Touring - What's your average speed, fully loaded?

I was looking at some pictures of touring set ups here and couldn't help but wonder what the average speed (in mph/kph) on any of those are.

I would have made this a poll, but I'm sure you pack lighter/heavier for different distances.

People, including me, will generally allow about 10 mph for planning purposes.

In Canada I get 15,7 km/h average. (It's a bit higher than normal, because of good roads [no gravel] and some long flat distances). Normal is 13-15 km/h.

In details you can see the statisics on my homepage: Click on "Reisen" - "Kanada" - "Statistiks"

Thomas

10-12mph, fully loaded that is, also dependant upon terrain and weather conditions.

11

Remember what one mans "average" is not another mans average.
In my experience people tend to have three ways of referring to average speed.

1. Average speed as. daily distance / time taken from start of ride to end of ride, (including all stops for food e.t.c)

2. Average speed as daily distance / riding time.

3. Average speed as their modal cruising speed, which of course will be alot higher.

I think most people on bike tour will use definition 1 as it's good for planning purposes and it dose not matter if you are flying along for 2hr but then take a 2hr lunch, it's all about the where you end up, how you manage it is up to you.

On road rides for training people will tend to use definition 2 which is a truer actual average speed and more useful if your just out training so stopping will be minimal. Although 1->2 in this case also.

Definition 3 tends to get used by people who have not properly worked out their average speed but look down frequently see they are doing 20 mph consistently when cruising and feeling good so take that to be the average, tell everyone they average 20 mph on a bike then can't understand why when they first do a century it does not take 5 hrs..

Remember what one mans "average" is not another mans average.
In my experience people tend to have three ways of referring to average speed.

1. Average speed as. daily distance / time taken from start of ride to end of ride, (including all stops for food e.t.c)

2. Average speed as daily distance / riding time.

3. Average speed as their modal cruising speed, which of course will be alot higher.

I think most people on bike tour will use definition 1 as it's good for planning purposes and it dose not matter if you are flying along for 2hr but then take a 2hr lunch, it's all about the where you end up, how you manage it is up to you.

On road rides for training people will tend to use definition 2 which is a truer actual average speed and more useful if your just out training so stopping will be minimal. Although 1->2 in this case also.

Definition 3 tends to get used by people who have not properly worked out their average speed but look down frequently see they are doing 20 mph consistently when cruising and feeling good so take that to be the average, tell everyone they average 20 mph on a bike then can't understand why when they first do a century it does not take 5 hrs..
This is right on the money. I addition there are wide variations due to the mood of the trip or day, whether riding alone or with someone (and who that someone is).

Definitions #1 and #2 are both useful and depending on what you are trying to quantify one or the other may be more applicable. One addresses the question "how fast do you ride?" and the other in more useful for planning how far you will go in a day or how many days a trip will take.

Both need to be taken into account if you are trying to determine how compatible you are for riding with someone else. For example two riders may each do 80 mile days, but one may spend 4 hours actually on the bike and another may spend more like 8 hours on the bike. Still they might both take 9 hours from start to finish. My point is that they aren't going to actually ride together very well without major accommodations even though they have the same number for definition #1.

For #1 on my recent solo tour the average was about 12 MPH including stops for breakfast and lunch and well as stops to take pictures and even an afternoon siesta some days. I think it was probably similar but more variable day to day on the Trans America when riding with Erica and Lauren. On the TA are breaks were more frequent and varied a lot more in length from day to day.

For #2 it was about 14-16 on my recent solo tour and probably a bit higher most days on the TA with Erica and Lauren, mostly since we tended to draft each other and maintain a good pace while actually riding, but take more/longer breaks.

For #3 it is pretty subjective. I would say that on my recent solo tour it would be the same as #2. When with Erica and Lauren it would depend on when you looked. We hauled ass and went 20-22 for fairly long stretches at times, but at other times relaxed more and rode at 12-16. Of course climbs are the rub here and being much slower and in the mountains they make the number #3 figures pretty meaningless when it comes to average speed.

TheBrick's take is right-on. My cycle computers have a function that will calculate average speed while riding, not counting the stops as described in #2. That is what I go by, but some cyclists count their entire time including stops in their average.

10mph, minus whatever time I spend looking at stuff, having lunch, et cetera. I'll add to that somewhat in very hilly areas.

I've had days where I spent more time "wasting time" exploring than riding. I consider those my most enjoyable days touring.

I average 11-12 mph when cruising solo on level ground with no wind factor and 40 pounds of gear. If I have a faster partner, my competitive spirit kicks in and I can manage 14 for long stretches.

Lots of climbs and/or moderate head winds slow me down to 7 or 8 mph.

Faster than you.

Miles and kilometers shrink or grow depending on the conditions, so I measure in breaks per hour. I generally average about 1.8 BPH before lunch, much better in the afternoons- sometimes as much as 3 BPH.

