dauphin

Some people were slow when they started and will be slow when they finally hang it up. In any case you can't stop aging and the eventual decline of performance. I suppose you can work on having a more enjoyable quality of life by being in better shape.

chipcom 

Correct, I was referring to BF as a whole. A lot of us jump around between multiple forums because we are just complicated folk!

head_wind

Averages don't have to have any reality. Consider that the average person has one breast and one testicle. I've never seen an average person.

crtreedude 

Averages are an interesting thing for sure - I remember averaging 17 to 18 MPH when I was in the USA - now, if I can get 20 KPH (metric here people) I am doing good. Not so much my conditioning as the condition of the roads - anything above 23 KPH will cause your fillings to come loose over rock road.

But, I recently was able to head out toward Upala on pavement - sure enough, 30 KPH for about 40 minutes.

Most of the time I just ride - I will get there when I get there - and I usually get there too quickly.

mollusk

OK, let me be the first. I do that on a regular basis on solo rides. It certainly helps that there are no significant climbs where I live. It also happens that riding fast is important to me, so I work very hard at it. I don't believe that mine is not the "One true way" of cycling. People ride for all kinds of reasons and it is all good.

cyclintom

There's averages and there's averages.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a club ride that circled Lake Tahoe. This route was about 73 miles. Usually we have about 8 or 10 riders but this year everyone seemed to be doing something else so we only had the two leaders and myself.

I forced them to ride a great deal slower than is usually the case - for instance, instead of 22 mph on the first 20 miles it was 17 or 18 mph. Then we hit the climbs and because we weren't blasted by the initial starting speed we climbed a lot easier than usual. We arrived at breakfast a little later than usual and then after breakfast we again rode a bit easier than usual.

We weren't tired at the rest stops so the rest stops were a lot shorter than usual. What's more there wasn't that "deer in the headlights" look on anyone's face.

When we hit the climb up Highway 28 to the junction with Highway 50 we weren't all beat up and rode up without a hitch.

The end result was that where we usually start at 7:15 and return at 2:30 or so (actual average of 10 mph) we returned at 1:15 for an average of 12 mph.

I think that the fastest average I ever made was 18 mph over a 50 mile ride. But the vast majority of my rides averages 12 to 16 mph depending on climbs and traffic lights.

Don't get hung up on average speed. The only REAL(tm) averages that count are time out and time in and those are much slower than the claimed averages shown on your speedo which doesn't count resting.

NOS88

The only average I worry about is the monthly time trial I do on a measured flat course. It provides me with some measure of my overall fitness relative to previous months. In terms of daily rides, there are way too many other things than my fitness that can impact on speed. So, I don't worry about the average speed on those rides.

backinthesaddle

+1 Well said!

will dehne

mollusk:
You said it better than I could have. My feelings exactly.

CRUM

I guess that would make Lance half average then.

Kragg

I average in the 16's solo, 17's with buds.

Little Darwin

I am glad I wasn't drinking when I read this, as my monitor would have been sprayed.

I think we all need better bicycle computers... computers that indicate wind speed, and ascent/descent rates as a start. I know they exist, but we need a few more additions. We need dual clocks, one to record wall clock time, and one to record rolling time.

Then for average, we need all of the computations.

Mean, median and mode for wall clock time.
Mean, median and mode for rolling time.

And of course, we need the computer to tell us the standard deviation too, just so that we can claim that 95% of our riding is between YY and ZZ miles per hour.

We could then break it down by terrain, ascent rate, descent rate, barometric pressure, type of breakfast and time period since last sexual activity... these would be in addition to the obvious decay rate of our speed as the ride gets longer.

We could of course really get complex, and start mapping in cardiac and respiratory rates along with the rest of the values...

roccobike

WOW, I'm impressed. On the local Rail to Trail, gravel surface, the best I've been able to post is 13.5 using a Nishiki MTB with suspension fork and 26X2.00 tires, (the tires are comfort tires with only a light tread, not MTB tires). Guess I'm going to have to pull out the 720 this weekend and see what I can do with 700X38's on a hybrid.

Trsnrtr

OK, I'll brag. I rode a UMCA race a couple of weeks ago and finished 100.4 miles in 5:10 or 19.43 miles per hour solo and including stops (all 4 minutes of them). I can provide a link to race results if anyone wants them. And, BTW, I'm darn proud.

dauphin

congrats

stonecrd

I guess I am underestimating the group. I think anyone can average over 20mph solo is doing great. I have yet do 100 miles at any speed so do so at 19.4 is beyond my comprehension.

Trsnrtr

I did cheat though; I rode a recumbent lowracer so it really wasn't that great of an achievement.

Dennis

Rick@OCRR

Cheating? Really? I thought recumbents were totally legal in UMCA events! I know they're not for USCF and UCI events, but UMCA? Guess that's why we haven't seen recumbents on RAAM!

will dehne

Limestone is NOT Gravel!
The Wisconsin Limestone trails are close to paved in quality except when it rains or after rain. The average speed goes to hell in that case. I normally do this trail with 700 x 38 tires but have done it with 25's.
Not a good idea on a rainy day but goes faster if dry.
I also use a Trek Hybrid 7700 with Aero Bars. That does make a difference since there is always a NW wind blowing. An average speed of 17.6 requires a full all out effort (by me) and conditions must be right. Above 17.0 MPH average is possible on most days.

Trsnrtr

They're legal in UMCA.. What I meant by cheating was that I was able to go that fast because I was on a recumbent instead of an upright. The fastest that I ever did a mostly solo century including stops on an upright was 5h 24min and that was when I was 10 years younger and 50# lighter.

stonecrd

You know I never really see a bent rider that looks like they are working hard. They always seem to buzz around with a smile and not a care in the world. We have a couple in our group ride and they buzz up to the front and fall back, hardly breathing hard. Meanwhile I'm sweating, panting and have this horrible grimace on my face. I probably should try one out to see what I'm missing