siulonbow

I have been riding almost 90% of the day in the past 3 months after getting the bike. My average distance is about 7-10 miles everyday and 15-20 miles on the weekend. I see improvement in riding. At the beginning, I rode 9 miles to work in 50mins to now only 35 mins.

A few days ago, I rode at Rose Bowl and run into a lot of road bike riders. I got passed by a lot of them. I tried to push harder, but my leg is not allowing me to push harder. The feeling is kind of awkward because I tried to push, but my body is not responding what I want to. My avg speed around the bowl is 14-15mph, but average rider ride about 18-20mph. I have seen ppl at group ride about 30mph. I am 30 yrs old, and thinking to myself that I am pretty pathetic in performing at this number and at this kind of speed. I wondered what can I do to make a greater improvement? Should I buy those nutrition supplement from the lbs? and does it help?

Quijibo187

I doubt you'll see much of an improvement from eating supplements.
You've already noticed a big improvement in your speed for commuting,
the next improvements will be slower and steadier.
keep at it, you'll get faster.

clausen

Find a group and try to hang on.

n00bL35

Don't bother with the supplements. Increase your distance every week. You can keep up the 10 mile jaunts every day (and try to get them under 30 minutes once in a while), and then step up your weekend ride by 5-10 mile increments. You might also try punishing yourself with some big hills. Don't worry if you can't finish the hill, or even finish a longer ride. Just go all out once in a while and punish yourself. It will help you get over your plateau. If you find you've bitten off more than you can chew, call someone with a big car to come bail you out. It's all in your mind, and probably has nothing to do with your legs, bike or lack of supplements.

curiouskid55

Pedal faster not harder. Don't worry about not being able to stick on the Bowl ride. Half the guys that start don't usually finish the ten laps. Get on the back, go as long as you can , then come back next week and try to go a little farther. In four years you will be doing 37 mph on the east side like we did last Tuesday.

siulonbow

Thanks... it's really great to know that you belong to the group that pass by me on Tuesday.

Please educate me, when I ride and trying to pick up the extra 1-2 mph avg., should I go to a higher gear (harder to ride) or lower gear but pedal faster? I might always have a mis-conception that I need to pedal hard to go fast, and this could be why my body (legs) couldn't respond when I want to ride faster.

devilshaircut

Maybe consider riding more. I ride 10 miles a day getting to work alone. That might be a good idea for you ... ride your bike to work if you don't already and if this is feasible.

I noticed the second biggest improvement in my cycling endurance and speed when I started to simply ride more. No change in diet or technique. Just getting out there more often.

I do my commute plus about three 20-mile group rides per week and work in a long ride over the weekend. All over very very hilly terrain (rolling hills though). Not trying to be a competitive level athlete ... but I do want to achieve my own personal best. Perhaps something like this could help you to. 7-9 mile rides might not be long enough to really push your endurance.

You also might try riding a fixed gear for training (this resulted in the greatest improvement in my cycling ability). When I changed from a road bike to a fixed gear, I noticed I had to work that much harder at everything I did. Now I am a much stronger cyclist.

daxr

Watch how the roadies do it - you pedal faster to go faster, about 90 rpm is a good goal, pushing whatever gear is comfortable for you. That's much easier on your muscles and body and with practice you can keep it up for longer periods, and you will get faster and feel better riding. It is very worthwhile to have a shop look at your position on the bike as well, as that makes a huge difference.

kudude

is the OP on a road bike?

siulonbow

When I ride, I tried not to shift gear a lot. I usually stay on the big gear from the crank and use the 3rd or 4th largest gear from the back. (I tried to use the same gear when I ride on a 9% uphill) Normally, I usually shift around within 3 gears. I tried to get myself to ride harder so I might be able to push harder when I ride on a up hill. In my case, should I lower my gear?

umd

Bikes are made with gears for a reason, use them!

nycphotography

Three things:

Bike computer with cadence.
Heart Rate monitor.
Structured training based on HR zones.

Ride 2-3 more months just pushing yourself to go faster and farther,

Then move to a structured training program, and you will improve dramatically.

NathanC

3 Gears when you have 20+

Gears are pretty much made so you can keep the same spin, dispite changes in inclination.

jrobe

"Three things:

Bike computer with cadence.
Heart Rate monitor.
Structured training based on HR zones."



If you did these three things, I bet you would find that you have a very low cadence (70's I bet) compared to many of the people that are passing you (90+ cadence). I also bet you spend the vast majority of your time at a fairly low heartrate (120-130 I bet). It would be hard to improve your fitness without some structured training at higher heartrate zones. You probably need to eductae yourself on a proper cycling training regimen.

curiouskid55

Use current gear or shift down, spin faster to get up to speed. Shift up and spin slower to recover. Repeat. Vomit. Try again next week.

HarryStoddard

This, and try to mix it up during your ride. Get into a comfortable rhythm at about 90 rpms and then really push it on a slightly harder gear for a mile and then back off and get into that comfortable rhythm again. Give yourself a few miles between hard pushes.

siulonbow

My heart rate is somewhere in the 140-150. What is the heart rate zone that normal bike riders are in? I will try to go back and push harder to get myself to 160. I hope I can have +1 to +2 avg.

umd

hr is different for everyone

chadteck

I've heard it stated here a few times that riding a lot of miles at an average pace isn't going to make you fast.

If you're not seeing any gains riding the way you are now, you might not be spending enough time riding near your maximum capability. You can read about intervals or just try pushing yourself really hard for short periods of time on your rides.

Edit: I just noticed, you've only been riding for 3 months? Just keep at it, but I stick with what I said above.

Sprocket Man

Be aware that you may take all the good advice you get, implement them into a great training program and still find very little, if any, improvement to your current speed. Unfortunately, some people are just born with lousy genetics and are doomed to be slow their entire lives, no matter how hard they work.

ericm979

Ride more.
Do intervals on some days, long rides on some days, and easy rides on some days.
Ride with a group that's faster (but not too much) than you are.
Ride more.

MONGO!

Use a higher gear and pedal faster.

Pharmr

Hey!!...I resemble that remark!!!

kudude

I'll ask it again. To siulonbow, what kind of bike do you have? Brand, speeds, style of handlebars? IS IT A ROAD BIKE?

14 mph on a road bike takes very little effort w/ 23c tires pumped up to 120psi. On a mtn bike w/ 2inch tires at 25psi, it takes A LOT more effort

startedspyder05

That's not pathetic at all really. My first year riding I averaged 14 mph tops on my rides(20-30 miles max). I just ended a 40 mile ride at 20mpg average. I still have a lot of room to grow but I'm getting stronger and you can too if you do it right.