I took out the Peugeot this weekend and was cruising along at about 17 MPH when 4 people on newer bikes, some in their 30"s, some in their 40's, rode past me. They were courteous, and one guy even complimented me on the Pug. So I trailed them for a while about 25 feet back. They were doing about 18-22 MPH depending on the conditions. I lost them when they passed some people just putting along, and couldn't recatch them.
Anyway, when you ride, do you "smell the flowers" or go balls out for max speed on your vintage bike?
I like to go fast when it's easy, like with a strong tailwind or downhill, but get kind of lazy with a headwind or a climb.
So my average speed is about 14.something, usually.

Im around 16-17mph on my commute to work every day. This is with ups and downs and flats. Its all accounted for.

Back when I used a computer, I found that I averaged in the 12-14 MPH range while riding alone, slightly higher when riding with a partner due to drafting and motivation. I'll ride slow and stop if I see something interesting.

Now that really depends on the terrain and the bike--oh yeah, on the engine, too.

I triple dog dare you to post this in the 41.

I putt around on my trek 420, and I go balls out on my carbon pinarello. Just depends on my mood.

I posted a similar question about a year or so back and some of the responses seemed to come from every corner of left field...some riders seemed more concerned about the "technicalities" of what constituted "average" speed!

Anyway, my average "average" speed varies a little bit depending upon the bike I'm on. My primary rider is my Boulder Brevet and I mostly cruise along at about 16 mph on it. The other bike that I ride the most is a Gazelle - a little lighter bike and I notice that I usually will very comfortably ride about 17 - 18 mph on it. If I'm in "kick it" mode, I can sustain 23-ish mph on the Gazelle for a couple miles but I cannot do so on the Boulder. I do find that I'm less interested in speedy riding than I used to be, so I enjoy that 16 - 17 mph pace. Is that kind of what you're looking for?

I pretty much ride balls-out whenever I hop on a bike. I do enough climbing and stop/start cycles that my average speed doesn't look very impressive, though. Good thing I don't give a **** about average speed.

Always a can of worms with this question. Some people will brag, some will lie, some will tell the truth, some will try to say that their route is more difficult than other peoples.

My average "average" is really about 12mph or so.

When you factor in all of the things like riding with the kid and wife, riding through a city with stoplights, using the bike to go shopping at the grocery, etc it all adds up.

I'm one of those who don't care what people think about my average. Reality is I can "average" a lot faster in the right environment with not a lot more effort. If I go on group rides with the cycling club, my average could jump up 8mph for that ride. I generally laugh at the ones who feel the need to state their average in only the best situations. If they can always average 20+ mph, they aren't doing enough of cycling in other enviroments.

Ya, thanks. Actually, I'm trying to figure out if I need to push a little bit harder. In my advanced age of 60 years, I tend to cruise along at a leisurely pace at times.

In general - dependent on the wind here - I ride the same loops - 21, 23 and 25 miles during the week. Average times solo tend to be mid-18's to mid-19's on the Gitane's, Spectrum and Trek 510. I hit a 20.1 avg for a 23 mile ride earlier this year but considered it an anomaly. I find the last couple of years the speed coming down as I fight a hot foot (guess it's also known as Morton's neuroma) issue so I can't hammer or I'm stopping mid-ride and massaging the foot to get rid of the pain/numbness. That has forced me to "smell the flowers" more.

I ride to keep and increase fitness, so I guess not much of "smelling the flowers". The ride I take home in 30-33 minutes by myself is a 50-55 minute ride with my son. Almost 700 ft of climbing per Strava. I ignore the "you are 4th best on such and such segment", but some of the names are pretty good, like "false flats".

In general, I pass more than pass me. Every once in a while a guy blasts past, only to blow up down the road and appear very frustrated when I pass by later. The moral? Don't be married to that Big ring.

Almost any riding is better than driving though.

Another 60 year old here. On my road bike, which I mostly ride in the winter and alone, I average around 17 mph (27 kmph). When I ride with Alan, who only has a mountain bike, I also take my mountain bike, and we average around 17 kmph (10.5 mph). By myself, I would go a little faster even on the mtn. bike. But we like to smell the flowers. And he's only 54!

average bike is average

I do not stop and smell the roses, but I enjoy the scenery.
I ride, enjoy it, and then stop, and enjoy that, too.
I've not raced in well over a year.

