Road Cycling - Average Speed Improvement?

Question: how to improve one's average speed???
background:
got back to road cycling in december after several years break.
as the weather got better, I've been out more. searched out different rides (new area) though I've got one I like to do more often as a regular 'trainer' 22-25 miles depending on my exact route (other rides so far up to 45mi.). I usually ride solo and I typically average low to mid 18mphs (bit slower in excessive wind/weather/yaddaddayaddadda). trying to get in at least 100 miles a week though I just got over an illness that kept me off the bike for a week and a half (totally brutal!).

so here's the quizzical part; so for my first ride back out, I decided the 'usual' easy 22 miler...and I averaged 19mph. it was a great ride, but I've been sick, I thought I'd be way slower. I've been on the plateau of the mid 18's trying to break that for a few months now. so what gives? the weather was similar to the other rides so it wasn't like I had no wind or a tailwind both ways. anyone have a hypothosis? and how does one control the ascent of the average speed? (if this should be a fluke). I'd like to get faster.
so I'm all ears to any stories or tips about your average speed.
thanks in advance for your wisdom :D

I can give you my two cents on what probably happened to you. Its a common occurrance in my other sport, running. Runner x trains hard for several months, doesn't _seem_ to be making progress. Keeps training and training and training... and then boom, something happens. Sickness, injury, bereavement, whatever, that keeps him off the road for usually around a week and at most two. When Runner x comes back, he is suddenly... gasp,,, faster!

I am not really sure why this happens, but it seems to happen a lot. It probably has a lot to do with your body being just teetering on the edge of improvenment, and all it needed was to get some rest and clear out the systems a bit, which it doesn't really get with daily pounding/spinning. In my opinion, it is not a good idea to take this as a cue to train less hard or less in general, but rather to train for periods and then take a few rest weeks, and see where you are. Simulate what made it happen for you (several months hard training and 1.5 weeks off), and don't try to make hypothesies like "if i just train with less intensity I will not ever get that tired and need a break".

Theres my two cents.

Lets make it 4 cents. Your body doesn't get stronger from training, it actually gets slightly weaker as it becomes more and more stressed and in a state of dis-repair. This is where periodization in your training comes into play. For example, train for 3 weeks, take the fourth on easy. On the 5th week you will be at your peak for that period. Then start another period and on the 5th week you will hit your peak and be EVEN STRONGER. Your body makes the repairs during the recovery week and overcompensates which...makes you stronger so you can better deal with the stress. To further improve on this, specific training such as intervals allows for the recovery time to be less and the body's over compensation to be greater.

Plus this summer when all this crazy wind has died down you will go faster ;)

excellent feedback, thanks
it makes sense that the body needs to recover so rest would help that regeneration.
I was surprised since I'd been ill enough I thought my body would have been pretty preoccupied dealing with that...but then the body is a marvel.
no, I won't lay off the harder training just thinking that rest will make me faster :).

so should I expect that my average will go back down as I start stressing out my body with the return of the regular workload?
I'm going to go read up more on the periodization.
thanks mucho for the tips.

I had the same thing happen last week but didn,t have time off, I had been pushing pretty hard (for me anyway) for the previous 6~7 rides so thought I would take it easy just do my nightly 25 k a bit more laid back. Took 2 minutes of my best time had me scatching my head to only thing I could think of was because I started out a touch easier I had more for the return?

To improve your average speed minimize to time you are riding slowly. To do this you need to be able to give a blast of energy going up hills, and when you do have to slow for any reason you make another high power blast to get back up to your cruising speed ASAP. Increasing your max speed wont have as much effect on your average speed, as increasing your minimum speed.

I had the same thing happen last week but didn,t have time off, I had been pushing pretty hard (for me anyway) for the previous 6~7 rides so thought I would take it easy just do my nightly 25 k a bit more laid back. Took 2 minutes of my best time had me scatching my head to only thing I could think of was because I started out a touch easier I had more for the return?

sounds like you gave yourself ample warm up. I'm betting a lot of us come out of the gate a bit too eager, I know I do. that's something I need to work on.
that's great that you shaved the time off and isn't it fantastic when it feels easy and fast?

To improve your average speed minimize to time you are riding slowly. To do this you need to be able to give a blast of energy going up hills, and when you do have to slow for any reason you make another high power blast to get back up to your cruising speed ASAP. Increasing your max speed wont have as much effect on your average speed, as increasing your minimum speed.

well doesn't that make a ton of sense.
I tried that today. although I believe that definitely engages more of the anaerobic lactic activity in the muscles. I did heighten my minimum speed but the average was back down to 18.5. there was a bit more wind today and I could feel yesterday's ride being as that it was the first in the week and a half (sore, pathetic) so I think that was dragging me down. I'll keep an eye on the minimums and work on that, thanks for the advice.

As stupid as it sounds getting the minimums up is the key. Why it lacks in the common sense department is we forget about the time we spend at these speeds, which is a key factor in average. If you are ascending a steep hill at 6mph and it takes five minutes to climb it and you descend at 30mph, it will only take you 1 minute to descend. Your average speed for this little piece would be 10mph. If you increase the top speed to 35 and the ascent stays at 6mph, your average speed increases to 10.24mph. If you increase the ascent speed by the same 5mph from 6 to 11mph and leave the descent speed at 30 your average shoots up to 16.13mph !!! The time spent at minimums is usually far greater than when your cruising and has a dramatic effect on your average.

In my opinion, it is not a good idea to take this as a cue to train less hard or less in general, but rather to train for periods and then take a few rest weeks, and see where you are. Simulate what made it happen for you (several months hard training and 1.5 weeks off), and don't try to make hypothesies like "if i just train with less intensity I will not ever get that tired and need a break".

Theres my two cents.[/QUOTE]

In my opinion, it is not a good idea to take this as a cue to train less hard or less in general, but rather to train for periods and then take a few rest weeks, and see where you are. Simulate what made it happen for you (several months hard training and 1.5 weeks off), and don't try to make hypothesies like "if i just train with less intensity I will not ever get that tired and need a break".

Theres my two cents.[/QUOTE]

Sorry pressed submit before I said anything.

I would be slightly wary of giving yourself more than ten days rest if you are aiming to achieve a gradual improvment in your fitness and therefore your average speed. Its after ten days of inactivity that your body starts to regress back to the state it was in before you started exercising. I am not saying that you lose everything but fitness does start to decline. Having said this though you should give yourself a couple of days aweek recovery for your body to react to the changes caused by exercise. You should see improvments fairly quickly as long as you give your body a chance to adapt