Posted by Lisa S.H. View Post
I keep reading about everyone riding averages of like 13-18 mph everywhere. It's been making me paranoid! I am almost ashamed to confess that my normal average on 20-40 mile rides here where I live seems to be always between 9.2 and 9.7 mph. (can you even believe that??)

I thought about that. I realized that only about 1/4 of any one of our rides consist of flat terrain- the other 3/4 is made up of hills, and more hills. Some rolling and long, some steep. Many require granny gear and 2mph climbing. Sure, we'll hit a blazing 35mph on a big downhill once and a while, but going back up that same hill takes a LONG time at 3-4mph and lots of leg work. When I'm on flat terrain I notice my speed is typically around 14-20mph- but I am seldom on flat roads.
So... I decided that I am NOT going to be concerned about my LOW average speed anymore. I'll keep an eye on it only to evaluate how much stronger I am getting on a given route- but I refuse to feel inwardly ashamed about it anymore!! I free myself from my self-imposed average speed shackles!
Apart from all the extra weight you carry on your bike that I dont (my road bike is an EMC2 Femetap... only a seat bag as an extra)... you should not, as you say on in the post aftfer this one I am quoting you on, get hung up on your speed.

One of my two motivating goals in cycling is to race... and to be reasonable at it in my grade/category.

But most of my training rides are between 22-28km averages (13-17mph average). This is the way training should be - not at the same intensity that you are aiming for your topw speed/time to be on a ride you are aiming for.

My racing average is, at the moment (cause I hope to get faster) is 29-32km per hour (18-20miles).

When I look on bikejournal, my overall average (training and racing) is about 25km I think...

Glad you are not stressing about it. Non-elite cyclists who say their overall average is 30km+ are probably exagerrating and I would tend not to believe them.

My partner and eldest son are both in the top grade in our club, both rack up at least 300km a week in training and although their race average is usually between 42-44kph (26-27miles) they usually train at around 30kph, and sometimes they ride so "slow" they get an approx 25kph average.

Average speeds are relative things and need to consider so many variables as has been said. Measure yourself against yourself and your own goals. measuring yourself against others is interesting, but not always meaningful or useful.