What's your average distance, pace, etc?

[arielmoon]

Whenever I find myself hating you, I just tell myself I'm going to BE you some day and then I have to love you! You're a total inspiration! You've only been riding since July?!! Surely you were pretty fit before you started cycling.

~snip~

Good luck on your century and let us know how it goes.

Oh dont hate me! I was in pretty good shape before I started cycling in May. I compete in Dressage with my horse Ice:



And like Bleeker said- every terrain is different. Most of you would probably laugh at my hills although Ocala is not like most of Florida.

And thanks for the encouragement about the century. BF is now exBF and he is going to do the 45. So I am going to hook up with the LBS group and hope for the best.

[RoadRaven]

Always interesting to play with numbers.
I don't take note of average speeds anymore unless it is a particular course I am trying to improve on and am measuring myself against my own time or other's times.

So, I popped over to BikeJournal and worked out my stats for 2008...

So based on this year's 218 rides:

My average distance is 20.58km (a total of 4,487.87km for 2008)

My average time per ride is 59 minutes (a total of 209:15:57 hr:min:sec for 2008)

Therefore, that makes my average speed 20.93kph



However, to me that is a nonsense - interesting numbers, but not really a reflection of one of my average rides...

Usually, during training rides, I ride between 25-30kph

Hills, which slow me down will be ridden somewhere between 5kph and 16kph
Head winds will bring me back to about 25-26kph
Strong/gale force westerlies will have me moving under 20kph.

Usually, during road racing/riding in a racing bunch, I ride about between 30-45kph

My best time/speed this year was in a time trial race. That was 34.02kph over 19.3kms in March. I haven't approached that speed on my own again this year - which just shows you also that conditions as well as personal ability have a lot to do with averages. Some days everything just comes together.

So, as many have already said in this thread, although it is intriguing to play with number averages, it doesn't necessarily tell you about the type of riding a person does, the type of terrain they cover, the weather conditions on the day etc etc...

But thanks, its been an interesting thread to look through. Thanks all for giving us your stats

[Jiffer]

Oh dont hate me! I was in pretty good shape before I started cycling in May. I compete in Dressage with my horse Ice:

Hey! You're a horsey person! My daughter's do Hunter Jumper. Here's a pic of my oldest at a champ show a year ago. That same champ show is next week, but her horse is lame. He should be fine, but not in time for the show.

I think people underestimate the physical ability needed to ride a horse.

Yes, description of terrain can really vary from one person to another. That's why I mention feet of elevation climbed a lot and, sometimes, grade of incline. In my century, the "big climb" of Torrey Pines was about 2 miles of 7% grade. That, with other climbing resulted in 3000 feet total. There's a climb here that is maybe a quarter mile at 13%. That's stupid steep! And REALLY slows down your average pace.

I have ALSO found that when the terrain is literally "rolling", I can go a lot faster. I rode in Tahoe a couple of months ago and was able to sprint up a short rolling hill having just come down a previous one. Did this over and over again and really boosted my pace. That was almost 1400 feet of climbing. Doing that same amount of climbing here, where I might climb the entire 1400 at once or split into two climbs, yet not starting from a downhill roll ... gives me a completely different and slower pace.

[arielmoon]

Always interesting to play with numbers.
I don't take note of average speeds anymore unless it is a particular course I am trying to improve on and am measuring myself against my own time or other's times.

~snip~
So, as many have already said in this thread, although it is intriguing to play with number averages, it doesn't necessarily tell you about the type of riding a person does, the type of terrain they cover, the weather conditions on the day etc etc...

But thanks, its been an interesting thread to look through. Thanks all for giving us your stats

I agree completely! I compare myself only to myself and previous rides and also take into account different routes. On my farm route I am much slower due to having to turn around when I get the end of a lane!

Today for instance I added an extra loop that will be part of the century next weekend and it added almost 3 more miles to the scenic route I take a few times a week. I also recorded a personal best mph. So, I may not be able to compare with anyone else here but I know that I am getting stronger all the time.

That is what makes me happy!

Hey! You're a horsey person! My daughter's do Hunter Jumper. Here's a pic of my oldest at a champ show a year ago. That same champ show is next week, but her horse is lame. He should be fine, but not in time for the show.

I think people underestimate the physical ability needed to ride a horse.

Yes, description of terrain can really vary from one person to another. That's why I mention feet of elevation climbed a lot and, sometimes, grade of incline. In my century, the "big climb" of Torrey Pines was about 2 miles of 7% grade. That, with other climbing resulted in 3000 feet total. There's a climb here that is maybe a quarter mile at 13%. That's stupid steep! And REALLY slows down your average pace.

I have ALSO found that when the terrain is literally "rolling", I can go a lot faster. I rode in Tahoe a couple of months ago and was able to sprint up a short rolling hill having just come down a previous one. Did this over and over again and really boosted my pace. That was almost 1400 feet of climbing. Doing that same amount of climbing here, where I might climb the entire 1400 at once or split into two climbs, yet not starting from a downhill roll ... gives me a completely different and slower pace.

Sorry to hear your daughters horse is lame! They are a lovely pair! I agree there is much athleticism in riding HOWEVER not much cardio! And I will say this, I trained professionally for about 15 years and was never in the kind of shape I am now. And my riding? I can not believe how much stronger I am riding my horse. Not brute strength- horses are about finesse, but I have noticed the difference in my riding. My horse is so much more balanced!

Again I agree about comparing terrain. No one here in Ocala talks about feet of climbing or altitude.

You do what you can with what you have and keep working hard!!!

[Veronica]

Again I agree about comparing terrain. No one here in Ocala talks about feet of climbing or altitude.

Google Earth makes Ocala look pretty flat.

Veronica