why average speeds are lower than they ought to be

inaperfectworld

i see some pretty high average speeds posted; i assume some must be riding away from towns and traffic as well as more favourable terrain than leeds and west yorkshire.
anyway i set off today and pushing the bike from the garage to the road my computer showed av 3.5. now i have about 1.5 miles modest gradient from my home and have to slow for some give ways and stop at the odd junction, but when cycling normally the computer was largely in the range 11.5 to 12.5 (and some at 15 where the gradient eases a bit). however it took me this 1.5 miles for the average to reach 10.5: this tells me that slowing for traffic and junctions knocks your speed down far more than you think it could. same as going downhill never compensates for the fall in av speed going on the corresponding uphills. unfair isn't it?

sub55

yep

John.T

I take some of these averages with a pinch of salt. My average for the last 3 years has been just over 15mph. This includes some races and sportives. Most of my general riding is done at around 17mph on the flat but the climbs and stop / starts bring it down a lot. I was using a Hac4 computer which gave a running average for the year. Now on Polar CS400.

father_jack

You should be able to set the computer to ignore speeds under a certain amount, for example if you're doing 4mph then in traffic, it ruins your actual average cycling cruising speed.

Not Another Hill

Your terrain makes a massive difference.

One of our club members (Huddersfield) moved to Oxford and joined the University cycle club and he said the difference when riding the flats of Oxfordshire compared to the hills of Hudddersfield makes a massive difference to his average speeds (from 15mph up to 25 mph average).

Another North Leeds based friend was riding around his in-laws area (Cambridge) and said exactly the same. He couldn't believe the difference that the lack of hills made to his average speeds over 40 - 50 mile rides.

Marko1962

I live in mixed terrain with no huge hills just small ones on my regular runs and average anywhere between 14 to 16mph but usually around 14.5mph. I've only been riding since Feb 08 but I'm hoping to up that average by a mile or 2 over the coming year...

Nuggs

I blame my mediocre average speeds on the vast mountain ranges of Sussex.

:oops:

benvickery

I cycle over a pretty big hill when I commute and although I cycle up it at 8-10 mph the fact that I go down the other side at over 30 mph compensates for this. The biggest factor in reducing my average speed is slowing down for traffic lights and filtering through traffic.

Captain Fagor

benvickery wrote:

I cycle over a pretty big hill when I commute and although I cycle up it at 8-10 mph the fact that I go down the other side at over 30 mph compensates for this.....

It doesn't compensate entirely though, as your average speed will be less than the median of "8-10mph" and "over 30mph". For instance, try a 1 mile climb at 10mph, followed by a 1 mile descent at 30mph:

Climb time = (distance / speed) = (1 / 10) = 0.1hr = 6 mins
Descent time = (distance / speed) = (1 / 30) = 0.0333hr = 8 mins

Median speed = [(10+30)/2] = 20mph
Average speed = (distance / time) = 2 / 0.13333 = 15mph.

GavH

Captain Fagor wrote:

benvickery wrote:

I cycle over a pretty big hill when I commute and although I cycle up it at 8-10 mph the fact that I go down the other side at over 30 mph compensates for this.....

It doesn't compensate entirely though, as your average speed will be less than the median of "8-10mph" and "over 30mph". For instance, try a 1 mile climb at 10mph, followed by a 1 mile descent at 30mph:

Climb time = (distance / speed) = (1 / 10) = 0.1hr = 6 mins
Descent time = (distance / speed) = (1 / 30) = 0.0333hr = 8 mins

Median speed = [(10+30)/2] = 20mph
Average speed = (distance / time) = 2 / 0.13333 = 15mph.

I'm no mathematical genius, but I think your figures are out there Capt F?

1 mile at 10 mph is indeed 6 mins, but the same mile at 30 mph is 2 mins - not 8?

I always feel that time lost going uphill is not regained going back down.

GavH

CANCEL MY LAST, I see what you did there - 2 mins PLUS 6 mins = 8 mins in TOTAL! :oops:

John.T

It is indeed 15mph. It works out easier this way.
1 mile at 10 mph = 6min
1 mile at 30 mph = 2 min
So the 2 miles have taken 8 min thus 1 mile in 4 min which = 15mph.

benvickery

You are definitely right :oops:

I'll just have to pedal faster up hill to compensate!!!

320DMsport

My average seems to be around 14-16 mph in the lakes, while i'm on the flat i'll sit at 17-19 mph but soon as the hills come which is alot it drops away.

If i was doing a hour spin i could go all out to get a higher average but at the mo i'm base training and riding level 2 for a 2-3 hours so not going daft.

My daughter got guiness book of records for xmas and it said in there the highest average speed on the TDF was held by Lance at over 25 mph !

Jesus my noodle legs will never achieve that!!

sub55

320DMsport wrote:

My average seems to be around 14-16 mph in the lakes, while i'm on the flat i'll sit at 17-19 mph but soon as the hills come which is alot it drops away.

If i was doing a hour spin i could go all out to get a higher average but at the mo i'm base training and riding level 2 for a 2-3 hours so not going daft.

My daughter got guiness book of records for xmas and it said in there the highest average speed on the TDF was held by Lance at over 25 mph !

Jesus my noodle legs will never achieve that!!

25mph average for a competitive cyclist is`nt that quick
christ i can do that

320DMsport

Yeah i'm sure you can but as i stated it was in the Tour de france with climbs like that i think it's pretty quick.

But then if your quicker than Lance in the tour i'll expect to see your name in the entries next year!!

sub55

320DMsport wrote:

Yeah i'm sure you can but as i stated it was in the Tour de france with climbs like that i think it's pretty quick.

But then if your quicker than Lance in the tour i'll expect to see your name in the entries next year!!

you said stage of tour de france, you did`nt specify ,mountain stage. in fact ,i`d put money on the fact ,the fastest stage of the tour was, a; not won by lance and b; nearer to 30mph not 25.
if the book of your daughters says stage it wont be a mountain stage.

John.T

It was the average for the whole Tour. 2005 average is 41.654 kph.
http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdfstats.html

320DMsport

John T that was the one, 1995, 2200 ish miles in 86 hours, 25,84 average or something, that is some going over 2.2k miles.

Sub if you read my post i said the fastest average in the TDF was 25 plus mph, never mentioned stage i meant the whole lot, but i'm not splitting hairs.

I reckon my average on a route like that would be below 10mph!

Alex_Simmons/RST

sub55 wrote:

320DMsport wrote:

Yeah i'm sure you can but as i stated it was in the Tour de france with climbs like that i think it's pretty quick.

But then if your quicker than Lance in the tour i'll expect to see your name in the entries next year!!

you said stage of tour de france, you did`nt specify ,mountain stage. in fact ,i`d put money on the fact ,the fastest stage of the tour was, a; not won by lance and b; nearer to 30mph not 25.
if the book of your daughters says stage it wont be a mountain stage.

Fastest TdF stage was won by Mario Cipollini IIRC at something over 50km/h average.

In any case, average speeds are not much guide to effort levels and comparisons are pretty pointless.

Anonymous

Best comparison would be average wattage over the tour, wouldn't it be nice if all the teams had to post wattage details of all their riders after each stage

trickeyja

I live near the Cotswolds and there are some fairly big hills which definitely affect my average speed. On a hilly ride I will average from 14.5 - 16.5mph depending on how many hills I decide to throw in! On a flat run, my average is generally from 17-19mph. This is just a casual pace though, I have yet to dare enter a time trial or similar!