how slow am I?

[Bad JuJu]

Depends on what you're going for. Are you planning to race at some point and want to get faster for that? Or would you just like to go faster so you can get to a particular destination faster? If not, who cares what your speed is if you're getting the fitness benefits you want and enjoying your rides?

My speed is slower than yours, though it's improving without my even trying, just because I'm riding more and improving my pedal stroke and aerobic capacity. I wouldn't mind being a little faster, but it's not really my goal. My goals are fitness and joy--if I'm not having a good time on the bike, something's wrong, regardless of speed. What I do measure are time, distance, and heart rate--those seem to be good indicators of fitness for me. But your goals might be different from mine.

Having said all that, 13.5 mph, esp. with the headwinds you mentioned, sounds pretty respectable to me.

[betagirl]

What the others said. I live in the Chicago area, so I understand the winds. Don't you love how they just shift on you? I've done rides in Iowa and Wisconsin, and by far the hardest part of riding in the open is the wind. That will certainly slow anyone down.

My average speed is faster than yours, but so what? I train to be fast, so I ride with clubs that hammer and sprint. I guess I just like to go fast. I'm not a racer, but I am competitive. On a flat ride, like my commute to school, I average about 20mph. On a hilly route, I average 15 if I'm lucky. If there's a good headwind, I drop to about 17-18mph on a flat route. On club rides we cruise at 22mph with sprints to 30mph. When I ride with my friend who's just getting into cycling, I go 11mph to stay with him. So I guess it all depends on what I'm doing. I think what's most important is that you're having fun. One thing I've noticed since going slower is I take time to see what's around me.

My $.02.

[Lise]

I live, pretty much, where beta lives (I'm riding out to your neck of the woods today, beta, for the OP parade and bbq at my sisters!).

I am not, however, as fast as beta, since she trains more than I do! On my "old" bike (Marin Larkspur hybrid), fast was 18-19 mph. On my Bianchi Veloche, my top speed so far is 25 mph. Briefly. On the flats with no significant wind and no stop signs, I hang out around 20 mph. Into the wind, I'm lucky if I can maintain 12-13 mph. I can't fathom (yet) seeing "30" on my spedometer! The wind on the prairie...argh! If someone can post an explanation of how the wind can feel like it's blowing from every direction at once, I would appreciate it!

Speed is nice, I love speed. The light, fast bike really helps. People getting off the bike path for me really helps. The freaking wind just stopping really helps. Training my body helps. As others have said, unless you're racing, do you need to be at a certain speed? You sound like you ride long and hard and well to me!

[betagirl]

Hey Lise, humid enough for ya? Jeebus!!! It dropped to 88% now at least. It was 94% yesterday. I commuted into work at NMH, then met up with my friend to go to half shell (mmmm crab legs). Riding home was like riding through windy soup. I was so uncomfortable.

[Nanci]

You guys are WUSSES with only 94% humidity!!

My average speed is 14.5 or 15 on long rides. On Saturday's ride, it was 13. That means, under perfect conditions, I'm riding 18-20, but if I hit a hill, then that drops to 4-6 if it's a bad hill, and 13ish if the wind is bad. So no, I don't 13.5 is slow. That's about the average speed of the slowest rider in my group I like to ride with, which means that's the group's average speed.

On a long tour/ride- it's hard to raise your average speed (but also hard to make it worse!!).

Aerobars will increase your speed acouple mph or more, effortlessly.

Nanci

[KnottedYet]

Just checked my computer, and my average for my round-trip commute yesterday was 10.9 mph. I can get up to 29 mph going down one of the hills that goes for 3 or 4 blocks before a stop sign, and drop to about 5 mph going up the same hill.

On the flat bike path with few pedestrians/kids/dogs/riders I can get a faster average.

Really, 13.5 mph sounds pretty good to me.

[betagirl]

You guys are WUSSES with only 94% humidity!!

Hey it's not my fault you decided to live in a swamp.

You think we're bad, one of my teammates for RAGBRAI was in Iowa with a few others of us a couple weekends ago. The humidity was maybe 70% or so. He was like my god it's so humid! Then again he's from colorado.

[Lise]

Hey Lise, humid enough for ya? Jeebus!!! It dropped to 88% now at least. It was 94% yesterday. I commuted into work at NMH, then met up with my friend to go to half shell (mmmm crab legs). Riding home was like riding through windy soup. I was so uncomfortable.

I know, I was sitting here at the computer at 7:10 AM, with sweat running down my back. Sitting here! What's that about? I'm grateful today's not a "run" day on my training schedule.

For some reason, I was fine riding yesterday evening. I went out at 6 PM, came back, oh, 8-ish, I guess. Rode 20 miles along the lakefront, stopping to stretch twice. I will say that it was cooler by the lake, felt like 8-10 degrees cooler. 5 blocks west of the lake, the heat hit me.

An now...to hit the hot pavement and go 9 miles farther west of the lake! Have a great day, everybody!

[Brina]

I know, I was sitting here at the computer at 7:10 AM, with sweat running down my back. Sitting here! What's that about? I'm grateful today's not a "run" day on my training schedule.

It was a run day on my schedule. And a long run - well, long for me, my weekly 5 mile. I ran it about 6 minutes slower than usual. I couldn't stop dripping the whole run. yyyeecccchhhhh.

[jeannierides]

My speed is slower than yours, though it's improving without my even trying, just because I'm riding more and improving my pedal stroke and aerobic capacity. I wouldn't mind being a little faster, but it's not really my goal. My goals are fitness and joy--if I'm not having a good time on the bike, something's wrong, regardless of speed.
Having said all that, 13.5 mph, esp. with the headwinds you mentioned, sounds pretty respectable to me.

I totally agree! I have only just increased my speed to 14.3, having been at 13.1 for the longest time (it seemed)! Our rides are usually on rolling hills (and some of them I am just barely able to keep the wheels turning) and sometimes very flat areas with lots of wind! Just work at riding with a steady cadence, and ride as often as you can and you will improve whether it's a goal or not!
My SO and I do century rides, and the main reason I wanted to increase my speed is so that we wouldn't be riding into the night - long after all the others had finished!
And if I'm not having fun, I'm not gonna be riding!