General Cycling Discussion - What are your average Speeds???

There are several threads on top speed but Average speed is probably more useful to most of us as that is what determines our fitness level

Average Speed 15.6 / MPH

Type of Bike Hybrid/ Trek FX 7.2
Mileage @ Average reading 9.7 miles
Max Speed 25.4

Trek 7.6FX - 15.4 mph average over my 13.6 mi. morning ride route of varied flat/climbs including an 8 mile bike path loop around the local lake.

This mornings ride in


Average Speed 15.2 / MPH

Type of Bike Hybrid/ Trek FX 7.2
Mileage @ Average reading 9.7 miles
Max Speed 25.5

15-16mph across a 24.8 mile (1 way) commute. Depends on how I feel that day. Goal is to do it in an hour, closest I've missed that by is 25 seconds. Still haven't made the mark. Today was "single speed day". Find a gear and don't change for the entire ride.

9.5mph over hilly terrain.. all country roads. 3 hour ride length

There are several threads on top speed but Average speed is probably more useful to most of us as that is what determines our fitness level


there are really too many factors that affect average speed to make it useful for determining "fitness"

Flat? Hilly? Uphill? Downhill? Tailwind? Headwind? In a hurry? Doing the cycling equivalent of strolling? On a MUP? On the streets and dealing with traffic and signals?

Indeed I am finding that conditions other than fitness CAN make a big difference... so I track which of 3 routes I typically do. That being said, I think headwinds can be the wild-card factor when on the same route.

One of my "routes" is Central Park... where I haven't found much wind to make a difference. When I got back on my bike after 12+ years 2.5 months ago, the best I could manage was about 11.. last Saturday I got 14.1 AND that was from my front door out and back (about .6-.7 from my door to the park).

Oh to be fair, I avoid Harlem Hill, not sure I'm in good enough shape as I have a damaged ticker and take meds that won't let my HR go over 140.

My speed is always set to ludicrous.

My speed is always set to ludicrous.

I thought speed was illegal?

Yesterdays ride was 98.2 miles with 4900' of climbing....average speed per CatEye Enduro 8 was 16.7 mph. Temps were 90-96 during the ride and had 10-18 mph gusting winds.

Done on my '08 Madone.

My average speed over 6 mile commute is 10.8

Avg. 16.6 mph over 20 miles. Marin is pretty hilly so that's fast enough for now, only been cycling for a month and I really need to stop smoking!

Lowracer recumbent, 67 mile loop, flat to rolling, 90F/10-12 mph SSW wind, 20.9 mph average. Top speed, 37 mph. Average speed might be a good way for you to compare some of your rides against your other rides, but it tells you nothing about how you compare to somebody riding in totally different conditions.

My average training ride is between 22 and 30 miles (depends on the day) and usually averages around 16-17mph. Seems not so fast but when you factor in the 30 something traffic lights I have to hit.......

My speed is always set to ludicrous.

I go plaid regularly.

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Average speed makes average riders and is virtually a meaningless metric.

Today my ride was 11 miles in length and my average was 18.2mph (blew through every light).

Normal commute 5.6 miles, avg 12-12.5mph (Harlem River Greenway from Inwood); I ended up with an avg speed of 16mph doing 10 miles around central park the other weekend (top speed 30mph!) - lots of fun! And all that with my 20" folder....hehehehe :)

Over the last 32,000 miles(a bit over 2 years) I've averaged 9.8 MPH.I think that's accurate enough.

Just a neighborhood ride


Average Speed 7.2 / MPH

Type of Bike Giant OCR3
Max Speed 23 MPH

I let my average speed calculation go for a full year once.

It was 12.5 mph

I did the Cat 1/2/3 PIR race in Portland last week and my average was 24.4mph. That included a half hour of riding around the pit area as a warm up, and then screaming down the back stretch with a tailwind at 32 with bursts up to 37.

So, what does that tell you? Not much.

Fine I will bite.

Full CF tarmac expert.
Daily 20 mile training ride = 20mph/hr
Yesterday's 112 mile ride with 6000 feet of climbing= 16mph
A 120 mile ride with 13,000 feet of climbing = 14mph

A ride with my son on my MTB with a tag along = 10mph
My old 28 mile each way commute on a fixed gear = The way in= 14-17mph. The way back 15-18 mph.
Still a pointless metric.

Flat? Hilly? Uphill? Downhill? Tailwind? Headwind? In a hurry? Doing the cycling equivalent of strolling? On a MUP? On the streets and dealing with traffic and signals?


Exactly- When I rode offroad with a few friends- we averaged about 8.5mph over a 30 mile ride- with 3,500ft of climbing. I do a 100 miler offroad with 10,000ft of climbing- normal time of 14hours but have done it in 12.

And a 30 mile training ride with 2,400ft of climbing at 12mph. When we did this at 12mph- we knew we were ready for the 100miler.

We by the way is an offroad Tandem.

So different terrain- different bikes and different energy levels on those rides.

I've got to try another offroad century. My first took me 12.5 hours, but not nearly 10000 ft elevation gain.

I've got to try another offroad century. My first took me 12.5 hours, but not nearly 10000 ft elevation gain.

Takes a special kind of idiot to want to do another offroad century

Welcome to the nut house.

22 mile commute with my messenger bag, unless the weather is really nasty is always between 17 and 18 mph. 800 foot drop over the first half and 800 foot gain in the 2nd half.
15-25 mile rides for fun are usually between 18 and 19mph. Usuallly done on near and/or in the foothills west of Denver.
Best average ever was 19.4 on a 16 mile ride in Colorado Springs. Promised my co-workers I'd be back ASAP from a lunch time ride so we could go have beers after a big day of layoffs.
Rides thru the mountains 60-90 miles have been 16-17mph average.
I've had 2 road bikes in the last 11 years, a Trek 1220 and a 2.1.