I think i picked the wrong sport
 

So i have been a bit irked that cant get my average mph above 13. so i have been working at pushing harder and am dead set to get the average at 15mph.

then today comes, and i am feeling good and averaging 13.6mph and decided to go ballz out on the way back home. i end up behind a full kit roadie and since we are about one turn before the steep overpass decide to slow to his pace and follow him up the hill to see how he shifts and gets up it.

well it turned out to be a soul crushing, eye opening, and ego deflating experience. this guy seriously dropped one gear and flew up the hill faster than he was cruising on the flats. he may have dropped another gear but i was so far behind i couldnt tell. i am still replaying this in my head how fast and easily he went up.

i mean geeeeeeeze i know i am out of shape but dang it cant be that bad. my wife the sweetheart she is blamed it on bike.

ok i am slow, 13mph average, and only and get to 22mph in the flats. so i am thinking maybe i picked up the wrong sport and should now switch to darts or bowling.

hell on bro, keep on riding. Dont feel bad that somebody else beat you, make that one of your goals and keep at it!!!

Practice, practice, practice . . .
You did not say how old you are, how much out of shape and how long you been riding.
Again: practice, practice, practice!

Sorry, should I not have done that? ;)
Seriously, though, you now have a goal. I had a similar goal of being able to accelerate UP a few of our "hills" on the lakefront. After a while of steady riding, I can do that and more. The hill at around 47th is good for repeats. Just ride up that thing and repeat it until you drop...you'll get faster.

If you like riding your bike you did not pick the wrong sport. Just getting out and expending your energy is what matters. Keep riding and you will get faster.

Everyone starts somewhere, no one starts out awesome at something entirely new. Keep riding and practicing. That guy probably has a lot of experience going for him aside from fitness as well. These are learned things you cant become good at without repetition; proper breathing, efficient pedaling, knowing exactly what nutrition his body needs for riding, knowing how to set his bike up to exactly cater to his riding style. These things only come from experience, and you will have it too if you keep riding, reading and asking questions (from people like him). But mostly just ride, ride more, then when you get too tired to ride try to figure out why. Did I eat well today? sleep well? Do I feel unusually good or weak today, and if so what did I do differently?

Just try to keep your mindset proper. You need to believe you can do it, because well. . .you can. Period, end of thought process. You just have to learn how.

Good luck to you, but honestly you dont need it, just get out and ride and you well get what you EARN, progress.

At least make it lawn darts so you're out in the fresh air.

Ride for yourself, not anybody else. Go at your own speed. You'll eventually get faster.

Wrong sport? Doesn't it beat ridding the recliner in the den?:eek:

What are you ridding? How old are you? What do you weigh? For perspective, I'm 48 years old, weigh around 255lb and average 16-18mph, depending on the amount of hills. This is on a decent road bike ridding solo, and at my weight the hills are killers! There is just no way I can keep up with lighter ridders on long hills no matter what I do. More perspective, I also tour with a Surley Long Haul Trucker and around 80lb of gear and most days touring I average well below 12mph. Point is that I enjoy my ridding weather it's balls to the wall on the road bike, or noodling along on a tour. Keep ridding!:thumb:

Buck up! You're in the clydesdales forum, and lots of us don't average double digits. I live in your area, and yesterday I did 14 miles at a 7.2 average. You would have dropped me like that guy dropped you, or worse. Probably alot worse.

When i started 2 years ago mine was 12 mph now my average is 17 mph, so hang in there all good things come to those who wait.

I've been riding a bike for two months now..... 57, OVERweight, and on a 29 pound bike loaded up with 12 pounds of 'stuff'. In addition to the weight of my bike (and my 230 pounds), I'm sporting really heavy/thick/puncture-resistant innertubes, tire liners, AND Slime (a bit overkill)..... so my rolling resistance is significant.

"RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE" Don't judge your performance based on a younger, more fit, skinny enthusiast on his Carbon Fiber featherweight bike.....

I average anywhere from 12.1 mph to 13.2 mph. When I found myself riding behind an older guy (I tend always to think other people are older than my 57 years....), catching up to him, and passing him because he didn't bother to downshift after we slowed for an intersection.... I thought that maybe I was riding as well as the seasoner riders in their designer outfits and clip-in pedals. NOT! For the three miles prior, he musta been "warming up"..... only to pass me and disappear over the horizon.

I'm pedalling at a rate that allows me to think that I'm getting exercise, likely nowhere near my anarobic HR zone. When the day arrives that I'm using the saddle as nothing more than a referance point to center myself over the pedals.... rarely sitting down, THEN I know I may have arrived at what the pro's take for granted and doing with ease.

We just gotta press on..... much like yesterday when I made my first 30 mile ride (!!!)

