Flyboy718

I know I am going to get a lot of responses that says there are so many variables...but anyways, what is your average touring speed or how many miles do you cover in a day touring?

andrewclaus

My last 4400 mile tour on paved roads took 55 days including five days off, or exactly 80 mpd. My average daily time in the saddle was about eight hours, or about 10 mph while cycling.

Leebo

Average? Hills, heat, hills, temps, bike weight? Most of my tours are short, 3-5 days. I average 50-70, depending on terrain and weather. And lunch. I am full camping with hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, food and stove.

fietsbob

Depends on how early I start and whether I see interesting distractions along the way In short I Never Kept track.

I think I go, on average, at less than 10 MPH. so 6 hrs in the saddle 60 miles..


60 days of 60 mile days gets you a ways down the road , stopping for 2 weeks to sit in at a Pub Jam session because it was Fun, definitely limits the mile counting.

WWJoe

I also do about 10-12 mph on a good bike with little wind. I've found that aerodynamics is often an issue for me as headwinds slow me down considerably while tailwinds speed me up.

My range thus varies, from 30 miles/day to over 120, depending on how far I planned on travelling, and my two day total can exceed 200 miles with a short nap.

shipwreck

I tour like a normal guy with ten toes. Two on one foot and eight on the other. Some days its high miles, some days its only thirty or so. But it averages out to about 80. Speed, anything from a sprawling stagger to 20ish mph.

350htrr

90KMs/day, 21KM/Hr... 56M/day, 13MPH averaged for my whole trip usually 800KMs/500Miles average for 5 touring trips I have done.

EDIT; 21KM/hr and 13MPH are riding speeds if you want total average speed for the riding day including stops it's probably 12KM/Hr or 7MPH...

Juha

When I last kept records (years ago), my average touring speed would usually end up somewhere around 23 kph. Fully self supported solo touring, and I couldn't pack light back then (and I still can't). The bike comp I used at the time had avg speed displayed on the main screen so I paid attention to it. I've since changed computers several times, and while the current model keeps track of average speed, it's not shown on the display I like and use most (and I cannot be arsed to configure the displays). It's funny because earlier it seemed so important for me... I even logged daily avg speeds in my tour diaries. Now, I couldn't care less.

When I still had the old comp, I once did a combined bike-kayak tour, towing my sea kayak on a trailer behind the bike. It's a long and clumsy looking contraption, and you really feel it when riding. I remember looking at the bike comp's indicated speeds and thinking, "well, this is nice, but my avg speeds are really going to take a hit". Turns out, my average went down a whopping 10% or so, ended up in the 20 kph range.

As for daily distances, I rarely ride over 150 km per day. Usually it's 80-100 km. Again, this is for touring solo. If we're touring as a family, it's a different story... the kid gets bored easily in the trailer so we stop frequently and smell the roses, and we don't plan for more than about 50 kms per day.

--J

Derailed

Like most, my speed fluctuates pretty wildly for all of the expected reasons.

But, in 2010 I kept careful daily notes for the Northern Tier and ended up with the following overall numbers: 4,631 miles in 56 days of riding, averaging 82.7 miles per day, at an average speed of 12.5 miles per hour.

The average daily mileage does not reflect a total of seven rest days while visiting family, but it does include some low mileage days in national parks where I spent more time hiking than biking.

veganbikes

I like to do about 30-60 miles in a day depending on terrain and where I am headed. I try to take in some time to "smell the roses". Generally my speed is about 15-20 on a good day not going downhill but that can always vary.

I would love to build up to doing a century a day but for now I am content with the slower lane and not going super far. I commute like a demon however. Though that is probably due to me wanting to get home and relax after a hard day or being in a rush to get to work.

martianone

When planning a trip, my partner and I project around 80 km per day.

nickw

For ease of math, I use 10 mph as an average, which has served me well. That accounts for restroom stops, a reasonable lunch break (30 min), misc pictures and grab a few snacks. That is relatively hilly terrain, Oregon and N cali, Pacific Coast, multiple times.

On bike average is somewhere in the 12-15 mph, fully loaded, 25 lbs of gear + bike.

