speed

[vilelamb]

Hey there,

I've posted before about racing for the first time on my college team. Well, I've been doing a lot of stuff in the gym, just training. I haven't had a whole lot of time on my bike (only time I have is at night) so I've been using the stationary bikes at the gym. My average speed is consistently 21.6mph when I'm spinning for at least a half hour. I'm not sure if that's a good speed or not? Any advice/comments?

Thanks!

[jbhowat]

Hey there,

I've posted before about racing for the first time on my college team. Well, I've been doing a lot of stuff in the gym, just training. I haven't had a whole lot of time on my bike (only time I have is at night) so I've been using the stationary bikes at the gym. My average speed is consistently 21.6mph when I'm spinning for at least a half hour. I'm not sure if that's a good speed or not? Any advice/comments?

Thanks!

Stationary bikes aren't really a good indicator of speed at all. Example - doing a 30min "TT" last year on one of them I managed something like 45.x mph. They are going to vary based on which machine you are using and probably what kind of "program" its set on.

Its not going to be bad for your fitness, but more than likely (based on the fact that every indoor bike / trainer that I've ever been on gives a higher readout than the real thing) you aren't going to be doing 21.6mph average for the same amount of time on a real bike - at least not with the same effort.. although your machines could be totally different - I just doubt its very accurate.
:o

[vilelamb]

Stationary bikes aren't really a good indicator of speed at all. Example - doing a 30min "TT" last year on one of them I managed something like 45.x mph. They are going to vary based on which machine you are using and probably what kind of "program" its set on.

Its not going to be bad for your fitness, but more than likely (based on the fact that every indoor bike / trainer that I've ever been on gives a higher readout than the real thing) you aren't going to be doing 21.6mph average for the same amount of time on a real bike - at least not with the same effort.. although your machines could be totally different - I just doubt its very accurate.
:o

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It feels too easy. I usually have it set on the "cardio" setting, whatever that means.

[DannoXYZ]

Go out and ride a 10-mile out-and-back TT course and see what your time is. Find a course that you can do regularly each month to gauge your progress. Note the weather conditions and find a time of the day that has minimal wind. Although going out and back on the same road will cancel out most of the wind effects.