lshaped

it's like the gigantic guy that says he used to run marathons every month years ago
why do people say stuff like this

Spring Water

You're wrong. You're also never going to be a pro, I know this because you can't do this.

WHOOOSSHHH...

Don't let these bozo's get you riled up ...19.35 is darn good esp. since your new to the sport. Gotta remember that UMD weighs as much as a chicken bone, so there's no bite there, just bark, and he loves him some mathmatics! Just consider the source. You're doing fine...

DScott

Yeah, but umd just finished THIS little stroll in the park. Came in 8th overall in the 3's.

How was YOUR weekend?

banerjek

You have inspired me. I'm going to tell my boss I'm rededicating myself to my profession so I will be putting at least 30 minutes a day. Those 2 1/2 hour workweeks are going to be tough, but it will be worth it. I know he will be impressed.

Although it's no substitute for a dedicated training regime like you propose, commuting by bicycle is not a bad way to build/maintain a base. Roughly 5% of the people in this forum have one way commutes of over 20 miles. Even without a well focused training plan, that's usually good enough to get them Fred status. In the racing world, this is still two notches below primordial ooze but many of them could aspire to cat 4 greatness if they actually raced.

coasting 

i was told that cycling is a sport where the difference between pro and regular mortals is probably widest.

banerjek

Hey burningredphoen -- you should give that ride a shot. It's a piece of cake. Half of the course is downhill so you'll be able to coast much of the way.

DScott

I totally agree. They should really advertise this ride as "2 days · 208 Miles · 29,035 feet of descending"

Whee!

jr59

It would depend on the person.

A high level, mid distance runner, or a world class swimmer COULD do it.

I don't think anyone on BF can disagree with this.

billh92109

Wow - that looks like a ride to aspire to do someday... I thought 100 with a few 'hills' was hard but wow thats nuts.

Dolamite02

Since there were several folks calling me out on my earlier statement, here's a ride I did recently: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/49194542 Now, I'll state for the record that this was 3:16 moving time, not the 3.5 hrs, and it was 69.3 miles, not 70, but it was done at an average of 21.1 mph.

I bought my first bike (37lb hybrid) in October, took the winter off, and bought my first road bike in March. I've been riding consistently since then. I don't say this to enter a pissing contest, but to simply verify my statement that it can be done in less than a year. (Yes, I'm modifying my position slightly to say can be done, rather than should likely.)

svtmike

98 ft. of climbing over 70 miles is more conducive to higher average speed than other terrains, which is why average speed is useless as a comparative measure between riders in different locales.

banerjek

Was this solo, or did you work with a group? There's a huge difference.

Dolamite02

That's true, but none of those other constraints were taken into account by the statistics the OP was being fed. Further, they were not being taken into account by the subsequent statements by other posters concerning the potential of achieving such an average for the stated duration.

Dolamite02

I was pulling the group for 75% of the ride, then led an accidental breakaway (didn't know about a mechanical at the back others stopped for) for the last ~10 miles.

miwoodar

I'll never, ever, ever be a 'pro' level rider. Not-even-close no matter how much I ride. I'm a cat 4 who has done exactly one crit and no road races.

20 mph for 3.5 hours took me roughly six months of riding about 150 miles per week. Lots of hill climbing and lots of FTP work. I wouldn't have gotten there without my powertap and a lot of homework though (Coggan/Hunter, Gordo, Eddy B, and a ton of helpful internet posts).

svtmike

You're in an area that's really unusually flat so it's understandable that others might not factor that into their frame of reference when assessing your claim. Congrats though -- you have achieved good fitness in a short time.

droobieinop

Then you aren't putting in enough time. I turned 41 this year and have only been back on the bike for the last 3 or so years and can ride solo at 20 almost all day long, on a good day. I currently am riding 1000 miles a month and averaging 2.5 hours, or 40 miles a day.

In the last year and a half I've lost 40+ lbs and greatly improved my cycling. I've gone from an average "commuter's" pace of 16-18 to a "A Ride" pace of 20+. I've done four successively improved centuries, where I've not been strong enough to stay with the front group but, was too strong for anyone to catch without a stop. And of my 4 Crash 5 races, I only finished one.

Not to go on about myself but, in comparison. I ride with some Cat 3+ riders that are the strongest in the area and they kill me, more often than not, yet have the utmost respect for the tour pros. Why? Because as strong and fast as they are, they will never be able to ride like a pro.

However, that won't prevent them from trying a sub 4 hour century. My last century was sub 5 with an elapsed time of 5:11 and I rode close to half of that solo.

mike868y

How come no one has brought up the fact that average speed is a useless metric yet?

umd

Logical fallacies abound

And also...

umd

Pay attention

mike868y

damn.

gregf83 

I'm sure you know that there's a huge difference (30%) between riding solo and drafting.

It's odd that there are numerous people talking about how easy it is to ride above 20 for an extended period yet no one has actually provided any evidence.

The power required to ride at 20MPH isn't very high but to do it over 3.5hrs with all of the invariable stop lights, hills and other excuses makes it not that common. It also isn't really fair to average moving time only and ignore the coffee stops and other rest periods.

As for myself, I don't normally ride steadily enough over that period to average 20MPH. If I'm training I'll normally have intervals which are harder mixed in with easier riding. Longer rides invariably have portions where I have to ride slower for some reason and the average goes down.

Flatballer

Either you're really old, or you're a 5.

jr59

Go ride with the Open Road group on Hendrix ave.