Mileage varies from 50-80, have done 30 (lots of time sitting around at camp) and 120 (makes for a long day).

I do the simple division of miles/10 + predetermined time sightseeing for my time between points, works well enough.

mdilthey

We planned 3,000 miles and did 1,500. 30 day tour, but only 20 days of cycling. So, about 75 miles a day average.

Why?

10 days of detours made the trip so worth it. Burlington, Acadia, Salisbury Beach, Portland ME, Cape Cod, etc.

Also, about 80% of our cycling days were in the White Mountains, the Green Mountains, and upstate Maine. Lots of climbing!

pbekkerh

I go around 30 miles pr day the first 4-10 days. This is my training. Then between 50-60 miles a day but it depends mostly on where the towns and sleeping possibilities are. My speed is around 15-18m/h and I don't cycle more than 2 days out of 3. I.e. 33% are rest and sightseeing. I go for the tour not the sport. :-)

Cyclebum

Don't worry about speed. It's hours/per day that matter, usually about 6. The miles will take care of themselves.

jamawani 

10 mph on pavement
8 mph on dirt/gravel
6 mph on rough dirt/gravel

1tandem

We are in the our seventies and average 10 - 12 mph & 40 - 60 mile per day.
Also require motel or b&b at end of day!

Louis Le Tour

The figures I'm reading here are amazing to me. I'm hope'n to average 35 mpd and even that's not look'n real solid. Maybe after I've been on the road a couple of weeks things will start to pick up, time will tell.

BigAura

I'm pretty much the same as this. My overall average mileage per day is 50 miles, including resting days.

Machka 

It depends.


No really ... it varies a lot. It depends entirely upon how we feel, what we want to see, the terrain, the weather conditions. We don't do tours where we must cover xxx km each day. We go with the flow. We also don't make much of a route plan either.

If we make some sort of loose plan, it is usually roughly based on cycling 3-4 days in a row, and then taking 1 day off. And it is roughly based on covering somewhere between 50 and 80 km/day. On our most recent long tour, 60 km/day was about right. But we've done more on other tours. And of course there are always days with fewer km.

nun

I plan on 50 miles a day....some are shorter, many are longer. 50 miles is an easy goal and if the cycling is good and I feel good I'll do another 50. If there are lots of hills, headwinds or it's raining 50 could be tough, but it's usually doable and by planning of 50 I will have somewhere to stay the night and get some food. That obviously assumes there are places to stop within 50 miles....if not I just ride longer.

Doug64

My wife and I try to average 50 miles per day, but there are a lot a variables that dictate the actual mileage. Our speed is in the range of 10-12 mph, but again varies depending on terrain, wind, and how many times we stop to take pictures

On our cross country ride we averaged right at 50 miles a day for 74 consecutive days. We did not take any official "rest days", but would do a short day if we needed a break or if camping or lodging availability dictated it.

Touring style also has a lot to do with time and distance. On tours where we take a lot of pictures, stop for local attractions, and take side trips; we may only make 35-40 miles in a day. We may have been on the road for 8 hours, but we only rode 4 of them. If you just have your head down, just knocking out the miles, it might be a different story. Also, the distances between towns, campgrounds, and other amenities will make a difference in daily mileage.

As someone said, "it all depends".

irwin7638

60- 80 miles per day is good. That's unsupported with camping equipment. Any more takes up too much of the day and turns it into work, much less and I don't get anywhere.

Marc

Caretaker

I don't do miles, they take too long to complete.

My preference is for kms. and can do as little as 50km/pd, or as much as 110km/pd. Over a 1 or 2 week tour over rolling hills I probably average about 65-70km.

I usually can count on doing about 17km/ph unless it's all up hill, maybe a bit more if I'm in a hurry.

tarwheel 

My typical touring day averages about 60+ miles, ranging from 50-80 miles. Average speeds are highly dependent on the terrain, weather and load carried. We averaged about 12 mph on our loaded trip along the unpaved GAP-C&O Canal trails last summer. On supported tours, we usually average about 16 mph with occasional days at 18+ mph.