There is none! :lol:

IMO my area is very hilly, when I was young ( 63 now ) and riding a lot my AVERAGE was 13 mph, now I ride I'm at around 10 to 11 mph i'd guess. I'm happy with that.

I got yer justice ryetchear.DigitalEPO.com

prishadit

I don't generally worry about my average speed.. I ride 3 days on and one day off.. I generally do the same 3 routes which are 34 miles, 42 miles, and 36 miles.. I do them in that order.

About half the distances are in the city and involve plenty of red lights. Once I am out of the city it's rolling hills and at least one pretty tough climb (14% grade)..

My averages vary depending on the number of red lights I get stuck at but my averages really vary based on the wind speed I encounter.. On a good day with limited red lights and mild wind I come in at about 15mph. On windy days I can come in as low as 13.5mph..

On flats and with mild wind I can easily maintain about 18mph speed.

Average speed depends on far to many things.. I generally just do my distance, push myself and go with that..

Last two rides I took, and the first two rides of my season, I averaged 15 and 16 mph for 30 and 32 miles respectively. Last quarter of those rides I felt pretty "zapped". I was riding with my son who is 35 years younger than me. I hope to improve as the season goes on, but at 58 years old, I think I'll need to acknowledge that my much younger son will always be able to best me.

Frankly, I look farward to riding soon at a more leisurely pace with my wife. 12-13 mph average sounds pretty enjoyable to me at this point.

The fastest first 30 miles I've ridden was on the Ride Across Indiana in 2009. I jumped out with the front group and held on for dear life in a pack of about 20. We had a helping breeze of maybe 5 mph at the time. I looked down at my odometer at the end of the first hour it read 29 miles.......so we'd averaged 29 mph for the first hour. I completed the 160 miles and averaged just under 22 mph. I think we hit the 100 mile mark around 4 hr 30 mins......but it was flat!!

Funny this thread has been alive for many years and probably will continue forever as more and more of us turn 50 and ask the same question. I turned 50 yesterday! I ride only in the Minnesota summers and get to about 1500 miles. My routs are mostly flat with some mild rolling hills. They are typically 23, 30, and 37 miles. My goal on a solo ride with "normal" winds is 17 mph as computed with a bike computer with autostop. I don't usually stop except for a couple of road crossings that are usually clear.

I get passed by some younger riders (< 30) and could never keep with them.

I will echo the sentiment that it shouldn't matter as long as you're getting your heart rate up and having fun. At least I tell myself that. But obviously I was curious how fast others ride, which is why I found this thread.

I was pretty fast, SFO to LHR, but so was everyone else on the Boeing 747.

IMO at 2hrs for 30 miles you've crossed the threshold and are basically at the lower end of serious casual cycling. Most reasonable healthy people can ride at about 13mph for a few hours, so at 15mph for two you're above that threshold. A serious club or sport rider can get much closer to 20mph and would do this ride in closer to 1.5hrs (discounting hills and winds), but IMO 20mph puts you in the higher eschelons of recreational cycling.

But numbers don't mean anything, you're riding for pleasure, so all you need to know is how much time you have, and have the brains to start back when half that is about to elapse. It's not how far or fast, it's about how much you enjoy the trip.

For reference, I've been riding ll my life and use 15-17mph as a rough guideline to estimate riding time for distances between 30 and 70 miles, When planning longer rides, I'll back that down to 13-15mph riding speed for the whole trip, or 10-13mph for total elapsed time including breaks, meals etc. If I leave point A, I expect to be 100 miles away in about 8-10 hours depending on variables (less if it's especially hilly).

I'm 58 and today did 30.3 miles in 1 hour and 46 minutes for a 17mph average. It was about 80 degrees today, humid, with very little wind. I live on the south shore of Long Island, so it's pretty flat. I tried to keep a road speed minimum of 18 mph. I was going full blast, trying to go as fast as possible.

