My (very slow) Average Speeds
Baldgerry
Posts: 12
I've just read the willy waving thread about internet average speeds and though I would post my own slow speeds for other beginners to see.
I'm a 49 year old male, just shy of 16 stone, ex smoker and I've not sat on a bike since I started learning to drive in 1978. I used to run 2 or 3 times a week at the gym but haven't done any exercise as such for about 3 1/2 years.
I bought myself a Specialized Secteur Sport for Christmas and have been out a few times now (getting better since I bought padded shorts!) and have used Endomondo on my phone to log any improvements, My first ride was;
Distance 4.84 miles
Duration 28m:27s
Avg Speed 10.2 mph
My second;
Distance 5.77 miles
Duration 31m:18s
Avg Speed 11.1 mph
And my most recent;
Distance 6.68 miles
Duration 32m:45s
Avg Speed 12.2 mph
So for those of you who read and believed all the "I can do 80 miles at an average of 25mph etc etc etc" posts, maybe you're not as slow as you thought!
I'm a 49 year old male, just shy of 16 stone, ex smoker and I've not sat on a bike since I started learning to drive in 1978. I used to run 2 or 3 times a week at the gym but haven't done any exercise as such for about 3 1/2 years.
I bought myself a Specialized Secteur Sport for Christmas and have been out a few times now (getting better since I bought padded shorts!) and have used Endomondo on my phone to log any improvements, My first ride was;
Distance 4.84 miles
Duration 28m:27s
Avg Speed 10.2 mph
My second;
Distance 5.77 miles
Duration 31m:18s
Avg Speed 11.1 mph
And my most recent;
Distance 6.68 miles
Duration 32m:45s
Avg Speed 12.2 mph
So for those of you who read and believed all the "I can do 80 miles at an average of 25mph etc etc etc" posts, maybe you're not as slow as you thought!
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Comments
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*waves willy*
58 miles
17.07 av speed
3 and a half hours
The stats from today's ride.
*puts willy away*
as stated we all started somewhere and as long as your enjoying riding then thats all that matters, speed and fitness will both come with time.
Stuy0 -
It's not been a month yet and the times/distances are improving no end.
As above. You'll be amazed how quickly these times and distances will improve.Simon0 -
As above, times will improve if you keep at it, last year I was struggling to do 13miles in an hour, now I can crank out 50's in 2.5hrs0
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This will sound silly, but slow down!
Best way to increase your average is to not 'push' on the faster bits and save it for when the going's harder.
Try to only give it 80%, and just hold that effort level. Trying too hard will blow you up, and you'll slow down as you recover.
Also, those distances are pretty short, get some longer, slower distances (LSD's) in to boost your fitness.FCN16 - 1970 BSA Wayfarer
FCN4 - Fixie Inc0 -
I discovered that the best way to improve my averages was to change the computer from Miles to Kilometres.
Now I tootle around at an average speed of between 21 and 25.
I don't go for fast anyway, I prefer long.
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Stuy-b wrote:*waves willy*
58 miles
17.07 av speed
3 and a half hours
The stats from today's ride.
*puts willy away*
as stated we all started somewhere and as long as your enjoying riding then thats all that matters, speed and fitness will both come with time.
Stuy
nice try - but your dick-waving is meaningless without knowing the profile of your route...0 -
I can avg 19mph over most of my rides from 30-100miles and i dont go for the flattest route! everyone is different.
When i started i would avg 14mphover 10 miles then after time i would avg that over 30 odd miles but everytime i went out i put all my effort in and slowly i got faster and faster as i increased the distance!
Its not something that will happen over night but slowly slowly catchy monkey as they say!
Keep up the good work and in a few month your avg will be well into the high teens and you will also be able to keep that speed going over longer and longer distances!
Only trouble is you will then want a better and lighter road bike! that will please your mrs! 0 -
I'm an unfit, overweight mountain biker who's added road biking to help with fitness. I'm typically seeing average speeds of just over 13mph for rides on 1hour+ (routes with a fair bit of climbing on them) and I'm reasonably content with that as a starting point.
I've saved garmin files for a little local route of just under 15 miles with over 800ft of (corrected) climbing which I did in 1 hour and 7 minutes at the weekend (when it was also quite windy, with an headwind for the outward/uphill bits). Garmin data for the ride is http://connect.garmin.com/activity/65797070
I've set myself a target of doing the same route in under an hour within a couple of months, and by the end of summer I've set myself a target of doing 30 miles in under 2 hours.
Overall though I'm not particularily concerned about upping my average speed, but more with being able to keep it going for longer. If I can get myself in a position where I can do back-to-back 50 mile days, with an average of 13mph+, I'll be pretty happy.0 -
It can be pretty exposed on the A70, but I find it psychologically better that I'm usually heading out into the wind and then have it at my back on the way home!
