What is your overall average MPH?

[Jiffer]

I'm glad you posted this cause it makes me feel better about my speed! I've also been curious what other people's average speeds are. From that older thread that was posted, I have determined that I'm pretty average. I feel like such a slow poke around Dh and other cyclist friends we have, but I think I'm really quite average. Not the fastest, but certainly not the slowest. Just the slowest in my circle of cyclist friends, which is frustrating, yet spurs me on to be better. I, personally, have a definite desire to go faster. I want to be able to ride with other people and keep up. Be more physically fit, etc.

Anyways, thanks for posting this.

[ehirsch83]

it all varies with the terrain and the weather!!
like today, my average for 30 miles was 14.9mph. i had about 5 miles of climbing where I sat between 8-11mph(3,000ft climb in 4.5 miles about) I am a slow climber! but then my whole way home i was in the low 20s(going downhill)(on the way out going uphill with a headwind i was around 12-14mph).

Back in FL my average for most rides is closer to 18mph.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, you can not tell much about a rider or the ride by just the average mph, terrain and weather play such an important part(and also is it a solo ride or a group ride,etc.)

oh and one last thing, you can expect, when in a group ride, to ride a few mph above your normal average for the same ride, if you were to ride it solo.

[kiwi girl]

One thing that occurred to me about speeds reading through that old post (although I don't know how much difference it would make) are that there are two different ways that cycle computers can calculate average speed. One is auto stop/start (where it only counts actual riding time ie while the wheels are spinning - and divides the distance by that) where time stopped at lights etc doesn't count. The other computer setting is where you push 'start' at the start of your ride and 'stop' at the end so time stuck at lights counts - which would give you a lower average speed.

[Jiffer]

One thing that occurred to me about speeds reading through that old post (although I don't know how much difference it would make) are that there are two different ways that cycle computers can calculate average speed. One is auto stop/start (where it only counts actual riding time ie while the wheels are spinning - and divides the distance by that) where time stopped at lights etc doesn't count. The other computer setting is where you push 'start' at the start of your ride and 'stop' at the end so time stuck at lights counts - which would give you a lower average speed.

I was going to comment on the same thing. My computer stops whenever I stop, so those times are not included in my average. So, by some standards, I'm slower than what I said. (Which was in the 14 to 15 mph range).

[Jiffer]

I was telling Dh about this thread and he said he has learned that where you live in the country tends to make a difference in what is considered average pace. He was talking with a guy at our LBS who races at a high level. In California, where we live, the average pace of cyclists seems to be a lot faster than in other parts of the country. I guess we're more competetive! We certainly have the ability to ride more often during the year because of weather and cycling seems to be fairly popular.

I found one post I read a while back interesting, which made me realize how different cycling is in other parts of the country. Someone was talking about how they used to laugh at people walking around the grocery store in their lycra cycling shorts and hobbling around in their cycling shoes with clips (yet now they are one of those people!). My first thought was, "At the grocery store?" This is just not something you see in California. For the most part anyways. People may ride their bikes to the store to pick up some milk, but they will typically not be the more serious cyclists who wear cycling shorts and clip in to their pedals.

So, my main point is, what is considered an average pace in one area may be completely different in another.

[DDH]

I'm not sure if mine stops calculating when the wheels stop spinning or not, but I am really slow right now, I average around 11 mph. That is on some pretty hilly terain, but that is all I can ride around here.
I don't worry about speed so much though right now. I want to be able to get better on these hills.

[pumpkinhead]

I was out for a 17 miler @ 6am this morning and averaged 18miles/hr. Pretty much 98% flat and 2 overpasses.

[Andrea]

I have no idea what my total average speed is, but, like most of you, it depends on the company and the situation! I race, so my speeds tend to be up there.

The Tuesday night ride from my team's sponsor shop averaged 24.5 mph on rolling terrain (it's prettymuch an all-out hammerfest) last week. I felt like superwoman after keeping up with that one...
On a 30-40 mile solo recovery ride, I'll usually just spin @ around 17-18mph

Most of the time, I'm somewhere in the middle.

[coyote]

I took a different route to work this week and was quite pleased with myself that I had increased my average speed by 2 mph. But then I realized I went down a really steep underpass.....I reached about 27 mph. I'm going to disengage the computer the next time I take that route and see what my average is then. But wow that underpass is fun

[cinnamon_toast]

Does anyone know approx what your speed increase is when group riding? Not necessarily doing pace lines but catching some draft.

[Eden]

Does anyone know approx what your speed increase is when group riding? Not necessarily doing pace lines but catching some draft.

It's commonly accepted that a person drafting will use about 30% less energy. Now speed is still all relative and will totally depend on the person you are drafting. You may not see any increase in speed at all if the person you are drafting is not speedier than you are, but get to your destination fresher, having worked less hard.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm glad you posted this cause it makes me feel better about my speed! I've also been curious what other people's average speeds are. From that older thread that was posted, I have determined that I'm pretty average. I feel like such a slow poke around Dh and other cyclist friends we have, but I think I'm really quite average. Not the fastest, but certainly not the slowest. Just the slowest in my circle of cyclist friends, which is frustrating, yet spurs me on to be better. I, personally, have a definite desire to go faster. I want to be able to ride with other people and keep up. Be more physically fit, etc.
Anyways, thanks for posting this.

If that post made you feel good, then mine will make you feel GREAT!.....
I ride over 100 miles a week except in bad winter weather. My bike is a 30 lb (when loaded for daily ride) steel road/touring bike, and I live in a very hilly rural area. My ride distances can vary between 13 and 70 miles. I'm 53 and have been riding only a year.
Regardless of distance, my average speed seems to always be somewhere between 8.5 and 10.5 mph, depending on the hills on a particular ride. My slowest speed is 2.5mph uphill (which I do almost daily) and fastest downhill has been 39mph, but I hit 30 on downhills almost every ride too.
I do hope to at least get to an average of 11mph by the end of this year.
I'm slower than anyone I know. Yet I feel simply wonderful since I have been biking, and am much more fit. The physical benefits are too plentiful to go into!

P.S. My bike computer is set to "auto start/stop". If it wasn't my average speed might actually be a negative number! =8-O

[Batbike]

don't want to go there again!!

as for speed, i feel the actual #'s don't matter because it is not how fast you ride but what you put into the ride that counts. A short fast ride has merit; a long slow endurance ride also has merit; as for every ride in-between.

personally, unless there is a real reason for me to worry about speed, like how fast it took me to get home because i promised my kids i would be home in time to get them to XYZ place, then it is not an issue -- well, unless i am working on sprints or speed work for the day -- it is not important. Speed is nice to know, but not something to work on ... the work is in the overall bike ride, not a computerized speed.