making

I have been commuting all year on a road bike. I have a small bag on the back and not very much weight. I ride pretty hard 13.6 miles to work 3-5 days a week, 100+ miles per week. It takes me exactly one hour plus or minus one minute every day each way, counting stop lights and traffic ect. I dont piddle I really ride pretty hard. I just realized if I divided my total miles by the total time by my total hours on my computer it would give me an average mph for the miles since I cleared it about 200 miles ago. My commuter bike average is 13.8 mph. I read on here all the time about guys averaging 18 mph or better. Is that really true? I ride group rides and I dont feel like I am slow. Am I?

oakback

Does the average include the times you're stopped at a light or stop sign? Or just the times you're moving? I think that would make a considerable difference.

making

The sixty minutes is from my garage door to the office door counting stops and everything. I dunno if my bike computer measures it like that. It is a cheap Vetta. It does keep track of time.

Febs

The averages you typically see reported here are from bike computers which calculate the average speed only when you're moving. In other words, they do not count the time that you are stopped at lights, stop signs, etc.

making

So maybe I am not as slow as I thought. Thanks.

climbhoser

Or maybe you are slow...

Not to brag, but as an example, when my CPU says I averaged 18.5 mph or so I am making my 17 mile commute in about 55 min. That includes lights, which there aren't tons of, but a few, and also includes a good hill where I'm usually only pushing 13 mph. I make up for it on the long, open flat sections by rolling at 22-24mph.

Oh yeah, last thing...I was off the bike intermittently over the last month or so, and tried to push it like that last week. Hurt. I still managed 60 min., averaging 17 mph, but it REALLY hurt, and I needed a few days to recover. My top end like above was in best shape this summer, and no wind.

making

Thanks pal.

DataJunkie

Averages are irrelevant. Especially with commutes.
I have averaged 20mph on a 70 mile recreation ride. On my commute I am around 14-15 mph no matter what. It is far more important to be safe than worry about how fast you are going.
When I push it my average jumps to a whopping 16-17mph. Not that I am going slow in the first place.

Jim from Boston

I am a year round commuter too with a similar distance and average speed. I know that to get faster you must intensify, e.g. intervals, relative perceived exertion, etc. I find though that it takes almost all my determination and energy to leave for my early 5 AM route, much less to intensify, and that is my only riding opportunity. I am more of a mileage, than speed "junkie."

I have reconciled myself to this situation after reading a post about speed, probably on the Fifty Plus forum, that "my 15 mph is to me as your 25 mph is to you."

Indie

+1 for safety being more important than speed.

My max speed on my regular commute is about 25 km/h (15.5 mph). I only get that if the Force has been with me on the traffic lights. If I've been stopped at every light, I just don't get going that fast in between. So that's a factor if you're commuting in an urban situation.

I also don't let myself get going very fast on some of the downhills because the pavement is horrible. I think I'm resigned to never being able to commute on anything but a mountain bike or an old steel-framed English tank. As it was, today my front mudflap rattled loose and my mirror wouldn't stay angled the way I wanted it, just from hitting the bumps.

MNBiker

making,
I think the discrepancies can be accounted for largely by differences in bike computers.

I have a Letour with a relatively new bike computer that stops counting time whenever I stop for a light, and then starts counting again when I get moving. On this bike I would average between 16 to 19 mph on my 8 mile commute.

I picked up an older touring bike that I am now using (yes, I have more than one bike in my "stable") and that has an older computer on it. This computer includes all the time from start to finish in its calculations, including time when stopped, and gives me an average of 12 to 14 mph for my same commute.

So that's quite a change in average time and I don't think I have slowed down much over the last couple of years. The different computers explain the difference in my situation.

making

You know, that is probably the best attitude. I am losing weight, feel great when I get to work and have fun. I will ride for fun, not speed.

harleyfrog

+1 on being safe versus being fast. This ain't the Tour de France, more like the Tour de Work; you win by getting there in one piece.

I average somewhere between 13 and 15 mph, depending on how I'm feeling, but I also hauling about 10-15 pounds of clothes, food, water, lights and locks with me as well. Just keep spinning to keep those legs fresh.

dcrowell

That's the way to do it.

My best average for my commute is only 14.8 mph... and that's on my recumbent. I'm not fast, and have no desire to race.

bkbrouwer

+1

Its amazing how much a computer can be off if not calibrated correctly. Just using the generic number for your wheel size is never very good. Do the "measuring one roll of the wheel with you on the bike" method for an accurate number. Then redo it when you get different tires.

making

Tour de Work. That is funny.

Heckboy

Everyone suffers at their own pace. Always remember that.

I've got a co-worker that came in the 2nd day of his bike commute program and said "dude, I was averaging like 20 on the way to work this morning!" We (the regular cyclist @ work) think that means he looked at his cycle computer going down a grade and it said 20. I check his cyclecomputer occasionally now just to see what it says. The translation for this rider is: claimed speed - 6 mph = actual MPH

I've got a 26 mile ride home through extremely varied traffic. I once decided to see how much time I spent stopped during that ride. Out of an 1:45 ride I was stopped completely for seven and a half minutes.

Later,
HB

gmacdermid

Since you are riding 13.6 miles in an hour consistently in one hour, 13.6 mph would be your average speed including stops.

That seems reasonable to me. When I go on a recreational ride on park trails my cycle computer typically indicates about 23 km/h average (14.6 mph) and it only records forward moving time.

yetsukeng

what bike do you ride?

I usually ride my 22 miles each way commute in 70 minutes on an average road bike. I've never tried to ride my mountain bike that far on the road, but I know that I lose about 5-8 mph for the same effort as on my road bike.

making

2005 Grand Prix. Road bike.

WillynHook

I don't worry too much about speed averages.... I've worked REALLY hard going 10mph on my 6 mile
ride (against strong head winds and lots of traffic & lights), but have zipped the ride doing 18mph
with the wind missing all traffic and lights.

I figure it all works out. I'm biking, seeing the world, and having fun.

Dr. Joe

noisebeam

Since I started commuting in 2004 I've spent 8.1% of my commute time stopped (including stops for errands during my commute)

Attached is a chart showing the ratio between total time (elapsed) and moving time (average). As you can see it varies day to day. The peaks >1.15 are usually where I stop for an errand.

Al

AdamD

In my case I am usually much slower (as much as 2 mph average less) in the mornings than I am in the afternoons, even though it is still in the morning and I ride straight into a headwind in the afternoon. If you average them together it really isn't an accurate number of your riding abilities, depending on your own bodies abilities first thing in the morning.

As others have said the safety aspect is more important than anything. I still catch myself getting tunnel vision trying to push my average speed up, hopefully I'll always catch myself and stop this before I go over the hood of some car. I try not to be a "computer gazer" but it's hard sometimes.

rnorris

Well, you're still faster than me... I'm lucky if I can average 13mph on my 24 mile ride home, usually it's closer to 12mph. I'm not built for speed and niether is my commute. The longest stretch I'm free to hammer away unimpeded is 3 miles, the rest is an obstacle course of narrow neighborhood streets, long hills, stoplights (all at the bottoms and tops of hills of course) and narrow curvy MUPS. Gives me a great workout, though, and it's never boring...

BroadSTPhilly

I vary between around 15 mph if I am running into a headwind going home (uphill) and my top speed of 20.5 mph when I was going to work with a tailwind. Some days I take it easy some days I go fast. The question to me is do you feel slow? If not just have fun with it. In other words if your only source of dissatisfaction is unsubstantiated claims on an internet forum cease you worrying.