I've only had my road bike since February adn have only been on about 8 rides but I average about 16-17 mph over 50-70 miles.

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Well I did a lot of riding last summer on my mountain bike (2000 miles mostly road) and I've been keeping up on the trainer so it's not like I'm starting out cold. And I've double checked the distances with Map Point and the computer is not off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcamden

Well then I don't believe your claim.

Sorry!

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I'm afraid I don't understand. What's so hard to believe about 16-17 mph over 50-70 miles? I'm pretty slow out there and I'm doing as much as 15 mph over much longer distances than that. 16-17 mph isn't all that fast!

Or are you surprised by the distance?

About the same, around 14 mph. I start my computer when leave home, stop it when I get back home, check all the data, duration, average speed, max speed, odomater. That includes all the stops at red lights, stop sign, sometimes at burger joint. I don't keep log, you probably understand why.

I commute at around 20...if wind permits...otherwise its around 15.

If I'm really driven by something, whatever it is, my daily average could go up a bit.

But most of my rideing are in the form of trips, about every 10 miles or so I just stop and chill a bit, then hop back on.

Depending on how much in town riding I have in the middle of my rides I've been averaging between 16-19 mph according to my little cyclo computer.

Yeah, I don't think his "claim" is surprising at all. In fact, I think its very realistic. As has been stated already, average speed can vary greatly depending upon terrain. If he's riding a flat course, that might even be a slow speed for some.

My average ride speed is generally 17 - 19 MPH as an overall average, 18.2 average for the entire year. That cooresponds well to the spped at which my rides are purly aerobic which is about 18 - 20 MPH.

That said, some solo rides can hit 21 - 22 MPH average, some as low as 15 MPH average.

Does not include any race speed.

someone should do up another one of those STATS graphs for every single speed and aspect of roadie members... avg; speed, cadence, heart rate, watts, all vs distance, and bike size, seat height, weight, reach, and crank length vs height, Think it would be interesting analysis for anyone needed a project for university stats or something

Never look at my speed when i ride and i'm thinking i've checked my avg,oh maybe twice in 5 years. It means nothing to me. I trying to keep my cadence over 90 and whatever mph comes,comes.

Me too, can someone explain to me why that claim does not fly as stated, sounds truthful and doable to me. Sarcasm?

I never understood the hatred for average speed. If you're not racing, tracking sprints, measuring heart rate, wattage outupt, etc., then what else do you have to go by? Tracking average speed is a great way to measure your performance improvements over time, because invariably you ride the same or similar routes over a period of time, so it all *averages* out. Bike clubs split up into speed groups based on the average speed of the ride, not on their 8% hill climbing speed, flat sprinting speed, or air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow (African or European).

For me personally, anything other than average speed is pointless to measure. I don't measure heart rate or wattage, so I have to rely on something else. Measuring my max speed is pointless, because it doesn't tell me anything. If I ride 30 miles and do a burst at 25mph, so what? I can't record how long I ride at that speed, so only if it's long enough to actually impact the average (which is isn't), then it's inconsequential. All I do is note the general conditions of the rides when I log them. If the route is flat, or nearly flat, I log that, if it's hilly I log that, if it was really windy, I'll log that too.

To answer the original question, on mostly flat terrain I can average 14-15mph. I've never managed to hold an average of 16mph over any full ride, but that's one of my goals for this year. If I'm really dogging, climbing up a mean hill, I can drop down to the 11-12mph range.

JJ...disdain is based upon people's average speed reminding them they are average...lol.
George

This morning i went out for a quick 19 mile ride on my Mountain Bike on gravel and some blacktop. I happened to look at my computer at about mile 16 and i had a 14.5 average. I decided to ride through a couple car lots as per my Sunday morning ritual, to just look at cars.

Guess what? Just a quick casual stroll through the car lot cost me .7 mph. So my average went down to 13.8. So did that diminish the rest of my ride? See why averages can be worthless?

