Boy am I slow...

[ace]

Yup, it'll give you really strong legs! I honestly didn't expect the road bike to make THAT much of a difference, but I am shocked. These are the differences I've noticed:

1) my "I'm not thinking about riding and not putting in any effort" speed has increased by about 3-4 mph

2) I can actually ride 19 mph on a flat road and not feel like it's all that hard (though I don't know how long I could keep it up. On my hybrid I never got past 16 mph).

3) Getting up hills is, dare I say it, almost easy. On my hybrid, it was always a major struggle.

4) The bike actually feels like it's riding itself, it's the strangest thing. My pt, who's a cycling coach, said that means it really fits me (and it should, it's a custom frame).

Transitioning from the hybrid to the road bike has completely changed my outlook on riding. I keep getting the urge to go out and ride hills!

-Amy

[Jolt]

Well, I just went out to the shed and put some more air in my tires. They were at about 30 psi (max. recommended pressure for these tires is 80). I got them up to about 50-55 and they don't have the "give" now--I was afraid that if I put in much more air one might blow! I don't weigh much (105 lbs), so I probably don't need to be near the max pressure anyway. We'll see how much different it feels the next time I ride it--maybe the tire pressure really WAS the problem!

[mimitabby]

okay Jolt, NOW try that hill

[indysteel]

Jolt, you might ask your LBS how low you can go with those tires. Fifty psi still sounds underinflated to me if the max is 80. You won't blow them if you inflate them higher than 50 psi; I promise. While I agree that you don't need to inflate a tire to max pressure, especially if you're light, I'm afraid that you still might be at risk for a pinch flat. And whatever you do, always inflate your tires before every ride. You'd be surprised how much air they lose just by sitting there.

As for speed, since it sounds like you're beginner, all you really need to concentrate on right now is riding more. Don't worry that much about how fast you're going. Greater speed will come naturally as you get in better shape, learn to choose the best gear for the conditions, and increase your cadence (rotations of the pedal per minute) up. Have fun with it.

[rij73]

Jolt, what kind of bike do you have specifically? I'm learning that hybrid is a really general term. Some would call my bike a hybrid, but I call it a flat-bar road bike. It is a road-bike frame and components with a mountain bike handlebar. Even with that, I know that I am just naturally going to go slower than if I were riding my husband's carbon road bike.

[Jolt]

Jolt, what kind of bike do you have specifically? I'm learning that hybrid is a really general term. Some would call my bike a hybrid, but I call it a flat-bar road bike. It is a road-bike frame and components with a mountain bike handlebar. Even with that, I know that I am just naturally going to go slower than if I were riding my husband's carbon road bike.

Well, this is definitely not a flat-bar road bike! This model (Giant Nutra WSD, from probably the mid '90s) goes by mountain bike sizing and has a mountain-bike component group (Shimano Altus, 21-speed) but has 700c wheels. It has a cromoly frame and isn't all that light, probably 30 or 35 pounds. The riding position is quite upright, which is good for riding in traffic but does make headwinds a real bugger! Hope this info helps.

[missymaya]

The type of bike and tire pressure do affect speed, but don't let the techy part of riding get in the way of riding. I went riding with a fast group on Saturday and there was a guy on a mountain bike with huge nubby tires, sitting upright and was still haulin' tail at 24mph while I was riding my road bike with tiny tires in the drops trying to keep up!!! It takes time to build speed and strength and if your riding a heavier bike with fatter tires, whether they're underinflated or not, you're building more strength than you know. If you hopped on a road bike with smaller tires and a more light weight frame, I'm sure you would go faster.
Don't be discouraged, just keep riding and in time, you'll be faster.

[suzieqtwa]

I am sooooooooo slow. I get passed by everyone. The only people I can pass are the runners. On a 40 mile ride my average is about 13.3. I can get up in the 20s on flats ,but my average is always 13 something no matter how hard I try. I just smile when I get passed. I keep my tires up to 115-120. I know with my weight I should probably drop the pressure ,but I like the bumps. My tires call for 120 max.

[northstar]

I wasn't going to put a computer on my road bike for this reason! I didn't want to feel bad if I wasn't as fast as I thought I should be! I did get a computer, but I don't look at my average speed at all while I ride. I found myself doing so the first few times, and then I wound up pushing myself harder than I wanted to, just to bring up my average. I didn't like it. So now, I just leave it set to show the clock and my current speed, I ride the speed I think I should ride when I think I should ride it, and check the rest of the info post-ride. I just want to enjoy.

