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Average Speed Woes

Old 07-19-16, 01:02 PM
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Average Speed Woes

Hey all!


I wanted to ask a question in regards to average speed. I recently started using a bit lower gearing and higher cadence and have reached really close to the 20 mile mark, the issue I am having is I started around 10.2 mph average and am now only averaging around between 11.5 and 12.5 depending on the terrain and wind etc. Should this be something I should be worrying about? If I push myself too hard then my legs just quit working after about 10 miles so I am trying to find the "sweet spot". Any advice is much appreciated.
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Old 07-19-16, 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
Hey all!


I wanted to ask a question in regards to average speed. I recently started using a bit lower gearing and higher cadence and have reached really close to the 20 mile mark, the issue I am having is I started around 10.2 mph average and am now only averaging around between 11.5 and 12.5 depending on the terrain and wind etc. Should this be something I should be worrying about? If I push myself too hard then my legs just quit working after about 10 miles so I am trying to find the "sweet spot". Any advice is much appreciated.
What cadence are you riding at? Higher cadence certainly helps against sore legs. Other than that my advice is more riding.
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Old 07-19-16, 01:09 PM
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I quit worrying about that a long time ago. I suppose if you rode on a track and controlled stops, wind, traffic ect, maybe it might help you keep track of fitness. I commute and ride around town, a lot, I do good to average 13 mph due to lights, following traffic laws etc. I do have a TomTom that helps keep track of average speeds but I cannot remember last time I looked at that. but other than that I just have fun.
Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
Hey all!


I wanted to ask a question in regards to average speed. I recently started using a bit lower gearing and higher cadence and have reached really close to the 20 mile mark, the issue I am having is I started around 10.2 mph average and am now only averaging around between 11.5 and 12.5 depending on the terrain and wind etc. Should this be something I should be worrying about? If I push myself too hard then my legs just quit working after about 10 miles so I am trying to find the "sweet spot". Any advice is much appreciated.
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Old 07-19-16, 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by dr_lha
What cadence are you riding at? Higher cadence certainly helps against sore legs. Other than that my advice is more riding.

I used to just mash the heck out of gears and ride around 40-50 maybe...now I average around 85-90 cadence in a lower gear. I feel MUCH better, just my average speed went down in doing so.
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Old 07-19-16, 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
I used to just mash the heck out of gears and ride around 40-50 maybe...now I average around 85-90 cadence in a lower gear. I feel MUCH better, just my average speed went down in doing so.
Well feeling better is the important thing, especially if it allows you to push to longer distances. Higher average speeds will come as your fitness improves.
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Old 07-19-16, 02:05 PM
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doesn't any performance metric improve with training? I like making note of my average, especially over time over the same route(s) but there's little I can do to influence it. I accept the low numbers and sometimes get a happy surprise with a high number. but yeah, where's the sweet (cadence) spot, right?
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Old 07-19-16, 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
doesn't any performance metric improve with training? I like making note of my average, especially over time over the same route(s) but there's little I can do to influence it. I accept the low numbers and sometimes get a happy surprise with a high number. but yeah, where's the sweet (cadence) spot, right?
Depends on the person, as it turns out, but typically in the 80-100 range.
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Old 07-19-16, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by dr_lha
Well feeling better is the important thing, especially if it allows you to push to longer distances. Higher average speeds will come as your fitness improves.


Thanks for the reply. I was a bit discouraged with the lower number, but it is good to know that it will go up. I did after all go from a 4 mile ride to a 17 mile ride. The difference is the 4 mile ride made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack, the 17 mile ride just felt great!
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Old 07-19-16, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
Thanks for the reply. I was a bit discouraged with the lower number, but it is good to know that it will go up. I did after all go from a 4 mile ride to a 17 mile ride. The difference is the 4 mile ride made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack, the 17 mile ride just felt great!
Sounds like you're making excellent progress to me. Honestly if you're not racing, IMHO extending to longer distances is more important than increasing your speed.
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Old 07-19-16, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by dr_lha
Sounds like you're making excellent progress to me. Honestly if you're not racing, IMHO extending to longer distances is more important than increasing your speed.