It's always number #2.

For number #1 take the day distance / 24.
All other things (e.g. including/excluding diner) are not defined - or how would rate this: dinner at 8 PM after that 2 hours cycling?

#3 okay: But I'm on tour so reduce it. On a race bike I go with > 30 km/h (so I can increase the cruising speed)

Between 10 and 11 miles/hour as calculated by my bike computer for actual time moving.

I'm on vacation when I tour, not in a race. The journey itself is the goal, not the finish line.

All day average is about 10-11mph including stops, traffic, etc and is what I expect to do when I plan rides.

Loaded I ride at between 12 and 15 mph on level ground. Over an entire day with stops etc I average between 10 and 12 mph. I plan to do between 50 and 75 miles each day. If it's mountainous I might be happy with 30 miles. If it's flat I could do 100.

22km/h for multiple days, but i did an accidental double century(i ment to camp half way and ride the rest on day2) fully loaded doing 24km/h a couple of weeks ago.

Edit, i've done about 110km/day for my 3 tours, planning to do a bit more this year as I'm almost getting in shape :-)

I didn't think that I was all that fast, but it appears that I do a bit more than others who have responded.

Fully loaded touring = 20-22 kph while riding, dropping to around 15kph if stops are included.
Lightweight touring = 23-26 kph, and if I keep the stops short then I can average 20 kph for the whole day (12 hours) including stops.
Even when my wife is with me, we average about 18-19 kph while touring on single bikes, or over 20 kph on the tandem.

One bike tour, my load was about 30 lbs.. I did not notice much difference on the flats. but going up hills, It slowed me down considerably. It seemed like real work.

I was looking at some pictures of touring set ups here and couldn't help but wonder what the average speed (in mph/kph) on any of those are.

I would have made this a poll, but I'm sure you pack lighter/heavier for different distances.

15km/h

Hi
Am just back to seriuos biking at age 69. You guys are making my day, I was worried at my average speed of 19 kmh, say 11.5 mph, with people telling me I should be at least at 22 kmh!
Thankx

I averaged 10.6 mph (rolling, not including stops) and 55.6 miles/day on my last tour, which was in the rockies. averaged 2300 feet of climbing and descending per day (averages up and down days together, min/max -5400 / +5700).

I'm about 112 pounds and the bike is about 65 dry weight, plus another 5-15 food/water.

Wow, I'm slow.

Faster than you.

No, I am faster.

Kyakdiver and I are suggesting that speed responses do tend to be a bit inflated. This, of course, is just a general statement to which most posters in this thread are exceptions.

I personally calculate my average from when I start until I stop for the day which includes any and all rests etc. I can usually plan around 8-10 miles per hour in the mountianous west, to 10-12 miles per hour elseware.

average? 10-12mph. It's the same as when I started riding at age 17. When I was in my early 20's and I was making every ride a marathon ride maybe 14-16 but I wasn't riding with more than 20lbs of stuff and no panniers.10mph is a good number, divides easily.

I don't know what we average when we are actually pedaling, but tend to average about 5 mph overall - including all breaks and rests.

10 mph for me.

15-20 km/h over mountainous British Columbia.

I use #2. I tend to average 8mph at this (slow I know!) and using #2 lets me estimate how many hours riding I need to do in the day.

So if I want to do 50 miles, I know I need just over 6 hours in the saddle. Lets me plan my day.

Guess that I have a different take on "average touring speed" that is useful for me. I always use the avg. speed noted on my speedo for planning. I have in my head what I can do in the mountains, headwind, tailwind, etc. Every morning I guess the amount of time I will be on the bike for that day based on terrain and wind. Then, as I proceed through the day, I decide how many times I want to stop and how long I want to stay off the bike at each stop.
In other words, if I know at the beginning of the morning that I will be riding a fast pace, then I may stop often if something appeals to me. Maybe I will ride straight through and finish at 0930 in the morning. Average speed based on total elapsed time means very little for me when I tour.
We all do it differently.

8mph or so for me, considering stops, climbs, ect. Whenever I tell non-touring cyclists about that average they immediately think I must be in the worst shape ever... until they try and lift my fully loaded bike.

Uphill: 4.5mph
Downhill: 45mph
Level: around 12mph

Yes, I am a slow cyclist. To me, the winner is not the one who crosses the finish line first, but the one who see the most along the way...

I just finished my first overnight trip 74 miles in 6:30 hours.
Thats 10 miles per hour,actual time rideing was 11 mph.
The first day I took it real easy and took alot of breaks on the way home though I only stopped twice for a short time.

