how slow am I?

[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.

[Kano]

Desert climate here, but I grew up in the midwest, and was totally blown away one day when someone suggested 25% was awfully muggy!

Eclectic -- I know exactly how you felt when you read the "slow ride" post! My average speed is around 11.5. Crawling up hills at around 4-5 messes with my speeds horribly! (I get really excited if I can stay above 6 on a hill!)

Karen in Boise

[Eden]

You all may be comparing apples to oranges too. Fess up - some people when they talk about their "average speed" may not be talking about what shows up on the cycle computer, but what they see the most when they look down on the flats.

If you are going purely by what the computer shows, where you ride will make a big difference in what your average speed is. How many times you have to stop for lights and stop signs or slow for traffic, how hilly, flat, windy, whether you ride solo or in a group will all make a difference in your average speed, but not really compare how strong you are to another person unless they have done the identical ride.

[Brandy]

I'm a total newbie and I think I average under 13 mph most of the time. I'll have a better idea after I do a 50 mile ride with some climbing on Thursday. Sometimes I feel like I'm really slow, particularly when I look over on PCH and see the groups of club riders blow past me like I'm standing still, but eh...I've only been riding for two months and I'm sure that I'll keep improving

[bouncybouncy]

what eden said...

different rides are going to give you different results. when i started i was slow in comparison to the local riders...20 mph. now to those girls in the mtns i was fast...i now live in the mtns and have been working on my speed but not by looking at average speed unless it is the same route i am comparing...some routes i average 13-14 some i average as high as 18...the hills are to blame! you have wind...each day is different there so it may be harder to judge.

average speed is better taken seriously in a controlled environment.

pedal on and enjoy!!!

[Tuckervill]

If you are going purely by what the computer shows, where you ride will make a big difference in what your average speed is. How many times you have to stop for lights and stop signs or slow for traffic, how hilly, flat, windy, whether you ride solo or in a group will all make a difference in your average speed, but not really compare how strong you are to another person unless they have done the identical ride.

Right...this morning I decided to just go by time instead of miles. My computer doesn't calculate average speed, just top speed, miles, time. So this morning I rode for 1:32, on a hilly route. Sometimes I was going under 4 mph uphill. On one hill, I was going side to side, because it was so steep and I didn't want to push.

At the end of the ride, I'd gone 15.2 miles. That's an average speed of just 6mph. I'm happy with my ride, though, because it met my goals.

*Oh, I meant to day that a week or so ago I did a ride on the town trail in which I had a 16 mph average. It wasn't the distance I did today, though.

Karen

[maillotpois]

There's always going to be someone who's faster than you.

There's always going to be someone who's slower than you.

[Flatlander]

You all may be comparing apples to oranges too. Fess up - some people when they talk about their "average speed" may not be talking about what shows up on the cycle computer, but what they see the most when they look down on the flats.

If you are going purely by what the computer shows, where you ride will make a big difference in what your average speed is. How many times you have to stop for lights and stop signs or slow for traffic, how hilly, flat, windy, whether you ride solo or in a group will all make a difference in your average speed, but not really compare how strong you are to another person unless they have done the identical ride.

This is useful information. My computer reads 12 mph for my average, but that'swith hills, wind, stop signs, etc. WHen I look down on the flats, going steady at a comfortable pace, I think I'm averaging more like 14-16 or so...

I keep reading the posts about average speed and they make me feel really slow..

[ladyjai]

like eden said, I see 2 types of average speeds mentioned here. I suspect our gal Eclectic is talking about the average for the entire ride duration. that counts hill climbing, and slowing for lights/stopsigns, crazy drivers etc. That also means on flats, she's probably pedaling at 16-20mph. that's mighty fine to me!

I admit, I use average as compared to myself to see how I'm doing. but that said....

last fall I lived on the east side of work. I had a downhill commute to work that was very straight, and if I had a nice fast speed, I could miss the majority of lights, allowing me to have some phenomenal averages. also, I've discovered that when there's winds, they come from the east in the mornings and from the west in the evenings. a benefit if you live on the east side.

Now, I've moved, my route is different, and when I'm going south, it's downhill(slightly) and when I'm going west in the am, it's headwind (not now, the high summer killed the winds). my speeds dropped - or did they? more lights which I have to stop for make for an average killer. on your routes, do you have hills? yup, they kill total averages.

so, you can be a good rider, able to sprint up above 22 on flats and have an average of 14-15. It depends on alot of elements. it's hard what folks say about averages. I know when i talk about them, i refer to the entire ride, not the speed i can ride at on flats without headwinds

And it doesn't really matter if i think pedaling at 10 is slow. it doesn't matter if i pedal at 16, 18, 20 or even 25! nor if V does, or any other gal here. it really comes back to you the rider.

When you ride, do you enjoy yourself? Do you feel like you are exerting enough energy to satisfy the endorphin addiction? Are you enjoying the scenery as much (or not as much) as you would desire to? are you keeping up with the people you'd really rather keep up with? Hammer heads are notorious for being, well, hammerheads. there's not a ton of chatter. and many of the recreational speeds lead to the best conversations. but then, maybe you're a racer at heart, and that ammonia burning smell in your nose just sends you into cyclist heaven. or maybe going slow enough to notice that absolutely phenomenal sunset. I don't know. the truth is, cycling needs to be about you and what you want. As soon as you make it about being as good as, or better than or whatever, you'll lose the joy you get from it.

(please note, this is different from having "rabbits" to inspire you to push a little more to get better, or as inspiration to tackle things you never thought you could do before. )

[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.