Road Cycling - what is a good AVERAGE speed for cruising on flat terrain?

the subject says it all....

what's a good average pace... and what's the range of speeds from newbie to elite racer?


basically i want to have a "gauge" to measure whether i should lengthen my rides at the same pace, or go the same distance and just ride harder. right now i'm riding at 13.5 mph for 20 miles.

New to riding here (at least new to riding longer distances for fun as opposed to riding everywhere when I was in college).
I usually average 13-15 miles per hour for about 20 miles, and 16-18 for ten. Depends on how "flat" the route is though.
It can be difficult to find the time to ride more than 20 miles, well, for me anyway.
Brian

Average speed usually refers to the verage over a whole ride, with starts, slowdowns, nature breaks, etc. Cruise usually refers to the steady speed maintained by a paceline [or an individual] for a leg of a ride. Both are subject to a whole lot of variables, including wind speed and direction, road quality, your personal fitness and the kind of group you're riding with.

So, to answer your question, it's hard to say.

However, to give you an idea... I recently did a 81 km [50 mi] solo ride in a moderate headwind on the leg out at an average speed of 28.6 km/h [18 mph], with two 30 km sections where I cruised steadily for 36 km/h [22.4 mph].

I have also been on group rides where the average is closer to 35 km/h [21.7 mph], with cruise around 40-45 km/h [25-28 mph].

Of course, it depends on what kind of ride you're doing, and I do a whole lot of recovery/LSD rides around 25 km/h [15.5 mph] average, with 30 km/h [18.6 mph] cruise.

I know that doesn't answer your question, but there is a whole range...

Originally posted by meradi
New to riding here (at least new to riding longer distances for fun as opposed to riding everywhere when I was in college).
I usually average 13-15 miles per hour for about 20 miles, and 16-18 for ten. Depends on how "flat" the route is though.
It can be difficult to find the time to ride more than 20 miles, well, for me anyway.
Brian

You sound like you're in almost the same shoes as me. I also used to ride my bike to all my classes in college, but i am new to long distances. You're right about riding being time consuming.... as fun as it is, it just takes a huge chunk out of the day. i can only find time to do it on saturdays :(. what kind of jobs do these people have that let them ride all the time!? LOL :)

I'm a freelance writer and university professor. I have pretty flexible hours... So I do manage about 15-18 hours of riding a week...

This is a tough question to answer. . . but I remember wondering the same thing when I started cycling seriously. I just wanted to know how fast I was compared to the rest of the cycling universe - there were no clubs or group rides nearby - and still aren't.

Turn on OLN and watch the pros race and you'll see them cruising effortlessly at 25mph for miles. Granted, they are sharing the work at the head of the peloton, but 25mph is moving right along. When things start to heat up, the peloton will string out and speeds will move to 30-35mph. The sprinters will hit 40+.

For a solo cyclist a 20mph average for a ride is something like the holy grail. It's really humming along, but is attainable.

I'm 42 yrs old, a sport-class XC racer and ride 3 to 5 times a week, road & MTB. This Tuesday on a hard, race-pace solo ride I averaged 19mph over 30 miles with 1,500 ft. of climbing. On the flats with a slight headwind I cruised at 21 -25mph. On the steepest climbs I was down to 7mph. I was spent afterwards.

On a recent 60 mile ride with 3,000 ft. of climbing I averaged 17mph with 24 of the 60 miles in a brutal headwind.

Not everyone has to go "fast" (whatever that means) to enjoy cycling, nor do you have to race. Have fun first. Your motivation to improve will come all by itself.

Originally posted by deliriou5

what kind of jobs do these people have that let them ride all the time!? LOL :)

I used to spend 10 hours a week commuting by car or tran and on foot to work. Now I spend that same 10 hours commuting by bike. If I can get in a nice weekend country road ride, 13 hours a week isn't unusual, and it's easy to pile up 5000 miles a year or more.

RichC

I usually use flats to pull my averge up!! :D Works wonders for a low average to get on a flat road and just hammer like hell! :eek:
J/K

In a paceline with my buddies we usually maintain anywhere from 21-30 mph, depending on how strong everybody is feeling and how long the flat is. If we know there's hills coming up then we keep the pace a little slower and save some power for the hills. But if we know the route is pretty much flat the whole way, it's balls to the wall all the way. Except for beer Fridays, it would be wrong to hammer on beer/casual Fridays.

I'm going to go out on a limb and pretend that there's a simple answer to your question. Simple is a relative term, as you'll see by all the qualifiers that go with my "simple" answer.

A good recreational rider, on flat terrain, on a circuit ride (i.e. moderate wind that helps the same distance that it hinders) riding 20 miles on a road bike should be able to average 18mph.

I define a good recreational rider as someone who takes their cycling seriously, but doesn't race or frequently "train 'til pain."

thanks everyone. Time to go work up some speed :).

