It happened to me once. I was in a left turn lane behind a car, and I had a headlight flashing. When the light turned green, the car made the turn and pulled over - I just rode by because I didn't know what was going on - then a minute later he pulled up next to me laughing. He said he thought I was a bicycle cop pulling him over -

Just the opposite. Nothing brightens the average driver's day like not getting pulled over when they thought they were.

I get your point but still don't find it funny. We are talking about disrupting traffic.

Literally no idea – I haven't had a computer for about 15 years now. (Still use a calendar.) I can be pretty fast uphill,* judging by the bodies I ride over on the way to the summit, but I have a feeling that on the flat, I should be timed using a sundial.


* a well-known symptom of the single-speed sickness

I "pull over" about one vehicle per month on average with the flashing headlight. Guilty conscience syndrome.

op - you are doing perfectly fine

I ride a road bike:

On a commute I am typically riding easy, around 16 mph while moving, 13 average.
On a flat stretch riding at a sustainable but very hard pace probably 24 to 26 range.
Long, very hilly ride going hard for several hours about 17 mph
All out sprint on a flat stretch around 32-33 solo, 35+ sprinting out of a bike's draft.
Fastest downhill speed recorded very close to exactly 50 mph (coasting).

About 20 posts prior to your flames:

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...l#post16825172.

Can't believe I read this whole thread! I track my speed just to get an idea how I am doing other than how my body feels. Sometimes I am surprised, I feel like sh..... but it was my fastest ride of the week! Also the opposite is expereinced. The tracking is hard data.

I am not comfortable riding to work without a shower option, so I take the bike on the Metro and ride home. Overall elevations is about 120+ feet so it is fairly flat. The distance is about 10.75 miles. When I started at the end of May, 2013, the average speed was around 12.5. Weather and a number of other factors determine how often I ride home. I am within 100 trips as of today. My slowest ride was the first one at 12.1 MPH. The fastest was about a month ago at 17.7 MPH. A big part is the wind direction. My monthly average has been increasing with the last two monthly averages over 16 MPH. April was a 139 miles and May was 152. This year I have commuted 476 miles.

In the past my road bike averages were about 3-4 MPH faster than with the commuter. I think that may be different now with a significant increase in difference. I would say but I need to do another validation run before opening myself to flaming!

Some of you may have seen this but I am always looking for an oppportunity to post pics and this thread is whoafully bare of pics! This is my ride except I now ride with a Brooks Pro saddle. The bike weighs about 27lbs unloaded sans rack and fenders. This pic represents what it might look like when I ride and typically it is about 47lbs with all my stuff in the trunk. The tires are Panaracer Uff Da and are 2.3 inches wide.

Wow, [MENTION=124730]SJX426[/MENTION], you carry a lot of stuff. What is all that in there?

Woohoo!

(Bike Snob NYC: The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle: Soul Erosion)

Air for this picture. I typically don't use the panniers. The top compartment is for tools and little items like spare tube, wallet, ipod, etc. The main compartment has bike (on the way to work) or work (on the way home) cloths (and shoes) + biking glasses with occasional lunch foods. The gray container is used to hold the lights and computer on the way in and keys on the way back.

so in summary...

a good speed is fast enough that you don't fall over, but not so fast that you can't stop.

A little more them the time before...

I'm doing the same 16 miles out and back on the local Greenway every day. Roanoke has very little wind, and the trail is slightly uphill out, and a bit downhill back. I have picked up about 2 miles per hour since starting two months ago, and now do about 16-17 on the average. I like to see myself getting a bit faster as I train, and I still get passed regularly by the Lycra crowd. I'm on a 2008 Scott SUB 30.

You can get faster with some intervals.

.. faster than your buddy, when the Bear is in Pursuit.

Or do stop by hitting something/roll off into the bushes, or slide out when hitting gravel on top of pavement...

- Andy

nice. i've yet to experience that form of stopping, but i will take your word for it.

I figure if I get 2 miles per hour faster in two months, then in two years I should be averaging about 40 mph, and in another two years, around 64 mph. I think that's fast enough.

I have seen it happen, and ive hit a curb and parked cars.

- Andy

Yep, that is more than fast enough.

As everyone says, there are many variables.
The first is the rider, the others are the conditions, the bike, the weather, clothes, etc.

I ride a mtn bike and have over 100,000 miles on it in 30 years.
I've commuted 50,000 miles on it in the last 7 years.
My avg speed is 13-14 mph, but I have 15 miles of gravel roads a day, I was 1+ mph faster back when I was on pavement only.
I also have a road bike which goes faster, but I do not commute on it.

YMMV

Typically average between 19mph and 21mph traffic dependent on my 26 mile round trip commute to work, but I am pushing hard. Normally slower on the way there due to the overall climb and faster on the way back. I am trying to improve this by intervalling my route, attacking the hills and coasting on the downhill. This is on an old racing bike with downtube shifters, but it's pretty light and I enjoy it. I am wired to try and beat last outings time each time as well... which is not helping my legs. Top speed of 34mph, so I don't have a high top speed but I tend to be pretty consistent with the lower speeds. Even at 34mph I am a bit terrified, speeds much above that I'm not sure I'd cope very well with.

I fortunately have a shower at work so not worried about sweat!

Yup. Go plaid, or go home.