Average MPH

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My average speed is about 9 mph. That's right, 9 mph.

About 4 years ago when i was really cycling regularly for a couple of years, even in winter, and I rode the most ever- 2500 miles in one year, I got pretty strong that year. That year my average speed increased!....to 10 mph.

My fastest speed ever was 40.2 mph on a descent, but I frequently hit 30 or 35 mph downhill, and regularly hit 2.5 to 3 mph up the steeper hills. Very few flats around here.

I took off my bike computer last year.

[loopybunny]

Hi Ladies,
I'm trying to gage where I'm at in the grand scheme of things. I'm plus sized and on my hybrid (Trek Navigator) I average 12.5 mph. I got a new road bike (Trek 1.5) and am now averaging 12.1 mph : ( I break all the way down hills. There are several group rides in my area where you have to average at least 16 mph and I'm wondering what speed most people actually go. Commuters, century riders, triathletes, pleasure riders, on whatever bike, head wind, tail wind, plus size, regular size, whatever . . . I want to know what is going on with other people.

I'm also plus size and on my bike (same as yours!) I average 12.5-14.5 mph when you factor in stopping at lights and signs (or slowing down for signs). On the straights with no stops, I'll average 15-18 mph and about 20-25 when I decide to push myself. I ride almost exclusively flat terrain because it's what we have where I live. These numbers are based on my most recent rides. Usually I try to ride 20-30 miles, but I've actually only had 2 rides that distance since the end of February.

I had an accident at the beginning of March that took me off the bike for about 2 months (I did do one short ride on my mtb after 5 weeks, but I wasn't supposed to). I'm actually about 1 mph faster now because I dropped about 15 lbs while I was recovering. Apparently with a traumatic brain injury, your metabolism may speed up, and I was eating carefully in order to not put on weight so it was a sudden loss. Unfortunately, it doesn't remain high. Fortunately, I didn't get into the habit of chowing down on junk.

I almost exclusively ride solo for several reasons, mostly because I have only one local friend that rides and her bike was stolen. There is also a fear in me about riding with a group since my accident was caused by another cyclist that was careless at an event. (I was descending a hill at about 25-30 mph according to witnesses. Major crash.)

It sounds like you're probably about where the rest of us recreational cyclists are.

Happy riding!

[chosen1]

Intervals - speed intervals, hill intervals.

I do my speed intervals inside with my bike in a trainer and use Coach Troy. But you could adapt the same idea to an outside ride.

Find a place where you can ride uninterrupted and relatively flat terrain. After you warm up, ride at an uncomfortable but sustainable pace for 6 minutes. Then soft pedal for two minutes. Repeat this two more times. You should choose gearing that allows you to maintain your optimum cadence for the full six minutes.

Then repeat this process but now up the pace and ride for two minutes with a one minute soft pedal. Repeat this five more times.

Cool down.


Veronica

+1 for posting this. I had been wondering what "intervals" were and was about to start searching the forum to see if if they had previously been discussed. I'm going to do these this weekend and add em to my regular bike training. It's mainly flat here but I "think" I know where I can ride that will have a hill too.

[KnottedYet]

I took off my bike computer last year.

I took mine off all my bikes. Too distracting.

Ride lots.

[TxDoc]

I agree with Eden. Most larger clubs have several speed groups.
Just pick a slower ride for the first time, learn, observe, do your best to ride safely and try to hang on with the group. If you get dropped, keep going and go back the next time. Keep going back until you can easily hang on with the others and you are safe riding with the group. At that point try taking some pulls and doing your share of work in the paceline.
Go back, learn more, do more work, repeat.
If/when the group becomes too slow for you, find a faster group and repeat all of the above. Speed will come with time and training.

On a different topic - what makes you brake all the way downhill??? That is definitely not a safe thing to do... Maybe some bike handling skills would help, and they are way more important than speed. There are several coaches and organizations that teach bike handling skills - and you can practice on your own too. It's very important, especially if you plan to ride with a group.

Oh, and just in case y'all were wondering... I'm slow too except on TT day

[goldfinch]

I averaged 9.6 mph on my 20 miles ride today. That was good for me. I have only had one ride, 6 miles, where I averaged more than 10mph.

A few weeks ago my average was in the 8.5 range. So I might be pokey but I'm getting better.

[Orange utopia]

My average on my hybrid on my long ride last week was 12.2mph over 31 miles. On my road bike today I averaged 12.8 mph over 33 miles. Now today had way more hills so there really was some improvement by going with the lighter and faster bike but I'm still not breaking any records.

[KatzPajamas]

Today did 24miles with average speed of 14 and max of 18. Began riding in early May of this year. Speed is not so much my concern as distance. Once I hit 18miles, I am out of steam. Strange, my legs aren't tired, but but the engine is out of gas. On the days that I have done more than 18... I am out of commission for the rest of the day! I mean totally wiped out. All I can do the rest of the day is eat and nap. Extremely fatigued.What up with that?

[laura*]

Several years ago I averaged 8 MPH riding in the mountains hereabouts: I could ride a 32 mile loop in 4 hours, or extend it to a 40 mile loop in 5 hours.

