average speed

volvine

hello all
was just wondering what would be a respectable avarage for a 13 mile ride
cause i am averaging 13 m.p.h
is this pi*s poor or about average for a beginner?

whyamihere

Decent for a beginner. You'll improve.

guv001

My advice if you are just a beginner is to ditch looking at average speeds and just ride for enjoyment. Theres plenty of time once you ahve been riding for a while to worry about facts and figures.

Rebel Ian

I started riding again 3-4 weeks ago and even over 250 miles have increased my average from 13mph on a 7 mile ride to over 15mph on a 20 mile ride. You'll soon get faster but I've also found that the road condition can make a big difference to average speed.

Ste_S

I wouldn't worry about average speeds at all if you've just started riding. Just make sure you're enjoying it.

If you want to improve at any point, just try to very gradually increase the distances you ride.

redddraggon

Average speed is misleading.

If I cycle to my sister's house 4 or 10miles depending on the route I average ~12.5mph, if I go on a leisurely 70mile ride in Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge country I can average 15mph. It's about the conditions/terrain etc

Average speed is only really useful if you are comparing the same route in the same condition.

For all I know that 13mph average you have might be climbing a mountain, or descending that mountain.

Mettan

volvine wrote:

hello all
was just wondering what would be a respectable avarage for a 13 mile ride
cause i am averaging 13 m.p.h
is this pi*s poor or about average for a beginner?

That's a Good Avg for a begginner - many "begginers" would find 13 miles a challenge in itself. WIth regular riding, you'll notice improvements in your aerobic fitness within 2 - 4 months - your avg's over the same route will also start to slowly creep up.

Tony666

I do a 13 mile circuit regulalrly and can average anything from 13.2 to 15.5 depending on the weather and how I am feeling

Steve_b77

This makes me proper happy, as I've only just bought a road bike (admittidley I've been riding my All Mountain MTB since Nov) and as I've been working in Rubgy recently I've been taking the biek down with me.

I've managed to find a nice route thats 22miles long and according to my computer I averaged 17.2mph when i rode it last week. So being a beginner roadie this makes me proper chuffed

BTW if I can do this on a route that does include some gradients, what would be a good time to aim at for a 10 mile TT on the flat lanes of Cheshire?

dombo6

I rode the etape last Sunday, 169 kms from Pau to Hautacam, climbing the Tourmalet along the way. I did it in 8 hrs 6 mins, beating the broomwagon comfortably, average speed 12.8 mph.

I'd say 13 mph is pretty nippy

boyse7en

I'd say 13 mph is pretty nippy

But, like someone said earlier, it depends on the terrain. My commute is 15 miles - I can average 16mph over the first 12 miles (mostly flat) but over the last 3 my average is only 8mph due to the bloomin steep hill an the fact that I have to go though a bit of a town so I'm stopping (or slowing) for junctions, ped crossing, roundabouts etc.

Nuggs

redddraggon wrote:

leisurely 70mile ride

There's an oxymoron in there somewhere...

daz51

I see these threads on here time after time about average speed and its a waste of time.

Like many cyclists have said above that "average" you talk of can be dependant on so many factors,

how much climbing do you do on this ride?
how much decending ?
what bike you got?
what wheels?
what tyres?
how windy was it? cross wind? head on wind?
what pre ride nutrition had you taken on?
morning or afternoon?
physcological condition?


do you get my drift?

my new cycles computer dont do average speed and to enjoy your cycling its best to have a computer which dont !!!!!

babyshambles

I love knowing average speed, gives me something to aim for. I love to compare the same ride with previous times and push for PB's.

Its hard to compare on different routes, but on the same route, its like a TT each time.

daz51

but each time the factors are different. so if your average speed drops by 2 mph on one ride what do you put this reduction in average speed down to?

Steve_F

Dombo6 wrote:

I rode the etape last Sunday, 169 kms from Pau to Hautacam, climbing the Tourmalet along the way. I did it in 8 hrs 6 mins, beating the broomwagon comfortably, average speed 12.8 mph.

I'd say 13 mph is pretty nippy

Nice one, will be interesting for you to see this being ridden today then!

Would love to be able to do this but would struggle to do that distance on the flat, much respect!

nasahapley

I know where you're coming from Daz51, but if you do a regular loop as a training ride (and I assume that's what Volvine is doing), and you want some sort of measure to gauge improvements in fitness, then average speed is very useful indeed. You are right to say that comparing average speeds for different people on different bikes on different routes is a pretty much meaningless exercise, and it's also true that comparing your average speed over a given route from two different occasions can also be misleading due to factors such as weather, health etc. If, however, you ride a regular loop and there is an upward trend in average speed, that's a very strong indicator that you are getting fitter and faster.

I have to ask, do you find your cycling enjoyment is diminished by the elapsed time and distance functions on your computer?

daz51

well nasahapley,

The area i live in is very tough in west wales. I live not far from the Abergwesyn Pass / Tregaron/ Aberaeron / Devils Bridge region and alot of my riding is up hill. The computer was mainly for distance measurement and it does the job.

Elapsed time once again i dont really look at due to the climbing involved.

babyshambles

i dont see the point of doing the same route without measuring time and speed.

it's a good indicator as to how you are progressing IMO.

volvine

it certainly isn't spoiling my enjoyment was just curious and would maybee have been woried if people would have said no rubbish you need to be doing at least 20 mph average over shorter routes(i know it depends on a lot of factors btw).
dosn't help when some bloke goes pat me at the end of ride like i am stood still lol
my regular route has a good mix of climbs/flat/downhill im sure with a little more fitness this will improve so that bloke dosn't go past me quite so quickly haha

babyshambles

essentially, we are all racing against ourselves

volvine

well after a week or two on the bike now i am now upto 15.5 mph average over the same route and i am not dreading the hills like i used to so slight improvement and loving my new Trek

jjojjas

I just checked the computer on my tourer here (behind me in my office) and my average is 10.1 mph over the last 2180 miles with a maximum speed of 42.7mph.

It doesn't actually mean much really does it
I live in a very hilly area and the bikes covered in luggage but I know on the flat I can do 14mph with ease for a clear 2 hour ride.

You can pretty much say what you want with statistics. We would all need to use the same circuit to compare realistically.
Jas