With all due respect to those of you that can keep a fast pace and climb hills with aplomb! I salute you. I am NOT one of you.

I have nearing over 4 years of GPS data that I have collected of over over 4 thousand cycling miles recorded. I have an average speed of - taa-daa - 10 MPH! A few days ago I rode with a couple of guys, one I met here on the forum, and I warned them I was slow. I just couldn't keep up and I could see they were getting irritated with having to wait for me. So we parted company partly due to my poor pace and the heat / humidity. Up hills seem to be the thing that gets me. I am just forced to sit and spin, I get extremely fatigued standing and or seated mashing uphill.

I know practice, practice, practice and push myself. I have before and it seems to make absolutely NO difference. Except for the fact that the hills I used to have to get off and push my bike up I can now spin up with effort I never seem to improve in performance. I really enjoy riding and don't want it to become something it presently isn't - difficult. I really enjoy looking at the beautiful Ozark scenery, animals and peoples houses and stuff along my rides. I also seem to suffer from soreness if I push myself too hard, otherwise it's manageable. I seemed to have plateaued, and the plateau is awfully, awfully low.

So any more slow pokes out there? Have you found riding partners to ride with? Anyone in the NW Arkansas Area of Rogers in the same boat? I like to chat while riding, stop and take a drink now and then and occasionally take a break on a bench. So by any chance if there is someone also wanting a slow partner please IM me. Thanks!

Here ya go:

Slow Bicycle Movement Wins Fans - WSJ

You don't count being able to go up hills without pushing the bike an improvement?

Just making it to the top of a hill is an accomplishment.

That's about the ONLY improvement I've seen, and that was during the first year of returning to cycling about 5 years ago.

Fast, Slow, none of that matters as long as you are riding. Whatever you prefer is fine. Some days I feel like pushing it a bit, other days not so much. I love it either way.

Some people - I think between 10% and 20% of the population - are non-responders to aerobic exercise. They can train and train, but their VO2 max and aerobic threshold remains the same. You may be one of those.

The good news is that the exercise is still beneficial from the point of view of health indicators like BP, weight, insulin resistance and all that stuff. And the fact that your athletic prowess doesn't improve is a small matter compared to that, and to the fact that you're having fun.

And if it's any consolation, when touring I frequently average 10-12 mph. And I have just as much fun as when burning it up on my road bikes.

Check my signature. Most bike riders in general would be faster than I am,. With my Meetup group, aimed at riding as slow as the slowest rider has me zipping along at 6 miles per hour rolling, with plenty of breaks to reduce the average well below that on some rides. On my own, I average about the speed that you do. I have done a ride with my group, and then just to get a little exercise did the same route again at my own pace.

I do enjoy varying my speeds some, and will occasionally do a short sprint for fun, but I do seem to stick closely to the old saying that slow and steady wins the race.This weekend I did 2 rides with a friend on paved bike trails that most roadies would call flat, but it had a few hills in our minds. Saturday about 16 miles, and Sunday about 12 miles. In both cases our rolling average was probably about 10 mph. With stops to enjoy the scenery the Saturday ride (according to MapMyRide had an average speed of 6.5 mph, and I didn't record Sunday (let the battery get too low before the ride) but the average was probably slower because we sat to look at the river at our turnaround point for 1/2 hour or more.

I do sometimes push myself, just to see how I can do. I have a 8.5 mile rail trail I ride pretty frequently, and I have decided that a couple of times a year I will go attack it round trip (17 miles) to see how quickly I can complete the ride, just to know how I am doing compared to the last time I tried it.

The thing about recreational sports like cycling, is we don't all have the same objectives. Some choose to push for speed, others just want to enjoy the ride. Some want to climb the toughest hills they can find, and others will only climb hills if there are no alternatives, or there is something worth seeing at the top.

Enjoy the ride. And, seek out others with a shared attitude on riding.

Don't see myself as slow or fast. No hills here. If I had to ride hills I bet my avg speed would be very similar.

I can be pretty slow... and do get passed every once in a while... although I also frequently pass slower people.

I have pipe dreams of going a bit faster

However, I really ride to get from point A to B, and don't choose to get 100% energy depletion in the process.

It is all too easy to drop from whizzing along to plodding along.

As I have increased my riding in the last couple of years, I have noted that strength and endurance seem to be improving faster than the actual average speed.

I've never been in the super-heavy category, but I'm working on loosing a few pounds this summer (and hopefully I can keep it off next winter). I know there is a lot of debate about the effect of weight, but car go does slow me down, so I would imagine carrying 10 or 20 pounds of excess butter around with me will also slow me down.

Interesting concept about exercise non-responders.

Skimming through a few different articles, it appears as if people do respond to exercise, but perhaps in different ways.

See this short summary.
The Truth About Exercise Part 2- Are you a Non Responder to Fitness Training?

For me in school, I could do find with 100 yard dashes... but when it came to running a mile, I was always at about a 6 minute pace (perhaps a bit slower since then). I think what would happen is that at some point I would just drop to my normal plodding pace... and get through the exercise.

On the bike, I can hit 16 or 17 MPH... for up to an hour or so. But it is so easy to drop down to a simple plodding pace of 10 - 13 MPH, which I enjoy, perhaps more than pushing myself to 100% max and 100% burnout. Exercise doesn't wake me up, and I can nap or sleep soundly after hard riding. In the past, running would just knock me out.

