So slow, so irritated

[Koronin]

skywalkerbeth, I agree that we're on the same page. At least we're trying to do something about it though.

[Espresso]

I'm in just the same spot. Always around 11-13 mph. I'm working on spinning, but yes, I get worn out faster at 90rpm than at 70ish. And yeah, my best friend zooms past me on his mountain bike any time he feels like it when we ride together.

I wouldn't care about speed, except at that 12 mph (and closer to 11 average after a few dozen miles), it takes an awfully long time to do a century, longer than many will allow.

So I don't really know what to do other than keep working on cadence (although it's hard to motivate myself to do that when I don't go any faster on my high cadence rides than the low ones). I can easily go 90 rpm and 15-16 "mph" on an exercise bike, so I wasn't expecting to have this problem once I bought a real bike. I'm riding four days a week, and I hit 70 miles on my ride this weekend, but I guess I might have to delay that century until next year, and hope I can build some speed doing intervals this winter (thanks for that suggestion ).

I do wonder how much hills play into it, but then women in much hillier areas seem to go faster too. That, and everybody passes me, riding in the same hilly areas. Women, guys on mountain bikes, everybody... It's pretty frustrating. Again, I probably wouldn't really care, except for those time limits at events.

I guess this doesn't really add anything to the discussion. Except my sympathy, I guess...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If i was averaging 12 mph, I'd feel like I was breaking the sound barrier.
It's all relative.

[Koronin]

Espresso, I'm on the NC coast, so not hills here. It's nice to know when you aren't alone though. It does help.

[meggers113]

[QUOTE=skywalkerbeth;595057@indy: I'm not sure. I don't get the sense it's a fast cadence - 90 sounds awfully quick. Cadence is one full go 'round, right? How do you know, other than counting? I have a garmin watch, not a bike computer. I'm not entirely convinced that a quicker tempo wouldn't tire me out more quickly. So far my stamina is good even if I'm not fast... What gear should I use? The lowest? I probably do use too hard of a gear during the flats... probably in the middle (and then really make it easy gear on the hills).[/QUOTE]

skywalkerbeth, if you already have a Garmin watch, you can buy a cadence sensor to work with it. I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 and I bought a cadence sensor for it on Amazon for about $40. I really like being able to see what my cadence is and shift to keep it in the zone that I want. You can even set your watch up to beep at your if you're pedaling too fast or too slow.