jyl

I am curious. How fast do you get along, on your commute?

- What is your cruising speed, I mean when you are up to speed and tootling along? 10 mph? 15 mph? 20 mph?

- What is your average speed including stops, lights, speeding up, slowing down? As in distance divided by time?

Even when I work hard to spend as much time above 20 mph as possible, my average speed for the journey is low, about 15 mph. I have a pretty short commute, but it is all urban riding.

You guys with longer or less urban commutes, do you ride faster or manage higher average speeds?

Mr. Hairy Legs

For me, cruising speed depends more on the wind than anything else.

I average about 15 mph in good weather, a bit less in rain/dark etc. My 10 mile commute takes me anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes.

The Chemist

My commute is 24km one way. About half of that is low traffic with few traffic lights, and on that section I am usually able to average 31-33km/h fairly easily. However, the rest of my commute has much heavier traffic, and so the overall result is that my 24km commute usually takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete - but that also does include 10-15 minutes waiting for and riding the ferry across the river (bikes are not permitted on bridges or in tunnels in Shanghai).

erig007

On my best days i can do 40mph on average yep 40 millimeters per hour

fietsbob

Realistic for a 65 year old.

1lonerider

With a 50/50 mix of city streets and dedicated bike paths about the same for me. Generally longer in the winter with snow and ice to deal with.

acidfast7

seems that I have a rolling average of between 20 and 22km/h or between 12.5 and 14mph with about 10 stopping events at red lights.

that's on a MTB w/knobbies and a 25km (14 mile) RT commute.

DocsDad

On my Trek 4300 MTB with 26" x 2.2" knobbies I also average about 14-15 mph over a 30 mile road ride. Hopefully, I will increase this substantially now that I have a new Trek 7.2 FX running 700 x 35's. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to try it due to the Michigan winter as I bought it just before Christmas.

JoeyBike

Same as you. 18-22 on long stretches. 15 average.

b_twill

All urban commute, about 15 stop signs/lights in my 9 mile trip. During the summer I will have a moving average around 17 mph, over all average around 15 mph, of course this varies with the wind...
I'm looking to get a new bike for this summer so hopefully those numbers will increase!

tsl

Jeepers! What a pleasure cruise.

My direct route, 9 miles round-trip, has 47 stoplights or stop signs, and a roundabout. That's a stoplight/stop sign every 1,000 feet on average. Now that's urban. (Is it any wonder why I go through brake pads like others go through chain lube?)

acidfast7

I love roundabouts. If the art in the middle is very nice (like a Roman ruin or the local Elvis Presley statue), I'll go around a few times.

PubRider

5-9 miles depending on whether I take the straight or scenic route...

16-18mph direct route, 13-15mph Scenic...

DJ Shaun

Summer bike
Direct route: 12km (7.5 miles)
Average speed: 22-26kph (14-16mph) [Record is 26.7kph]
Cruising speed:30-35kph (19-22mph)
To work: 44 traffic lights + 2 stop signs
To home: 46 traffic lights + 1 stop signs

Winter bike
Direct route: 13km (8.1 miles)
Average speed: 15-18kph (9-11mph)
Cruising speed: 20-25kph (12-16mph)
To work: 39 traffic lights + 7 stop signs
To home: 40 traffic lights + 7 stop signs

The ride is usually faster to work then back.
It is very urban. I replace tires and brake pads quite often.
On the plus side, my acceleration from a dead stop is quite good.

martianone

the 8 km paved on-road portion takes around 20 min, including yield stops and two stop lights.

droy45

My cyclo computer tells me the average speed is 12mph and 9mph in the winter dealing with ice, snow, and studded tires. My commute is 11 miles one way, hilly terrain and I have 3 stop lights.

GFish

Interesting to see the number of stop lights and signs people encounter in their commute.

My commute is 30 miles round trip with 20 of those miles on a mix of highways and rural roads with no stops. To work; 8 stop signs and 2 stop lights. To home; 5 stop signs and 5 stop lights.

When I started commuting last year, my son told me don't worry about speed, commuting is about getting from point A to B safely and comfortably. I think of these words while commuting, but still challenge myself on some days to ride faster.

Each direction takes between 50 and 58 minutes. I average a little over 15 mph each way. Some days with less wind, cruising speed is over 18 mph and others closer to 15 mph, just depends on weather.

Interesting though, is that my overall speed and time didn't change when switching from a steel MTB with 26 x 1.5" slicks to a steel SS with drop bars. I believe the SS is actually a little faster with 42 x 16 gears.

Rick@OCRR

I commute on a DaHon folder, a bit over an hour round-trip. When I get up to speed I can plug along at 15 or 16 mph but with lights and stop signs, average is 14.0 best and 11.5 worst.

Rick / OCRR

PS: On a really good day, with a tail-wind, and hitting the lights on green, I can cruise at 19-20 mph. Those are also (no coincidence) the 14 mph average days!

gerv 

I don't have a cyclo computer, so no idea how fast I travel. There are so many factors affecting speed anyway... I can say I really enjoying going as fast as I do

J.Montuori

My 18 mile (1 way) commute averages 12 mph. It's 2/3 MUT and 1/3 winding, hilly, suburban streets.

wphamilton

My 9.5 miles to work, taking the local MUP for most of it, has two stoplights, one stop sign and is mostly flat grade +/- 2. So with this almost perfect commute I average 19-20 mph in the summer, but I feel good about 16-17 mph in the winter. Average speed in my experience on my route is about 1 mph to at most 2 mph slower than the "cruising speed" you keep up between stops or hills.

sbslider

Cruising speed 19-21mph, a bit faster on a good day. I ride a Surly Cross Check with 25mm GP4000 tires. Tires and bike type can be a huge factor in speed. Even though I do not use the drop position of my handle bars much my average speed went up 2 mph over my mountain bike running high pressure road tires.
My computer tells me my average speed is 16 mph
My commute route varies from day to day, anywhere from 5.5 to 10 or more miles one way, depending on the route for the day. Generally between 7 and 8 miles one way.
Most of my commute routes are fairly flat, with a minimum of stop lights or stop signs. That is why I take those routes, I would rather spend more time pedaling then sitting at intersections.

JanMM

10 miles each way on my suburban/urban commute. Moving average speed generally 15-16 mph. Personal best 17. Stretches at 20+.
I never compute absolute average.

MattFoley

AM commute is 7.3 miles with about 400 ft of climbing. I alternate between my CX commuter and my CF road bike. I usually average about 16mph on the CX bike, and 18-19 on my road bike. My AM route is all on roads, but can be done without putting my foot down, under ideal circumstances, but usually I have to clip out 2-3 times, so it's pretty quick. My PM commute is mostly the reverse of the AM route, but takes a bit longer due to left turns and heavier traffic, so my average is usually 15-16mph regardless of bike.

Bluish Green

For 2012, my overall average speed for all miles was 10.8 mph. 87% of my miles were urban city street commuting, loaded panniers, stop signs and lights, etc. About 20% on winter tires. All kinds of weather. YMMV