This doesn't really matter. I don't race and do not plan to, however, I'm curious.

How fast can guys in their 50s sprint? I read about Boonen and McEwen and the rest roaring down the road at 40+ mph, and I know I can't do that, but I am curious about what I might be able to work up to.

I'm a fast twitch guy, so it's about all I have. Climbing will never be something I can do well.

Thanks for any answers.

Fastest I have been able to reach on a flat road in a group with no wind is 31mph and this was for less than 1min duration. I can routinely get to 27mph in a group sprint and hold that for 1/2 -1 mile or so. Without a group I have done 27mph by myself but not for any significant duration. I can hold 23-24mph for a mile if there is no headwind.

my cateye tells me I consistently hit about 34ish+ in the races (all crits) I did this year, but poor positioning and lagging in the last kilo kept me away from any serious contention. I honestly lacked the confidence to really mix it up like the old days. My 1st year back after almost 9 years away, I really wanted to measure myself (and the competition) before I start bouncing off other guys.
By myself and on a flat, no wind, I can usually hit 32ish+ for 100yds or so. That's not enough for Masters in CA. You need 36+ and great position in a field sprint to do the business.
Winning road sprinting is really about positioning and timing, much more than raw power. Track is a bit different for sure.
Road sprinting is about being able to hold a 30 to 32+ pace for the last Klick, without blowing up (depending on the field strength). Then positioning in the 1st 8 to 10 within the last 150 yds, and then timing your effort just right.
Even with huge power, if you're not positioned right in the last 100yds, there's just no way to catch or pass.

Between sign sprints and just plain passing bikes, I'll do a couple of 30+ mph sprints on just about any ride. Unless I'm going b*lls to the walls, it's generally 34 mph or less on level ground. I was clocked at 39 mph a couple of years ago, but I wasn't 50 then so it doesn't count! This one was well into the last half of a century ride, and I was toast at the time; but with a slight gravity assist of maybe 1/2% grade, it topped out at around 31 mph, IIRC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJKBdjOdEy4

edit: the road was probably 0.5% grade going up when I started, and 0.5% down when I passed them. Very minimal grade, just enough to feel. I was the one taking point, BTW.

I hit 72 mph with my Pilot (Honda) yesterday...does that count? Frankp

Man, you CLOBBERED those two DF guys. They didn't know what passed them. Nice video and nice work!

Thanks everyone. That's what I was curious about.

I appreciate your answers.

I once heard McEwen asked what he thought about when in the final straight of the TDF doing 60, he replied, "I think I'm not going fast enough!!"

In a sprint for 100yrds I can hit 32 to 35mph.

for a 10mile TT 24 mins 19 secs ( nearly 25 mph)

I can get close enough to 30 mph that my scalp tingles, even if we don't quite make contact.

I can hit 30 mph for a few hundred yards. I usually do this when the club I ride with has a few riders a few hundred yards up ahead and I want to bridge the gap. Generally our club goes about 20-22 on the flats in a paceline which I guess is typical B club speed.

When my lead out rider is hitting 35, I can do 40+ as I swing around him.

You da' Man...

Don't go out for speed at anytime- Except downhill but that is just the Kami-kaze in me. Only speeds I can remember is on the Tandem, as the road bike is for 20mph cruising and the MTB is a lot slower. Tandems are hard work- Don't believe me- Try one. Good on the flat and slightest downhill slope and you fly, but the slightest rise in slope and they get heavy.

So Tandem speeds- On the flat- but just after a downhill slope and we had a cadence of 150 and still pushing- I said then that I never want to spin at that speed a gain but as we later found out- That was a speed of 45mph- for 1 mile. Then on a training run with slicks on- 29.8 average up a 2 mile drag that just pointed a 1deg uphill.
Our pride though was on a 40 miler charity ride that we did a couple of years ago- got delayed at the start with the local press and photographer, and Although the start of the ride was on a cycle path- it did run parrallel to the road for 3 miles. Too many cyclists to put on speed and catch our group so we went on the road. No warm up- no aclimatisation to the bike and we just hammered it. You must have them over there but we have automatic speed cameras on the roads. Went through the first 2 just on the speed limit of 30mph, but got flashed by the next two. Speed limit was 30 mph so must have done in excess of 33mph. We did catch our group up after 4 miles and we caught them up the only real slope on the ride. A 10% for about a mile- Caught them- passed them and didn't see them again till the ride was over.

