Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Am I slow like a turtle or what ? ;-)

I have an Devinci Prague hybrid with 28/38/48 rings with an 7 speed 14/34 cassette.

Am I a turtle or what ? Most of the peoples seems to ride at 18/20 mph on their bike

I'm mostly on middle front gear , fifth gear at the back, guys how fast are you cruising in this configuration ? I am 52, 250 pounds, keep my HBeat at 140, RPM around 75/80 and all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))

There's a lot more to riding a bike than going fast. You're too slow to win the Tour de France or the Paris-Roubaix, but, if that isn't your goal, then you're riding fast enough. Personally, I like climbing mountains, and I'll get to the top in good time; I wish I could average 14 mph up Steven's Pass. :o

If you go out and ride a lot, though, speed will come.

Efficiency often comes down to cadence, so what pedal revolution cadence are you pedaling at?
I think most pedal at around 80-95rpm, above 100 and you're probably a fast twitch muscle build, below 70rpm and either you're just going slow or are pedaling too big of a gear and your knees might not last long.

Cadence times gearing gives you your speed, gear ratios by themselves without a cadence number is only somewhat helpful.

There's a lot more to riding a bike than going fast. You're too slow to win the Tour de France or the Paris-Roubaix, but, if that isn't your goal, then you're riding fast enough. Personally, I like climbing mountains, and I'll get to the top in good time; I wish I could average 14 mph up Steven's Pass. :o

If you go out and ride a lot, though, speed will come.

AHHHHHH !! Cadence sorry my friend I use RPM in my OP, its hard to get out of the garage ;-)) I keep my cadence around 75 / 80.
Thanks for helping the french canadian newbie ;-)

your faster than me and I ride a road bike

I find with cadence if my legs burn I shift up the back cog, and if my lungs burn I shift down the back cog. I try to get a good balance where both are burning the same.

I will say though that after I trained myself to spin at 95-100 that I was able to ride longer on consecutive days. I didnt go faster just taxed my heart and not my muscles, heart/lungs recover faster than leg muscles.

If you're staying upright, you're going fast enough.

18 - 20 miles an hour is fast for even a club rider. I would say average speed for most people is 12 - 15 mph if even that but regardless who are you comparing yourself to and why? Cycling by and large is an individual sport and you know when you are pushing yourself or slacking off. For some people 10 miles an hour is pushing... there is nothing wrong with that...

Cadence-schmadence. 90 rpm is for little guys. If you got the weight, use it. Mash, baby, mash.

The key is to be comfortable when you ride and have fun, and don't worry about the people who are faster than you. Stick with it and you'll get faster.


My average speed is typically about 13 mph; plenty fast enough for me. With a group I can push more speed, but if I can't keep up, I don't care.

That's reassuring, maybe I was reading only the post where some liked to brag a little about their performance ;-) Its not that I wanted to go faster its just that I tought that I was out of the average recreative rider performance. I'm far from being ready for the tour de france, le tour of my belly is way too big for me to consider a new carreer.I started about 1 year ago to ride almost every day , a little 7 miles right after work and 14 miles during Sat and Sun. Its not a lot but its more than what I was doing before. I feel much better , diabetes more in control. Now I have to control my forks and knives.......:-( thanks again guys :-)

If you're staying upright, you're going fast enough.

Yes mostly upright, feel like a sail in the wind ...

You're 52, have a heartbeat and are pedaling. That's faster then a lot of folks :beer:
Some good advice has been given above...

CJC puts it right with respect to cadence imho - it's either your legs or your lungs. Try to alternate.
Speed along with the ability to go distances will come in time.
I averaged 10.6 on a ride I did back in June. For that ride it was a decent average. 100Km with 2538 meters of gain. :)

Age, fitness, terrain, cycle style and your individual motivation for being on a bike, all contribute to how quickly one cycles.

The averages in frying pan flat Florida for the same cyclist will be a couple mph higher than if that cyclist was in a hilly or mountainous location. Locally, we adjust the expected average on group rides by as much as 2 mph to account for variation in road surface quality (rough chip seal vs asphalt).

