It's something I read. The gist being that the purpose of the race bike is to enable the rider to get the most out of himself, whether sprinting, climbing, cornering, etc.

In other words, I thought it was a clever way of saying that speed is about the "engine".

Well, I'm not fast enough, that's for sure.

Maybe I just need those trick bullhorn handlebars, 700x35 tires, and that "Dodge Viper" engine...

I believe Anquetil said it.

http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/rid...quetil_j19.jpg

He knew a little about winning bike races. He didn't care how fast it went as long as it was at least a little bit faster than the next guy (usually Raymond Poulidor).

For an extreme example, watch a match sprint on the track. Because they are usually trackstanding for a great deal of time as they cat-and-mouse each other before one attacks, the average speed of the event is usually pretty slow... :p

"Raymond Poulidor wore his malediction like a virtual coat of shining armor."

That has nothing to do with anything but that's one of the coolest quotes I've ever come across. I'd love to have that etched into my gravestone.

well i don't want to jump into the nice argument here, but don't most TdF stages end up around 40 km/h avg? (50 for TTs)

anyway, i was happy to find out last thursday that while races do obviously have a faster pace, you don't need to be able to average 25 mph by yourself to hang on.

i can at best average 20 mph over shorter distances (it's hilly out here, what can i say?), but was able to hang on in the (4/5) crit and end up with an average speed of 38 km/h. yes it was harder than my normal training rides, but i lived and never got dropped. (and yes i know that's a "slow" crit, but like i said we have hills out here)

a lot of it is about drafting, don't let race speeds scare you too much. my $0.02.

I kind of think that ridiculous speed is fast enough.

New**** can't 7

Most the cat 5 races I have been in are in the 21-22 range. Rolling hills and chip seal roads slow things down a bit.

Like I told the gang I sneakily passed last weekend:


"I'm *really* fast...




... when I have the wind in my back"


:D

i am going with this as the best answer!

What planet are you on?

If you're just a little faster than MongoosePaver, you are slow.

I assume we're talking ground speed not air speed. In the case of ground speed I once did 223mph.

^That

No.

my wrx made 135+ in west texas before i got scared of what would happen if i hit a deer.

yes

On a velodrome, no drafting, for an hour

Current UCI record is 30.882 miles

Fast recreational rider is 22

Average joe recreational rider is 17

I made the last two numbers up, but they're probably close. The raw deal is, some people are natural athletes, and some aren't.

:innocent:

I said usually. I know you've done it, I've seen it done in races, but it's still the exception...

You must have some slow cat 5s...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

The guy that one one of the road race stages at Gila won a cat 3 crit here a few weeks ago by TTing off halfway through. Not the stage where you passed a bunch of the cat 3 field though :p

I tend to go by the Cascade Bicycle Club's ride classification here in Seattle. It assumes average speed you can maintain in the flats. This classification accomodates all classes of riders, so it's a pretty broad range. I believe it to be pretty accurate gauge of what is fast. For my money on a flat ride, if you are going over 20 mph, thats better than average--and depending on the company it can be considered pretty fast.

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

I trained really hard and rode the Seattle to Portland (STP) in one day two years ago, I got into some really quick pacelines and even with all the stoplights I averaged 20.5 MPH over the first 100 miles (probably 24-25 in those pacelines). I felt destroyed after that--I ended up outrunning all the guys in pacelines (I had four water bottles and was skipping the foodstops that they kept stopping at) and was largely alone (except for a wheelsucker for 10 miles who never said a word to me and refused to pull) and ended up averaging 19 -19.5 for 206 miles. At the end I didn't care how fast I was going I was in total survival mode--it was hot and windy. I remember dropping a water bottle; I did not even think of stopping to pick it up, i was too tired to consider stopping getting off my bike and then starting again--I was on fumes. I started the ride at 144 lbs and at the end, after weighed 138 lbs.

Fast...

1 hour... 50 km... solo.