I think it's a universal truth that no matter how fast you are you'll eventually find someone faster. Hopefully that will be you.

You did the right thing. Watching and following. New riders will go the the front or immediately pull in group rides. you waited and followed. Even though he walked away from you. You still did better then going hard at the base only get dropped worse. Keep watching and learning. I watch everyone. My wife use to think I looked at women, she knows better now. It is all about the bike, and rider...

How about Olympic level whining! At 13mph average you shouldn't even be allowed to
own a bike! You are a disgrace to all true cyclist. Maybe we could paint you orange and
use you for a road cone. Or yellow and use you for a school crossing marker.

13mph average is great. 22mph on the flats is great. You only have to compete with
your self. Each step up is harder. It takes four times the energy to go fifteen mph
compared to ten mph. And sixteen times to go twenty mph. The tdf riders are only
going about forty mph, crap man, you are half way there.

Keep pedaling brother, it only gets better.

This is from a guy that was happy a year ago when he did ten miles and averaged
over five mph the first time.

I don't know what my average is,no computer. 52,fat bastid and outta shape and live in the hills of West Virginia with a 42/52 crankset. Occasionally I pass younger people on hills. I wave and say hi but inside I'm screaming OH YEAH DROPPED YOU LIKE A HOT POTATO!!!!!!!! It's the little successes that satisfy. :D

I don't consider my bike riding a sport. I do compete against myself and with those that I ride (commute, etc) with but I don't care much for others.

Did he give you 'the look' before droping the hamar?:)
Yesterday, I was climbing a slight grade on my 40 pound ten speed along with my customarily included 80 pounds of fat when a couple of teenagers zipped by on their skinny tired racing bikes. T-shirts, basketball shorts, sneakers.
I've been riding consistently for a couple of years, and experienced big improvements in my riding. I felt the same way as you did.
It's all about the engine. Keep trying.

I quit riding for the same reason 4 years ago. I couldn't keep up or pass kids on coasters. Two years ago, while waiting for my bacon double cheeseburger, fries and double chocolate shake from the drive in I walked into the LBS next door and walked out with my beloved Bianchi. I was forty pounds heavier, grumpier and older. It took me some time to give up on every being in the front of the pack or winning the Tour. Every time I get on my Bianchi or my commuter, it is not about the finish line it's about the journey. 7500 miles and 65 pounds down later, I grin every time I hit the pedals. I am slowly getting faster. Getting faster involves intervals, long slow training rides, rest days and diet. In two years I've gone from 9 mph to 15-16. It doesn't really matter. This truly has been the adventure of a lifetime!

Its possible the guy in front of you didn't know what you were doing and wanted to get as far away of the "creepy" guy following him.

Officer: Excuse me, I need to speak with you
Me: Sure what about?

Officer: I was getting complaints about someone following people
Me: Really, I didn't see anyone

Officer: Interesting, they gave a report about someone matching your description
Me: Are you sure

Officer: Yes, they reported a large man on a bike breathing heavily but never saying a word
Me: :innocent:

I average anywhere from 12-14 average MPH. But yesterday I had to turn that screen off because I was so fixed on upping my average that I was not enjoying myself. Also that damned virtual rider that I am always falling behind to!

I don't have a bike computer, and I don't think I want one. My average speed (est.) is one million miles an hour.

I dont get to ride the lakefront anymore. I get to ride for only 1 hour and 15 minutes when my son takes a nap. so its the trail at devon and milwaukee that i get to ride on saturdays and sundays. and when we do ride the lakefront its with the wife and kid on beach cruisers.

I am in my early thirties, i didnt know there were levels of out of shape but two summers ago i was running 3 miles 4 times a week, now the only exercise i have been getting is chasing my kid at the park. i started riding in april but that was just to work, i ride 4 miles to work 4 days a week and just recently started to ride the road bike on the weekend two months ago.

I hope you get to be as good a cyclist as you are a whiner!

Were you in a race with this kitted up rider? Did he know it was a race?

You are more than likely correct. It must be the bike! Why don't you go out and drop 10,000 on a full blown race bike with di2.
Guess what? You are still going to get dropped like a bad habit!

IT'S NOT THE KIT OR THE BIKE! It is your lack of fitness.
Riding a bike quickly is a matter of power to weight! You don't have enough of one and to much of another.
You figure it out!

I will give you a hint. Once you get to 15 miles an hour, you will still want to avg 20 miles an hr.
Even if you get there, there still will be a LOT of people who can drop the hammer on you anytime they wish.


Just keep riding your bike. Watch what you eat. Your speed will come.
If you try to push to hard, you will hurt yourself. Then back to square one.

Besides if you took up bowling, you would have to wear stupid shirts, instead of a cool kit!