I only turn the Garmin on for road rides/group rides/workout rides.
For months, all the averages are 17.7 mph.

Real-world time, like gomango, is likely closer to 11-12 mph.
For example, the Dairyland Dare was about 10 mph.
Which is about my training pace when I was a runner.

It's all relative. I think the Garmin's neat, but I don't live by it.
My goals now are to just "do," not "do faster."

Like commuters, I need to get done riding so I can do other things on time.
Whatever speed that is, is fast enough.

I loked at my Cyclemeter data.

On long rides (75-100 mile) I average about 17 mph if it is basically flat, little rollers will take that down to 16 mph. That is, e.g., the two day Seattle to Portland and a ride around Lake Tahoe from last year.

On my commute I average 17 mph coming home (slight upgrade), 18-19 going in (slight downgrade).

Those are averages excluding "stopped time" but including slowing for stops and starting up after stops, and other slow bits like maneuvering around traffic/etc.

I am usually riding leisurely and not hammering... and most of my (non-commuting) rides are on gravel/dirt.

Overall average, including commuting, weekend rides, etc. is 13.8 mph.

Flat ground, on a road bike, riding solo I usually am comfortable cruising at about 19 mph.

200 mile ride to Burlington, VT last summer I averaged 12.2 mph!

Funny you mention your marathon speed. The Cleveland Marathon was this past weekend. My wife's supervisor is 'only' 42, and two years ago he qualified for Boston - he needed a 3:20, and did a 3:18 and change. Last Fall he had a hernia surgery so this year's Boston time was down to 3:40 due to lack of training. Just this past Friday he decided to run the Cleveland on Sunday for the heck of it - no training, etc - and managed a 4:04. Still a LOT better than I could do.

Now on a bike, well, it is relatively flat here out west of Cleveland, so on my commute to work (10.7 miles) I used to try to do the first 8.7 miles in 30 minutes (conveniently there are train tracks at 8.7 miles from each end of the commute) for an average speed of 17.5mph. That includes the five traffic lights. SO my actual pace is a bit quicker than 17.5.

For longer distances - like my 30 mile loop, I try to maintain a pace of around 16-16.5mph -- just under two hours (1:50-1:55) for the 30.1 miles. My century pace is around 16 - six hours of 'seat time', plus added time for breaks.

Depends on what I eat, where I ride, wind, hills, how much riding I did the days before, my bowels, the distance, heat, cold, who I ride with, time of day, etc.

That said, anywhere from 12-25 mph.

I go about 14.0-15.0 mph most of the time. Today I did 35 miles over two small mountain ranges and had to ride on the drops the last couple of miles to get up to 14.5. almost no flat roads around here.

This is the best advice of the day. I watch dudes blow up down the road all the time, while I feel like I'm enjoying myself.

12mph pulling a trailer and child

Although I eat well, weight dropped to 150 lbs, and body fat down to 7.7%, I should be quicker on my bike given I'm carrying 10-15 lbs less me. But I find I'm more easily winded and the legs don't have that 'power' from the early years. Maybe it's the age, the lack of miles (2-3 rides per week), or my genetics. I do have a pulse rate of 90+ at rest. I don't think that should be for a guy who rides. Blood pressure is normal though.

I'm 49 this year, and I find myself cruising along 15-18mph. Moderate climbs at 10mph, definitely need to spin, climbing out of the saddle is anaerobic and soon feel my legs give out.

The longer the ride, the lower the average speed. I used to reset the computer on my commuter bike, which is a folding bike, at the beginning of every month. When I got to the train station on morning of the first work day of a new month, my average speed was usually around 15 or 16 mph. Then I'd fold up the bike and get on the train... get off in the city, push the bike along the platform to the escalator... and my average speed would have dropped a little. Ride to the office, it goes up again. But by the end of the month it was always down to about 12.3 mph.

Similarly when I ride a century, I can watch my average speed start out around 15 or 16, but by the time I get home, I'm lucky if the 'moving speed' is over 14. Total average speed, for a century, is never much over 10 mph.

lets just say if our average speeds were graded on a curve you would all be thanking me