While waiting for a red light to change, a young guy in a tractor trailer rolled down his window and told me to get the F... off the road. He wasn't even behind me, he was waiting to turn left onto the road I was on. Weird, because most folks on Long Island are pretty courteous around cyclists.

Tom

If you're over 50 doing 30 miles in an hour and 15 minutes, you should be racing in the Senior circuit. That's 24 MPH. Tour de France riders are in the 28-29 MPH range. I can believe 16 MPH no problem. I have a hard time believing much over 20 MPH, certainly not 24 MPH for anything more than a mile or two other than down hill or with major tailwind..

I am 55 currently and reasonably bike-fit. I'm pleased with how much speed I still have vs. in my 20's-30's when I was racing. I enjoy comparing myself (and my steel bike) with younger riders once in a while on Strava.

oh hey, thanks for the math, now I'm curious myself. I'm 56 now so I'm trying to remember that loop. If it's the loop I'm thinking of it has some sick hills that I was and still able to get over 30mph on. There's no way I average 24mph, ever, anywhere, anytime. But 4 years ago I was highly motivated and in the shape of my life. Definitely gonna look into this to see wut the heck I was writing about!

need to keep digging but I found this from 2 yrs ago, pretty good but not what I had written. must have been trippin. (the avrg listed below is from the computer not from straight math, if that makes any difference)
----------------------
Sat 9/15/12 rain subsided, sun came out, temps in the 70s. got up out of the saddle more. new BB was smooth. got passed twice.

28.47 miles
32.8 max
15.4 avrg
1 hr 50 min saddle time
----------------------

I ride most in hilly trail. Elevation from 700 feet to 900 feet. The 10 miles i do in around 45 to 50 minutes. Is sounds slow my average speed? is around 13.33 miles

That's a lot more plausible.

I've seen some really stupidly fit 50+ guys out on the road. I'm working on becoming one of those myself.

30 miles in 2 hours would be respectable. 1:45 would be outstanding. Anything less and you should consider doing this for a living. :)

I'm one year away from being 55, so let me put up some stats from that website MapMyRide, based on my 30.35 mile ride that I did this past Sunday 7/12...

Me: Just your basic every guy, graying hair, a little bit of a belly and love handles, etc... No big deal..
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 207 lbs
- - - - - - - - - - -
Distance: 30.35 miles
Speed: 15.3 mph (Avg)
Time: 1:59:24
Calories burned: 1,987

Riding at a 15 mph pace was nice enough to allow me to view the scenery and get a good workout at the same time. I was tired when I got home, but not completely exhausted like when I ran a 10K last fall!

Everyone should be able to ride 14 or 15 mph on a road bike. Even a heavy steel framed classic road bike!

I agree. My commute home is exactly 30 miles. My best times approach 1:45, most rides are 1:50. And I've been doing this for years, trimming a few minutes here and there every few months or so as I push harder and harder with more and more training.

I question the 2,000 calorie burn. It sounds high.

Interesting thread. I always wonder how I fit in among my peers. I'll be 63 next week and most rides I average between 16 and 18 mph. No real epic climbs where I do most of my riding but a fair amount of rollers and some flat sections along the coast totally exposed. Wind always has an impact on my rides either tail or headwind but mostly crosswinds.
Last Saturday I did 62.17 miles in 3:38:40 for a 17.1 mph avg. I managed 18 mph average for a 25.75 miles (1:26:02) but I was riding with a friend who really pushes the pace. I'm generally happy if I'm maintaining 16 mph but most rides I can hold 16.5 comfortably and 17 mph with a bit of suffering.
In reality average speed can be a false metric since it is affected by a lot of factors such as wind, hills, traffic and road conditions in general. That being said I'm constantly keeping a beady eye on the Garmin to keep me motivated.

In my own mind I'm a pretty fast rider for a 68 year old, able to drop all those young/fast riders who pass me if I really wanted to and tried just that bit harder.

I don't measure my speed, or take part in races, so my speed will just have to remain my secret.

Especially if it's 531c or Columbus SL. :)