Average speed xc

ACDCwmb

Just trying to get an idea of what sort of speeds I need to be aiming for during a xc race under good conditions. I can usually maintain around 13-14mph on my local loops at the moment upto about 40miles working at a rate of approx 75%, this is an example of one of my routes, 35 miles with 2271ft of ascent, around 80% off road nohing too technical. My fastest time so far on this loop is 2hrs 45min.

Don't realy have anything to compare it to at the minute, just looking foward to getting into racing.

stevieboy

With that sort of pace you'll be fine.

I used to wonder about how i'd get on with race's for fear of being too slow etc, it actually put me off entering until my mates gave me the final push.

You'll also find that the presence of other riders will carry you too, I did the first lap of a race recently at an average of around 14.5mph over a technical course, helped by the fact i got caught up in a bunch of lycra clad types on plastic bikes The remaining laps were done at around 13.2mph for a total of 32 miles.

All I can say is just get out there and race, you'll know where you stand soon enough.

Also, what hardware/software did you use to get that image?

benneally

does anyone know what sort of average speeds XC pros knock out? Like julien absalon and people? I just really want to know how i compare to them :P :oops:

ACDCwmb

Steve, cheers for that, when I'm taking gels and energy drinks I ride much stronger. Usually I just ride with plain water and snacks which is fine for anything upto 30 miles, anthing further or with a decent amount of climbing and I suffer badly during the later stages.
For rides upto 20 miles with a fair bit of climbing I can hold a good pace xc of about 14-18mph, which I'm guessing should be fine.

The profile image is taken from a memory map route, great software, especially if used with a GPS.

stevieboy

Yeah if you can cruise on the open trails up to 18mph you'll be fine, some people I find thrash it on the open sections. You can just tell it isn't maintainable for them, and they suffer on the technical sections for it. The pounding the body takes is a lot worse if your trying to recover after a hard sprint.

The hardest thing I ever found about my first race was concentrating on my body and what it was telling me, it was all too tempting to 'race' as such. Which isn't a bad thing totally, but can lead to tiredness in the latter stages as I found out.

If it helps, look up on websites such as http://www.xcracer.com for past results etc, all the times and distances should be on there. Although not comparable, it should give you an idea of where you stand.

As a side note, whenever I race I keep an Excel record of the time, distance, weather, my weight, body fat % and technicality of the course. Sad maybe, but I love analysing data, it helps me set aims for the future and also acts as a record for looking back on when i'm old and grey!

streako

It sounds like you are quite tasty, but as said above the only way to prove yourself is to get out and race.

You will probably be surprised at how fast the other guys are.

There are other factors in racing like avoiding crashing, making sure your bike will last the duration and making sure you will go the distance.

streako

By the way, how is that your best time if you are only working at 75 %?

ACDCwmb

streako wrote:

By the way, how is that your best time if you are only working at 75 %?

That is my fastest time to date on that route, without the use of SIS gels, High 5 energy drinks etc. apart from a bit of loading before hand. Also on routes of 30 miles+ I try to keep my heart rate steady in a comfortable zone, as at these distances I train mainly for endurance.

10-20mile routes I try for as fast as possible, keeping my heart rate as close to max as I dare.

ACDCwmb

streako wrote:

It sounds like you are quite tasty, but as said above the only way to prove yourself is to get out and race.

You will probably be surprised at how fast the other guys are.

There are other factors in racing like avoiding crashing, making sure your bike will last the duration and making sure you will go the distance.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, you are absolutely right, the only way I will ever find out is by getting out there and giving it a go.

Just don't want to get my backside kicked first time out :oops:

stubs

dont worry about it treat your first race as a fact finder speak to other riders and you will pick up loads of tips also when you are in a pack of other racers you will be surprised how fast you will go

Amos

If you can try and get out on some rides with other local riders who race. I am looking to start racing soon, and went out with some guys who race from my lbs and I was surprised at how quick they were.

Also, get along to some local races and spectate, it can help to give you a feel for how hard it is.

ACDCwmb

Thanks, next time I'm passing I'll pop into the LBS and see if there are any local racers who wouldn't mind me tagging along on a ride or two.
My wife has just talked me into entering the 3rd round of the midlands xc series...guess you got to start somewhere...pretty close to me too.

