What's your average distance, pace, etc?

[Aggie_Ama]

We need to remember that everyone's definition of 'hills' is different.
We all bike over vastly differing terrain depending on where we live.

I went to Cape Cod this summer and someone who rides there during the summers described a route as being 'very hilly'....well there were a couple of teeny bumps on the path, but certainly not worth leaving my middle ring for. I kept waiting for the hilly part to start, but it never did. To my delight, I was magically transformed into a much faster rider as well. :-D

I think of my area as 'rolling hills' no matter what direction i go in from home, but when I went to New Hampshire last weekend I think their definition of 'rolling hills' was significantly steeper than my definition!

YUP. I consider my area rolling hills, gentle ones. Sometimes they are long but nothing extended. Some people come here and hear where I live and comment on how hilly it is. Then you go out to the Hill Country and some people call it rolling. I don't think a hill that is up to 3 miles long and 15% grade in short sections is rolling (Trisk if you read this I am talking about the road outside Leakey, you might know it). Some people call the famous Austin Dam Loop rolling, I think it is a little more intense than "rolling" but not full out climbing. It is just darn hilly that is for sure.

So my area is rolling but I don't go climbing around here! Of course I don't have anything to tell me my climbing stats and I don't normally care. I would like a Garmin but really I don't want to know my legs are screaming but I really didn't climb that much.

[Crankin]

This thread just confirms my depressing riding situation. My average is getting worse. Two years ago most of my rides, on rolling terrain averaged just under 16. Sure, I ride with people who average 13 quite a bit, but when I rode with my husband, I could crank it up. Then, when I got sick last year, I lost a lot of strength, despite the fact I never totally stopped exercising. I didn't ride much last fall, though, but I did walk, do yoga, etc. Over the winter I slowly built up my endurance with x country skiing, hiking, snow shoeing. I've tried to get back into weight training, but it's sporadic. I felt good in the beginning of the season, but since May I've had a lot of ups and downs. After my tour across MA, which involved 4 days of really challenging climbs, I should have rested, but I didn't. Then I went for my orientation course on the Cape and I took my bike. I wasn't sleeping well and I felt like I was getting sick, with allergies, swollen glands, etc. Getting up at 5 AM to ride made me look tough to the younger people, but it did me in. It took 4 weeks to get over the thing I had and now my fibro. symptoms are acting up. I swore I wouldn't miss another fall of riding, since the weather is gorgeous.
After a particularly bad week of symptoms, I started feeling better; I rode Tuesday and my average was 14.2 on my regular loop of 15.7 miles, that ends in a 10-15% climb. Yesterday I felt better while riding, but my average was 13.6 . Granted, I did go on a route that involved a little slowing due to traffic situations.... I am trying to look at this as like the time I had the flu really bad and I had to stop teaching aerobics for 5 weeks afterwards. I swam instead to build up my strength. I don't want to stop riding, but I am just telling myself to go slow and maybe I'll end up going fast. Another month of this, and I will concentrate on weight training, hiking, and spin class. I usually ride outside through December, but once November comes, it's sporadic. It's just so depressing. I know that I still do more than most people, and I'm not competing against anyone but myself. My "regular" friends think I'm nuts for worrying about this, but I find myself enjoying riding my Jamis around town and for errands more than riding my road bike...

[redrhodie]

Crankin, have you read "Bicycling Bliss" by Portia Masterson? There's a lot of good stuff in there about riding for health. She teaches about breathing, form, and techniques to keep you riding without injury.

I'm concerned about you feeling depressed by how fast you ride. I think you're awesome, and I know from reading your posts what you went through last year. You've gone through a lot physically, and you're still riding. I want you to keep going. A lot of people think going faster is "improving" when really, they're damaging themselves, and shortening their riding longevity. In the long run, you want to be able to ride your bike for many years to come, and be healthier from it. That's the point, not to compromise your health for speed.

[Crankin]

I will pick up a copy of that book; I've never heard of it. I am not really *depressed,* but it is true that most of my life revolves around riding or some type of physical activity. I don't want that to stop. And yes, you are right, my goal is to keep riding until I die. I just feel it's a bit unfair when I read about some of the accomplishments of others here; I have the discipline to train, but I guess my body won't let me. There are people with physical issues much more involved than mine who do things that I only think about. I am trying to concentrate on building strength, because that is going to help me all around. One thing is for sure; riding has made it almost impossible for me to spend time in the gym, unless it's below 40 out. I'll go a couple of weeks to do weights or yoga and then the outdoors beckons me on those days... when it's just too nice out. I do have a mini gym at home, and am more apt to do that.
And riding/walking/hiking outside has been a good balance from my studies. Yesterday, I went out after spending 3 hours at the library, working on a paper. I couldn't spend one more minute there! So even though I was upset about my pitiful speed, I felt rejuvenated mentally and came home and finished my paper.

