Why do you care why or if someone asks why the OP cares?


(sorry, that was just too much to resist)

Why does the OP deserve "legitimate responses"? Who defines what a "legitimate response" is?

You're a hot mess here.

I'm usually on the conservative side. Overall range is 9 - 15+. I would guess average of averages is 12 -13. It only comes up when someone asks how long it takes me to get somewhere, like commute to work. Actually just looked in my log. Across all bikes, all styles of riding, all reasons for riding over last six years 12.1.

LOL.. At least I'm hot.

Why does he deserve a wisecrack?

actually, it's a question that puts everyone on the defensive - there really isn't a legitimate answer - it may not be a legitimate question, because no one can answer for anyone except themselves, and that includes the OP.

I'm only casually interested in speed, never clock mine. Keep up with my miles, which is the goal I set for myself. And I guess I gauge myself by taking 10 min off a standard ride (32mi has become common for me - I have a couple of routes laid out). My real goal is I get off the bike and go, ahh, this is the way I'm supposed to feel.

Occasionally will ask my buddy what he's clocking for us, especially when I'm chasing their tandem.
Or like last weekend, when Tad was leading and setting the group pace on a '36 Rollfast balloon tire bike.
It was a hoot that he set a pace of 17-18 mph. There were four of us in the lead group, we added two more to the lead group in the back half, and it was fun to be part of it. Yes, Tad is an animal.
But, intended or not, the OP is purely rhetorical and pretty much calls everyone a liar.
Answering rhetorical questions? well...

you da man!

Thoreau on a bike,to be admired!

Same here. I glance at the clock before & after a ride. Time & effort are more important, but I don't keep track these days.

For group rides, we discuss routes in terms of time.

The only thing about my cycling that's inflated are my tires. The only things that are padded are my bibs, my helmet, my gloves, my saddle and my bar tape.

****

in the same way everyone in this thread seems only capable of talking about average speed inflation, I think most people don't understand how to discern the important elements of speed reporting, and so whether they're truthful or exaggerating, they're usually not communicating what needs to be expressed, so I wish they'd just post the ride data file from Strava or somewhere and let the numbers do the talking. That shuts down all the haters who think it's impossible for humans to pedal beyond 32mph or whatever random speed they can't acheive themselves, and also seems to effectively shortcut all the flakes who want to argue dumb points like elapsed time vs. ride time, as if anyone cares if they stop to toilet or how long it takes for them to pinch off a loaf.

I prefer to trust but verify, so essentially I'm like, "Strava, or it didn't happen."

When I am Mtb riding, ride speeds will vary (sometimes greatly) depending on terrain and technical difficulty. There are easy and fast mtb trails, extremely difficult ones and hilly rides.
I use Strava to record them and compare my segment times against myself, even though Strava will tell me what others have done on that segment.
We all have different goals and objectives, mine is to improve. If I wanted to race others, I'll entered one of many local races and risk life and limb for a piece of cheap plastic.
Mph do not tell the whole story, there is elevation, heat, weather (inc wind), etc

off for my 32 this morning. We have a new blanket of humidity. I haven't ridden all week because I'm loaded at work.
I won't be timing anything. but I will feel better after the ride.

The problem is, anyone inflating their numbers is going to tell us they're not.

I don't even know how to view my average speed on Strava, so any number I offered would be a guess. I have a couple of regular routes that I know how long it should take me to complete the ride, especially my 5.5 mile "around the block" sprint, but my average speed, overall, is tempered by slow rail-trail rides on the weekends, and the occasional burger run with the wife, not to mention the walking pace climbs up some of the local hills. I doubt my average speed is impressive, and lying about it to impress others isn't something that interests me. I guess I'm just not as competitive as I used to be.

Average speed tells me how long it's going to take to get there, knowing the distance. Or how long a training ride will take if I schedule a certain number of miles. So it's probably my number one metric. But I think that's a different average than what people tend to talk/brag about.

