Bike Forums - How fast is "average?"

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Quote:

Originally Posted by iab (Post 14535285)

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.

:roflmao2: iab, if I hadn't already finished drinking my coffee, it would have been on my computer screen.

Oh, I finally get it. The reason the pro peloton can average 25 mph over a 190k course is they don't have to slow down for stop signs. That must be nice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZORCH (Post 14534156)

seldom track my average speed – frankly it’s not terribly relevant to my riding. But the other rider’s comments left me wondering. Are riders – even casual riders – so obsessed with speed that they kid themselves? I figure this is a better discussion for those of us in C&V because we are so diverse, and have so many different rides and riding styles (i.e., there is no one single "right" answer): How fast do you normally ride? How do you figure your average speed – do you factor in start-to-finish, or only after you’ve reached cruising speed?

Please discuss

I ride with a GPS that records moving average and overall average. As the name suggests, moving average is the average speed for the time I'm moving, and overall average is the average speed since I last reset, including time spent stationary.

I look at the overall average speed on the basis I can't do anything about how long I'm waiting at junctions and traffic lights. If I have to stop at the lights the moving average speed will inevitably drop on the basis I have to slow and then get my speed back up again but I really can't be bothered to factor it out. On a longer ride with bigger distances between lights it becomes a small issue, and if I'm riding into town and therefore having to stop regularly I won't be looking to break speed records.

The figure I focus on most is my cruising speed, i.e. the speed that I ride at when I'm not having to stop at lights. Give me a stretch of halfway decent road, a reasonable length ride to complete, and the speed I'm interested in seeing is what I can sustain when I'm not interrupted by things outside my control.

Quote:

Originally Posted by photogravity

iab, if I hadn't already finished drinking my coffee, it would have been on my computer screen.

I'm sorry, but that isn't far off. I have a few typical loops. I know my PRs for those loops. Wind obviously makes the biggest difference in my times. I know if the wind is out of the SE and if I do loop A, I stand a good chance of beating my PR for loop A. But it also depends on how I feel. Obviously if I am hungover (not any more, I'm too old for that nonsense), I'm not riding as fast. I have also learned with age that there is really only one thing more satisfying than a good bm. But since this is a PG forum, I keep my yap shut. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by due ruote (Post 14535883)

Oh, I finally get it. The reason the pro peloton can average 25 mph over a 190k course is they don't have to slow down for stop signs. That must be nice.

Yea, those slow pros at the TdF this year only averaged 24.3mph - but that includes a few hills and a couple o' TTs.

But that's over a mile/hr slower than the definite EPO days of 2005.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Creme Brulee (Post 14536020)

i like going slow

I like big butts and I cannot lie.

me too especially when they're skinny everywhere else

Strava, or it didn't happen. That's the test for speed, whether it's average or max. Grade, too. I've seen people say they did such and such up a 20% grade, when in actuality, it never rises above 8%.

iab, I'm totally with you. There have been lots and lots of good comments here.

I like to go slowly, too, most of the time, but them sometimes I like to go fast. What does that mean? I dunno.

I'm able to keep up with friends these days. That's good. When I hear of rides that go at 18 mph, I get scared. Then the riders tell me I'll do fine. And I do. I don't think we really go 18.

My wife and I on a 15 mile loop we do average around 15-16 mph and there are some good hills, on the flats I seem to settle in around 20 mph or so depending on headwind and other variables such as just being off form or being tired.

If you want a dose of humility, check the average speed for RAAM. Cross-country time trial; include pit stops, food breaks, and sleep. Average over 15 mph.
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[TH="bgcolor: #D2E0ED, colspan: 10, align: left"]2012 RAAM Solo Male ( Under 50 )[/TH]
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[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Bike[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]TS#[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Miles[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Arr DT [/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Race TM[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Avg[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"]Status[/TH]
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[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]1 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"] 452 - Reto Schoch[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]S [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]55 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]2993.24 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]06/21/2012 22:06 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]8 d 6 h 29 m [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]15.08 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]OFCL [/TD]
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[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]2 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"] 377 - Christoph Strasser[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]S [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]55 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]2993.24 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]06/22/2012 0:26 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]8 d 8 h 19 m [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]14.94 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]OFCL [/TD]
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[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]3 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: left"] 316 - Gerhard GULEWICZ[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]S [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]55 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]2993.24 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]06/23/2012 3:18 [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]9 d 11 h 12m [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #EAEBEF, align: right"]13.17 [/TD]
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Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieTunes (Post 14534633)