That makes absolute sense to me. It seems to get easier as I lose weight. I am down to 283 or so from 303-305 depending on the day.
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Old 07-19-16, 02:59 PM
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what kind of bike? size tires? fat tires, 12mph is pretty good
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Old 07-19-16, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by jsigone
what kind of bike? size tires? fat tires, 12mph is pretty good


I wish I could say it's a fat bike. I upgraded to a Specialized Roubaix SL4 Sport which I fell in love with on the very first ride. I will say that I also push up to 26-28 mph on a slight downhill. 25 mm tires by the way.
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Old 07-19-16, 05:29 PM
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Your average speed may or may not increase with distance and effort. With serious training it will likely increase. Your ambitions and goals will determine if faster speed matters. Are you enjoying the ride? To me that is what really matters. That said my average speed has increased over time.
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Old 07-20-16, 11:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Black wallnut
Your average speed may or may not increase with distance and effort. With serious training it will likely increase. Your ambitions and goals will determine if faster speed matters. Are you enjoying the ride? To me that is what really matters. That said my average speed has increased over time.

I am really just out enjoying the ride. I love seeing big numbers in the miles ridden category and the feeling I get knowing that I didn't give up when I wanted to. Which seems to happen quite often but I just keep trucking and reap the rewards. I love the riding here in the Yakima area.
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Old 07-20-16, 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
I used to just mash the heck out of gears and ride around 40-50 maybe...now I average around 85-90 cadence in a lower gear. I feel MUCH better, just my average speed went down in doing so.
Once you get accommodated to spinning, then start working at spinning a harder gear. Just one click higher, spin hard to get to your 85-90 range and work on getting stronger faster in that gear range.

mash big gear = slow
spin easy gear = not so slow
spin big gear = fast

But it takes time... months and years of time.

Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
I wish I could say it's a fat bike. I upgraded to a Specialized Roubaix SL4 Sport which I fell in love with on the very first ride. I will say that I also push up to 26-28 mph on a slight downhill. 25 mm tires by the way.
700x25 are just fine. Not going to slow you down at all.

Last edited by andr0id; 07-20-16 at 11:20 AM.
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Old 07-20-16, 11:42 AM
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I also recommend looking for group rides, which will push you to longer distances and higher speeds. My club has group rides for all levels, from 8mph average to 20mph average speeds.
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Old 07-20-16, 12:07 PM
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[QUOTE=andr0id;18925813]Once you get accommodated to spinning, then start working at spinning a harder gear. Just one click higher, spin hard to get to your 85-90 range and work on getting stronger faster in that gear range.

mash big gear = slow
spin easy gear = not so slow
spin big gear = fast

But it takes time... months and years of time.




I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself then. I have only been at it 5 months with 2 of those off due to surgery. I thought as much in terms of just trying bigger and bigger gears. Essentially I went from the big ring in front to the small one. Before I used maybe the first 3 gears where now I pretty much use them all. I figured utilizing them all is probably a better idea since they are there. Although, hills still kill me even in the "granny" gear.
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Old 07-20-16, 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
I am really just out enjoying the ride. I love seeing big numbers in the miles ridden category and the feeling I get knowing that I didn't give up when I wanted to. Which seems to happen quite often but I just keep trucking and reap the rewards. I love the riding here in the Yakima area.
Have you joined in with any of the Yakima Basin Velo rides? If you have the means and are not opposed to traveling I am leading an easy ride from The ReCycle shop in Ellensburg on Wednesday evenings. 5:30 PM. We ride for about an hour at a pace that all who ride can keep. Generally 12mph or less. These rides usually do not have many participants due to the craptastic weather we have so far had this year. Last week a family showed up with three little ones so our pace was about 6mph, they had a great time!
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Old 07-20-16, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by jsigone
what kind of bike? size tires? fat tires, 12mph is pretty good
And depending on grade, etc. Around here, flat roads, 12 mph would be a cruise. Put me in the hills and I'm awful at climbing.. so 12 mph may be good.
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Old 07-20-16, 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by JReade
And depending on grade, etc. Around here, flat roads, 12 mph would be a cruise. Put me in the hills and I'm awful at climbing.. so 12 mph may be good.


