Low to mid 20s

Well lets see.... I will average anywhere from 16-17 mph. depending on the route I decide to ride. I can't find more than one mile or so of flat on a ride so who knows for sure. I would think if I had to ride on boring flat roads for an extended period of time I would be in the low 20's.

Interesting perspective on A/B/C rides... there is group in town that has an "A/B ride". It wasn't until I rode with them for a while that I learned that the real A ride was on the other end of town :p I can pretty much ride off the front of the easier ride, but the real A ride is quite humbling.

What does that mean?

We're all nuts :D

This. Quite common.

I'm still making great year-to-year gains even if sometimes it is frustrating when it feels like I am stagnating or moving backwards.

There are very few flat area's in my rides, all rolling terrian and speed is determined on how I'm training. To date over 1000k this year my average is 25km/h. The short stretched of flats we do have I can keep it at or above 30-40k for usally as far as it lasts.

Last night I got stuck behind a dude and the pack sped off. I thought it would be a good idea to try and chase them down. I lasted 3 miles. My general cruising speed for that was about 30mph. That hurt.

I'm not real sure what "general" or "cruising" speeds are though.

Average speed can be helpful but there are so many factors that determine what that is it doesn't make sense to use it an accurate guage. On flats I can average between 19-24mph but what I keep an eye on is my cadence since I don't have a power meter. As far as progress you'll start feeling stronger as your fitness improves and you'll see your time to get from point A to point B improve as well.

I hear you. I don't have a PT so I have no idea about the power aspect from year to year but there are days and weeks where I ride and I think...the legs are dead and I have no power. My group did a climbing ride last saturday and I was curious where I would stack up. I remembered what speed I used to have up certain climbs and didn't feel like I had that now. Got in the climbs. Buried my head and when i finally looked around...I was in front and alone. Got back and looked at the average for the ride and it was faster than the last time I rode it.

I had what I thought was a terrible ride on Wed with our Jr racer. Legs felt dead but at the end of the 30 miler...I looked at the average speed and went....that's actually pretty good.

Rode my 28lbs Nishiki Cresta, bar end shifting it in a group ride last night. I felt bad. I looked bad and it was bad.

I just declared that I was riding sweep. next time, I'll put a broom on the handlebars and tape a radio on it somewhere.

I did a vigorous ride by myself a two days ago, some flats but lots of hills, I am not very fast but this was good for me.

From My Garmin:
27.7 miles in 1:50 minutes, average speed 15.1 Total Ascent: 2224 feet Total Decent: 2319. Most of it was in Zone 4 for my heart rate.

Just go until it almost hurts and stay there as long as you can... rest and repeat. :)

The only way to gage this is to ride with a group. Find one in your area that is intermediate, not a hammer fest, and see how you do.

Do you have a cyclocomputer? Chart your rides- distance, time, average speed, wind conditions that day. Over the season, watch yourself improve. :thumb:

8 knots

Tracking your daily cruising speed is the cycling equivalent of wanking off. It feels like work but it's not going to improve your game. If you want to get faster and/or compare yourself to other riders, find a fast group ride. If you want to track improvements in your speed, make up a course and keep track of your best times. Otherwise don't worry about it.

BL

If you stay at or under the posted speed limit, you'll be fine.

It means that I got passed by a guy on a very expensive road bike in full kit and by the rate he was going it looked like he was warped from a bike race onto the road I was on.

Is it possible that you were just going slowly and he was just going his normal speed? Why do some people have to be so negative about those who can ride fast?

I ride with various groups containing various level of riders. It so happens the one group is considered the fast or what others call zoom group in my area. The riders in other clubs all say those guys are a bunch of idiots, I aske dwhy and everyone said because I know a guy they dropped. Well the fast group says it right up front to new riders if you start to lag suck wheel and try and recover if not see ya later. They always dropped me for 2 years, I finally hung on for whole ride end of last season, this year I'm right in the mix. And guess what, the guys aren't idiots they're just normaly out of breath too much to talk....lol

The answer is 42. The real question is "What are the units?"

what you do is just right - slow/moderate (for the beginner). I generally agree 100% with this"

[I]"If you are making 15mph now and it feels like an effort, then you need to build based on that, not based on the kind of speed that someone with ten years of racing experience has.[/I]"

make sure you're comfortable on the bike and go ride. then do it again...

i live in southern NJ where it is always flat. Commuting on a hevay hybrid avg is 16-17mph. road bike 17-19 for solo though it is normally somewhat windy.

cruising speeds though will be about 1.5-2 mph higher than the average since the averages bring in all the stoppingand starting Due to the realitive urban setting my averages go up the longer I ride since I stop less.

group ride + 2 to 4mph


Question to the experts...do computers take the average by time or distance?

I have a lot of trouble determining if there is wind on a ride that is really affecting my speed. On my particular ride, the wind is always changing and being funneled through certain areas and then switching and so forth. Overall though, I'm definitely making steady progress, but it is really going to take me a while before I'm cruising at 25 in relatively still wind.

I've found that the key to improving is in the recovery, not the hammering.

Somewhere between 12 and 30mph, but it depends on conditions.

Because it hurts when your soul is crushed?

Runaway . Im a new rider also! Just purchased my Allez Sport. I got the best advice from a local rider at my LBS, he said don't concern yourself with miles or mph. Just ride at a comfortable speed and concentrate on getting time in the "saddle."
Average speeds were about 13-16. With occasional spurts of 18-20 or so. I left the cateye on "time" and just rode.....
When I stopped for a break I was a my 14.6th mile. I pulled my first 25miles today with a consistant 14mph range.
From now on Im not concentrating on mph or miles, just time... Worked for me.

Question makes no sense. Average speed is distance / time. The only question is whether it is total time (including stopped time) or just riding time.