Whats a reasonable pace

Jon8a

I've been road biking for about 8months and was wondering what a decent pace was. I've been mountainbiking for years but never really bothered with a computer before going on the road.

So what would be a good pace over 25, 50, 75 or 100miles. Normally ride on average 2-3 times a week mix of mountainbiking and road so not looking for elite times.

I did a 50mile ride in 3hrs (give or take a minute) on Sunday, first road ride since september.

I was averaging around the 1hr 15minute mark for 25

Can't remember 75miles and I've yet to ride a century.

Bronzie

15-17mph is a good average for a solo ride depending on weather conditions and terrain. Obviously the longer rides will probably be a bit slower.

dennisn

As opposed to simply riding at a certain speed that is judged as "average" I would
look into heart rate training. It's something of a complex subject but finding the right
heartrate for long slow rides, short intense ones, and what amount and intensity
of training you can actually recover from, without burnout, is much more helpful
than holding any specific speed. Add to that the fact that doing the same thing
day after day is one road to "burnout" and boredom. Maybe get a book on heartrate
training and a cheapie heart monitor. Learn to work both harder and easier.

Dennis Noward

Mettan

Jon8a wrote:

I've been road biking for about 8months and was wondering what a decent pace was. I've been mountainbiking for years but never really bothered with a computer before going on the road.

So what would be a good pace over 25, 50, 75 or 100miles. Normally ride on average 2-3 times a week mix of mountainbiking and road so not looking for elite times.

I did a 50mile ride in 3hrs (give or take a minute) on Sunday, first road ride since september.

I was averaging around the 1hr 15minute mark for 25

Can't remember 75miles and I've yet to ride a century.

Similar to what Bronzie mentioned, if you can do a 25 or 50 at 15 mph Solo you're doing well - if you can do a 75 at 15 mph you're doing very well - if you can do a 100 at 15 mph you're doing extremely well - it's very, very easy for your averages to drop on these rides............... many people can comfortably do the first 10 or 15 miles of a 50 at 18 or 19 mph Solo - problem is, it can be very difficult to keep that kind of pace up for the full 50 - that really encapsulates "averages" for many I'd supect. And as Dennis mentioned, Heart rate training can be another useful tool in your training armoury.

doyler78

OK know we have done this before but hey when discussing averages I always thinks it helps to clear things up about what different people mean by average speed. For instance when talking about my average speeds I always talk about the time spent riding ie stops at traffic lights, piss stops, cake stop, etc are not included (this is the way I have my watch setup - to stop when I stop and restart when I start pedalling again).

I haven't really tackled any hills yet however I can do 16.2mph avg on flatish terrain over 100km (63 miles) on a flat bar road bike and riding only in flat trainers (not clipped in) so I don't see how you all aren't going so much faster given the extra efficiency that is supposed to come with riding a proper drop bar road bike and some sort of clipless pedal system.

Is it because I'm measuring my average speed one way and you are all measuring it over the whole time that it takes to complete the ride including all time spent off the bike?

Bronzie

doyler78 wrote:

so I don't see how you all aren't going so much faster

Well, I measure my average the same way..........my computer stops recording when the wheels stop.

So either:
- riding drops (albeit on the hoods / tops) and clipless pedals doesn't make much difference (quite likely)
- you are fitter/more efficient than me (entirely possible)
- you are trying harder than me (how long is a piece of string)

Most of my endurance rides (>1 hour) are in the 15-17mph range. If I ride out into a strong headwind over the hills on my winter hack, it's likely I'll be at the bottom end of that. If it's a nice day (like today) and I ride my best bike on flat terrain, I'll be at the other end. If I push the pace, I'll go over 17mph, but at this time of year, I won't be able to do that for much more than a couple of hours.

YMMV has never been truer than on this subject.

john8a wrote:

I was averaging around the 1hr 15minute mark for 25

In which case, get yourself a race licence or enter some time trials. If you can knock out a 1-15 for 25 miles without too much training and no aero bars etc, you'll do pretty well in races.

pjh

Similar to you Jon8a .... I started about 6 months ago.

Was doing 10, 15, 20 milers solo and managing 15mph for the first couple of months or so.

I now do a 30-35 mile loop solo at an average of 16-17mph. (For me 35 miles is about as much as I can do solo ... gets boring after a couple of hours on your own!)

Jon8a

That 1h15 is on a very flat road, Bridgwater to Hinkley Point and back (it's also empty except for shift change times). Over a hilly course (bout 200m vertical over the 25miles add 10 minutes). I don't train as such, I only ride for fun/ personal challenge. I have mountain biked for many years so have good biking fitness (we all know Mtb is where the real men ride ) I'm trying to get the 25miles done with an average over 20mph. Oh and it probably helps that I'm 24 so age wise in my prime.

The 3hrs over 50 is a loop from Bridgwater-Street-Glastonbury-Wells-Cheddar (up the beast that is Bristol hill and down through the gorge) then back to Bridgwater via Burnham.
Averaged 17.2mph

75 Miles was Bridgwater to Porlock Weir via Minehead and averaged 16.9Mph 4h15

All times based on my computer which stops calculating at traffic lights and wee stops.

Garybee

25 miles in 1h 15min is only riding 'at evens' so should be achievable for a trained cyclist for a good period of time. You're doing well to keep this pace if you're only cycling for fun though.