More recently, the bike computer shows an 8.5MPH average when riding to and returning from a grocery store in the next mountain town over.

And some commute type riding in a flat urban area: I've covered just under 14 miles in an elapsed time of right on an hour. (Start the ride at 4:59PM, walk into a restaurant at 6:01PM.) I've ridden a different route, same endpoints, that's 16 miles but with some longer uninterrupted stretches also in the same hour. Note that this is urban riding complete with waiting at red lights. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out what my cruising speed must be to compensate for the lost time.

[Catrin]

Today did 24miles with average speed of 14 and max of 18. Began riding in early May of this year. Speed is not so much my concern as distance. Once I hit 18miles, I am out of steam. Strange, my legs aren't tired, but but the engine is out of gas. On the days that I have done more than 18... I am out of commission for the rest of the day! I mean totally wiped out. All I can do the rest of the day is eat and nap. Extremely fatigued.What up with that?

It takes time to build cardiovascular endurance, were you doing other activities prior to starting to ride? Look into your nutrition and hydration both on and off the bike and made certain you are taking rest days. I remember last year, which was my first season riding, it seemed to take forever to get past that 25 mile mark... There are a lot of good threads here on hydration and nutrition, I have to leave for work in a couple of minutes so I can't search for them but use the search function to find them.

[blue_angel]

Yesterday I made an mph breakthrough: 30 miles in 1:51, for an average pace of 16 mph over the whole ride! That's a full 9 minute improvement over my previous 30 mile benchmark. It sounds crazy, but I had changed my cleat position the day before, and I think that actually affected my pace! I like to spin between 95-105 rpm, so it makes sense that improved efficiency in that cadence would result in speed gains.

[Geonz]

I second what others have said about average speeds on group rides - it's probably in ideal conditions of flat road and no wind.

I would NIX that proclamation about the average. Around here, if they tell me they'll average 16, then I'd better be able to hold 18 for most of the ride. YMMV of course, but bike culture I've mixed with has a very, very strong tendency to "aw shucks, we don't go that fast" and then have that adrenaline/competition thing happen.

This happens a *little* bit less on our slower-paced rides, but every year we battle "mid season pace creep."

What's it mean? Don't be discouraged- keep riding.

I got a lot stronger with intervals, but I didn't have a recipe. I added 1 mph or 2 mph to my speed and tried to hold onto it until it was hard for a while (I'd try to do 100 x my waltz count that comes from doing bilateral breathing in swimming... somehow it's less boring if I have a rhythm with a dominant beat... ONE two three...) and then relax for ... 'til I almost got my breath back. We have roads on the grid, so I'd kinda keep an eye on how fast I went for each mile -- but I don't really compare one day or one mile to the next seriously. Just "go a little harder for a while... okay, for ten seconds longer than you want to, get to breathing hard!"

[suzbyrd]

I usually average around 17mph on hilly terrain. Went to the beach on vacation and averaged 18.5. It is so much easier to go fast when on flat ground. Rode 135 miles in 5 rides.

[amb]

I think riding with a group or in an organized ride makes you go faster. I just did the MS150 this past weekend. Prior to the ride, I usually averaged 14-14.5 mph on my training rides (~24-50 mile distance). On the Saturday leg of our ride, we averaged 16.5 mph - the fastest (and farthest) I have ever gone. I think all the excitement and adrenaline just kicked it into high gear. Our Sunday leg of the ride slowed down - 14.5 mph. Sunday started with hills from miles 8-16 or so and it got VERY hot - in the 90's. I think those factors along with the fact that we had just rode 75 miles the day before slowed us down. I still think 14.5 was pretty good all things considered.

All that said, I don't think it matters how fast you go. If you're on the bike - good for you! You're out there riding which is all that really matters. My co-workers like to ride at 18-22+ and I am totally ok bringing up the rear when I ride with them. My Dad rides at about 12.5 mph and sometimes I really enjoy a slower, less strenuous ride with him. Riding is riding and if you're having fun - more power to you!!

[ivorygorgon]

I am struggling with the whole speed issue. I have only been riding for about 1.5 years now. I would really like to do some club rides, but I am pretty intimidated. I agree with the poster who said something about "pace creep," ( I love that expression BTW). The posted speed of the rides, is not really the actual average speed of the rides.

The first time I tried to ride with a group I was dropped like a hot potato, in a 'no-one is left behind" ride! I was left behind. It was pretty demoralizing, and because the ride leader was condescending about it, I have had a hard time getting myself to go back.

Around here, there are not many places to go for a flat ride. Most of the rides DH and I do involve at least 4,000 feet or more of climbing, and we do anywhere from 40 - 70 mile rides. I am a pretty slow climber, so my average pace falls off pretty quickly once we hit the hills. With all of that said, my average pace for the the first 6 months of my riding history was 9.8 MPH. Over the last month I averaged 11.8. I know on the flats I can go quite a bit faster, but I can't hang on the hills.

I don't think I will ever be a speed demon, but I am definitely improving. Our club just started a new "moderately paced," Sunday ride that I want to try out, but I am pretty sure it won't end up really being moderately paced. But I am willing to try. It is fun to ride with other people, and really, when all is said and done, I just love to ride my bike. That is all it is really about.