The larger group will predict "50 miles at 18mph" and then ride 65 at nearly 20mph, generally higher in the beginning, leaving anyone not running 21-22 in the dust quite early. It's my belief they mean 18mph for the entire ride, including off-bike stops. I've never seen them stop for more than 15 minutes, and never more than once in an entire ride. However, if you are pulling with this group, you set the speed, be it 15mph or 23mph. You just have to survive the 23mph guy in order to pull your 15mph turn! Upon requests, they'll run slower, but will have sprints right before the rest, and again at the end, generally with a breakaway. It's sort of fun, once you are self-confident enough to admit you're not where they are.

They encourage all new riders to join them, which lasts for maybe 5 miles, then they're gone. That's just the way they are; you either work up to their speed or don't.

My second wave training group will not ride over 14mph on any part of our route, unless we're coating downhill on the only hill we have. That's our protocol. We try to teach riding so that if a person keeps it up, they can run faster, but we're about learning to use the drivetrain, etiquette on the road, safety, and basic maintenance. I make sure those with cyclos "call out" if we exceed 14mph pace. My body seems to get nothing out of these rides, but that's not what they're for.

^^^These paragraphs strike a note with me Robbie. I generally ride alone...Whenever I go on a group ride it is either too slow (painful) or it is a hammerfest/race-training. I find myself perpetually stuck in the middle...21-23mph (18mph AVS).

FWIW...I'm much more interested in cadence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noglider (Post 14536632)

I know that our rolling average speed on the Bilenky a couple weeks back was 14.8 MPH. My GPS app is set up so that if the bike stops the GPS pauses. I think that was pretty good given my ride up there 3 weeks earlier ended up with an average of only about 12.5 MPH.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FORDSVTPARTS (Post 14536653)

I take it that your speed is based on you and your wife being on single bicycles?

On longer rides I try to pace myself at 16.5mph but then comes a turn into the wind and everything goes out the door. Headwinds are the great average killer. That's why avg's really dont impress me much. Cruising speed however, is a bit different. If someone asked me what I did on the flats with no wind I'd tell them 19mph or so but it's not my distance pace.

It's complicated and really needs to be resettled on every ride :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldsCOOL (Post 14536847)

If someone asked me what I did on the flats with no wind I'd tell them 19mph or so but it's not my distance pace.

You raise another excellent point. The pace for a 2-hour ride is significantly different than a 6-hour ride.

OK. That makes the running list:

Climbing
Wind (& drafting)
Ride duration
And of course, BMs

Maybe we should be measuring our power outputs instead?

JUST KIDDING!

That's it: I'm installing a power meter on my Norman!

Eventually you get old and realize you can't pull a 53-11 when getting hung out the front of a group of riders for what seems like an eternity. They love to watch you try though.

Lately I've gone more for the 5 hour ride, spin up to some degree and limit the power supply on all but the steepest climbs. I leave happy to get a 5 hour ride in (after my 2 cups of coffee, and reading of the sports section whilst warming the porcelain), and get home happy to have put in a 5 hour ride in. Nobody cares but me. Speed is not considered or cared about. The miles covered depends on more obvious factors like terrain and headwinds. Focusing on a statistic like speed would just be a frustration factor, the likes of which I ride to forget about.

My bikes don't have computers on them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by photogravity (Post 14536685)

I take it that your speed is based on you and your wife being on single bicycles?

Yes it is, when we ride together I usually let her ride out front and set the pace as she's very good at setting a consistent speed.

We use an app on her phone that tracks average speed, highest speed, lowest speed and it even maps it out and shows us where we were fast and slow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by due ruote (Post 14535883)

Oh, I finally get it. The reason the pro peloton can average 25 mph over a 190k course is they don't have to slow down for stop signs. That must be nice.

It's pretty easy averaging 25 in the midst of a peloton.