randplaty

I've never really been concerned with speed, but recently I introduced a couple of my friends to cycling, and they're faster than me on their first ride!

They're seriously dropping me, and I haven't been cycling for very long, maybe a few years but they're significantly faster than me and my legs are burning to keep up with them. I am better than them on the hills, but why am I so slow? One guy, was seriously his first ride over 1 mile, and he was much faster than me. My other friend doesn't even have his own bike. He rode one of mine.

I probably go 12mph without burning my legs up, but to go 15-18 mph it really hurts. They seem to be able to cruise at 15 mph on their first ride.

At first I thought maybe my friend is just fit, but then my other friend is also faster than me. Again, I've never been concerned with speed, but this is really humbling!

UCIMBZ

They might be faster, but you are better.

Seattle Forrest

How long was the ride? A lot of people can drop the hammer for five miles, and then putter out; a brilliant flash that ends not with a bang, but a whimper.

tagaproject6

Yup, how long and how far was the ride?

gundom66

What gears are they using? What are you using? What's their cadence? Are their pedal strokes faster or slower than yours? Maybe you should try to match up their gear and pedal stroke and decide from there.

Vicelord

I went riding with a friend who dropped the hammer on me bad last week while riding a rented bike and was the first time he had ridden a road bike.

He is in better shape than me.

Simple as that. Is that picture in your avatar you? You look pretty young, if you're a young teenager, there can be a huge difference in the way your body has matured. You might be riding with friends that are your age but have the physical strength of a man, whereas you might not have developed as much.

randplaty

The most recent ride was about 20 miles. Its true he couldn't last as long on the bike as me, but that was cuz of the seat and his butt hurt... not really because of the legs. They were both mashing the gears more than I do, my cadence was generally higher. I've tried mashing before, but I get tired even more easily. Maybe I've just never trained very hard cuz I didn't care about speed, now all of a sudden I'm embarrassed and now I do care about speed.

randplaty

heheh yeah that's me...except I'm 30 .

Vicelord

well at 30, not being able to do 15mph with a couple of years of cycling under the belt is a little alarming.

There has to be more to the story.

climber7

if what's important to you is getting out there and getting some exercise, then it doesn't matter how fast you're going.

15-18 is a big range. on some routes with a lot of hills, averaging 18 mph might be hard even for a strong rider. riding up a steep mountain at even 15 mph could be really hard or impossible. that said, if you're talking about mostly flat roads, 15 mph isn't a particularly fast cruising speed for someone who rides regularly, and 15-18 on a flat road shouldn't "really hurt" most people, unless maybe you have huge knobby tires or something. what kind of bike are you riding?

WCG

[QUOTE=randplaty;13301804]I've never really been concerned with speed, but recently I introduced a couple of my friends to cycling, and they're faster than me on their first ride!

Faster than I.

Vicelord

[QUOTE=WCG;13302145]Because the most important aspect of internet forums is pretending you're a first grade teacher.

justkeepedaling

I have great difficulty riding under 15 mph on rolling terrain, sounds like there's something wrong here. What's your setup like? Could be your bearings are dragging like crazy. Or that you've been cruising around for years. Honestly, my neice rides faster than 15 mph. Build those leg muscles!

patentcad

You just have to get your average speed up.

kbro1986

[QUOTE=Vicelord;13302193]rofl.

musicmaster

Your friends obviously have some other type of aerobic athletic ability. When I first started biking seriously last summer, I quickly was doing 25 mile rides within 2 weeks of getting my road bike averaging 17+, but I had been a distance runner for 9 years at that point. Now I'd be pissed if the same ride were under 20

kbro1986

I used to run cross country in high school. I ran ALL summer to prepare. Everyday. What bothered me the most was how some of my teammates could roll out of bed hung over (not having run at all), and kick my butt. I think it boils down to your fitness.

If you want to be a FAST biker, you need to train to be a FAST biker.

i.e. intervals, distance and most importantly periodization. (read Joe Friel's stuff)

waynesworld

[QUOTE=Vicelord;13302193]And, it isn't that simple: https://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com...s-than-me.aspx

pdedes

going fast hurts. clearly your threshold of pain is lacking.

ErichM

Try to get your protein levels up, you'll be faster than him in no time.

Vicelord

Nope, he will just counter with more protein for himself.

kbro1986

best way to get a high amount of protein is taking pills up the butt. forget the protein shakes and powder...

Makel

Those over 1 mile rides are brutal. IFYP

Vicelord

That's how I get drunk on the weekends.

RedZone

You must be a real hit with the ladies.