[F8th637]

I had the computer sitting around in the box for a few months before I finally put it on this week. Today was my first ride with it. Mine doesn't have an average speed but when I type my time and distance in BikeJournal.com I can get a good sense of what it was. But I do like knowing now about how fast I'm going on flats, etc. Now when I see group rides that post the average speed I know how fast that is. I get passed all the time and I'm on a hybrid or fitness/city bike. I'm just starting out so I figure I have to work my way up. In the meantime I'll guess work my legs out extra on the tougher bike. I was 16-17 mph on flats but definitely slower on the hills. According to BikeJournal.com I averaged a little under 12 mph but I don't know if that includes my stopping time. I do know though that I am faster than I was when I first started.

[DarcyInOregon]

For what it's worth, I don't agree with the rock-hard tires thing=faster speed.
Yes, seriously underinflated tires are not good. But there is a happy medium.
Super inflated tires will have less contact with the road and will bounce more on the upper surface of uneven pavement irregularities. The millions of tiny vertical bounces will add up to wasted forward motion. Medium inflated tires will make better road contact and thus transit forward motion energy better.
My tires say maximum inflation recommended is 105 lb/sq.inch....that's "maximum". I keep them at 95 on the rear wheel and 85 on the front. That is nowhere NEAR low enough to get a pinch flat, mind you. With these pressures, I have stable steering and a smooth quick ride, and I'm not bouncing off every pebble like a kangaroo or feeling every nasty bump right on my "keester".

Lisa, I keep my tires inflated to 130; the maximum is 145. I don't bounce on anything except large bumps; my daily rides are smooth and fun. I don't have road shock. My cruising speed is between 16 and 19 and I can increase my speed if I desire. I prefer more air pressure because it gives me a better ride. If I kept my tire pressure as low as 95 I would be slooooooooooooow.

Darcy

[DarcyInOregon]

I am sooooooooo slow. I get passed by everyone. The only people I can pass are the runners. On a 40 mile ride my average is about 13.3. I can get up in the 20s on flats ,but my average is always 13 something no matter how hard I try. I just smile when I get passed. I keep my tires up to 115-120. I know with my weight I should probably drop the pressure ,but I like the bumps. My tires call for 120 max.

Suzie, the owner of the LBS told me yesterday that the average speed is typically 3-4 mph less than the normal cruising speed on a ride. He said to be able to factor out the slow downs for stops, other slow downs and the hills in order to determine the average cruising speed on a longer ride, take the computer's average speed and add 3-4. That would give you 16-17, which sound about right.

For example, when we did the metric together a few weeks ago, we pedaled most of the miles at between 15 and 19 into the constant wind, yet ended up at 13. If we add 3-4 to that 13, it gives us 16-17, right in the range we were pedaling for most of the ride.

Darcy

[missymaya]

Remember about the thing with averaging is, is that it is much harder to increase the average speed of a ride than to decrease. If you slow down at all during a ride (whether it be hills, coming to a stop, wind, etc), the average speed will be affected easily. For example, I rode a 5 mile loop in a neighborhood with 5 stop signs. Even though, in between the stop signs I was riding at 25mph (most of the ride does not have stops), at the end of the ride, completing 20 miles, my average was 19.5. I have to factor the stop signs and how slowly I approached them, which due to the all vehicular traffic, the stops were slow. It also was very windy and rainy, always fun. Hopefully this might also explain the "slow" average, which by the way, 16-17mph average is pretty darn quick.

[Thorn]

But.....does it matter if we're slow? Do you enjoy riding? Do you feel like you're flying even if it is only downhill? If so, isn't that enough?

In my younger days, I was much faster. I did triathlons and my bike times were almost always in the top ten women (...now my swimming...ok, never last out of the water, but pretty darn close :-).

I started riding again a couple of years back. Age and years of inactivity and now I'm slow and I don't care. Sure, I'm faster today than when I started up 3 years ago. Sure, the road bike is faster than the hybrid, but most days, we average only 13 mph.

I look at it this way....if there weren't slow people like me, the fast people wouldn't be able to feel so fast!

Some day I'm going to find a jersey for my hypothetical "racing" team, Equipo Tortuga and wear it proudly whilst being passed by the hares.

[missymaya]

There's nothing wrong with going "slow". And slow is a frame of mind anyway. What may be fast to me, may be slow to someone else and vice versa. Again, what it comes down to is, whether or not your having fun and enjoying it.