http://app.strava.com/rides/13174880 Gravel roads on an MTB, 11.4 mph

http://app.strava.com/rides/7184193 Pavement and gravel racing on a 74 Paramount, 16.4 mph

http://app.strava.com/rides/14657915 Commuting on a Surley LHT, 16.3 mph

http://app.strava.com/rides/14188132 Racing an MTB, 10.2 mph

I track mostly for the miles, though there is certainly an element of competition with my friends as far as speed and climbs. It is all part of what makes riding fun for me. New bike, C&V bike, on road, off road, wrenching, restoring-it is all a part.

Yes, people inflate their numbers by various means, because of egos. I'm sure men do that more than others. So they take the bigger number, which is their typical cruising speed (TCS), not moving average (MA) or end-to-end average (EEA). However TCS is actually a useful number, among other numbers. To gauge if two riders are compatible, it could be useful to compare all three: TCS, MA, and EEA. I don't mind stopping a lot, so my EEA is very low, which could annoy people.

As for how fast the average person goes, it's very variable. Consider, also, that people who pay attention to these statistics are, by definition, bike nuts, so the cited numbers are going to be far above average of the spectrum of bike riders. I meet some people who say, "I love to ride my bike!" and it turns out they take three outings per summer on a pedestrian path in a park. They go one to five miles at an 8 mph pace.

And there are people who commute on crappy old bikes. If you average them into the entire population, most people on BF are speed demons.

Neither the 8 mph park cyclist nor the commuter on the crappy old bike knows how fast he goes.

And the amount of power required to increase your speed by 1 mph is quite a lot. So there are so many levels of cyclists, and it's so difficult to keep up with someone just two or three levels above you. So the answer is quite elusive.

Now if you want to compare bike nuts like us, I'd say the range is 12 to 19 mph. Even that is a huge range. And when you mix in my wife, she can't manage to improve her moving average above 10 mph! And that's not from lack of trying. Mind you, we live in a hilly area.

I always just let the computer calculate the average. I never put too much thought into how it's math works. Funny thing is, the longer the ride, the more that calculated number seems to gravitate towards a certain number. It just seems like when I add more distance, the number of stops, number of uphills, downhills, etc. just seem to average out so that the longer I go, the closer I get to this one number (it happens to be 16.4 mph).

While I generally have started to relax more and smell the roses, there are always days when I feel like want to do nothing put push push push. On those occasions, if I'm shooting for a certain higher average, I'll take into account the potential stops and push harder in the flats to compensate for it. A poorly timed red light can easily drop .2mph off of the average. But it's included in the computation because I really was riding slower for those 100feet or so.

The lesson is pick your partners carefully. You might be able to keep up with those guys easily if you push yourself for the next three rides. I say that because while it was a strain, you succeeded. This means you're really only behind them by a small amount.

:roflmao2:for many reasons....

Post-ride chat:
"So, what'd you average?"
"Well, I was up to 26, and climbed at 16."
"So, what'd you average?"
"Probably around 20."
"So, what'd you average?
"What do you mean?"
"When did you leave?"
"9:00, same as you."
"When did you get back?"
"12:33."
"So, you went 63 miles in 3:33 That's how fast you are."
"No, I averaged more than that."
"You started at 9 and ended at 12:33 and rode 63 miles, right? That's pretty damned fast."
"But I'm faster than that. That includes stops, traffic lights, and all the other stuff."
"I know you are. However, when a rider rides the Tour, no one cares about that. It's time from start to finish."
"But I'm faster than that."
"I know you think you are, but that doesn't count unless you're in a time trial.
A slower guy can take 5 min shorter breaks and beat you."
"So that's what you mean by 'do a brevet, you'll figure it out'?"
"Yep. Bartender! A couple more? Thanks."

Wellllll... averaging the responses and throwing out the 'sports' in the data, (to support my personal bias) I pretty much agree that:

- noglider's post gives us these reference acronyms: TCS = Ego Booster, MA=Pacer, EEA=Route and Partner Planner.

- A app or computer will throw out full-stop time, so fast hard stops and huge jump off the line at lights can keep your average more accurate and provide great exercise.

- Displaying the average speed can be a 'pacer' (do I have that right?). Never drop below average and always try to make it go up on the ride. Great way to torture yourself.

- Requires pretty average terrain, short hills no huge speed increase or decrease.

- Useful when your computer doesn't calculate expected mile lap times weighted by the slope you are on. We only wish...

- Isn't useful like a HRM for exercise.

- Creates one of the more entertaining and friendly sparring on threads.

