how slow am I?

[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. )