Quote Originally Posted by przc View Post
I asked to make sure i am riding enough. I ride 4 days a week and have worked up to 30 miles a day. I feel like i should be going faster than i ride and i can't break my average of 15-17 mph. Any suggestions?
Like the others have stated - it depends on your goals and why you want to go faster.
My "average commuting" speed, hauling a load, and trying to go slow so I don't sweat on the way to work is around 15 mph.
When I'm group riding, as the leader (so I don't get to draft ) it's no drop so we have to keep the speed "moderate", but we have a pretty good group of regulars that come and we average 18-20mph, and our rides are usually 25-35 miles long.
This is my first year competing, and the tri's I've competed in have been short (less than 15 miles). I have focused on increasing my speed for that short duration, preferably on the courses since they're close to me. I have my last one in a week and a half, and the first time I prerode the course last week, I wasn't going all out as I was trying to get a feel for it first - I averaged 19mph. I'll try to get up to 20+ in the next couple days so I know I'll be fast on race day (the bike leg is my strength and I suck at swimming so I need to do well here!!).
I'm also trying cross racing for the first time this season, and like another poster, training will be more intense for a shorter duration since races are typically no longer than an hour, and only 30-45 mins for me as a beginner. I'll also focus on technique and bike handling skills.
If you want to be faster in general, intervals work well for that, hill repeats, and riding with people faster than you. It's just a matter of "why" you want to be faster and go from there.