Typically, if a "clyde" is averaging 16mph on rolling to hilly terrain, they're doing pretty good. It might not compare with what roadies in the 41 are claiming. But, I can tell you that I ride with a lot of skinny, fit, middle aged men who have been cycling for many years and they have to push it to maintain 16 mph over the course of an entire ride.

Enjoy your rides for the reasons that you enjoy riding. If you want to go faster, work at doing so. If you don't, then don't worry and go have a great ride.

Let's not forget this is a subsample group containing OCD cyclists. I would expect the average poster here to be faster than the average cyclist at large.

Speed is nothing really UNLESS it is one of your goals. But Seattle is right, sit on the saddle and enjoy the ride. Things are really pretty and change according to the seasons.

Ah, I glossed right over the rpm's. You're doing just fine.

edit to add: I'm currently 57 at last count, weight down from 250 Lbs in January to about 234 Lbs at last weigh-in mostly just through changing eating habits (quality and quantity). Have not been able to get out much on the bike this year yet due to helping family and friends in need (helping people move has been my exercise lately). Only adding this since this is the Clyde/Athena section in case anyone was curious.

Anyway, enjoy your riding, you are doing just fine.

Its all about terrain. I usually average 12mph but can easily cover 1800ft of climbing in 20 miles whereas the 18-20mph folk, 9 out of 10 times are on flat bike paths or live in Texas ;).

I was amused a few months back when a member who regularly posts 18+mph average posted his garmin stats He 'climbed' 300ft over 15 miles and complained it was a 'rolling hills' ride. I have to climb more than that leaving the driveway. :)

In March, we went camping in another state and I took a ride around the area - 50 miles later (and less than 800ft of climbing) I was fresh as a daisy. Its amazing how far you can go when things are flat.

Put a 60 big ring on the front. Yesterday in the forum, a person was talking about how fast that made him.
Maybe it was a spelling mistake. 50 is big enough.

You have a fine bike and gears for riding for pleasure. Do that, and enjoy it.

Great advice from all of you guys thanks !! :thumb:

Cadence-schmadence. 90 rpm is for little guys. If you got the weight, use it. Mash, baby, mash.

The key is to be comfortable when you ride and have fun, and don't worry about the people who are faster than you. Stick with it and you'll get faster.


My average speed is typically about 13 mph; plenty fast enough for me. With a group I can push more speed, but if I can't keep up, I don't care.

That's my philosophy. I used to let my slowness (avg around 12-13mph) bother me, but now I just pedal along at my own pace and enjoy the ride.

:)

That's reassuring, maybe I was reading only the post where some liked to brag a little about their performance ;-) Its not that I wanted to go faster its just that I tought that I was out of the average recreative rider performance. I'm far from being ready for the tour de france, le tour of my belly is way too big for me to consider a new carreer.I started about 1 year ago to ride almost every day , a little 7 miles right after work and 14 miles during Sat and Sun. Its not a lot but its more than what I was doing before. I feel much better , diabetes more in control. Now I have to control my forks and knives.......:-( thanks again guys :-)

That is all that really matters! :thumb:

The best advice on speed i got here from someone (sorry forgot)

You dont have to be the fastest person in the group, when being chased you just have to be faster than the slowest person.

I mostly ride on a MUP near my home. I often feel like if I'm going too fast to smile and wave at people I pass and laugh at the silly grins every dog seems to wear, it's too fast. I know I'm way faster than the person sitting on the couch watching TV.

Remember that you're on a $400 bike that - unless you changed them - doesn't have road slicks, but knobby 700c tires... You're also in a very upright position on that model. Averaging 22km/h or 14mph is pretty darned good in that scenario. Put on some 700x28c slicks and you'll move a little faster...

Yes, many of us can keep up 20mph for 100km fairly easily, sure - on a reasonably flat ride with a much-more expensive true road bicycle... I wouldn't maintain 18-20mph for long on your bike...

If you're getting in better shape and enjoying riding the bike you have, that's fantastic and it's what's important. If you want to go faster, start looking at a true road bike - used is a great way to start... As I approach your age though (nearing 50 myself) I find it best to not worry about speed... Just enjoy riding!