Not sure "average speed" really applies to my partner & I. Each day we travel, we plan about 6 hrs of riding time with at least an hourly stop [probably more often perhaps just for a couple minutes to look at something]. Usually that works out to about 80 km per day, some days we have struggled to do 40 km, other days a 100 was a breeze. So we project our overnights in 80 km segments. This allows time to take in sights, watch the world go by or explore a location. Flexibility and adaptability are important - if we plan 80 and the weather, terrain or ambition only allow 40 - so be it. We are touring, not racing.

10 MPH including breaks,oogling and getting lost.

Let me make everyone's day! On my last 8 day tour, I averaged (counting breaks) anywhere between 3.4 - 8.7. Everyone I was with was twice my age and I came into camp last every day. It was a very humbling experience but a fun one!

Astoria to Ventura, nothing under 15mph av
plenty of days +18mph av for about 80 miles
one day from Humbug mtn campgrounds to Elk Prairie campgrounds about 113 miles in 7hrs.

albeit this was my fastest touring set up to date

In hilly Northwestern Ontario rolling average was 19.2 Km/h.

As I have said on previous threads, I use method #2 when thinking about my speed on tour. What speed will I average while on the bike for that set of conditions. I don't think nearly enough emphasis has been placed on the conditions of wind and mountains. Normally I average between 14 and 15 mph when on the bike and that is what I use to plan each days ride. If I am going to have a big headwind, I know that my average speed will be down near 8mph. In big mountains my average will also be below 10 mph. But then on a day with all flat lands and a big tail wind I may plan for 18-19 mph average for speed while on the bike. This method makes more sense to me as I prepare for the beginning of each day. If I know that I have a big headwind day and plan on riding 80 miles, I probably won't be stopping much to sightsee or the day would be a long one for sure. If I know that it is going to be a tailwind day on flat land and a total of 65 miles I may stop a lot and sightsee, visit, take pictures, etc.

For those of you that say anything over 10-11 mph is a race, good for you. I don't happen to hold that opinion, but touring is only about our individual preferences, so I salute your opinion for your ride.
Everyone enjoy.

Somewhere around over 9000 would be my guess.

My computer tells me I usually average 20km/h during an entire tour (fully loaded). This is riding time only, and does not include breaks.

The way my computer calculates my average speed, it's always dropping. I get on the bike and pedal, and a while later I see my average speed is 15 or something. Excellent, I think, let's see if I can keep this up! Next thing I know it's at 14. Then 13. Then I go up a hill, and I decide not to look at the average speed again. End of the day, if it's 12, I feel pretty good about that. It's usually 11.3 or so.

On the last day of ourlast tour, early September, on the tandem with my daughter, for some reason I mentioned our average speed. What's that? she asked. So I explained it, and after that gave her a running commentary whenever it changed. She wanted to see how high we could get it, so I explained that if we could keep our present speed higher than average at all times, the average would go up.
Here's to making it sound easy, eh? :beer:

Fortunately, we'd started out pretty slow that day. By the time we got home, we had brought the average speed from 11 up to 12.2.

We tend to average - overall - about 5 miles per hour from the time we take off in the morning until we stop for the night. That includes lots and lots of breaks and slow cycling!

I am 51 years old and did the Oregon coast in Sept. Fully loaded (45 lbs) my average spead on my Trek 520 was 11 mph.

I was looking at some pictures of touring set ups here and couldn't help but wonder what the average speed (in mph/kph) on any of those are.

I would have made this a poll, but I'm sure you pack lighter/heavier for different distances.

What does it matter ... we're talking touring here, not racing.

My computer will report a daily average of between 12-18mph depending on conditions. My mind will rationalize that all those starts and stops have dragged the average down from my True average. :)

With all the breaks I take I'd say my "daily distance/time between campsites" average is around 10mph.

Oh, I'm 24 and I carry ~30lb of gear on a LHT.

... I'm sure you pack lighter/heavier for different distances.

No, I pack lighter/heavier for different climates... wet and colder, I have a better tent, heavier sleeping bag and more rain gear, apart from that about the same gear.

I usually end up cycling 50-70 miles/day, probably average around 10-12 mph when rolling (like a lot of other people around here :)) Wind and hills are what makes the difference...

but like Machka says, it's touring not racing... I'm just happy to be out there, doesn't really matter how far I get or how fast I got there :D

Over the last 41,681 kilometres we averaged 15.36 kilometres per hour cycling.
Including stops for eating, drinking, border crossings, repairs, making photos, trying to find a hotel etc. we averaged 10.69 kph
Greetings from Puno, Peru,
Ali and Son :thumb:

On the last couple of 3-4 day trips with my friends, we've done a very steady 15kph average from getting on the bike in the morning until stopping in the evening, including breaks. Undulating but not extremely hilly terrain. "Modal cruising speed" would be 20ish. Fastest was in the mid 30s...mmm...tailwind...

50 miles per day. 24 hours in a day. A bit over 2 MPH.