Originally Posted by
Kertrek
On my hybrid I got up to 23.1mph on a flat 500ft stretch of road. On my new road bike I got 26.3mph on the same 500ft stretch of road. I haven't really practiced sprints much. I've read up on racing (which I'm think of trying out eventually) and apparently at a Cat-5 crit, racers will often maintain a speed of 28-30mph during an entire crit. I can't even get that fast when I'm hammering, which is a little discouraging. How fast is considered a respectable sprint speed on flats?
Well in a crit, you'll be drafting 90% of the time, so it's easier (but obviously not easy) to maintain high speeds.
Even crit 5 racers will be stronger than almost all casual riders. They can maintain 21+mph without drafting for long periods of time. There is no shame in not being as fast as them.