JJ--
I never understood the hatred for average speed. If you're not racing, tracking sprints, measuring heart rate, wattage outupt, etc., then what else do you have to go by? Tracking average speed is a great way to measure your performance improvements over time, because invariably you ride the same or similar routes over a period of time, so it all *averages* out.

I agree 100 percent. I'm the same as you here.
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blandin,

Color me boring, but I ride exactly the same place every week, a 32 mile paved bike trail where I ride between 27 to 50 miles depending on time available and my inclination on a given day. In any case, since I do ride in the same place, the only real variable is the wind, which I take into account as it relates to my average speed on a given ride.

Hey, I thought I was the only one this boring! Me too...26 miles four or five times a week on the same route, and it's not even a loop...it's an out and back!
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shokhead,
Never look at my speed when i ride and i'm thinking i've checked my avg,oh maybe twice in 5 years.
Wow. Amazing to me. I check twice in the first five blocks!

I don't know. Different strokes. I'm in the average speed club. It's the only thing I have to gauge the ride...if indeed I am riding as a trainging ride. It means nothing to me if I am just out for a joyride.

My average is usually anywhere from 14-19 mph, depending on the wind and the number of stoplights.

That would be taken in to account on that ride, if I am trying to judge my fittness level compared to a month, year, or whatever ago I make sure the ride is done with out "looking at cars".

No offense taken.

It's a completely unreliable statistic. The list of input variables is huge - weather, route, bike, your health, roller bladers, wind, dogs, kids, the kind of day you had at work, how smart you are about riding, temperature, humidity, whether your spouse is mad at you, ad infinantum.

When I started riding, I used to go out on the bike path and ride as hard as I could for the 27 mile loop. I used to average 20-21 mph. I was fast. And I was wasted at the end. Now, I go out and typically ride 50-60 miles all over town, some path, some country road, some city streets. I average 17-18 mph. Was I in better shape in the olden days? Back then, a 50 mile ride left me with white spots in front of my eyes. Now, after 50 I always feel like riding for a couple of more hours.

The only way that average speed can be used as an intelligent comparison to others is in an individual time-trial setting. You pick a route, 3-4 miles say and you ride it as hard as you can. Rest 10 minutes and do it again. And, you need to do it multiple times on multiple days to average out all of the variables above. It needs to be done in the fashion of a simple factorial experimental design. If it's going to be meaningful.

I do that once in a while. In the olden days on a little nearby course I could probably hold 19-20 full on for 3 miles. Now, I can do 23-25. So sure, I'm in better shape today than I used to be. But, I feel a lot better by being able to carry myself over 110 miles than I do being able to hold an extra 2 mph. Endurance is a better measure of fitness. Look at the fast pros - the sprinters - 35 mph at the close of a flat stage, lost in the mountains. Their average speed is huge, but they can't hold a candle to a stage race specialist.

The point it, measuring how fast you are by riding the same old route day after day with uncontrolled conditions is not a useful way of measuring your fitness or comapring yourself to others (which is what this post was originally about.) Your strength and your endurance are, and those cannot be accurately understood without measuring them in a controlled fashion.

My point is that averages can be worthless. Just like the expample that i gave. Another example would be if you rode a century and after crossing the finish line you decided to cool down with a slow mile or two, and you also forgot to look at the computer.

I am not saying they are always worthless, my point was that they can be. If i went out and burned 2000 calories on a ride that i averaged 12.5 whereas i only burned 1000 calories on a ride with a strong tailwind and averaged 19, i consider the 2000 calorie ride as a better ride. It all depends on your goal. Mine is usually to make a stronger engine. Average speed after a ride is not always an indicator that you did that.

Hipcycler, You've hit the nail on the head for me with this statement. I say, let those that do not value average speed track whatever aspect of their riding performance that so moves them. And, let those of us who know that on the same of similar routes, that it all *averages* out over time, talk about and promote our average speeds without the disdain of those who don't.

I never joyride,but i dont train. I just ride hard. I ride into the onshore wind everyday and its different everyday. If its a less wind,i still keep my cadence over 90 and more wind,over 90. Now it might be 95@12mph and it might be 95@22mph.

yeah but shok...I can do 100 cadence on granny in the parking lot all day long...even into the wind...lol.
George

I think your post is correct.

