Thread: Average speed?
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Old 03-23-10 | 08:04 PM
  #98  
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Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
Just another example why average speed is the wrong metric. Tonight I rode for an hour; did time trial intervals, 4x8. My average speed was only 18.2mph, but it was a very hard workout.

I could have easily averaged 21-22mph with less effort, but would not have targeted what I wanted to work on, or got as much benefit from the workout.

So telling you I average 18.2 mph really tells you nothing useful.
And along the same lines, in the exmaples I posted the first one with the tempo and anaerobic intervals was much harder than the second one that was a more steady effort, even though the speed was slower, and much of the route was the same.
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