Remember that you're on a $400 bike that - unless you changed them - doesn't have road slicks, but knobby 700c tires... You're also in a very upright position on that model. Averaging 22km/h or 14mph is pretty darned good in that scenario. Put on some 700x28c slicks and you'll move a little faster...

Yes, many of us can keep up 20mph for 100km fairly easily, sure - on a reasonably flat ride with a much-more expensive true road bicycle... I wouldn't maintain 18-20mph for long on your bike...

If you're getting in better shape and enjoying riding the bike you have, that's fantastic and it's what's important. If you want to go faster, start looking at a true road bike - used is a great way to start... As I approach your age though (nearing 50 myself) I find it best to not worry about speed... Just enjoy riding!

Ive been riding a $2500 full-carbon Roubaix since 2010 (over 3000 miles) - If I get 13mph on a ride, its a good day! I average 12mph. Its all about the hills, cycling IS hills ;)

all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))


14?? That's right around the ballpark. I once averaged 13.9 average on a hilly ride.:D

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Profile Bear (http://www.flickr.com/photos/40913998@N06/4164758814/) by gulpxtreme (http://www.flickr.com/people/40913998@N06/), on Flickr

I have an Devinci Prague hybrid with 28/38/48 rings with an 7 speed 14/34 cassette.

Am I a turtle or what ? Most of the peoples seems to ride at 18/20 mph on their bike

I'm mostly on middle front gear , fifth gear at the back, guys how fast are you cruising in this configuration ? I am 52, 250 pounds, keep my HBeat at 140, RPM around 75/80 and all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))

You riding in the hills or the valley/flatlands?

Mostly I can't avoid hills in my part of the glacial moraine that is L.I. North Shore, so 10-12 is my norm. Sometimes I seek em out for leg torture. Ironically the angle of climbing is easier on my neck.

Flats tend to favor us Clydes, and hills slay me. Mr Beanz may be the man here with the hills gold medal: I will be looking for him in the Clydeolympics.

At my very best with say 1,000 ft of climbing in 15 miles I've hit 14 avg, but flats are 15-17 avg, somedays more, but in the hills I am like molasses. Slooow. I'm also damaged goods with enough messed up body parts to make it slow going anyway. There's a Cat 5 nearby that keeps me in the low single digits for parts of climbs.

and hills slay me.

It's all practice and patience. I've seen some fast climbing clydes! :D

Keep riding. I'm 57 and just finished the 203 mile Seattle to Portland Classic in two days. I weigh 195 and at 5 10, I'm no lean speedster. I averaged 14+ mph first day and 12+ the second (headwind and hills in first 50 miles slowed me down). I hit my target speed (13 mph) dead on. Sure I got passed by pace lines and the youth but I rode my race. 2 years ago I doubt I could've finished or average 9 mph. Next year I plan to up that to say...16 mph average. When I left the Husky stadium parking lot I told myself to ride my ride and ignore those that passed me. A lot passed me. But they weren't a 57 year old with gastric reflux disease and a nasty history of arrhythmia. So, when I crossed the finish line, I won a battle, a personal battle. I rode my Colnago with 130 psi in the tires and a racing seat, old school Time pedals. Even crashed once. Spun at 80-90 and lowest gear was a 39-26 which sucks on hills over 7%.

My training mileage was ~2300 miles over 9 months on a slick shod MTB. . 3000 would be better. 1500-2000 over April, May, and June would be perfect.

Ride, ride, ride. Ride hills, ride intervals, ride with friends. Ride until it is effortless, then ramp it up again. Find a favorite route. Get an app and race yourself. Improvement comes with time. Never give up.

You riding in the hills or the valley/flatlands?

Mostly I can't avoid hills in my part of the glacial moraine that is L.I. North Shore, so 10-12 is my norm. Sometimes I seek em out for leg torture. Ironically the angle of climbing is easier on my neck.

Flats tend to favor us Clydes, and hills slay me. Mr Beanz may be the man here with the hills gold medal: I will be looking for him in the Clydeolympics.