I usually use flats to pull my averge up!!

This brings up something I was wondering about. Can a rider usually make a better average on the flat than he/she can on hilly terrain?

At first glance you would think that the fast downhill compensates for the slow uphill, but it doesn’t work that way, does it?

Originally posted by MikeR


This brings up something I was wondering about. Can a rider usually make a better average on the flat than he/she can on hilly terrain?

At first glance you would think that the fast downhill compensates for the slow uphill, but it doesn’t work that way, does it?

Nope, it doesn't work that way, because you spend more time going up and a non-proportional amount of time going down. Wind resistance is a factor on the way down, but at the slower speeds of a climb wind is less of a factor.

well including stops and winds and all that junk usually when i'm done with a ride and look at my avg speed it says about 15.5mph

I'm a big boy, 54, 250#+, I ride 20 to 50 miles at a time in the oklahoma hills. My average is 13-15mph.

Any of you light weights should do 18+.

For cruising speed on a nice flat terrain and with minimal head wind I will average around 32 to 35 KMH.

20 mph+ cruising speed. Don't worry about your average speed. Focus on the cruising or pace speed. To hang with the faster riders, you have to maintain at least 20+ mph. Just ride a lot and training yourself to spin with the 53 chain ring if you want to cruise at 20+ mph. I am trying to work on my cruising speed too. Currently, 21 is no problem and without effort. At 23, I am at my max. If the conditions allow it (little headwind and smooth road), I can even do 25 or 26 but that is only an exception.

Whatever works for YOU!!

Ride for Fun

Pat

I find it difficult to give any weight to average speed over the total course of my rides. Everytime I think I must have averaged at leat 17-18mph, I look at the readout and see 14-15 :(
My computer does stop recording upon stops. I think slowing to stops taints the average more than you may think.

I'm also no lightweight (250#) and averaging around 13-15 mph but there are lots of hills to contend with in my area. I have noticed that if I have a flat road, my speed tends to be near 17-20 mph without working too hard.
:beer:

Hi,

Stops (if included) can REALLY drag down the average times. On my normal commute of 17 km (about 11 mi) I average 30 kmh/18.5 mph on the way in and 36.5 kmh/22.5 mph on the way home with a gain/loss of 125 meters/410 feet.

Considering it's fairly hilly and including stops, I'm pretty happy with that kind of speed. On the down side, right now I'm not riding at ALL, but it's 6 weeks post car crash, so I can't complain (that much)

It's the stops which will kill your speed. My best times are always recorded sans red lights.

ride safely,
Tom

Originally posted by velocipedio
Of course, it depends on what kind of ride you're doing, and I do a whole lot of recovery/LSD rides around 25 km/h [15.5 mph] average, with 30 km/h [18.6 mph] cruise.

:fun: What's an LSD ride? :fun:

I just broke the 30 kph/18,75 mph wall of average speed on my last trip of 32 km/20 miles. Flat terrain, no particular wind. But then I don't have a road bike! I usually end up anywhere between 22 kph/13,75 mph and 28 kph/17,5 mph on my rides depending on wind and how much oat porridge I managed to stuff myself with before I left. :D

Originally posted by swekarl
:fun: What's an LSD ride? :fun:
"Long steady distance." The kind of rides you do early in the season to build up endurance base miles, and throughout the rest of the season to maintain endurance.

The answer to your question depends on some variables... fitness, equipment, and your goals as a rider.

I ride 200+ miles a week... about half on a smooth tire MTB, over a rails-trails path, at 12.6mph (avg.),
between 20-40 miles each ride (avg. stays the same).

I ride the other half of the weekly miles on my RDB, over a varied coarse including several major climbs,
one ride is always 75+ miles, the other around 50 miles the next day, always average 15.2... I average about 18 on a flat ride less than 30 miles on the RDB. That isn't much considering a race average (I'm not a racer), is between 25-35 for flat coarses, but I ride for distance, not speed, and because of both knees being surgically repaired (1980), I stay off the "big ring" as much as I can.

RDB=2001 Cannondale RW700 (upgraded seat to Terry/Fly... what a comfy ride.)
MTB=199? Cannondale M700 (recently the same upgrade... much happier sit bones)

I don't know if my stats are average or above... I never ride with anyone, I am self employed, and ride whenever my schedule allows (my busy season is Sept-May... Summers off). So, I don't have much of a way to gauge my riding... I just ride... ... ... :D

I can average 20 mph solo but that is pushing a little.

Remember average speed and cruising speed are different. And your computer affects things quite a bit. I used to have a loop I did. I had a computer that I could easily turn off and on. I did the loop a number of times and just let the computer run. And I did the loop a number of times and turned off the computer whenever I slowed down for stop signs, traffic lights etc and turned it back on when I hit cruising speed. I discovered that the difference was something like 2 mph. Of course, the faster you go the greater the effect.