[redrhodie]

The book is about riding for your mind as well as your body. She approaches riding as a meditation. I tried yesterday to think about using breath the way she discusses, and realized, even with my strong yoga background, I still don't fully breathe when I ride. It was an eye opener, and I have a lot of work to do.

I am a recovering bike computer junkie. Step 1, admit you have a problem. I took my computer off my bike. I still check the stats (I have my ways) when I get home, but that lapse in time (from looking at my average speed while still on the ride) keeps me from feeling badly about myself.

[Mr. Bloom]

Using MotionBased, Here's what I figured out for 2008:

Total 2008 Miles: 3,582 in 147 rides
Longest Ride: 160.2 miles@20mph (RAIn Ride)

Average Ride: 24.3 miles
Average Speed: 16.7 mph
Fastest Speed: 60.7mph (uphill I think) 2nd fastest: 48mph
Total Climbing: 229,532 feet (nearly to the MOON!)

Time Riding: 18 months, trying to keep up with the athletically superior Silver

[RoadRaven]

After a particularly bad week of symptoms, I started feeling better; I rode Tuesday and my average was 14.2 on my regular loop of 15.7 miles, that ends in a 10-15% climb. Yesterday I felt better while riding, but my average was 13.6 .

<snip>

It's just so depressing. I know that I still do more than most people, and I'm not competing against anyone but myself. My "regular" friends think I'm nuts for worrying about this, but I find myself enjoying riding my Jamis around town and for errands more than riding my road bike...

Enjoyment is what it is all about, and try to hold onto that.
It is so hard when you know you have been faster/quicker etc... but you know why you are not in the same place 2 years ago. Being really unwell can take months to get over, and then months and maybe more months to start to get back what you had.
Be patient. Know it will return

And keep that goal - its an excellent goal - so many people have only tight, specific goals. But you need a goal like this too - it helps keep life in balance. I tell my students about a woman in France who lived til 103yrs. She was still delivering mail for their postal services, on her bike, until the year she died.
Great, eh?


And Red, I'm going to check out that book too. It sounds really interesting...

[kelownagirl]

Bikejournal says:

78 rides this year.
Avg speed 24.5 kmh (15.2 mph)
Not very accurate because of the variety of rides types.

However, here are my rough stats according to type:

Hilly rides: avg speed about 25-26 kmh (15-16 mph)
Flat rides: avg speed about 29-30 kmh (18-18.5 mph)

Best time:
Triathlon:
20k in 38:18
31.5 kph (19.6 mph) (had 900' climbing including two 9% hills.)

[Eden]

Crankin - If you don't have one already, I would encourage you to get a hr monitor and really watch for signs of over training. Especially as you are recovering from an illness and have some health issues, it may be very easy for you to do too much (much less than you were used to can now be too much!) and once you get into that trend it can be hard to get out. Many people as they see their numbers drop feel that they should train harder, which exacerbates their over training, makes them slower, so they try to train more - its a downward spiral... when what they really need is some rest and recovery.

Signs of over training: (yeah - unfortunately they can all be symptoms of other things too... I think elevated resting HR is one of the better indicators)

elevated resting HR
Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
Pain in muscles and joints
Sudden drop in performance
Insomnia
Headaches
Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
Decrease in training capacity / intensity
Moodiness and irritability
Depression
Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
Decreased appetite
Increased incidence of injuries.
A compulsive need to exercise

[Crankin]

I know all about over training...
My problem is that I never know how and when my symptoms will appear. I sort of can tell if I am on the edge of a regular illness or allergy thing that I need to back off and at times, I don't, which is bad. Most of the fibro. symptoms start during an illness, when my body is under stress. I went through years of continual illnesses (nothing life threatening) in my thirties when I was teaching aerobics. Now that was over training; I gave myself heart palpitations from getting up and teaching at 5 AM and living on coffee all day at work. Plus the fact that I weighed 92 pounds didn't help, either. Well, I am over that!
I have a HR monitor that I haven't used in a couple of years. I was too obsessed with it. I learned that my HR is always higher than it *should* be, even when I am riding flats and feel really good. I always start out at a high HR, and then it settles down. My resting HR first thing in the morning is between 55 and 62 and I check it every morning. That is a good indication of my health.
I just came back from a really good ride. It's probably the flattest ride I can do around here, except for the climb to my house. I actually felt good the whole time and my average was 15. I am forgetting about speed for awhile!