I use computer and Endomondo average as a pacer and baseline because I have roughly the same exercise routes on average terrain and an average number of required stops, and will eventually show trends in a scatter plot of average speed vs distance. But this is useless unless I spend less time here and more on my bike.

I only bother with a computer on one bike, and it's my runabout not even my main road bike. And to be quite honest I use it more as a speedometer I average at 20mph with that bike constantly but it's a very highly geared SS meant for errands within a 20 minute to 1 hour round trip radius.. when I'm on my main road bike and on the very rare occasion I'm riding with someone with a comp turned on the averages are much lower.. even though I know for fact I can push that bike beyond anything my runabout can do, and it's not like I'm slowing down to let my buddies keep up but keep up they do even if they wheeze and puff the whole time. If you really care about your speed, get strava and look for people who do segments you do with speeds/times similar to your own and you can find people you can push it with! I used to think I didn't care about speed either, but if someone passes me I'll often catch myself slipping into the drops and pushing myself... thank god not many people pass me out here.

I just got back today from 35kms,

tommorow I might do 80 kms one way and get a ride home.

I prefer not to install a computer, my watch is all I will use.
I dont care , just enjoy the ride.
we do have a speed camera with a display before town limits,
its a nice place to see where you peak out-
today I peaked at 43kmh(40 is the limit-no ticket)
on todays little journey I...

went swimming- local lake....nice to view the latest bikini trends

visited the other LBS....very rewarding-he pulled out a ALAN Aluminum lugged frame from the storage room and let me have a spin- sweet but to small for me

went to subway....mans got to eat?!

I like Strava because it gives you the data and you have the choice of never looking at it until you get done with the ride. You can challenge yourself based on "feel" without looking at a computer.

My average is way slower than I think I'm going, typically. That discrepancy is increased dramatically after about 4 beers.

Personally, I think it's very relevant to understand your rolling average speed over different types of road surfaces and elevation profiles to be able to comfortably fit in with a group of riders. This is not to say that focusing on numbers should be a priority, I certainly don't think it should be. I think you need to enjoy your time on the bike.

It's worthless to estimate your average by level ground "cruising speed" only. Speed data only has meaning when it's averaged over the course of a ride, taking into account your climbs and descents. But understanding your speed, whether it be slow or fast, is a good thing. For example, I can see how I've grown as a cyclist over the past few years by looking at my average speeds-- several years ago, I averaged about 13-14mph over a hilly 40 mile ride. Today I average closer to 16mph and can even finish a metric century with an average speed over 16mph if it's not too hilly. A few years ago, I got my butt kicked in a group ride I thought I could handle, but now I know what groups I can keep up with and which ones I shouldn't bother with. It also helps with planning-- I know that if I'm planning a 50 mile ride with 4000 ft of elevation gain, I can expect my rolling average to be about 11 mph, whereas if I plan a flat ride of the same distance, I can expect my rolling average to be 16mph. It's remarkable how accurate my timing can be, I tell my wife I'm going out to do 50 miles and I'll be back in 3.5 hours. And I'm on time! And being on time earns me points if you know what I mean...

Your wife needs to talk to my wife.

Wait. That might backfire on you.

A good way to think of it is relative to everyone else in your life that day:
When are you leaving?
When are you coming back?
Can you pick up some milk?

So when a group advises their ride @ ~18mph (or whatever), are they refering to start-to-finish ave. speed, or rolling (cruising) ave. speed? Not that I do group rides, too much to keep up with. I have one bike w/ a computer, routes that take me through urban areas are typically 3 or 4mph slower ave. speed than rural routes, around here (NC piedmont). Up in the NC mtns. (parkway), my ave. speeds are 4 or 5mph slower than a rural ride here. But other than noticing that, my ave. speeds are pretty consistent, and I don't expect to see them change much.

i ride primarily alone and usually its a time thing more than anything (2hrs, 3hrs - ah - whenever the wife needs me back right)
much more enjoyable than worrying about stats - my buddy is a carbon riding stat dude - and that works for him - to each their own right

This is such an interesting discussion! Like several of you, I started out obsessed with the data and now...not so much. I know a century will take me 6 hours (even around here- we have hills in VA!) and a 50 miler is a 3 hour tour (thank you, Gilligan). Since most of my 10,20 and 35 mile training loops also average out at around 16.5-17.3 (absent stops for parkway crossings and the like), that's probably a good average speed for me if anyone were to ask (or care). But personally, I'm more interested in whether I can get up that hill one gear higher than last week (and over time, one can!) to judge how well my quads and hams are working together on climbs. And I've started not even paying attention to average speeds and instead just looking at the total elapsed moving time. If I can do the 10.5 loop in under 36 minutes door to door, I'm doing well (by the numbers, that averages to 17.5). The 20 miler has more high speed flat runs so door to door is an hour and 6 minutes (= 18.3). During each of those loops I might be going as fast as 34mph in one place and as slow as 8 or 9 mph in another, but on the flats it's a fairly consistent 25mph.