Guess I'm still a newbie having been riding less than 6 months. It takes me an hour to ride 13 relatively flat south Florida miles on a road bike. That's including good smooth roads, crummy gravel roads, bridges and graded flats with a gentle breeze. Includes stops for lights but no nature/rest stops. Not sure if that means I'm averaging 13mph. I don't have a computer on the road bike yet and there are so many variables. I'm looking forward to taking off around 30 lbs which should increase my speed dramatically.

On my cross bike I do the same distance, same conditions averaging 11mph according to the computer.

On a long days tour, with complex navigation and stops, I use 10mph as a rule of thumb.
The widget which improved my average speed the most was a map holder. Useful when you have a junction every 1/4 mile on a rural road network.

My average speed on flat terrain is about 15 mph. In hilly terrain it is about 12 mph.

When planning a long ride I use 10 mph as a guide. For example 100 miles = 10 hours including breaks for food and such.

Hmm... in the spirit of the Zombie season :)

I commute to work at times, I averaged 21mph to and 20.9mph on the way back. All with about 500 ft climbing and just under 20 miles. Almost faster than rush hour. I have 1800 miles for the year and may get to 2,000 by the end of the year.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40240271
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40240267
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43325130
All on my penny-farthing bike!

Wow. Was this like the first post on BF ever? Were these folks riding penny-farthing bikes? That would explain the speeds.

free umd

Does this always happen right before Halloween?

The dude that knows EVERYTHING about average speed, average weight, average power and average hills is unfortunately banned at the moment. I'm sure when he is released from BF Purgatory he will be certain to chime in here and help you out.

-3

I'm 55 and typically average about 17 mph on solo rides. In a pace line I can manage 22 mph, depending on conditions and duration of effort. My sprint tops out at slightly over 27 mph, but my top gear these days is a 47x13. FYI - I raced Cat 4 back in 1977 and "outlaw" for years afterward, but I quit riding in 1992 and didn't resume cycling until April 2009.

Edit: I currently live in Prairieville, Louisiana. There's not much in the way of topographic relief in swampland.

sigh. bf will never learn.

not that numbers mean anything.... but my average is usually around 16.5 -17.0 on my 22.3 mile easy loop. Yes there are some pretty decent long rolling hills in Vermont.

I commute 16.1 miles each direction to work through city traffic. I average between 52-58 minutes for the commute depending on how I hit the traffic lights. That is an average of 16.5-18.5 mph.

If I could take the bicycle path the entire way with no stops, then I could average 21-23 mph depending on wind. I am not exactly in shape or skinny. I'm 200 pounds working on losing 35 more pounds. It is a good thing each day I commute I burn over 1200 calories.

41 mph.

I read somewhere that average speed isn't a relevant value in cycling. :innocent:

41 mph.

Sounds like you're stuck in second gear and need a new transmission. :p

Wow. Was this like the first post on BF ever? Were these folks riding penny-farthing bikes? That would explain the speeds.

No kidding... I have averaged 15 mph over 100 miles on a no sweat kind of ride... on my touring bike.

One that note, one should see if the touring forum was open when this was posted as I would think that if there wasn't a separate forum for road nazis and weight weenies, long distance cyclists probably would have been posting in the same forum.

the subject says it all....

Define "average," "flat," and give some details about your weight, bike, and riding position.

Average can be steady pace, average riding speed including acceleration/deceleration, or wall clock time including traffic stops and breaks.

150W may propel a 95kg rider on a road bike's brake hoods with OK tires and a smooth asphalt road 19.2 miles/hour on truly flat ground, 20.4 down a .3% false flat, and 17.9 miles/hour up it.

Rough asphalt is slower, smooth concrete is faster, the drops might net .5 MPH, the bar tops are a hair slower....

I'm a freelance writer and university professor. I have pretty flexible hours... So I do manage about 15-18 hours of riding a week...

You need more quality miles where you suffer and ride intervals.

I started a thread months ago titled "Share your ride with GarminConnect or equivalent" (or something close to that). You can go in that thread and look at hundreds of rides people have done. Some are slow, some are fast, some are flat, some are up mountains. Go take a look and maybe you'll find some true quantitative answers to your questions.

digging up ancient antiquities and then daubing graffitti on them is a crime.

digging up ancient garbage pits and then adding more garbage to them is a crime.

fixed

sigh. bf will never learn.

People are just getting more open minded about zombies...

http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/zombie1.jpg

free umd
When is his banishment over anyway? Seems like he's been gone a long time

I've been an avid rider for 2.5 years. I live in Illinois, so all my local riding is flat. I can hold 19 to 21 mph for about 50 miles. I have a 55 mile loop I ride on a regular basis, my trip time including stops and slowing for traffic is 3 hours and 5 minutes most days. I'm 54 years old and 210 lbs.