I'm 52 and have been riding for 14 months. As a young man, I did not participate in aerobic activities, so I have no "latent" underlying fitness to restore -- I started from scratch. Here is what I have experienced.

- My average pace has gone from 14-15 mph to 17-18 mph. Given all the racers in So Cal that blow by me every time I go out, it feels like I've gone from being really slow to slow. My goal is to do a century in under 5 hours.
- My hill climbing has improved, but I don't know if it's due more to my increased fitness or to the fact that I am schlepping 70 less pounds up
- My speed in headwinds has improved. Previously, the slightest breath of a headwind would knock me back to 10-12 mph. Now, I lose 1-2 mph unless it's howling.

If there is one thing that has increased my performance the most, it was to increase my pedaling cadence to 90+ rpm. Here's what I did:
- Installed a cadence meter -- at first, I found at first that my natural rate was 60-70 and 90-100 felt frantic.
- I forced myself to consistently ride at 90+ and then 100+ bpm on my 30-45 minute weekday rides 2-3 times per week, even though it meant my speed initially decreased and I panted like a labrador. It only took a week to get comfortable with the increased cadence and another week to regain the speed I'd lost and with normal breathing.
- Several times throughout my rides, I will downshift and spin up to a maximum cadence for maybe 60 seconds -- initially, I couldn't go over 110 without bouncing like a complete dork. Now I can get to over 130, although I still try not to do this where anyone can see me.
- When I can't find the right gear for my speed, I now opt for the lower gear so that I will pedal faster. Previously, I had tended to shift up.
- On hills, I've stopped trying to push taller gears for now and just pedal faster. I think I may be sacrificing increasing strength in favor of aerobic development but that's what I want to bias towards.
- Now my natural cadence is about 90.

I've started riding with a club which has taught me how to ride in pacelines at higher speeds, but so far my solo riding pace has not increased. I also tried some Tabata intervals early on before I knew any better. My plan is to start some kinder, gentler intervals this month. I'll get back to the harder muscular endurance intervals in another year.

I think I've taken the easy gains that come from just riding and further improvements will probably come more slowly and only after focused effort.

Nice report. This could be a how-to-do-it sticky. I started serious riding a couple years before you and got faster every year until I was 63. As I got older, I focused more each year on training smarter and less on training harder. You are correct to take a long view.

Aside from putting in the miles and saddletime, did you find there was a particular drill or training method that led to your having a faster pace on the flats?

Hills are your friend.

Technically, neither. But of course there are some overall benefits to just keeping active.

Yes, you should keep in mind that you have stress yourself to improve your cycling power (speed) or your cycling endurance. (ability to ride in comfort for hours.)

This means you have to try and ride fast sometimes, and try to ride farther than ever other times. All the other posts tried to tell you that - but just understanding the one sentance I highlighted is all anyone needs to know.

And just more thing - when you start paying attention to trying harder - you have pay more attention to resting harder.

This describes my situation perfectly. I'm still pretty new to cycling but I keep going faster and longer distances every ride. As my body allows me to go faster, I can't help but to do it. As my body allows me to go for longer distances, I can't help but to do it. I am very self-motivated so I am always going farther and faster as my body allows. My first 5 or so rides (which were an average length of 10-12 miles) only averaged about 11-12mph and I would be exhausted. Now I ride 30+ miles with average speeds of 15mph. All this improvement in just 6 weeks of cycling might help the OP out.

300% increase in distance with a 25-35% increase in average speed is great. But like someone else has posted, I am sure my upcoming gains will start to level off a bit. My body is just now starting to get fit and once that happens the gains will be less.

Ride ride and ride some more. Build your strength up, and speed/endurance will get better.

Cross training will also help a lot. Running and biking seem to tweek different muscles; ie, my legs hurt in different places after the two activities. Overall fitness (including calorie counting) and weight lifting are also a good idea.

Look at it as overall health, and not just increasing your average pace from 15 to 16mph on the bike, or a 7:50 minute mile vs an 8:00 minutes mile running. Everything will get easier as you get in better shape.

Glad to hear you say that -- I'm attracted to hills and anytime I can, I choose hills over flats. And I do seem to be getting faster.

This is probably worth its own thread -- I'm concerned that when I focus on hills, I increase my strength (or torque) without affecting my power. Somehow, it seems like to climb hills I only have to put pressure on the pedals, but to ride fast I have to put pressure on the pedals and spin fast at the same time.

My analogy is two trucks with similar displacement engines, one gasoline and one diesal. Even though a diesal truck can better pull a trailer up a steep hill, it won't have the top-end speed as the gasoline truck, regardless of how it's geared. The torque and power curves are different.

I need to improve my power curve.

We'd make good riding partners. I've progressed at nearly the same rate and from the sounds of it we seem to have the same frame of mind. There is nothing like the open road when you look forward to a good hard ride when speed is involved yet can do the miles.

Saddle time is the difference. There are times when the ride is more difficult due to so many and various factors but it's saddle time. Your upper body needs to develop the ability to endure the hours and miles. Sooner or later you develop as a result.

Two things, you didn't mention what sort of bike you're planning on riding to school and you didn't mention if you're planning on carrying stuff (like books etc). I think that a lot of the responders are assuming that you're riding a road bike.

Anybody can go fast. The real issue here is for how long. The combination of power and endurance is going to take work and it means that every time you go out, you should have an idea as to what you want to work on. How you do that depends on the kind of terrain you ride on, the wind etc.

I'm assuming that you've been properly fitted your bike. That's really important. So is decent footwear and possibly clipless pedals.

The other constant ? Base miles.
Building up base miles is important and I think most people are pretty accurate in saying that you'll hit that somewhere around the 1000 mile mark.

While there are plenty of variables in figuring out how to go fast, the one thing that remains constant in all of the advice that's been mentioned is cadence.
Daves_Not_Here summed it up very nicely. I've always been a naturally fast spinner since I was a teen and even though I'd been off the saddle for 35+ years (I'm 57) I've been tracking my cadence since I got back on the road last year. Now I've gone from low 80's to mid 90's.

What to do next ?

If you have them, climb hills, lots of them. There are plenty of threads with lots of good advice about that.

It's really windy out ? Get out there and ride. It's great resistance training and it also teaches you in getting your body and arms into the right position when you are down in the drops (assuming that it's a road bike) . Again, a lot of the threads in the racing forums can give you tips.

The single most important thing was to ride with a group that was faster than I was. I got dropped on hills and came in solo many, many times. The effect was to attempt to ride hills faster and faster. That increases one's wattage, which makes it easier to go fast on the flat, too. I also bought a nice carbon bike, put good tires on it, and bought a pair of Sidi shoes. Good equipment had a very positive effect. I eventually wound up leading the fast group.

Besides that, I did the usual things: pedaling drills - high cadence and OLP - and various intervals. I got a set of rollers for the drills and some of the intervals. I got a gym membership and lifted and took spin classes. All that helped. I worked hard at it.

Lots of good info here.

For me, no intervals, no group rides, no carbon.

Aluminum bike on Gatorskins, and I just ride as fast as I freaking can for 25km. Its worked wonders for me.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108684098