Road Cycling - how fast are you going?

Since I do all of my riding always alone, as a result, I have no idee what kind of rider I am.
I was wondering how fast all of you are going (average) during your usual rides? And how many miles a week you are doing. And because the bike effects the speed, I would appreciate it if you would mention the type of bike too.

Me, still with my mountainbike with sliks, do about 5 times 25 miles a week at an averge speed of 15 miles/hr.
(I'm still saving up for my road bike)

I think you are within +/-10 percent of many of us.

It depends on the ride... From my log, these are typical averages...

Solo road ride [75 km]: 26 km/h
Solo cyclocross ride [climbing]: 21 km/h
Easy group road ride [100 km]: 26 km/h
Fast group ride [120 km]: 32 km/h
Road training ride [all climbing]: 18 km/h

Now there have been higher and lower averages, but these are typical... and remember, there are times in a fast group ride when I'll be going 45 km/h for long stretches. I think 23-26 km/h [14-16 mph] is a pretty good average for a solo ride.

velocipedio, I see you're just about a tough faster than I, but it doesdn't look good for us because john E says only 10% goes slower. :D

Depends on what I did that day...

Looking back @ the log:

March 10th, Zone II/III tempo & base technique / power training: 34 miles of rolling dirt doubletrack on the 'cross bike, lots and lots of little power climbs; average speed 15.1 mph

March 19th, Zone V sprint intervals; 90 minute workout that included speed-work (downhill tailwind big gear windups) and 30/30 jumps. Average speed irrelevant for this workout; max speed (speedwork): 42.4 mph, max speed (30/30 jumps): 38.6 mph

March 20th, Zone I/II easy base miles: 78 miles of flat to rolling, windy conditions, 1 large climb; average speed 14.2 mph

March 31st, race pace training at a women's Cat 3/4 criterium, flat course, 8 corners with one shallow climb into a headwind. 40 minutes + 3 laps; average speed 23.4 mph, time spent at LT (182 bpm) or above= 24 minutes, max HR = 211 (field sprint)

All of this is build for a target event on Sunday; here's hoping I don't get squashed.

Originally posted by green lion
velocipedio, I see you're just about a tough faster than I, but it doesdn't look good for us because john E says only 10% goes slower. :D
It really depends on the ride and the terrain. One thing you'll notice is that long rides tend to have higher averages; rides in the city tend to have slower averages because, even if you have your speedo on auto start/stop [I do and don't, depending on the ride and the bike], you slow down a lot for lights and stop signs.

I looked at the file from my s510 download, and I noticed some interesting splits in a recent 85 km ride... The average for the whole ride was 27 km/h. But the splits are interesting (I hope I type this accurately):

Split / Distance / Average
Split 1 / 19 km / 21.5 km/h
Split 2 / 11.3 km / 25.5 km/h
Split 3 / 9 km / 30 km/h
Split 4 / 21 km / 40.7 km/h
Split 5 / 24.4 km / 25 km/h

Split 3 was a series of attacks and sprints with the group, what my training partner calls "anaerobic chess." I have a max there -- presumably the sprint that I won -- at 56 km/h. Split 4 was a very tight paceline, and my max there is 45 km/h.

The point of all of this, as LFR points out, is that averages don't really mean that much, EXCEPT as a ballpaark figure, indicating your general overall speed.

This is a great question....thanks for posting it and thanks to everyone for not BSing about their avs.

I consider myself pretty slow....(power to weight ratio not optimal and all....)

So,
Saturday, 65.7 miles, mostly flat with a couple annoying slogs, average was 15.3, no help. (I drafted for maybe 20 minutes total.) This was really good for me.
Monday, 41 miles, deliberately hilly, 10.1. Usually I'm at about 14, riding mostly alone. Am working on getting faster (and I think for me this entails dropping the poundage versus speedwork) and it's paying off.

True story: While riding not long ago, I saw a spider hanging from some silk on my bars. Yup, cobwebs on the bike -- while riding.

When I´m in shape (not yet really :( ), I have an almost 30 km/h average on my most ridden favourite course. The Length is 53 km an the total altitude difference is 600 meters (upwards). Could be better, but I was satisfied last year. I will see what I can reach this season.

It's an apples & oranges thing, asking that question in a roadie forum. A mtn bike, even with slicks, is at a significant disadvantage. Consequently, your speed is probably slow relative to effort compared to someone on a road bike. (You'll be amazed when you get your road bike.)

My average commute speed, on a mix of cyclepath and road, obeying stop signs and giving way at junctions etc, and with no auto start/stop varies from 12.5 to 13.8 mph. Longer runs about 14.5 -17mph depending on territory.

I too do most of my riding alone except when we get a baby sitter and my wife and I can go together. My typical weekend ride is about 60-80 km and my average speed is between
26-30km/h. My weekday rides are usually in the 30 km range and my average speed is about 28-32 km/h but sometimes upto 35 if I am feeling good and the wind is going in the right direction.

It really depends on how I am feeling and what the weather is like. Where I live the wind is really strong because there is little to break it up so somedays are pure torture mentally and physically when riding into it. It's always nice to turn around but you never seem to make up the difference.

Mike

The day before yesterday I did my fastest ride ever on a 35 k route I have done several times: just under 29kph with no wind at all. I have once averaged above 30, but that was a fifty kilometre descent dropping some 2700 metres... The fastest serious ride I have done was a flat 120k at 28 kph with a really nice tailwind.

Two years ago I would have said that I usually average 19-23kph regardless of distance. After training a bit more serious and with a tour of the Alps in my legs, I am now in the 23-26 range instead (solo, with some gentle hills and not with a headwind all day).

/Csson

My average speed is almost always 12 or 13 miles per hour on a hybrid with 700x38c tires. I just switched to Rivendell's RolyPoly 700x27c tires and noticed a slight increase in average speed.

The weird thing is I never actually see 13mph on my speedo- just 7 or 8 mph going uphill and then 25 or 30 down the other side. It is rumored that a stretch of level pavement does, in fact, exist somewhere here in SW Missouri but I have never actually seen it :-)

My last ride was 25 miles and I averaged just over 20mph. This was over rolling hills. A few summers ago when I was riding almost everyday I was doing almost 400 miles a week. Riding solo almost all the time and would average in anywhere from 17-19 mph. These miles where split between a Cannondale R1000 and a Salsa LaRaza.

I'm new to riding and my area is all hills, so I'm only averaging around 11.5 mph. Pedaled down a short hill and saw 35 mph but that doesn't really count.
:beer:

Originally posted by Stor Mand
I'm new to riding and my area is all hills, so I'm only averaging around 11.5 mph. Pedaled down a short hill and saw 35 mph but that doesn't really count.
:beer:
Well, I've gone pretty close to 100 km/h on a descent, but that doesn't count -- and after the experience, I promsed myself to always stay below 80 km/h.

What does count is sprints [on flast with no tailwind]...

Best sprint with lead out: 58 km/h
Best unassisted sprint: 55 km/h

The former was last summer and I plan to smash it to pieces this summe and latter was the other day -- and I have the HRM download to prove it! :-) Now, before get to thinkin' that I'm Mario Cipollini or anything, bear in mind that those are peak speeds; there's no way I could hold those speeds for 500m. Mind you, I did the 58 km/h with a slight headwind and the 55 km/h was on a very slight uphil...