Mind you- that was in my youth in 2004 so I don't expect to see those speeds again- unless we get in a bit more training.

Edit--This is not a road tandem but a full offroad Mountain bike with everything heavy duty to take the punishment it gets from a suicidal pilot. It is no lightweigh at 55lbs, but for the road rides we do put on slicks.

I'm 66 and regularly hit 28mph in a 100yd sprint and sometimes, but rarely, 32 with a favorable wind.
I think my lungs or heart are going to burst, but neither has yet and at my physical today my doc says I'm OK to go as hard as I want on the bike. He rides too but is about half my age.

I hit 32mph regularly on my Corsa, but I can't hold it for long, and still can't climb worth a flip.

My all-time top sprint speed was 37 mph, but that was literally just for a few seconds. I can hold 31 mph solo for about a minute, and then the top of my head blows off.

Thanks again, I was curious to see where I stood in relation to other guys my age.

I've hit 32 mph on a flat and a very very very slight incline, and I was curious if that was decent, or if I was slow. I knew I wasn't especially fast.

I hope I can improve on that, but that's just because it gives me something else to shoot for to motivate myself.

On my Sequoia I cruise at 22-25 on the river flats for 5 miles with favorable wind conditions. Best sustained solo speed was 31 for 0.45 miles. Thought I was gonna die, but I eat hills for snacks.

slight downhill with a little wind I have hit 40-42 mph
flat road hammering in a 53/12 , 35+mph, on a complete flat road, which I can maintain for a while
Hills I really sux.

Fast is a relative term. Someone is always faster than you. When I ride on group rides I ride with the A+ group and rarely get dropped, I feel fast. If I go to a Miami Masters Crit I get blown off the back in the Cat5 or even my age group and I would feel slow. Needless to say I don't race because I rather feel fast than slow.

Hmm, right now with most of my riding being group rides and such, I can hit maybe 32 in a sprint.

When I was racing maybe 7 years ago (at 55) I could hit 36 or so, but of course pack sprinting is different from "sprinting" because you're dragged along by the draft.

At the same time I could hold 33 or 34 mph alone for a half mile.

My original post was just a joke. The thought that I ride with anyone who could lead me out at over 35 mph is quite the fantasy, and the thought that I could then shoot past them at 40+ mph is just plain laughable. I've only been able to hold about 32 mph for more than a quarter mile.... and then felt like I was dying.

The fastest I've ever gone in a sprint on the track was at the US Masters Track Nationals in Colorado Springs (6000' altitude) in the early 90's when I was in my early 40's. I was sprinting against Butch Stinton, one of the top masters track riders in the country. He just floored it; I was able to hang on to his wheel, but there was no way I was going to get around him. My computer maxed out at 66 kmh (41 mph), but don't forget we're talking high altitude.

Nowadays, in my mid-50's, I'm lucky if I can hit 58 kmh (36 mph) in a 200-meter sprint on the track in around a 90-inch gear. On the road, during the racing season, I'll do practice sprints in 53x15 and hit maybe 51 kmh. In a road race, in a flat finish, I'll put it into 53x14 and just try to accelerate it all the way.

A track sprint is completely different from a road sprint. I'm not a track sprinter, but I've won lots of road sprints in masters races. A track sprint is extremely explosive and depends on good leg speed as well as the strength to turn the relatively low gear (90-94 inches) really fast. A road sprint, by contrast, is just one long acceleration in the biggest gear you can handle. In general, a good road sprinter would be a pursuiter on the track. I'm neither a track sprinter nor a pursuiter, but I have fast recovery and can do repeated sprints, so I tend to do best in points races on the track.

- L.

I once sprinted past a box turtle on a slight downhill!

Dear me, you guys are serious folks.