I'm a new racer, just did my first race last week. Didn't do too bad, here is my experience/stats for your comparison.
I have about 4200 miles in my legs in the last 6 months when I took up cycling.
Flat land with a couple small hills I can average 21-22 for about 25 miles solo. (when I say average, that is what my average says at the end of the ride, not what I look down and see at various points in the ride)
Group rides I do pretty well on the flats, leave a bit to be desired on longer climbs,
and can suck a mean wheel
My first race was a crit. The distance turned out to be 14.5 miles. The average speed was 24.3. The max speed was 30.5. Lots of break aways and the speed was constantly varying.
The race merlin speaks of would kick my arse, but I also think it would have kicked most of the people's butts in the race I was in. The lead pack only consisted of 10 of the original 50 starters.
I'll try and get my second race video done with more of an overall feel for how the entire race goes as soon as I can.
Steve