It's a tricky question, indeed. On one primary flat loop I ride, there are at least 15 intersections which theoretically or actually require a stop (or a significant slowdown) in the first half hour or so of riding. This is on a rec trail so there are also plenty of stops and slows for errant pedestrians who just have no idea what they're doing in addition to the intersections.

These groups are often walking 6 abreast covering the entire trail in both directions. Sometimes, joggers will just jump out of the bushes in either direction. Sometimes, cyclists will just come to a complete stop with no warning and u turn without looking back.

So, at least 30 stops/slows on a round trip ride of an hour. It could very well be 40 or more including all of the users doing whatever it is they're doing.

So, I don't know how to factor all of this in, except to assume that my actual average is much higher than what the computer indicates. Longer rides are generally better but overall I don't ride longer than 2-3 hours at this point on any given ride.

Faster than it was last season. Not as fast as I want it to be next season.

My average pace is picante!

Strava says I'm in the 11.5 mph range. I mostly ride to commute to work and to get groceries. I seem to be averaging about 17 mph on the streets. I take it real easy on the MUPs, which brings the overall average down quite a bit. I track my rides with Cyclemeter GPS mainly to see how many calories I burn, as well as general amusement. I don't take it too seriously.

Soooory .... I will not accept any of your BS data NOT from an actual wheel activated computer.
PROOVE it or shove it.

Harsh.

Not as harsh as the adjective I'd have used, but close enough semantically!

Yup. I meant it literally. As in they are not credible.

I agree with both you and @OnyxTiger

The bikes I have probably don't have much more in speed to offer me, but I will keep working at pushing myself on my late 80s baby to go as fast as I can. I do realize that it's not always the bike but more so the motor that runs it. I just started two months ago, so when I say I'm a turtle I'm just having a little fun. Also, I'm pretty proud of that 13mph on my SS cruiser from Walmart. lol

Kindred spirit. Normal/daily average here is a casual 12.5 to 13.5 mph with a usual max approaching 25. And not really looking to up those numbers....at 72 I'm now just out there for the ride.

I can't love this enough.

On shortish rides of under 100 miles, I can maintain 22 mph if desired

On long rides of more than 250 miles. maintaining 16 mph is a challenge since stopping for food takes time.

with a moderate/heavy amount of climbing.. 15ish...
with little climbing..17-18ish.
group rides 18-20 with regrouping...without the stops probably 22-23

Look for your local area on the Strava site. It will make your head shake.

Don't you all have to stop at stop lights and signs? Don't you have to slow significantly at mup trail intersections and ride more slowly on the trails themselves?

If you have more than a handful of stops and slows in any given ride (and I'm sure most of us do), this is going to lower your average speed significantly.

Heck, the computer is activated just wheeling the bike out of the house onto the street and back again.

Once you factor in all of the stops and slows, you figure your "true" average is at least 1 mph slower, or more.

14.5 MPH average over 13 miles with 700ft elevation gain. Did this ride twice in the last 2 weeks and got the same numbers both times. Then again, I'm old and fat.

I don't live in the city

+1 I struggled to increase my average speed. I blamed the miles of urban and residential streets I have to ride to get to open roads or the rails-to-trails. But since adding the 2nd [computer] magnet to my front wheel.... my average speeds seem to have doubled. I don't mean to brag but I believe with a 3rd magnet I will be ready for the pros, with an average speed near 40 MPH.

Here's my best. Don't recall if it was a head or tailwind

Amen. Much more enjoyable when you're not in too big a hurry. I still like for the distance number to be high, but as far as the average speed... I couldn't care less.

Meh.
Last nights solo ride, 68km, 25.6km avg speed, 44.84km top speed. Totally flat except for bridges.
24/38/50 X 18T gearing.

The fast bit is here: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/31.1...a=!4m2!4m1!3e2

Local roadies use that stretch for interval training it seems, I wound up to 40km/hr, and they still reeled me in, perhaps taller gearing would have helped,

There seems to be a lot of differing opinions on what average means. That one time when you went XXmph for XXminutes isn't indicative of anything. If you have Strava or any other tracking site, the numbers are right there. If you use a basic cycle computer, guess what, the numbers are there, too. You should have an odometer and a total time elapsed. Divide the miles by the hours, and there you have it. THE AVERAGE. That said, it's not a metric I regard as important. Miss a lot of stop lights, speed is going to be down. Ride a lot of hills in few miles, speed is going to be down. I look at the total mileage, not how long it took to get there.

It depends on which bike I am on. With my TiRush, I average around 18 mph, but on the triplet with my two daughters it is only 11-12 mph.

Yep, the roadies love the roads on both sides of the river, probably because they're low traffic with few traffic lights, unlike most roads in Shanghai.

My common night ride is just across the river, though when I used to commute to Pudong daily my daily commute was on that road.

As for the original post, I've just gotten back onto my bike after a very long layoff, so my pace isn't wonderful - I'm averaging around 16mph (24km/h) at the moment, though I hope this will improve over time now that I'm back into cycling.

I average between 17 mph and 20 mph depending on wind. No wind and less than 50 miles I can average 19-20 mph.