SiLanc

I started racing in endurance events this time last year. I started by giving myself goals of not coming last and making it to the end of the race without stopping for longer than it takes to eat a gel. I've done about ten races now and I'm improving all the time, without excessive training, heart rate monitors and the like. I aim to improve as much as I can and then when I plateau start getting more detailed with my training including using HRM's, analysing daily diet (not just in the run up to a race) and specific training such as balance\hill\speed work.

I've set myself goals of finishing in the top 75% of the Whyte Enduro series, top 50% of the Whyte Winter Series and completing a 12 hour solo (done at Set 2 Rise a couple of weeks ago).

Set yourself some achievable targets and just get out there and mix it up. I did and got the bug...enjoy!

Si

http://www.xcenduro.co.uk

320DMsport

Sounds like your pretty quick, hell i only average 15mph ish on the roads on my mtb but i do live in the lakes!

I'd just go for it, there will always be someone faster and alot of people slower than you but coming last is no shame, but i doubt you will.

I had a long break off the bike after a hernia op and opted for a 32 mile XC in Grizedale forest which his hilly after 2 weeks of being back riding!

I thought 650 competitors and as long as i don't come last i'll be happy, well to finish would be good, i ended up finishing it and came 488th out of 650 so i was happy and got the bug.

Since then i got a new bike and have been training/riding for the last 8 months and did a 24 hour event in a team of 4 and we came 12th in class and 14th overall out of 117 teams so it goes to show how your fitness get's better.

Thing is i found on the 24 hour i was passing people all over which made me feel good but the likes of the lads from my LBS that won the event absolutely thrashed past me!!

Tried not to get dis heartened and ride my own race, but it is nice just beating someone so get out there and go for it.

I'm doing the race i did last year but this time it's 40 miles and i want to get in the top 200 this time, maybe even top 150 so that's my goal.

I'm doding a 28 mile xc on saturday and i'd like to be in the top 50 at that one but i'll see how it goes.

But if you can cover 18mph you will do well methinks!

ACDCwmb

Thanks, at my age I doubt I will ever get much faster anyway. I think my peak of fitness has come and gone, and I don't want to commit to a strict training routine, family, work an all. I just enjoy riding fast.
My bike is about as good as it's going to get at the minute, unless I spend an amazing amount of money on it to save a few more grams, it's quite light as it is, just under 24lbs, scary fast and handles great on my xc loops.

Riding fast is one thing, but I'm guessing riding fast in a race will be somewhat different, I am looking forward to the learning curve though.

Can't wait to get into a race now, I'm not even bothered about being over taken or lapped...as long as they are younger, much fitter and have a great bike

Pippen33

Anybody who says they can avg 18mph on XC is DREAMING. I average that on a slight decline on tarmac and I'd put myself in the 'incredibly fit' range. Unless you're running 1.25 tyres.

Pro roadies avg 30mph, on road, with the lightest bikes, and thinnest tyres, and top class coaching/training.

ACDCwmb

Pippen33 wrote:

Anybody who says they can avg 18mph on XC is DREAMING. I average that on a slight decline on tarmac and I'd put myself in the 'incredibly fit' range. Unless you're running 1.25 tyres.

Pro roadies avg 30mph, on road, with the lightest bikes, and thinnest tyres, and top class coaching/training.

I never mentioned that I avg 18mph!! I can maintain speeds XC on the flat around 14-18mph. On shorter routes around 10 miles I can avg around 13-15mph depending on how many hills I include. On the tarmac sections with summer tyres I can get up to speeds of 20mph...even upto 42mph on the down hill tarmac, very scary though, I usually bottle it at 36mph. I usually find on a long XC route with a good ammount of climbing I can avg about 13.5mph.

With little experiance in XC racing I am only tring to find out if I stand a decent chance of compeating or would I just be left behind in a cloud of dust. Of course the only way to find out is to get racing, which is now what I intend to do.

My stats have been recorded using my garmin gps which I use on most rides, I hope I'm not coming accross as bragging, far from it. You're very welcome to join me on a ride anytime.

benneally

Pippen33 wrote:

Anybody who says they can avg 18mph on XC is DREAMING. I average that on a slight decline on tarmac and I'd put myself in the 'incredibly fit' range. Unless you're running 1.25 tyres.

Pro roadies avg 30mph, on road, with the lightest bikes, and thinnest tyres, and top class coaching/training.

I average 17.5~18 mph XC. Well its not really very challenging XC round rutland. My top speed has been 54mph on C2C with a fully laden bike! Now that is possibly the scariest thing i have ever done, especialy with a side wind trying to push me off the godforsaken mountain!

icedmind

Pippen33 wrote:

Anybody who says they can avg 18mph on XC is DREAMING. I average that on a slight decline on tarmac and I'd put myself in the 'incredibly fit' range. Unless you're running 1.25 tyres.

