rhm

Thank you!

roadrunner2012

Garmin results from an actual Garmin, not an iPhone/Android app, or it's meaningless.

I rode with a friend the other day, his phone app showed him considerably faster than me over a 1.4 mile segment, and he was last in the paceline, never took a pull.

That being said, I average mid 16s-mid 17s on my usual ride, which typically has about 12-1500' of climbing.

Last week I was at 17.3 for this 35 mile+ ride, 1500+' climbing, solo:



I am a few years older than the OP, and get whooped by guys older than me all the time. They tell me I still have time to improve.

Gravity Aided

Metric last, I was about 10 mph overall, I'll be doing far better at the next metric, because I'm driving the Sag Wagon. Generally, I'm about 12 mph this year, even with the bad foot.

nlerner

On a 100-mile ride last week with about 3500' of climbing, my Cateye wireless tells me I averaged 14 mph. I think I only was able to go that fast due to the fact that there was 3500' feet of descending.

AZORCH

Half of that route is my kind of riding. I'll let you speculate which half.

thinktubes 

88 mph.

classic troll - visit the 41 ever?

The Golden Boy 

I seriously have no idea.

jimmuller 

How can you ask about average speed without defining it first? Total distance divided by total time might be 10mph, seein' as how you have to stop every so often. Total distance divided by time spent moving (as the computer sees it) might be 12.5 to 13, but every time you cruise slowly across an intersection or pull slowly up to a stop light you are skewing your speed down. Now, perceived "most of the time" cruising under power? Ah, that is anywhere from 15 to 17, with occasional bursts up to 20, and even higher. It depends on the terrain and the wind, but most of all it depends on when and how often I look at the computer!

I've been known to hit 89mph, or maybe even 92. I think. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure. It might have been 137mph. For miles on end.

auchencrow

I don't have a computer on any bike, so my only true indication comes from those electronic "Your current speed is" signs that are strategically posted by the cops to discourage speeders.

My normal speed then, is between 55 and 65mph.

...Then again, that might be the speed of the cars blowing by me.

roadrunner2012

Get a Garmin, it will figure that out for you. It will also log your rides without the use of a pencil and notebook.

RobbieTunes

Here in eastern NC, w/few hills, pedaling is continuous, as is the wind. It's actually not that hard to keep a pretty constant speed.

nlerner

But it will also steal your soul--that's if you have one, of course.

degan

I also live in eastern NC. I commute about 11.25 miles a few times a week and the only real factor is wind. I've averaged as fast as 22 MPH and as slow as 14 MPH over the same exact stretch of road from one day to the next. With no wind, though, I can usually maintain ~18 MPH for the commute.

curbtender

Lucky to get 13, unless I'm late for work.

southpawboston

I've noticed this to be true, but not on a linear scale. By that, I mean that my rolling average speed is the same after 10 miles as it is after 30, as it is after 60 (in fact my rolling average speed actually increases slightly after I've warmed up, after around mile 20-30). But after 70, or 80, or 90 miles, depending on how hilly the route was, or how windy it was that day, I begin to run out of steam, and I definitely see my speed drop... sometimes drastically...as low as 12 mph, dragging my total rolling average for the day down to about 14mph. Before I begin running out of steam, my rolling average is between 15-15.5 mph.

Yesterday, I rode 82 moderately hilly miles (close to 3700 feet of elevation gain), and my rolling average for the day was 14.2mph.

On really strenuous rides that involve lots of mountainous up-downs, my rolling averages are more like 11mph.

Savagewolf

On a couple of my bikes I have a wired computer, on a couple others I use a Garmin that I switch around, on a couple others I don't have any computer at all. If I find I want to check my speed, or more often just the distance I did, then I plot the route on google and input the time I started and ended when I input it on Bike Journal. It has a calculate average to tell me my speed.

repechage

Besides drinking enough, which my nutritionist has set targets that I cannot keep, eating during a longer ride starting at about the 60 minute mark really really helps keep tempo up late in the ride, avoiding the bonks.

repechage

No wonder those smart phone apps are so popular. I have had my suspicions about them, but they are better than nothing. I probably remember to turn them on, about 20% of the time. I refuse to be a Strava Slave. I see plenty of guys running red lights and blowing through stop signs to keep themselves happy.

RobE30

Based on the number of horse crap piles/the number of Mennonite women riding up hill in full dresses, I come up w an average speed of 14.5mph. I'm ok with that number. It's significantly faster than my walking pace at work (per pedometer, 4.6mph) and its more fun

obrentharris 

I have found that being without a soul has its advantages: It keeps the evangelical proselytizers at bay and cuts down on wind resistance, thus increasing my average speed.
Brent

roadrunner2012

I'll keep that under consideration, not that it makes any sense whatsoever.

frantik

i don't use a cycle computer but i usually average 10-15 mph on longer rides.

gomango

My average speed is in direct relation to the time my wife has told me to be home.

Likely a mathematical formula is available for this sort of application.

roadrunner2012

Never mistake someone else's actions for something you should emulate. The nice thing about a GPS is that you can track your progress, or lack of.

RideWithGPS gives you more data in the free version than the Free Strava, the paid Strava is nice, but once my promo offer ended, I didn't feel the need to re-up. RWGPS has plenty of info in it's free version, but the competitive aspect of Strava does have some appeal. With the free version, I only compete with myself and 1000's of youngsters whose numbers mean nothing. When I had the paid version I did find myself competing in my age group.

Now I just compete against myself. I ride slowly enough that yesterday I found a sterling silver bracelet w/turquoise stones, and today a $5 bill. I have no problem stopping for something no matter how fast I'm going, or turning around and tossing a segment out the window. I ride for me, and my well being. Keeping track of my fitness and knowing if I improve is just and added plus.

Having no soul has it's benefits. Holding a stupid grudge, not so much.

-holiday76

i had a computer i couldn't see easily on a touring bike. after a few years i took it off and it said i went 9,000 some miles and averaged exactly 14mph.

if anything im usually more concerned with tracking miles. so much so that i dont even do that anymore.