At my very best with say 1,000 ft of climbing in 15 miles I've hit 14 avg, but flats are 15-17 avg, somedays more, but in the hills I am like molasses. Slooow. I'm also damaged goods with enough messed up body parts to make it slow going anyway. There's a Cat 5 nearby that keeps me in the low single digits for parts of climbs.

Mainly flat but its always windy , and most of the times the wind comes from all angle, there is no justice here, No tail wind here only on rare occasion ;-))

+1 on not comparing yourself to idealized "average" riders. Unless you are an elite cyclist at the top of his/her game, there will always be riders faster than you, so why worry about it. The only rider you need to compare yourself to is the rider you were last week.

I have an Devinci Prague hybrid with 28/38/48 rings with an 7 speed 14/34 cassette.

Am I a turtle or what ? Most of the peoples seems to ride at 18/20 mph on their bike

I'm mostly on middle front gear , fifth gear at the back, guys how fast are you cruising in this configuration ? I am 52, 250 pounds, keep my HBeat at 140, RPM around 75/80 and all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))


You could put anyone you like on that same bike and if they work the same cadence in the same gear they'll go the same speed.

If what you want is to go faster look to increase your cadence, or maintain the same cadence in a higher gear. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing - if you're happy with the way you ride then keep doing it. If you want to ride faster you need a bigger gear and/or faster cadence, if you want to ride further then practise riding ever-longer distances.

When I'm out on my bike I'm faster than most of the other cyclists I encounter. I'd say I'm appreciably faster than about 75% or so, about the same as 10-15% and the remainder smoke me like a kipper. If I'm faster than someone else (i.e. I overtake them) it might mean I'm a stronger cyclist than they are, it might mean they are riding to enjoy the view and I'm riding to get there quickly, it might mean they are tired and I am fresh (maybe they are 275km into a 300km brevet), it might mean they are recovering from something, there's no way of knowing. Ultimately it doesn't matter, unless we've entered the same race we've got different start points, different destinations, and nobody is measuring who is fastest.

Are you too slow? If you need to get somewhere at 15mph or more then yes. If not then you're just fine. Better to enjoy your riding and let the numbers improve over time than use numbers as a rod to hit yourself with.

It's all practice and patience. I've seen some fast climbing clydes! :D

On a recent tour with a couple of friends (they weigh around 180-190, I'm about 230) I was routinely dropping both of them on hills. Which made a nice change from a couple of years back when I rode with one of them and had to walk up most of the hills.

Remember that you're on a $400 bike that - unless you changed them - doesn't have road slicks, but knobby 700c tires... You're also in a very upright position on that model. Averaging 22km/h or 14mph is pretty darned good in that scenario. Put on some 700x28c slicks and you'll move a little faster...

Yes, many of us can keep up 20mph for 100km fairly easily, sure - on a reasonably flat ride with a much-more expensive true road bicycle... I wouldn't maintain 18-20mph for long on your bike...

If you're getting in better shape and enjoying riding the bike you have, that's fantastic and it's what's important. If you want to go faster, start looking at a true road bike - used is a great way to start... As I approach your age though (nearing 50 myself) I find it best to not worry about speed... Just enjoy riding!


I went from a 35pound steel road bike with 6 gears that was to big for me to a 20 pound Bianchi road bike...

...i only gained 0.27 miles per hour.

its not the bike, its the rider.

I get dropped by guys riding 29ers with full on knobby tires and back packs. I got dropped by a 15 year old girl on a rusty mountain bike with a fully loaded bag of school books and a purse. I could have been on a $9,000 road bike and i still would have passed.

its not the bike its the rider.

message received loud and clear ;-) You are all right I was looking at it from the wrong angle, thanks for realigning my wheels ;-) you are a very good group :thumb:

I have an Devinci Prague hybrid with 28/38/48 rings with an 7 speed 14/34 cassette.

Am I a turtle or what ? Most of the peoples seems to ride at 18/20 mph on their bike

I'm mostly on middle front gear , fifth gear at the back, guys how fast are you cruising in this configuration ? I am 52, 250 pounds, keep my HBeat at 140, RPM around 75/80 and all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))

For many people a heart rate of 140 BPM is a leisurely endurance pace. You'd probably go faster if you just worked harder (which won't be comfortable). Doing that in small doses (like 10-20 minutes at a time, followed by five easy minutes, followed by more hard riding) when you're fresh will force adaptations that let you go faster both when you're working hard and at an easy pace. Significant gains are possible when starting from an untrained (although perhaps otherwise fit) state.

