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Old 02-20-05, 03:54 PM
  #6  
TheRCF
Da Big Kahuna
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Oahu, Hawaii
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Originally Posted by stapfam
Sorry its a long answer, but as you are fairly new to riding, Don't worry too much about time. 15mph is not a bad speed for a newbie, even if you are on a road bike(At least I presume you are). What I would do to improve is work up to a regular 25 miles and then find a metric century (65 miles) to do later in the year. That is where you will find out what sweat is.
Yeah, I use a road bike (a Felt F-35 now).

My rides at the very beginning were about 12 miles out, rest for an hour or so at the beach, ride back.

Not long after that, I went slightly further to bring the total distance to 26 miles (still resting in the middle). There were occasional long rides, eventually doing a couple centuries - but with lots of rests!

For several months I have been riding 25-40 before stopping to rest and then finishing up with another 14-20 going back home. Some rides are even further - I did three metric centuries in a week and 9 since early December.

I just want to do those things faster because I enjoy the ride more that way.

It sounds like, from replies so far, that I should be able to get that speed up. One change I think I'll make soon is to cut to 3 rides a week. I dropped to four when I started riding further and I found it much more comfortable to usually be "fresh". By dropping to 3, I can always have a rest day after every ride like I had when I started. If I can do 50 miles each normally, that would actually be better than this year.
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