I disagree with Doohickey's approach there, and I expect that most riders, if they use a computer that shows "average speed" as one of the functions, that's the number they're going to report as average speed, rather than using a timer, map, and dividing it out.
That being said, I'm approaching 24,000 miles of cycling so far, and I'm still not especially fast. So if some kid hops on a bike the first time and is faster than me, that just wouldn't surprise me at all. It's a combination of a lot of different factors. When you read on the internet that everyone's faster than you, you can say "Well, they're all just exaggerating!". But when you get out on the road and everyone passes you up, you're out of excuses and have to face the fact that other people might really be faster than you, even if they haven't trained as hard or as long as you have. And that might or might not change as you ride more. Do what you reasonably can to improve, and learn to accept it otherwise. (Also accept the fact that the people passing you may not look overly athletic!)
PS. I'm at 8,200 miles for this year, and averaging 15.29 mph as shown on my bike computer, for what that is worth.
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
Last edited by StephenH; 08-08-11 at 07:52 PM.