how slow am I?

[caligurl]

I am not putting anybody down by sharing that I tend to ride a bit faster and that there are other riders who ride way faster than I do.

no.... true... when you ONLY say how fast you are... you aren't putting anyone down... it's when you make the comments:

Sorry girls, but 13-15 mph sounds really slow to me. I was riding faster on the first days of my ride.

or when you say the top 25 on a list of over 150 people is some sort of average? (the MAJORITY of people on that list didn't ride the speeds of the top 25... and MORE rode more like 8 to 10 mph! the TOP of ANY list is NOT the AVERAGE!

Please check the average speed of the first 24 riders. This is a pretty standandard goal that an average rider may want to consider.

All I give is averages for anyone in any situation.

That's what I was talking about - the average ANYWHERE for an average cyclist is 18-20 mph.

[caligurl]

Remember, the time you spent here on this thread could be used outside doing riding!

lol... actually... no... not in my case... i'm stuck at work... what better way to spend time than on cycling (or fitness) forums!!!!!

i NEVER give up my ride time for forum time!

[caligurl]

Lenusik - you are insulting many of us by telling us we are slow. Don't you get that? Or don't you care???

that bears repeating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ATTITUDE

[caligurl]

yeah, what she said...

t~

I'll be on my way now to riding an apparently very slow metric tomorrow... but having a great time none the less.

OH OH OH! and i'll be riding a very slow century! i'll be sure to take lots of pics along the way to share with anyone who cares to open the thread and see them once i post them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if i'm lucky... hubby will slug along with me! i love when he rides slow with me!

[FreshNewbie]

Caligurl, I meant that particular thread, unfortunatelly i am also stuck at work, but i am going to a real fun party tonight, lot's of martinis and god knows what else. So, i am all excited sitting at work and counting hours till i get home and start staring at my outfits for about an hour trying to choose what to wear

[caligurl]

I hope that Tour de France cyclist do not put anybody down by having an average speed of 35 mph after a 100 mile ride.

wow... you REALLY don't GET it.... NO ONE said that by stating YOUR average speed.. that you are putting anyone down... it's all the OTHER comments where you OUTRIGHT SAY that other speeds are slow... and all the other quotes...

*shakes head*

[caligurl]

Caligurl, I meant that particular thread, unfortunatelly i am also stuck at work, but i am going to a real fun party tonight, lot's of martinis and god knows what else. So, i am all excited sitting at work and counting hours till i get home and start staring at my outfits for about an hour trying to choose what to wear

oh.... isn't that the WORST! picking out clothes for any event? (party.... work... ride... shopping!) i STILL don't know what i'm wearing for 3 harbors tomorrow! UGH! (although i'm leaning toward pink! lol!)

[caligurl]

good gawd... the tour reference just reminded me about the post i made a while back... about attempting to ride with eric saunders... a professional racer.. maybe some of you remember it.... i tried SO HARD to keep up with him and hubby going up the hill that i made myself light headed and had to stop... something i've never had to do before!!!!! he didn't put me down for that.... he didn't put me down for being a slower rider....... HE WAS CONCERNED THAT I WAS OK! it's all in the attitude......

[carback]

Lenusik,
Perhaps you're actually caculating your average speed in km/h as opposed to mph.

(tongue firmly inserted into cheek)

[FreshNewbie]

Yes it is the worst considering that I don't have that much party clothes or cycling clothes for that matter. I only have one short sleeve cycling jersey that I keep washing after every ride :-). Well I am getting this http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=19046 after my first century in august. Pink sounds good to me, although lately I love electric blue

[Trek420]

OMG, where have i been?

Lenusik writes "I must admit, I am not as consistant (sic) as it sounds."

well yes, you seem consistent enough in ways.

"If I don't get enough sleep or the food was not right the day before"

food was not right? When is food not right?

"or I have head wind"

I hate it when I have wind in my head

"If you have some sort of disbelieve"

Well, I do have "some sort of disbelieve".

I can't believe I'm responding to this when I could have head wind.

"please, you are more than welcome to come and ride with me and my friends. We will host you, provide you good food, find a good bike for you"

Oh my, you saying I don't have a good bike? Darlin' you have no clue how good a bike I have do ya? Or anyone else heres bike? Keep your bike, dear, thanks very much, ya got nothin' on mine.

