How am I supposed to go as fast as my friends?

[kajero]

I only ride this group of friends for things like the St Paul Classic or Minneapolis Tour of the Lakes, where speed isn't an issue.

I don't ride with them for any other events because I am too slow. But take a look at their physique compared to mine. I feel like a elementary school child out for a ride with her parents. I haven't found a way to ride with the grown ups yet.

[Crankin]

I don't know which person is you!
You can either find a new group to ride with, train to improve your speed, or they can enjoy a slower ride with you!

[north woods gal]

If you're ever over my way in NE Wisconsin, will be happy to ride with you. I love going at a pleasant pace and enjoying our wonderful forest and lake country. Flat areas alternate with lots of rolling hills, but no serious mountain climbing. Hundreds of miles of paved, low traffic roads, like this.

[kajero]

If you're ever over my way in NE Wisconsin, will be happy to ride with you. I love going at a pleasant pace and enjoying our wonderful forest and lake country. Flat areas alternate with lots of rolling hills, but no serious mountain climbing. Hundreds of miles of paved, low traffic roads, like this.

I would love to ride with you, albeit I am not sure if your definition of "pleasant" is the same as my average mph hour -- anywhere between 10-11. Although I don't go fast, I do love long rides! One of my favorite and beautiful rides is riding out to Fort Snelling to visit my Dad's grave and now my SO's as well, from my house. It is a round trip of around 54 miles and takes me all day to do it. Of course, I imagine it wouldn't take me so long if I didn't stop and visit with people at Free Wheel Bike shop located right on the Greenway Trail, at Minnehaha Falls when they have numerous activities, and at the Fort Snelling Visitor Center.

My SO passed away January 21 so I will have a lot of free time this summer. I know he would appreciate it if didn't ride alone, but not in a group. After the one bad accident, he always worried that he wouldn't be able to find me if something happened. I didn't have a smartphone either. I have a smartphone now. I inherited his.

So maybe I can wind my way up to NE Wisconsin! From there perhaps I could go to Montreal and visit my sister!

I haven't been able to figure out how to post a link to my rides on GarminConnect. When I do, I will surely post the link. I can only figure out how to post one ride.

It's beautiful here in Minnesota now. I have an awful cold and the cough medicine makes me dizzy so I don't know if I will ride though. March, with its blizzards, has yet to arrive.

Kathy

[Crankin]

Kajero, I am also short, and that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot get faster, if that's your goal. But, it sounds like you just want to find a compatable group to ride with. My club has rides at your speed, so others must, too. I'd advise looking at outdoor groups or meet ups, rather than a bike club. I am probably similar to AZ in speed, which means with typical bike groups, you are in the middle.
I hear frustration in your voice. Maybe you should focus on your skills, and that would improve your speed. If you are causing accidents, that's a skill issue. Perhaps not only bike skill lessons, but also core, balance, and strength training.

[emily_in_nc]

People of all shapes and sizes can get fast with proper training and consistency. A lot of the bike club folks ride all the time and work on speed with intervals and pacelines. Riding the same speed all the time doesn't tend to make one fast, but intervals help. I personally hate intervals, and as a result, I never get much faster, just a little over time, when I am doing a lot of riding.

Back when I was at my peak of riding and did many club rides (2003-2004, before I had a serious cycling accident in spring of '05), I gradually worked my way up to riding with some of the faster (B-paced) ricers -- but not the fastest club riders, which was fine with me. I was riding consistently and usually with people who were a bit faster than me, so just trying to keep up with them helped my speed over time, as did lots of training miles and quite a few hills where we lived.

Now, I only ride with DH or alone, and I am a lot slower than I was back in my peak, though I can still put in as many miles. But my typical average speed of 13-14 mph (sometimes a little slower or faster depending on which bike I am on, the terrain, number of stops, etc.) puts me in that "middle" area where the fast riders (like my DH) easily leave me eating their dust, but I am constantly passing people on cruiser bikes, mountain bikes (on pavement), families, etc. on my bike path rides -- the more casual, infrequent cyclist types or those riding very heavy non-road bikes, in other words.

I don't know why it is so hard to find people riding in the "middle" speeds, but it does seem to be.

[kajero]

The bike accidents were caused by me trying to catch up with riders that were too fast for me to ride with. I didn't pay attention to what I was doing when I sped up I no longer ride with that type of rider and have been accident free!

[kajero]

I am the one that the yellow arrow points to! I don't ride with groups anymore. When I have, it seems to have resulted in an accident because I am too incompetent to ride with them. That's why I only do the tours with them. There is always a potluck after and they don't care what time I get there. :-) Sometimes I leave an hour early so I can meet them for lunch. Still, I think it's kind of like my grandson. He can't keep up with me on my bicycle because he is too little!

[azfiddle]

That sounds very familiar (except for the accident part). I pretty much ride by myself these days because most groups are too fast and the ones that aren't are too slow. Or I ride with my husband or son, who will wait for me after they want to go fast for a while. It doesn't seem to matter what I try, even training with a coach didn't help. I have one friend who will ride my pace.

I have no advice or suggestions... but I do have lots of empathy for you

[Geonz]

This comes up all the time... yea, what they all said. Now, how big are your tires? I have a 7500FX but got skinnier tires and it makes a significant difference in speed... and it doesn't take a huge difference to make the difference between working hard sustainably and ... not able to keep up.

[kajero]

Never though of the tires. When I bought the bike I had them go up a couple sizes because I would be riding on crushed limestone periodically.