I'm also a "masher". I read about people hitting 90 or 100 RPM. That just isn't me. I don't have a cadence meter, but on a recent ride, I tried to estimate the cadence by counting right strokes and watching the clock, which generally came in around 30 to 50 RPM. It may be speeding up at times, but I'm comfortable with the slower cadences.

It's been awhile but I once met with a few other BF posters for a group ride. Right out of the parking lot I fell off the back like a stone. One of the riders came back for me and we discussed several possible alternatives. I'm not too big on the idea of the other riders taking turns "baby sitting" me so I told them to ride on and I met them at the end of the ride.

I was not aware of this, but I know from personal experience that some of us seem to be non-responders -- in my case, slow- and limited-responders -- to muscle-building exercise.

As for speed, I was a slow-poke when I took up cycling at age 12, and I have been a medium-poke most of my adult life. People pass me on the road, and I pass other folks.

When I ride with people IN my age group, (mid fifties) I am fast enough and have good endurance, I can hang
Then sometimes I run Into a machine, an engine of pain. I chase this giver of pain and never catch him/her, I can ride so hard I spend that night fighting cramps.
Some times this leg killer is older than me, sometimes younger..

Then I ride with 30 somethings and hang just fine..

My point ?

I only race,,, me !

I was sure slow yesterday on a ride up a beautiful canyon trail following the river. I was being passed by everyone, possibly including a 3 year-old on a tricycle. I was thinking - I know I am getting older, but - really - has it hit me THIS hard?

Finally, after 4 miles, I stopped. Happened to turn the front wheel of the mtn bike, which I had mounted just prior to the ride, having driven to the trail carrying the bike in the back seat of a small car.

It barely turned. I had failed to center the wheel correctly, and it had dragged on the brake all that time.

Fixed, and on my way.

For about 4 miles there I was REALLY slow.

Otherwise, I am just normally slow.

Sometimes just making it home is an accomplishment!

(Also, see my signature tag)

I've just signed up for the 50 mile route of the 2015 Le Tour de Bayou in Alexandria, Louisiana. Given how much riding I've not done this year, I'll need a combination of slowness and practice over the five weekends prior to Sept. 19.

Originally Posted by OldsCOOL
Just making it to the top of a hill is an accomplishment.



Sometimes just making it home is an accomplishment!

(Also, see my signature tag)

I've just signed up for the 50 mile route of the 2015 Le Tour de Bayou in Alexandria, Louisiana. Given how much riding I've not done this year, I'll need a combination of slowness and practice over the five weekends prior to Sept. 19.


For me, when I got back into more serious cycling, making it home or back to the car was a challenge, and I was avoiding hills. Then, it was making it to the top without walking, that is now accomplished. So, maybe I could change my screen name to not-so-slow. But, fast is not happening any time soon. I ride alone because I like to hold my own pace. It is just far more enjoyable. I get to take pictures when I want, and I stop to drink my water!

So, enjoy the ride, at whatever speed works for you!

To go faster or have less trouble with hills, you really need to ride harder, faster, and climb faster. You have to push hard enough to get sore. You also need recovery days to get stronger. Hard enough exercise to improve damages your muscles. You are not stronger until there has been time for them to recover.

There's no reason a slow rider needs to go faster unless they want to.

There's also no reason a fast rider has to go slower either.

My wife and I ride for the pleasure of riding and being together outside. Sometimes we pass people, sometimes people pass us. My guess is that we're riding between 12 - 14 mph. We're always smiling.

Enjoy YOUR Ride!

I used to keep up with cadence, average speed, top speed, etc. I did this for years, ever since my late teens, because that's how it's done. A little over a year ago, I just stopped. Now I just ride. I'm not the slowest rider, but I am far from the fastest. Now I just go for the biggest smiles.

Lot's of stuff is not mentioned here: bike weight, tire width, pedal style...to name a few. But, the one thing that is mentioned points to wherein lies some of the problem. A 1000 miles a year is just not very much riding.

Granted, riding 1000 miles per season is not bad. It certainly beats not riding at all. However, it simply is not enough time in the saddle to boost performance and develop adequate leg strength to suddenly be racing up hills. Now, 1000 miles a month? That would do it.

...your personality, abilities and goals. If you're content, then enjoy the ride. I see that you ride a hybrid style bike. So, the mechanics and aerodynamics of that posture are holding you back some...but it appears that this matters not to you. That's fine.

This is why I usually ride by myself 90% of the time. Unless you race I don't understand why some are so concerned with speed. I'm just thankful to be outside on my bicycle enjoying nature. I probably get a better work out on my heavy commuter going 10 mph than those going 18 mph on their road bikes. I wish we lived closer. I would enjoy riding with you.

I ride on my own most of the time and don't use a bike computer so I really have no yardstick by which to say how fast/slow I am.

When I have ridden with a group of road riders I know, not too long ago, I once hit 24/25 mph for a very short distance, but I couldn't keep it up for very long and suspect my moving average is around 14/15 mph based on the time I take to complete a 30 mile loop I do quite regularly.

The point is that I enjoy the type of rides I do and am not worried about whether I am fast or slow. What I do know is that I am slower than I was years ago and faster than I will be into the long-term future.

I haven't been able to ride for seven months due to a leg injury and complications and suspect I may be slower when I do start riding again, hopefully by the end of the month, but I'll just be glad to be riding again.