"and even take you on those hills which you think are "flat". Maybe you will find that riding with a good group is not all that bad and people are quite nice."

I've found a good group darlin'.

I'm a member of the best bike club IRL the velogirls

And the best dang club in cyberspace TE.

Come ride with us, if you're woman enough that is.

Whether I'm leading the fast group (rare) trying to hang with the fast group (pant pant), trying to even keep the fast group in sight hanging back (because darlin' the fun is in the back of the pack) or sweeping in the last riders...it's all good, it's all cycling.

[tprevost]

Okay, now I am REALLY in NEED of one of those smilies that are rolling around laughing!!!!

Trek420 you are the BEST!!! Of course, maybe not, since I think I just peed my pants!!!!

Thanks for that - I've not had that good of a belly laugh in a long time!!!

Tracy

[HipGnosis6]

I don't care who thinks my 11.5 MPH average is slow. I'm still happy with it (proud of it, even), because it's better than my average walking speed - 2.8 MPH!

I don't care when chicks like Lenusik blow by me - I'm glad to let 'em. I don't care when guys in team kits give me snotty looks on the bike trail - I smile at them anyways and sometimes feel a little sorry for them because I'm having a nice time and can smile and ride at the same time. I don't care if climbing that last little hump of hill is done on foot or on the sidewalk at 1 MPH - and if you have a problem with that, then it's your problem and not mine. I feel joy and pride in being out on my bike and refuse to let the opinions of others affect this.

I'd like to improve my average speed, sure - it means that I'm growing as a cyclist and getting fitter. But that only matters to ME in the long run; there's no sponsors, no bettors with money riding on my performance. I use my average only to mark my own progress and growth. I also use my distance and TITS for the same purpose - judging myself, and not others.

And, for the record, I prefer beer to liquor and wine. BeerFest this year was a scream - my friend and I got to taste a huge variety of brews. My dream vacation would be a cycling tour in Germany that would allow us to go to Oktoberfest!

[Nanci]

oh.... isn't that the WORST! picking out clothes for any event? (party.... work... ride... shopping!) i STILL don't know what i'm wearing for 3 harbors tomorrow! UGH! (although i'm leaning toward pink! lol!)

(Spoken by the woman with the world's largest selection of cycling clothes!!!)

[li10up]

Oh, sorry for using the word "average" refering to the riders of the Tour. They certainly produce that speed at a certain point of the stage. But you just prooved with your numbers that they ride faster than any one of us after several days of very long miles. So, does this put anybody down?
Sorry, I am done here. i was tryign to do this a little while ago. My apologies for disterbing peace.

Lenusik, I think you missed her point. The point being if the top cyclist in the world "only" go 40 kmp/25 mph while drafting off of one another on a flat stage in the TDF then it is reasonable to assume that the women here on TE are riding pretty doggon fast if their "average" speed is 15 mph - because they are factoring in traffic, hills, etc. - shoot, even less then 15 mph is pretty good for us recreational riders. If you can average 20+ mph (by definition avg. means factoring in the climbs too) then I would recommend you go pro...you're not far from being able to compete with the very best.

Even though this thread has ruffled some feathers I'm glad it was started. All new riders wonder how we are doing. It's only natural to question if your speed is considered "okay". I think we all know there are a lot of variables but I think most new folks probably search out about the same terrain...not too many hills! And I'm finding out that to go from 14.7 mph to 15 mph is hard!! So, I'm guessing that if you bear in mind that your ride isn't the same as my ride we can still use each other's averages to give us an idea of how we are doing. To me it obvious not to compare myself to someone who is riding 5,000 miles a year...they are obviously much fitter than I. So I try to "compare" myself to those who do about 1000 miles a year and have been riding for for only a year or two.

So here is my recommendation, let's see if we can post something that others can compare to:

Years riding: 2
Miles per Year: 700/1,000
Terrain: Rolling (options: flat, rolling, hilly, city)
Wind: Moderate (options: none, slight, moderate, windy)
Heat: Hot (options: cold, cool, warm, hot)
Avg Speed: 14.7 mph / 23.66 kph (this is what your computer says, or what your speed averaged over the entire ride, not just what you did on the flats sections)

Maybe this will help those of us interested in how we are doing to "compare" ourselves with people doing at least somewhat the same ride. I know there are more factors than the above, such as age, weight but I'm trying to keep it short.