The roads that I ride on are 2 MUP's at the moment. The first one is a steady grade not sure of the percentage and the other is quite varied. There are about 8 big hills on it.
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Old 07-21-16, 10:48 AM
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I'm not sure I understand whether the OP's average speed has gone up or down with the increased leg speed, but it doesn't matter, and is nothing to worry about at this point.

My advice to the OP is to keep at, and to push yourself in one way or another. Interval training, where you go hard for a bit, then easy, then hard again, is a great training tool, as it conditions your body both to stress and to recovery. Do that on some rides, then on others, spend a ride working on high cadence, another on going easy and longer distance; mix up what you're doing on each ride, so that you train different abilities and don't burn out by pushing continuosly for some random target which is really insignificant to your development as a rider, or which may even be unattainable given your current situation (i.e. conditioning, equipment, routes, etc.).

When doing intervals, consider pushing hard at lower cadence (65-75rpm) for a couple of minutes, right up until that "heart attack" feeling, then shifting gears, easing back on the effort with a higher leg speed (80s rpm) and let your heart rate come back down and catch breath for 5 minutes, then do it again. Repeat that alternating scenario for several times, like 4 each, and you'll pass a good 35 minute ride hopefully feeling like you made a good effort, but didn't wipe yourself out. That'll do a lot of fitness building for you.

As you become more comfortable with the efforts, alternately turn up duration and intensity of the hard intervals, but keep the easy recovery part easy, that's important. My guess is that by the time you're ready to do that, you'll be looking at riding differently, and eyeing hills and little rises as opportunities to drop the hammer! You'll start enjoying those hard efforts, confident in the knowledge you can go hard and still feel good and recover after.
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Old 07-21-16, 11:10 AM
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Originally Posted by making
I quit worrying about that a long time ago. I suppose if you rode on a track and controlled stops, wind, traffic ect, maybe it might help you keep track of fitness. I commute and ride around town, a lot, I do good to average 13 mph due to lights, following traffic laws etc. I do have a TomTom that helps keep track of average speeds but I cannot remember last time I looked at that. but other than that I just have fun.

^^This^^


I often don't even take the computer on my road bike out of sleep mode. I always have my touring bike computer on when I tour, but that's often a totally different animal. It's helpful to know things like how many miles you have left on that 15 mile climb, and you don't want to get lost in the middle of nowhere. But even then I leave it on the mode that shows top speed for the trip, switching it do trip distance only when I feel it might be useful to know how far I have gone and how close I am to the next turn. When top speed mode is displayed, my current speed is not displayed. That's a huge psychological advantage for me as I don't get discouraged by seeing how slowly I might be going or get worried if I see I am descending quite rapidly. I just ride within myself, enjoy the moment and forget about statistics unless I truly need to focus on them.
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Old 07-21-16, 01:51 PM
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Average speed is only a useful metric when viewed over extended periods of time. Months or longer. And even then, it's heavily influenced by innumerable variables. I was tearing it up in June, then Pokemon Go came out, so my avg. speed has dropped a significant amount.



A trend over time I like to watch more closely is heart beats per mile. While HR during any given ride is dependent on almost as many variables as avg. speed, less beats per mile is better, because that (generally) means more endurance.



You'll note that in July my HR is up while avg. speed is down... and that's just because it's wicked hot. By the time I got home today, it was 102º.
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Old 07-21-16, 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Nstoltzner
... I started around 10.2 mph average and am now only averaging around between 11.5 and 12.5 depending on the terrain and wind etc...
That is an improvement of between 13% and 23%; not bad to pretty good, depending on how hard you want to be with yourself.

As you become fitter, you will be able to select a higher gear, maintain the higher cadence, and increase your speed even more. Patience...
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Old 07-21-16, 02:22 PM
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Originally Posted by PatrickR400
That is an improvement of between 13% and 23%; not bad to pretty good, depending on how hard you want to be with yourself.

As you become fitter, you will be able to select a higher gear, maintain the higher cadence, and increase your speed even more. Patience...

Thanks for bringing that up...I never thought to look at it as a 23% gain in average speed. Which to me isn't too shabby. I am thinking I should be a lot easier on myself and just keep cranking out the miles.
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