[Eden]

I don't think its too unusual for hr to start high and then settle in - its what I expect doing a TT, even with a good warm up there's an initial spike then things settle in. It's good you do your resting hr - it is one of the first indicators and its quantitative.

Good for you for letting go of speed. My training is all by time and effort (can't afford power.... so its hr for now). I don't pay much attention to speed or distance until its race time. I certainly do compare my TT times on the same course from year to year too see if I've improved- and I generally look at other peoples as well to take into account course conditions too - even if you are slower, if everyone else was slower too and by a greater percentage, you can still have had a good year.

IMHO average speed on a training ride is pretty useless... unless you are on a closed course doing a TT there's just too many variables to make it a useful measurement. Someone on a straight flat 10 mile road with no stop signs or stop lights can "average" the exact same speed as someone who is on a hilly, twisty 10 mile road with 5 lights and a 2 stop signs. The person who had to slow down and stop a whole bunch of times had to have gone considerably faster (and on a harder route) in between all the stops to make up that same average. Of course, I do live in a city so access to routes without a lot of stop-go on them are rare. Some people might be near roads like this more than I am and might find it a measure that they can use - but still only to compare them self to them self...

Even most clubs when they classify their rides specify that the average speeds they list are for flat roads in optimal conditions - so they aren't (or at least should not be) talking about average at the end of the ride, but average level cruising...

[Aggie_Ama]

Signs of over training: (yeah - unfortunately they can all be symptoms of other things too... I think elevated resting HR is one of the better indicators)

elevated resting HR
Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
Pain in muscles and joints
Sudden drop in performance
Insomnia
Headaches
Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
Decrease in training capacity / intensity
Moodiness and irritability
Depression
Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
Decreased appetite
Increased incidence of injuries.
A compulsive need to exercise

Thanks for posting this! I realized when I used to run all the time I ended up with almost all of these. Since I never led an active life before 2004 I am a little out of touch with my body. Good to keep in mind.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I just got back from a lovely 34 mile ride with my husband. Sunny day in the 60's, rolling countryside....just beautiful!
We goofed off a lot, taking pictures, stopping to chat with people....but even with all that I am really tired now, but in a good way. My legs especially feel like they got a good workout, there were a few good little hills in there.

So here's for all you jackrabbits that whine about your 'slow' speeds .... our speed on this 34 miler today?- average 8.9mph. (ok I'm usually more like a "blazing" 10mph)
Do I care?- not really, because I got several hours of great healthy exercise and got to enjoy a gorgeous day out in the country doing what I love.

[kelownagirl]

I just got back from a lovely 30 mile ride with my husband. Sunny day in the 60's, rolling countryside....just beautiful!
We goofed off a lot, taking pictures, stopping to chat with people....but even with all that I am really tired now, but in a good way. My legs especially feel like they got a good workout, there were a few good little hills in there.

So here's for all you jackrabbits that whine about your 'slow' speeds .... our speed on this 30 miler today?- average 8.9mph. (ok I'm usually more like a "blazing" 10mph)
Do I care?- not really, because I got several hours of great healthy exercise and got to enjoy a gorgeous day out in the country doing what I love.

I LOVE those kinds of rides. Erik and I have been riding downtown and along the boardwalk every Sunday for the past few weeks. Avg speed about 18-20kmh. (11 mph)

[Geonz]

I just got back from a lovely 34 mile ride with my husband. Sunny day in the 60's, rolling countryside....just beautiful!
We goofed off a lot, taking pictures, stopping to chat with people....but even with all that I am really tired now, but in a good way. My legs especially feel like they got a good workout, there were a few good little hills in there.

So here's for all you jackrabbits that whine about your 'slow' speeds .... our speed on this 34 miler today?- average 8.9mph. (ok I'm usually more like a "blazing" 10mph)
Do I care?- not really, because I got several hours of great healthy exercise and got to enjoy a gorgeous day out in the country doing what I love.

Amen!!

I was a little sluggish today because both wheels were dragging, I found out when i took the bike into the bike coop...

Tryin' to keep our club from devolving into a "fast riding only!" club ...