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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Average Speed

Old 02-15-10, 03:37 PM
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Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
All i really wanted to know is if I'm considered a slower-than average cyclist...
Probably not. The average cyclist is pretty darn slow.
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Old 02-15-10, 06:55 PM
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Yours was of no use at all.
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Old 02-15-10, 06:58 PM
  #128  
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Originally Posted by deacon mark
Yours was of no use at all.
Facepalm
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Old 02-15-10, 07:02 PM
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I think this keeps coming up because n00bs tend to think the way to get faster is to ride as hard as possible every ride and record the average speed. Eventually that number will go up. Unfortunately, this doesn't work beyond the first year of riding. Note that most of the people posting "average speeds" or asking why "it's a big deal" are, in fact, n00bs. It's too bad so many are so unwilling to listen to more experienced riders.
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Old 02-15-10, 07:05 PM
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Originally Posted by deacon mark
If it is like running and it is...
No, it isn't.
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Old 02-15-10, 10:35 PM
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Did a bunch of posts get deleted? Things make even less sense now than they did before...
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Old 02-15-10, 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by umd
Did a bunch of posts get deleted? Things make even less sense now than they did before...
Doesn't really matter now ... what else can we say ?
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Old 02-15-10, 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by umd
I could tell you that I rode 16145 miles in 897 hours last year, and you could calculate out that my average of all my riding was 18.0 mph, but does that really tell you anything about how fast I am, or how fast you are compared to me?
No, but it would anwer the OP original question.
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Old 02-15-10, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
No, but it would anwer the OP original question.
But it won't tell him what he wants to know:

Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
Just wondering, because I want to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast.
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Old 02-15-10, 11:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
No, but it would anwer the OP original question.
Not really. Point completely missed. You fail.

Let me remind you what he actually asked:

Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
Just wondering, because I want to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast.
Hence everyone saying that average speed is useless for these purposes.
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Old 02-15-10, 11:03 PM
  #136  
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
Doesn't really matter now ... what else can we say ?
I was just wondering because the post that preceeded "Yours was of no use at all." seems to be gone, as is the post with "If it is like running and it is..."

It doesn't matter, I just wonder if a mod went to town on it.
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Old 02-15-10, 11:16 PM
  #137  
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Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
Hey guys, just wanted to know, how fast are your average speeds on a typical ride.

I know that the distance of the ride affects the average speed, also climbing and wind and what not, but what is a generally O.K. average speed?

And if you race, tell me how fast your average speed is.

Just wondering, because I want to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast.

Thanks a whole lot!
Hey bm... I'll make you feel good.

I'm a below average rider and do a solid 10 miles an hour.
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Old 02-16-10, 10:06 PM
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Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
I know that the distance of the ride affects the average speed, also climbing and wind and what not, but what is a generally O.K. average speed?

And if you race, tell me how fast your average speed is.
Originally Posted by umd
Let me remind you what he actually asked:

Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
Just wondering, because I want to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast.
OK I fail, but I passed my English and that is not what he asked. From what I recall the question was what is your average speed and yes he understands about the issues about hills, winds, etc. Just so you know, questions end with a question mark and not a period.
Either way, most of us understand about the differences about averages but there is an average we all have. Just use your computer. It may be information that is worthless, but it is still there.
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Old 02-16-10, 10:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
OK I fail, but I passed my English and that is not what he asked. From what I recall the question was what is your average speed and yes he understands about the issues about hills, winds, etc. Just so you know, questions end with a question mark and not a period.
Either way, most of us understand about the differences about averages but there is an average we all have. Just use your computer. It may be information that is worthless, but it is still there.
Wow. Just wow.
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Old 02-16-10, 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
OK I fail, but I passed my English and that is not what he asked. From what I recall the question was what is your average speed and yes he understands about the issues about hills, winds, etc. Just so you know, questions end with a question mark and not a period.
Either way, most of us understand about the differences about averages but there is an average we all have. Just use your computer. It may be information that is worthless, but it is still there.
Yes, you fail. His question was his whole post. He asked what's your average speed, but his post further explained that he wanted to know this information specifically because he wanted "to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast". And it is precicely because of this that everyone said that the information is useless for that purpose.
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Old 02-16-10, 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
OK I fail, but I passed my English and that is not what he asked. From what I recall the question was what is your average speed and yes he understands about the issues about hills, winds, etc. Just so you know, questions end with a question mark and not a period.
Either way, most of us understand about the differences about averages but there is an average we all have. Just use your computer. It may be information that is worthless, but it is still there.
Not that it's of any matter anymore, because it isn't but you're correct.

Basically i just gave the reason why I'm asking the question.
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Old 02-17-10, 12:58 AM
  #142  
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Originally Posted by umd
And it is precicely because of this that everyone said that the information is useless for that purpose.
So had he just asked, "What's your average speed?" he wouldn't have received essentially the same responses?

