What's a good time to complete 22 miles?

[MomOnBike]

Any time you can go out and do 20 miles is a good time.

You could, after all, be cleaning the house, instead.

[RolliePollie]

22 miles is a long ride for your first ride!!! Congrats and don't get bummed out if your soreness lasts a few days.

I got some excellent advice when I first got my bike 2 years ago. Start slow! I was advised to not ride more that 8-10 miles at a time for the first couple of weeks. Your body needs to get used to the feel of the bike, new body positions, and using new muscles. The goal is to have fun and want to get back on the bike, not to immediately push yourself too hard and end up in so much pain that you don't want to ride and you feel like giving up. I remember after my very first ride, which was only about 8 miles, my hands and wrists and shoulders were killing me, and I thought I broke something "down there" because I could barely sit down for a couple of days. But all of these initial aches and pains dissipated as I got used to riding.

I know everyone is different, but I took this advice and started slow. Within two weeks of short rides, I was able to do 20-30 flat miles without too much soreness afterwards. And within a month, I was riding 15-20 miles of hills pretty comfortably. And I'm talking about pretty good hills...2,500 feet of climbing in 20 miles types of hills.

By the way, average speed and ride time does vary a ton. My slowest ride averaged 8 mph (24 miles in 3 hours)...but it was like a 5,000 foot climb. I guess that was also my fastest ride because the ride back down only took an hour! My fastest ride on flat terrain would probably be around 18 mph.

Enjoy your new bike, take it easy, and pop a couple of ibuprofen for your aches and pains!

[Jiffer]

Do you have a bike computer? I'm sort of a stat freak. I have to know how far I went, how fast I did it, how much I climbed, etc. I keep track of it all and it's fun to go back and see how I've improved. My best comparison is myself, cause it can get down right depressing if I compare to, say, my husband, who is the second fastest cyclist in our club.

However, I have a riding buddy that is just about my level. We ride together all the time and 98% of the time, she beats me up the hills. But she helps me with hills, cause my goal is always to stay with her if I can. I get on her wheel and just try to hang on as long as I can. She's my carrot. Lately I'm staying with her more and more and, every now and then, I actually pass her. Of course, she's 20 pounds lighter than me, cause I'm so tall (5.9"). I'm sure if were carrying 20 pounds less up those hills, I'd be so much faster! (I did lose 5 lbs lately, so I'm working on it! And I do see improvement in my climbing since losing those pounds. Yay!)

But I digress. Regarding times, I started riding tandem at the end of 2006 before I got my own bike in the summer of 2007. I don't have a record of stats for 2007, but my first 22 miler in 2008, with 1000 feet of climbing was a 13.1 average pace, 1:42 in time, not counting stops. At the end of that year, I did the same ride at a 17.1 pace, 1:18 time. This is a huge improvement, which just goes to show what can be accomplished ... if speed is a goal, anyway. For me, I just wanted to keep up with other club members and my riding buddy and I are both competitive and try to improve our time when we can. Having a riding buddy, especially one that pushes you a little, can really help your own riding, plus ensure that you actually get out there and ride!

As everyone said, it doesn't matter how fast you went as long as you had fun. But having said that, I usually have more fun and feel better about my ride if I know I did it at what I feel is a "respectable" pace for me and one that will help me stay with my cycling buddies when I ride with them. So, it just depends on what your goals are and what a "respectable" pace is for you.

[sundial]

I do 20 miles in 1:13. That's with winds of 6-8 mph.

[papaver]

I do 20 miles in 1:13. That's with winds of 6-8 mph.

I do pretty much the same...

[solobiker]

It depends on which bike I take out. It is my Mtn bike then I typically average 15mph. On my road or cross bike I average 16-17. Of course it also depends upon how windy or hilly it is. As everyone else has stated as long as you are having fun it does not matter.

[indigoiis]

I live in a very hilly area and the last two weekends rode two different hilly 20 milers averaging about 13.5 mph (about an hour and thirty five minutes.) I consider myself to be pretty fit, too. Both rides I was riding a road bike with cross tires. I'm sure I could have pushed it and gone faster (on some of the downhills we were doing like, 36 mph, and on the flats about 19/20 mph, but those looooooong "false flats" get me every time.)

[Zen]

Do you have a bike computer? I'm sort of a stat freak.

I'm not.
The important part of a ride for me is greeting the sheep and cows and feeling my knees in the breeze.

If you finish your ride smiling it was a good ride and a good speed no matter how far or how fast.