chrisp2135

I'm just wondering how long it took people to get fast. I used to be a sponsored runner, but injuries forced me to "retire" so I've taken up cycling. Everyone told me I would pick it up in no time because I already had such good endurance, but I suck. I've been riding daily for nine months and haven't seen much improvement. I'm very competitive and hope to race some day, but right now I would get crushed. I would love to hear from others about their progression.

I'd also like to know what pace is considered good. For example, if you run a 5K in under 15 minutes you aren't making a living, but most runners would say that's pretty good and nobody would say you suck.

PepeM

What's your average speed mate? As for what is fast: 41.

RollCNY

OP,
Two things:
First, if you want to get faster, ride with faster people. This is one of the more commonly things said here, and it is well nigh universally true.

Second, I defined fast as being able to do 25 miles solo in an hour and fifteen minutes (hold 20mph for that time). I couldn't do it until my second season of cycling. Holding 20mph for an hour seems to be a pretty common goal.

TexMac

9 months is too soon. Cycling is very humbling and it took me atleast 4 months to hang on a 30mile, 18mphr av group...I did play rugby & soccer in college so that might have helped. Riding daily might not be good if you are not leaving days for recovering. That's one of the issues with new competitive cyclist is we don't understand you get stronger on "rest/recovery" days and not on bike. On the other hand you can ride daily slow and be OK.

TrojanHorse

I'll let you know when I get there

It's very environmentally dependent (wind, hills etc). Go fire up a strava account and see what the other goons in your area are doing.

If you just started and you're not seeing any improvement after 9 months, you're probably doing it wrong. Post an update with your general training plan (or habit) and where you are today in terms of speed and endurance and somebody will have some good tips for you. I also agree with what RoCNY said above.

chaadster

Strava will let you know how you're doing...in your area, at least, but if you live in a vibrant cycling community with lots of people on the leaderboards (as in a thousand+ to a few thousand), then you can probably translate that out a little further afield.

rms13

1. Yes. OP have you started riding with any groups yet? If not find a club with a race team and start training with them. You shouldn't be thinking about racing until you know how to ride in a large group.

2. 20 mph sustained under what conditions. I don't consider myself to be fast (more like 15 mph avg on solo rides). But for me 25 miles may contain 2500 feet of climbing or more. Most of the people I follow on Strava in my area that do race or I consider fast are averaging 17-18 mph on similar rides (and that's usually with a group)

Bandera

Fearing the inevitable crushing that comes with taking up a new and highly technical sport won't get you anywhere.
Join a Cycling Club, participate in the program and test yourself.
A good club will have a rider development program to learn the skills and work on the endurance, power and speed necessary to compete safely.

PS: The local "Fast Pace" ride is more likely to be a testosterone poisoned straggling gaggle lacking real pace than a proper training ride by a USA Cycling affiliated club.
Don't waste your time, join a Cycling Club and have at it.

-Bandera

Seattle Forrest

A lot of people pick cycling up and improve in leaps and bounds pretty quickly. But a lot of people get told "you should walk 10,000 steps every day" and think "Great! McDonalds is 5,000 steps from here!" If you've been a fairly serious runner for a long time, you're not going to make the same cardio gains as a typical couch potato.

It's good advice to sign up for Strava (free) and compare yourself against other people who ride the same routes.

There's really no good universal number to throw out for what makes someone fast. There was a thread a couple days ago about whether it's a good idea to coast or not, for the most part people in hilly places said "you should coast so you can spend your energy where it counts" and people in flat places said "you shouldn't stop pedaling if your goal is exercise." Last night I rode for an hour and a half, my average speed was pretty low but I went up a lot of hills and my average power was pretty high.

popeye

Coming from a running background you probably ride like a lot of trifolks in time trail mode. One speed/effort the whole ride. A program includes over under intervals where you stress your body like never before. Check out one of the many training programs that fit your schedule if your goal is to get fast. Quality recovery is where you get stronger not on the bike.

chaadster

Goddam! I miss the mountains...they make you strong.

As a counterpoint, I've done 25 mile rides out in Detroit, and clocked exactly ZERO elevation gain! Out here in the Deuce, though, it's more typical to grab 800-900ft of gain in that distance. We call it "not flat," stopping short of "hilly"!

12strings

Yep, intervals are where it's at...I saw improvement in just a few weeks of intervals twice a week, plus one longer steady ride per week...rest every other day...

That was after commuting at steady speeds over a year with only mild improvements...

RollCNY

Absolutely terrain matters. My 25 mile loop starts and ends at my garage, and has 250ft of elevation gain and loss. It was as close to flat as I could create. There is no magic in 20 mph solo, but to me, and to some others, it was kind of a goal set.

On the 50 mile group ride that I do, with 2200 ft of elevation gain and loss, an 18.2 to 18.5 average is brutal, and feels far harder than the 25 miles at 20 ride. But the OP asked for a benchmark, so I gave him the one that I used.

smarkinson

A 40km or 25 mile time trial is a useful measure of how good a cyclist you are. Many people would be happy to just do it in under one hour. The really good guys would be aiming for below 55mins. The pros would be averaging 55kmh (34mph) which would take 48mins.

I remember doing a 40km TT once and Robert de castella (1983 world champion marathon runner) did a time around 53 mins. It was a long time ago so I don't remember the exact time, but it was pretty good for a retired runner.

merlinextraligh

I was going to say sub hour 40k. Most Cat 4 and above racers can do that. if you can break an hour, no recreational rider is going to call you slow.

To compare to a 15 minute 5k, I'd bet fewer runners can do 15 minute 5k than than cyclists can do a sub hour 40k, so it might be more like a 56-58 minute 40km.

As for being fast enough to race, do a group ride, then do faster group rides. When you're hanging with the fast group rides, sign up and race.

Seattle Forrest

My god. I can't imagine doing that here. I mean there are places where it would be possible (even without repeating a mile) but I'd have to put some work into looking for them. Nothing like that in the city where I ride most of my miles.

SpeshulEd 

City riding makes a sub hour 40km loop difficult. I might be able to pull it off on the trainer though. I should give that a try someday.

Right now my current record is 1:07:31 for 40km. I still consider myself fairly fast though for a fatty.

chaadster

Add to that it's Detroit, a "city" unlike any other in the world, and it is pretty surreal. Fascinating, depressing, infuriating and inspirational, too, I guess...for me at least. I definitely recommend a ride around the D for everyone; it's 143 square miles, so you could easily do a zero elevation gain century!

bt

where's the fire?

datlas 

Way too many variables to give you an answer.

Join a local cycling club. Ride with others. You will figure out soon enough how "fast" you are. You can start with a friendly sporting/enthusiast club, and if you are doing well move up to an amateur racing club.

caloso

How fast is fast? How tall is a tree? How long is a piece of string?

WalksOn2Wheels

Hmmm, I guess I've misunderstood "flat" as a relative term. It's common to get about 12-1500 feet of elevation gain in a 25 mile ride around here, and I always thought we were "flat" with some rollers.

GhostSS

What is considered fast? I tend to rate this based on other riders I see in person when riding solo, so it's relative to your local cycling culture. I tend to maintain 20 mph and I pass nearly everyone. It took me roughly 8 months to get comfortable doing that, but I enjoy riding fast so it was something that I always consider when riding. I have been able to sprint up to 36 mph on a single speed, but I haven't tested my max sprint on a proper roadbike yet.

Seattle Forrest

All over the west, especially in Washington State.

ingo

Sub one hour 40k TT rides on a regular road bike would be very good, more than 250 watts sustained. Maybe shoot for 1:05 on a road bike, rolling course. To start racing you need some endurance and some speed so train for both.