Note as well that not all cyclometers calculate average speed in the same way. Some take total elapsed moving time and total distance (better have the wheel setting correct!) and divide the two, but many actually 'sample' your speed every so many seconds or every tenth of a mile and do the calcs based on history since the beginning of the ride. Which is how you lose 2 tenths sitting at a light.

I never ride with a computer or even speedometer. I let the lycra-clad crowd pass, and try to stay ahead of the grannies.

However, the latter is becoming more difficult these days. Only last weekend, as I was riding (vintage steel shod with 20mm tires at 120 pounds) through a town riddled with cobblestones and hazardous junctions I had a couple of OAP's on their e-bikes on my rear wheel for at least three miles. While I was doing my best trying to stay upright and not get hit by a car, I kept hearing them babbling behind me. Not an uplifting experience.

to the OP, your friend is rounding up. bigtime. ball don't lie.

+1!

+1

Has been. Good source of a flame war.

I also don't take stock in average speed. Seems to me a meaningless metric. So many variants, climbing, wind (including drafting), if I had a good bowel movement, etc. Also, I don't know a single bike race that worries about average speed. Time is what they measure. If anything, I also measure time. Mostly how many hows did i put in that week. I'll guarantee you the guy/gal riding 15 hours/week is faster than the one riding 10 hours, who is faster than the one riding only 5.

I don't worry much about speed differences in a group ride. The two worst case scenarios are either I slow down or I get dropped. No biggy either way.

I think that if all C&V people were to be interviewed and recorded, there would be a huge spread in terms of objectives and motives for riding. I must be on one end of the spectrum. I ride alone. There is an archaic computational instrument buried in some part bin. Never used it. Some days I am tired mentally and physically. Often, the ride itself cures that. Sometimes it doesn't. I just grind on to the finish. And no big deal. I try to ride every day — as hard as I can over a relatively short, predetermined course. My saddles and riding demand that I ride in Spandex bottoms, regardless of how slow I may be compared to the dudes who pass and drop me on my course. I've taught myself NOT to compete with these strangers on their carbon rockets.

My success comes when the doc checks my blood pressure, blood sugar and other stuff out of the blood work. I have often arrived home and said to my wife, "I don't know what I would do without cycling!"

Many of us are galaxy away from the more "sporting" folks among us. But, and nevertheless, when I enter my driveway after a ride I am usually full of all those lovely, "feel-good" brain chemicals — the natural high. Only then do I know that I've 'done gone good'. For me, that is the only computer I need. And this follows on a life-history of contact sports, rigorous dance training, yoga and plain, hard physical labour.

I really respect all the riders who monitor their rides and training. Good on ya!

I can't use any of the riding apps on my phone, because, bizarrely, there is some sort of weird gps dead zone around the small town I live in. I have tried several different apps, on an android phone handlebar holder(so there's no signal blockage possible), and every single one of them does the same thing. It picks up my start point, but then as I ride through the college campus and around town warming up, it completely drops out those couple miles and then picks it up around 2 miles north or south of my start point as if I had done a 'as the crow flies' sort of start route. And yes, I have made sure my phone isn't in energy saving mode, or auto time out, or anything like that.

I used to use a bike computer a lot, but anymore I just go out and enjoy the ride and check my start and end time on the home clock, as I usually know about how far I went.

Flashback to 1975, riding nothing but rural roads, I used a mechanical odo and the little metal thingie that "pINGd" every time it smacked the little cog wheel. I used the rythem of the "pING" as a pacer. Oh and a watch and pocket notebook for a log - to track distance and average speed... *sigh*.

I had one of those ping thingys on my schwinn.

those were the days of stupid simple gadgets.
I even had a AM radio-I was 9-10 or so!

This made my entire day!

It's important to emphasize that riding with a group can greatly increase average speed. The aerodynamic effect is huge and increases exponentially with speed. I find that simply drafting one rider can increase power by the equivalent of 3-4 mph. Thus, for the drafter, the power output for 18mph is more like what it would take for 14 mph without drafting. Increase the size of the group and the aerodynamic effect is greater. So, when I here bragging about group rides averaging 18 or 20 mph, I'm not too impressed.