The magic 20!

trickeyja

Hi people,

I've just got back from a late bike ride - feeling pretty chuffed because I have finally broken the 20mph average speed barrier, so a personal achievement for me! I managed to find a really good gear and cadence, and was keeping up 28-30mph for several minutes at one point - max 30.8mph. It was a flattish run - most of my rides are in the hilly Cotswolds where I average about 16mph but I decided to try and break 20 today and succeeded

20.3mph over 34.5 miles

I'm wondering whether I'd stand a chance in a time trial.. which I have never done before although I've been cycling quite a while. I reckon I could keep a higher av. over a shorter distance though.

AGNI

Wow.

Can i ask:

1. how long you have been riding
2. Age
3. Weight.

Thats an excellent achievement. I would be 14-15mph depending on route. I would be chuffed with even 17mph. 20mph seems godlike ATM

trickeyja

Thanks

I've been road biking since last September, but before that I used to ride a mountain bike a lot, and have been cycling regularly for four years or so, although I've always enjoyed it.
I'm 17, and weigh roughly 70kg.

By the way good luck with your Telford-Barmouth ride. It will be hilly!

AGNI

Thank you

17? I can pretty much forget hitting 20mph when I am hitting 40yrs next week.

Thanks for the support on the ride. Yes, slightly hilly from Telford to Barmouth. Why oh why couldn't they do Norwich to Peterborough?

Not going to be easy hauling this old and overweight carcass over those Welsh hills.

Must stop getting roped into these events when I have been drinking :-)

NoNotAgain

First of all, congratulations for averaging 20+ - that absolutely is an anchievement.
Just go on pushing and you'll eventually be a successful time trialer soon, especially as aged 17, you still have 20 years to improve, which is one of the greatest things about cycling.

To straighten the figures, I was doing a TT in April, at the beginning of the season and in a pretty bad shape, and I finished 18th out of 27 averaging 24 mph over 17 miles, the winner was > 27 mph.

prawny

Well done trickeyja, my best is 18 and a bit, I doubt I'll ever hit a 20 mph average, I did a loop around my area last night only managed 16.5 :oops: it's hilly round here tho.

AGNI is the telford - barmouth ride an annual thing? I'd be well up for that but not this year, no way :shock:

(sorry for the hijack)

Airwave

AGNI said,
"17? I can pretty much forget hitting 20mph when I am hitting 40yrs next week"

I did a 25mileTT yesterday evening of the three guys that started in front of me 2 were in their 50's&one was in their 70's.The guy behind me was a teenager&i'm 41.So you can see it does'nt matter how old you are.The enjoyment of doing your best is what realy matters.It's even better whens it's a lovely evening as well

Mettan

trickeyja wrote:

Hi people,

I've just got back from a late bike ride - feeling pretty chuffed because I have finally broken the 20mph average speed barrier, so a personal achievement for me! I managed to find a really good gear and cadence, and was keeping up 28-30mph for several minutes at one point - max 30.8mph. It was a flattish run - most of my rides are in the hilly Cotswolds where I average about 16mph but I decided to try and break 20 today and succeeded

20.3mph over 34.5 miles

I'm wondering whether I'd stand a chance in a time trial.. which I have never done before although I've been cycling quite a while. I reckon I could keep a higher av. over a shorter distance though.

Sounds like a good effort - congrats - re TT's, you could always get some clip-ons for your Road-bike (assumes not got them) and try out a few 10 mile loops near home, and see how you get on - if all goes well, consider joining a club and trying a few TT's.

fuzzynavel

trickeyja wrote:

Hi people,

I've just got back from a late bike ride - feeling pretty chuffed because I have finally broken the 20mph average speed barrier, so a personal achievement for me! I managed to find a really good gear and cadence, and was keeping up 28-30mph for several minutes at one point - max 30.8mph. It was a flattish run - most of my rides are in the hilly Cotswolds where I average about 16mph but I decided to try and break 20 today and succeeded

20.3mph over 34.5 miles

I'm wondering whether I'd stand a chance in a time trial.. which I have never done before although I've been cycling quite a while. I reckon I could keep a higher av. over a shorter distance though.

Good effort...

I just started doing time trials against the clock by myself and hit 19.8 mph average over 22.5 miles last night so i am aware how hard it is to push that speed for that amount of time. I "only" managed 18.4 mph average on Saturday just past but it was my first time on that route. I'll upload my garmin profile later and put a link on here.
It's a great feeling when you beat your personal best isn't it???

I'm 30 yo and 97kg and have been cycling regularly for about 1 year. I find that doing hill repeats over the distance of the expected TT is a great way of training for the intensity required.

Well done again.

trickeyja

Thanks all
Yes it's surprising how hard it is to keep up that bit of extra speed. I've almost got there quite a few times but until yesterday never actually managed to average over 20.

27mph average in a time trial though - impressive! I will have to try it out sometime and see how it goes.

Dunkeldog

Well done on your milestone Trickeyja! And not so fast AGNI - your 40th is no barrier! I started taking my cycling seriously last summer - just after my 40th. I was laid up for a month with a slipped disc, watched Le Tour from start to finish and was reinvigorated! Went out, bought my first 'proper' bike and haven't looked back. Averaging between 18-20 last year, had three months recovering from keyhole heart surgery last Christmas and last night hit 19.9 on a 33 mile run. Slowly getting last summer's fitness back. I'm 41 in July and seem to be getting stronger the more I train and loving my bike more each ride. So as you approach your own 40th don't despair, just get out there, grit your teeth and hope for a favourable tailwind!

chrisf70

Well done on the 20.

Like others have said 40 should be no barrier, I'm 37 and have only been proper road cycling for the last two weeks. Did mountain biking before that and ride my hybrid into work and back and I've been averaging 17 already.

You'll be able to do the 20.

bianchi777

I've been cycling since I was 16..now I'm 22. I've never once been able to do that...I seem to be comfier around the 17/18mph mark. Congratulations!

fuzzynavel

bianchi777 wrote:

I've been cycling since I was 16..now I'm 22. I've never once been able to do that...I seem to be comfier around the 17/18mph mark. Congratulations!

Hi Bianchi...nobody said they were comfy while they were doing the PB's....it's all about pushing your boundaries....If you keep pushing them then you should improve as your body adapts to the new stresses.

Anonymous

trickeyja


Well done mate!

Mothyman

20mpd..thats quick... you must be fit
nice one

AGNI

prawny wrote:

Well done trickeyja, my best is 18 and a bit, I doubt I'll ever hit a 20 mph average, I did a loop around my area last night only managed 16.5 :oops: it's hilly round here tho.

AGNI is the telford - barmouth ride an annual thing? I'd be well up for that but not this year, no way :shock:

(sorry for the hijack)

The Telford to Barmouth ride has been going for 3 years. This is my first time on it. Trust me, with you're times, you would be leaving us for dead.

Will be looking for others to join for next year too. All good fun as we camp overnight in Barmouth.

(apologies to trickeyja for hijacking)

AGNI

Thanks dunkeldog and chrisf70. Sorry for late reply. I certainly need to get out more. I am too much of a fair weather rider at the moment so not getting enough training in.

Apologies again to trickeyja and well done on the 20

trickeyja

Thanks all - and AGNI, don't worry about hijacking the thread - I never expected such a welcoming and encouraging response when I first posted this!