You need to ignore the 220-age formula for maximum heart rate. It's worthless since it's an average with a standard deviation of 12. 34% of 52 year olds would have a maximum between 168 and 180 and another 34% 156-168. 14% of 52 year olds would have a maximum of 180 - 192 and 14% 144-156. A few would be outside that range. Zone definitions built around the average could have you not working at all on your hard days or in a permanent state of over-training.

Even if you knew your maximum heart rate (you started pedaling at a comfortable pace and added power until your heart rate ceased to increase. Vomiting might go with that when you're not used to the effort) that wouldn't be enough to set zones since the fraction of that number at which your body is producing lactic acid faster than it can dispose of the lactate varies.

You want to use a system which calibrates zones off your physiology. Schemes built around a lactate heart rate estimate (the last 20 minutes of an all-out 30 minute effort) are most common. Carmichael bases his system on a pair of 8 minute time efforts that are easier to accommodate both logistically (you can probably find 3 miles of road without stop lights closer to home than 10 miles) and psychologically.

Once you're working harder you'll probably find that you have more endurance at a higher cadence. I noticed that I could ride threshold intervals on consecutive days when I spun 90-100 RPM but not around the 85 RPM I preferred naturally.

I went from a 35pound steel road bike with 6 gears that was to big for me to a 20 pound Bianchi road bike...

...i only gained 0.27 miles per hour.

its not the bike, its the rider.

I get dropped by guys riding 29ers with full on knobby tires and back packs. I got dropped by a 15 year old girl on a rusty mountain bike with a fully loaded bag of school books and a purse. I could have been on a $9,000 road bike and i still would have passed.

its not the bike its the rider.
... you went from a road bike to a road bike. Similar position, similar rolling resistance, the only difference was bike weight, which is probably around than 5% of your total combined (bike + rider) weight...

However going from a $400 knobby-tired hybrid in an upright position - on a bike that's likely not tuned as well as it could be, as most inexpensive bikes aren't - to a aggressively positioned road bike on slicks would result in a change of speed from both aero positioning and a difference in rolling resistance -that would only make sense... Will it be huge? Maybe not...

But in this case, it's not just the rider --- it's both the bike AND the rider.

... you went from a road bike to a road bike. Similar position, similar rolling resistance, the only difference was bike weight, which is probably around than 5% of your total combined (bike + rider) weight...


I sat very up right on the 80's steel and had 27x1 1/2 tires, then to a road bike the "fits" with having 23mm tires and the stem on the dust cap. (still not as much drop as you think i have oddly short legs)

I am not disagreeing with you a different bike does change the variables, what i am saying is that overall the improvement (jump in speed) will be so minute that it shouldn't even be a deciding factor.

a strong rider on a road bike is a strong rider on a unicycle. a newer weak rider is a weak rider on a $10,000 road bike and a $1,000 road bike.

if your not racing make changes to help your comfort, once comfortable make changes to the aesthetics. because if you are comfortable and the bike looks sexy you will want to ride more, by riding more you will get faster.

I have an Devinci Prague hybrid with 28/38/48 rings with an 7 speed 14/34 cassette.

Am I a turtle or what ? Most of the peoples seems to ride at 18/20 mph on their bike

I'm mostly on middle front gear , fifth gear at the back, guys how fast are you cruising in this configuration ? I am 52, 250 pounds, keep my HBeat at 140, RPM around 75/80 and all I could get is on average 14mph....Am I in the ballpark or way too slow ? Thanks ;-))

Reckon I ain't 'most people' either.
My average this month is a "paltry' 14.6 mph over the 525 miles and 41,000+ of climbing I've ridden.
But then again I'm in year 2 which is my "mediocre" year :)

Just keep putting miles on the bike and if you want try getting your HR up some in increments. Go to 145 for 5 min then back it down. Repeat