Pro roadies avg 30mph, on road, with the lightest bikes, and thinnest tyres, and top class coaching/training.

i ride normally on flat road or dry xc with 30km/h easily which is abt 18mph

on off road(wet with mud) is average 20km/h which is 12mph

it is not dreaming on 18mph on xc when dry can easily go over it
fastest i have done is abt 40mph on a mini dh track on my xc bike, its terrible but such nice experience that i ve done that

SuperCove

Anybody who says they can avg 18mph on XC is DREAMING. I average that on a slight decline on tarmac and I'd put myself in the 'incredibly fit' range. Unless you're running 1.25 tyres.

Only last week I rode home from work, it was nice so decided not to drive, it is mainly road but there are few XC sections to travel as the crow flys and averaged 22mph over the 20.23 mile distance.

I consider myself to be UNFIT and was riding my Cove fitted with 2.1 Conti Explorer tyres and I was def not dreaming!

stevieboy

There are too many variables to generalise what is a good average speed over XC.

Afterall, what is XC? Some would say a bridleway, some would say a tight twisty root infested loop and the other's would say a fire-road.

Speed and performance can only be compared between riders on the same course and same day

Kiwi Kranker

To back up supercove, i would rate myself as unfit and I have a 10 mile ride from work. I stacked my commuting bike so had to ride my Scott Ransom of all things into work yesterday (few parks to duck through) and I managed to sit at about 30km/h on that with 2.4 AM tyres on the thing!

(not that 10 miles is exactly a huge distance but still..)

I would have thought that 18mph would be an awesome goal to aim for in an xc race and that 12 -15 would be achievable with regular rides for those of us not freakishly talented.

stevieboy

18mph would be awesome based on the fact that this years 100k National Marathon Champion Ian Wilkinson 'only' managed an average of 14.93mph around margam park.

Now that was a proper XC course, I only managed 9.5mph!

Kiwi Kranker

Naturally the course makes a huge difference. So as mentioned above it is all relative to whatever your local track is and it is only on the day against a range of fellow riders will you know whether 8mph or 20mph is a good pace.

Just keep training and enjoying it!

stevieboy

Yup - enjoyment is the key, no point otherwise

320DMsport

Agree with Stevie depends what your local XC is.

Mine is Kentmere and Garburn pass, did a 30 mile XC round the with 1400m of acsent and my average was 8.7mph that didn't include carrying, but lake miles are tough!

Pippen33

18mph would be awesome based on the fact that this years 100k National Marathon Champion Ian Wilkinson 'only' managed an average of 14.93mph around margam park.

Thank you. So you commuters above need to go out and get yourselves a roadbike. Either that or ride some real XC.

Kiwi Kranker

Pippen33 wrote:

18mph would be awesome based on the fact that this years 100k National Marathon Champion Ian Wilkinson 'only' managed an average of 14.93mph around margam park.

Thank you. So you commuters above need to go out and get yourselves a roadbike. Either that or ride some real XC.

Yeah because all us commuters clearly cant ride, have never raced, dont know what we are talking about, scream like babies when mountain biking and off road and pace for us is a 4% gradient free wheeling in Chelsea. FFS

So he did nearly 15mph for a 100km impressive indeed (I am not being sarcastic that is impressive) but Nick Craig did the 60km Dyfi in 2.20 which is a reasonable level of XC mountain biking at 16.7mph so I still think that 18mph on certain trails is not out of the question.

I would rather remove my left testicle than buy a road bike.

stevieboy

Just as a side note to margam, Nick Craig came 2nd in the 100k to Ian W

william_93

you should always be working at 60-80% of your max heart rate

your max heart rate is 220- YOUR age
this is quite hard to determine but if you use the bikes in the gym they should tell you this information so you shjould be able to get a rough idea.

Pippen33

So he did nearly 15mph for a 100km impressive indeed (I am not being sarcastic that is impressive) but Nick Craig did the 60km Dyfi in 2.20 which is a reasonable level of XC mountain biking at 16.7mph so I still think that 18mph on certain trails is not out of the question.

40% less distance, an increase of 1.7mph, a professional xc'er! To get to 18mph, you do the math. Anybody averaging 18mph on XC must be going out on some pretty CRAP rides.

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William_93, that's what heart rate monitors are for. Search Argos.