It shouldn't. 25mph in pack for a long distance is very doable for any in recreational cyclist who is in good shape. The aerodynamics of pack riding is way different than solo rides. I don't work much harder at 25 in a pack than I do at 18 or 19 solo. Don't let it scare ya.

What is fast?


c

Definitely NOT SushiJoe.

Don't get into an Slow Guy Pissing Contest with Pcad.

"Off the back" above my avatar is not simply a saying for me; it's pretty much my mantra, a lifestyle.

But you will look good on that Seven and after all.....that's what REALLY matters!

That is the truth!
When you're slow, look good being slow!

I think it would be the inverse of me. However, lately I am more like.... haul arse... blow up... recover... haul arse again... blow up again. Repeat until the end of the ride.
You would think I would learn how to pace myself after all this time.

I did manage to average 20 mph on a 70 mile ride last year.

I must have been fast today. I really did sit down in the shower after my ride.

That's only true if the road is very flat for a long distance. If there are hills, the front of the pack may keep pulling at 25mph, but the low power folks will get spit out the back on every climb and many will have a hard time catching back up.

I am a German cycling in Thailand,
and started July 2007 - so same question i also had before ...

At Training normaly somewhere between 15-18 mph from flat up to some smaler hills (1100 m) i tested once 100 km (62 miles) single with 21,7 mph and was happy.

Others told me thats to less to follow groups in competition, and so i tested with a korean cycling team to follow: 132 km (82 miles) with an average of 38,6 km/h ( 24 mph) and sometimes up to 50 km/h 31 mph when stupid springs started ...

Tour of EGAT 2008 1. Stage i was 6 Place after an average of 40 km/h (24,8 mph).

So fast is a relative thing about your skills and the streets and also if your alone, in group or at a race.

sounds like some of the Aventura (Macy's) to Key Biscayne and back sunday rides I have done..

Fast is relative to the situation...
80 mile ride with 5000 ft of climbing with an 18mph avg and that is fast for me..
21.5 mile flat solo loop at 22mph and that is fast for me..
55 mile group ride with a 19.6 avg and that is faster for me because on the ride are some 28+mph runs and even some 30+ runs that leave me breathless or dropped...

I was averaging 16-17mph just a few years ago and thought I was fast... till some group blew by me..

+1

Our club developed a test of "fast". A local hill climbs 800 feet in 4.4 miles. Slowest riders take 26+ minutes to get to the top. Then strong club riders, then fast riders, then racer types who get to the top in under 19 minutes. New people can ride the hill and see where they fit in before joining a group ride. Novices ride to sniff the flowers, regroup frequently and do not move on until all are accounted for. Racers sprint for city limits and such, rarely regroup, and drop those who are more then a minute or two late. I sniff the flowers (there are more women in that group ).

As everyone else is saying, it's all relative. Your typical hard, fast group ride is pretty fast if you're a recreational rider. I did one of these a few times last summer. I got dropped off the back so fast I thought I might be tied down. I consider that a fast ride.

Then I trained all winter and raced this spring. I came back last Thursday, and suddenly I was one of the four fastest guys out there that night (smallish group!). And it definitely hurt, but I remembered the races I'd done earlier that spring, pounding up hills with nothing in the tank whatsoever, knowing that as bad as this is, it's only to be worse in two laps when the race hasn't only just gotten started. Starting a climb in third wheel and finishing thirty places back on that third lap. Trying to get out of the saddle to sprint for the line only to discover that even that last bit of effort is too much to ask. Being pulled from a criterium with twelve laps to go because the race leader has lapped the field. Solo. After that, fast is a little bit different. If you aren't struggling just to survive it's not fast.

But really? If you can ride over 22 mph solo on the flat for an extended period of time, that's plenty fast for a recreational rider. A racer might not be impressed, but the only people who should worry about what racers think are other racers. And usually not even them.

you will never be fast enough cuz the guy you are sucking wheel from is faster.....

"Fast" - Where you do not want to go any faster due to being scared of either falling off or mechanical problem eg flat tyre

I agree if there are real "climbs" on the ride. I find on rollers the pack aerodynamics hold pretty true.

Damn! Looks like I am doubly screwed....

No....that's when you should stop riding.

Fear does not belong anywhere near speed.

It belongs in the post ride drowning.

I go along with the relative term.
It truly depends on the group you're riding with.
I brought up the tail end of a 5 mile stretch of ride behind a premier local group and their 18 mph was their 'warmup'
For the group I myself rode with that same day 18 would have been the average.
I've had a local group litterly form a pcaeline behind my ford ranger and do 28/30mph down a 8 mile stretch of roadway with a strictly enforced 30mph speed limit.

Word. If you ever want to see your speed drop instantly, just imagine in great detail what would happen to your lower jaw if your fork spontaneously self-destructed and/or your front wheel came off while you were riding (JRA). Now watch the numbers on the cyclocomputer plummet. It's like magic!

no worries. only italians look good when they're slow.

I thought I was fast when I could hold 20 for a while, then I rode with a local group and got dropped after about a half hour