However, I would add to it that many people really aren't all that concerned with strict statistical analysis of their fitness level. Some just like to know how fast they're going. Not everyone is a racer or racer wannabe. Some people just ride for the fun of it and use average speed to try and gauge how they compare to others. Plain and simple. You are correct in that there are numerous variables, but some people really aren't that concerned with a complete statistical breakdown for absolute accuracy. Just like the current thread about how fast Lance is. Some folks just like to look at there computer and say "wow, I picked it up today to a ave speed of 18mph. But ol' Lance prolly woulda done it at 30."

Average speed is very useful. For example, if you go on the same ride -- so that you have something to compare --then, you are "racing" against yourself. In that situation, if you increase your average of 12 mph to 13 mph over a distance of 21 miles, you will have improved a lot and you may even be getting much more benefit from your exercise plan than the rider that passes you doing an average of 14 mph.

But, time is especially important to someone like Lance. He knows that it takes the same amount of evergy to raise a certain amount of weight, a given height, in a certain amount of time, and if you assume that you cannot take any more weight off your body or bike -- and the finish line at the top of the mountain isn't going to change either -- and, if you know that you have to cross the finish line within a certain amount of time to be competitive, then . . . if you want to improve your performance on a particular leg of a race to be more competitive -- a continual increase in average speed over the same course -- all other things being equal -- would be a completely reliable indicator of improvement, i.e., exactly the same as measuring the amount of energy in watts that were expended (which is what Lance measures).

I think it has to be a personal thing though, because you have to control all of the variables. For example, you could increase your average speed over a given distance by just lowering your body into a more aerodynamic position, or by avoiding hills, or by drafting on companions, although, you would not get back much meaningful information, i.e., you couldn't compare that "better" average time to the week before when, e.g., you rode alone against a stiff headwind.
:)

If I have good legs on a given day, I'll look down and find my speed is *usually* 19-21 on the flat. If I'm feeling ick and my legs don't want to spin, 16-18 is more likely. My speeds plummet on the climbs though -- my current goal is to keep my computer reading a double-digit speed on at least the lower-grade (~4-5%) bits. :rolleyes:

(I think Machka's looking for a *mode*, people. A *usual* or frequently observed velocity, as opposed to a ride-by-ride average.)

On a 20 mile ride on my racing bike I can average 19 mph.
On my loaded touring bike on a century or longer 10 mph.
And anywhere in the middle depending on the distance and the bike.

Bike computer average, NOT typical riding speed.

Some people get confused between the two. I'm thinking
Bike computer average is what most people are thinking.

I'm not sure what you are referring too. Do you mean the speed you seem to ride at most of the time, or do you mean the computer average after the ride? Huge difference.

Anywhere from 16.5-18.5 mph depending on energy level and wind, etc.

Agree completely, it's great cocktail talk and nothing more than that. And that's just fine - one doesn't need to defend feeling good about picking up their speed. However, in my that's all it is - a meaningless number that doesn't say anything more than how you performed on that given day.

See my post below.

Okay number fans - take a look at the graph I've attached and tell me what you think it says about me as a cyclist.

It's built from ~1000 road bike rides since 1998. I pulled all my MTB rides out of my data since they really mess it up. The line is a 5-point moving average of average MPH for all those rides.

X axis is time, from July 1998 to 15 minutes ago. Y is aveage MPH

Looking at the trend, tell me what conclusions you draw about my fitness, my ability and my progress.

Thats just what i call it,water cooler talk. A non-cyclist will understand,hey i avg 18mph on my ride. They will get that but not much else. Non issue for me and my avg would never be true anyway because of warmup and cooldown. I start my computer out of the garage.

According to activebody.org, mine is 18.6 mph for the year. Not too shabby for me since most of those miles are commuting. When it's flat and calm, I like to keep it up around 19. If I'm feeling strong, 20 or higher.