Hmmm...
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Old 02-17-10, 01:18 AM
  #143  
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Originally Posted by Pedaleur
So had he just asked, "What's your average speed?" he wouldn't have received essentially the same responses?

Hmmm...
It would have been similar, but that he explicitly said he wanted to compare himself opened himself up to even more of it.
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Old 02-17-10, 05:03 AM
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Originally Posted by umd
It would have been similar, but that he explicitly said he wanted to compare himself opened himself up to even more of it.
Whew. Good. I thought we were losing focus for a minute.
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Old 02-17-10, 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Butcher
OK I fail, but I passed my English and that is not what he asked. From what I recall the question was what is your average speed and yes he understands about the issues about hills, winds, etc. Just so you know, questions end with a question mark and not a period.
Either way, most of us understand about the differences about averages but there is an average we all have. Just use your computer. It may be information that is worthless, but it is still there.
Some of us were trying to help & educate, rather than provide knowingly useless information. If the thread consisted of 5 pages of:
19
18.7
20.2
16
14.7

It would have been a bigger waste of time.

I don't have a computer, but I've raced & trained at a fairly high level and couldn't care less what my average speed is. A power meter would be useful though.
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Last edited by Homebrew01; 02-17-10 at 07:20 AM.
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Old 02-17-10, 07:17 AM
  #146  
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
A power peter would be useful though.
Ummm...
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Old 02-21-10, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by 7bmwm3gtr
Hey guys, just wanted to know, how fast are your average speeds on a typical ride.

I know that the distance of the ride affects the average speed, also climbing and wind and what not, but what is a generally O.K. average speed?

And if you race, tell me how fast your average speed is.

Just wondering, because I want to know if I'm going too slow, or rushing too fast.

Thanks a whole lot!
I will add my 2 cents to this post. I am 67 years young and raced locally (Illinois, Indiana) for about 15 years, from the time I was 40 until I was 55. I raced "citizen" races for about 5 years and then when I turned 45, got my USCF racing license and participated in mass start races. I had more success in criteriums than road races but I was very competitive in my age group. I also rode with the kids that rode from the University of Illinois on Saturdays. After the second year I could stay with them and take my share of pulls at the front. My most notable success was a third place finish in the tandem nationals back in the middle 90's.

I said all of that to say this. Back in the 80's and 90's we did not train with power but always used a heart rate monitor and followed a regular training program. On a regular basis I would test my progression by riding a ten mile time trial course to see if my "average speed" was improving.

Today I always monitor my average speed, when I started riding again 9 months ago, after a ten year layoff my average was around 12 - 13 mph, I had a goal to ride a metric century in 4 hours, 4 months after I came back I did accomplish that goal, in fact I averaged almost 16 mph. My new goal is to average 18 mph. Will I do that everyday, no! But I will continue to ride and train, which will include intervals, 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute intervals.

So in answer to the original question, on a solo ride when I am riding for an average speed I want to average over 17 mph. Back when I raced the average race speed would vary from 22 - 25 MPH, typically. Sometimes in a road race the speed will really drop and then at other times it will get very fast, depends on the race.

Wayne
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Old 02-21-10, 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted by DubT
I will add my 2 cents to this post. I am 67 years young and raced locally (Illinois, Indiana) for about 15 years, from the time I was 40 until I was 55. I raced "citizen" races for about 5 years and then when I turned 45, got my USCF racing license and participated in mass start races. I had more success in criteriums than road races but I was very competitive in my age group. I also rode with the kids that rode from the University of Illinois on Saturdays. After the second year I could stay with them and take my share of pulls at the front. My most notable success was a third place finish in the tandem nationals back in the middle 90's.

I said all of that to say this. Back in the 80's and 90's we did not train with power but always used a heart rate monitor and followed a regular training program. On a regular basis I would test my progression by riding a ten mile time trial course to see if my "average speed" was improving.

Today I always monitor my average speed, when I started riding again 9 months ago, after a ten year layoff my average was around 12 - 13 mph, I had a goal to ride a metric century in 4 hours, 4 months after I came back I did accomplish that goal, in fact I averaged almost 16 mph. My new goal is to average 18 mph. Will I do that everyday, no! But I will continue to ride and train, which will include intervals, 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute intervals.

So in answer to the original question, on a solo ride when I am riding for an average speed I want to average over 17 mph. Back when I raced the average race speed would vary from 22 - 25 MPH, typically. Sometimes in a road race the speed will really drop and then at other times it will get very fast, depends on the race.

Wayne
Comparing your own average over the same course and keeping as many variables as possible the same is useful. Comparing it to anybody else on the Internet isn't.
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