I use Strava as well and the only way to inflate avg. speed and distance is by "forgetting" to turn Strava off in the car after the ride. I admit I have done that a few times but once I realize it I always crop out that part of the data. Otherwise, it's pretty obvious that going 110 km/h was not done on the bike!

Yesterday's ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/680991057

Easy enough to do, if you really care to lie that much. I've tweaked GPX data and uploaded to Strava (my app kept cutting out everytime I used the camera, so I stitched them all together into a single ride instead of multiple legs), it wouldn't be hard to write a script that went through the data and messes with the time stamps to make you look faster.

Know how I know you are lying? You didn't mention how you do it in the big chainring and little gear :D

Meh. My Strava last night shows I had a max speed of (very coincidentally to your given speed) 31.8MPH, and I can guarantee that I came no where near close to that. I could sit here and brag about my knowingly inflated speed that is supposedly digitally verified, but I'd rather focus on the fact that I did my ride in under a half hour, the "achievable but not easily" mark I set for myself on that particular route.

Big +1 from me!
Best regards

I've busted out a few guys in the road section. The tales get bad over there. The problem liars have is they can't keep track of their lies and post conflicting lies without realizing it. They lie about average speed, weekly mileage and how long they've been riding. They lie about doing centuries when a 30 miler is probably the longest they've ever gone. But it's even worse on sportbike and hot rod forums. It's the internet, you can be whatever you want to be.

I have previously posted that those who disdain computers are like those who say, "I'm not religious but I am spiritual." Personally I don't post my speeds, but sometime distances, but I do track for trends, with this comment I read long ago on BF, "My 15 mph (or 25 miles) is to me, as your 23 mph (or 100 miles) is to you." :innocent:

I usually track distance and speed when I'm commuting on a regular basis. Most of it is about calculating time needed to get around.

It is interesting, watching my weekly avg. speed increase throughout a season and I'm not at all shy about how low those numbers can be -- 13mph when I'm completely out of condition; usually about 17mph and very gradually increasing when I've commuted on a more or less regular basis through a whole season.

It's fun to see how fast or slow I'm going based on the terrain. There's one stretch with a very slight decline where I can routinely hit 20+ and feel like a hero; just after that is a section with an imperceptible incline where my speed drops and I feel like I must be out of shape. lolz.

It's good to find out how wind affects my speeds and thus travel times.

And there's a couple of hills posted at 35mph which I crawl up in granny gear, but on the way down, Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" starts running through my head as I scream past the speed limit under my own steam, with judicious help from gravity.

Again, just post the ride data, and let the numbers do the talking. We'll all be able to see that 31.8mph was a GPS abberation or not, so you can spare us your personal gaurantees, which frankly, don't mean squat to me and those who don't know you.

https://www.strava.com/activities/680984391

Does it actually show a graph of the instantaneous speed anywhere? I am just going off the stats at the top of the ride page. Genuinely curious, I was trying to figure out where it recorded that to figure out why I always have some oddball high speed.

On the Analysis page. Is there like a tiny little steep incline in the trail for no reason? Coming up from under the highway, maybe? Because you're going along ~17mph, then suddenly 7.2mph, then accelerating to a peak of 31.8mph, then right back to 17mph. Even on the graph, the "hill" looks like a pimple. The climb (if it is such a thing) looks like it's about 400ft long.

Why Do I Care?
 

Whenever anyone (usually a non-rider) asks me how far I ride, I usually answer in terms of time. This is because everyone can relate to a 35-minute bike ride. Saying "almost nine hilly miles" is an abstraction to most people.


When I'm asked how fast I ride, my answer is usually smart-alecky, like "exactly fast enough to arrive at my destination in the amount of time available to ride that day."


The reason? I'm not sure that speed matters much...and it varies over so many things. Plus, I don't keep any data of any kind. So, like a flower, it can be enjoyed for a time and then is gone. Ephemeral.


I don't particularly enjoy riding with slower riders, though, because it throws my internal engine off. It doesn't feel right. With faster riders, I try to ride conserve energy when I can, and pour out what I can when needed, and hang on for as long as I can. And that feels better to me. Anyway. Just my thoughts on the matter.