On that ride it was a proper grind when heading west and into the wind, but fast and fun all the way home.0 -
Thanks for the encouragement, now I've got used to the bike I want to work on distance rather than speed. I've read up on heart rate training to increase fitness, which I guess is what you are saying by don't push it? It's looking like my next purchase is going to be a HR monitor and some waterproofs so I can ride to work - it's only 4 miles each way but every little helps as they say!0
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I decided to invest in a decent HRM with data upload capabilities (a Garmin Forerunner 305 which was just over £100 on Amazon) as I think it'll be useful for keeping me on track by being able to record real numbers and improvements. Before using it I found I had a tendency to push a bit to hard at times, with my heart rate shooting up, so have been making an effort to slow the pace a bit and keep it down.
The ride at the weekend actually started out planning to be kept in the 120-140 band but had to be abandoned as there was no way I could my HR that low when heading uphill and into the wind!0 -
Don't be disheartened when your steady improvement takes a dip. That happens sometimes to all of us.0
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You're about the same speed as me... I have no excuses I just need to get out more.
If you start riding to work and back that'll be 160 miles a month, it'll all add up surprisingly quickly!0 -
Well done ,I wouldn't worry about average times though, I went out twice at the weekend, same sort of mileage, different routes, different weather = different times ?? but I enjoyed my ride
You're trying, enjoying and getting fit in the process, for your size and level of fitness You probably have to put as much effort in as a fitter faster rider.
And you are at least out in the colder weather and therefore not a fairweather rider, just wait until the summer comes, you will already be fitter and because the nicer weather is here you will do more.
( I just started last June and my first 8 mikle ride took 45 min and thought I was going to barf a lung)0 -
how do people work out there average speed, on the garmin?
does the garming stop when you stop e.g for traffic lights
i use runkeeper for iphone, and i always seem to find that know matter how fast i seem to go, my avg speed always comes just short of 16mph, but thats going to happen as i come across quite a few junctions/traffic
it just seems that some other riders must be riding on perfectly straight roads with no turnings or traffic0 -
All the speedos that i have used have an auto stop on them if you want them to stop running when your at traffic lights etc, some even give you a delay before stopping etc.
My garmin 705 give you total moving speed and avg speed without the stops!
tried using heartrate training but i seem to do better by just giving it my all and when i cant breath i slow down untill i can then gradually build the speed back up! which is very similar to zone training but at higher levels which i think gives you quicker gains!
For me it doesnt really matter what courses i ride or what distanceas my avg always stays around the 19.5mph. sometimes it will go to 21 if theres little wind or down to 18ish if its really windy.
Although at the mo its abit less as i cant seem to get the same mojo going as i did before the winter/last year. Plus i havent done as much riding over last 5months which doesnt help. But perserverance will triumph. IT JUST TAKES TIME.
Some people just have higher fitness plateu than others!
As i said earlier Keep at and keep pushingh yourself and you will get quicker! Just dont be disheartened by others avg speed. as they may have been cycling alot longer than you.0 -
i don't think i ever managed over 17/18mph average until i started doing TTs. that kind of changed the whole shebang.
but then again, none of my riding is ever done on anything that even looks flat.0 -
Remember its all about the terrain. Be sure to compare the speed on the same course.
I can do fast club runs at 24mph, solo rides on flatish terrain at 24mph, race at 30mph, but my average training rides can be between 14-16mph cause I'm doin hilly runs.0 -
I think you have to take all average speeds with a pinch of salt as there are so many variables involved!0
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its early in the year just keep pluging at it it will improve over time i ave about 16mph most days im 15stgoing downhill slowly0
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The area I live in is packed with hills, so I my average speed is pants, around 12.5mph on my last ride of around 10 miles.
Though I think I may have to check my tyre pressure as well, seems a bit low at the moment.
Either way I'm guessing the initial cycling training will be slower and harder due to all the hills but the moment I can cycle those ten miles and then feel I want to go on, with more or less the same average speed, I'll be happy.
Also I'm 19 and don't smoke so don't feel too bad about yourself being 'slow' to start. 0 -
I think I need to check the calibration of my i-Magic as tonight it seemed to think I was capable of averaging 19mph...0
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Stuy[/quote]
nice try - but your dick-waving is meaningless without knowing the profile of your route...[/quote]
How true. I'm new to cycling but reasonably fit through running. I've noted length of rides, average speeds and height climbed. What I've noticed is that amount of climbing has a big effect on average speed. I have averaged between 12.4mph (100 feet climbed per mile ridden) to 16.7mph (50 feet per mile climbed), rides between 20 and 50 miles. I've no idea how these speeds compare with others, I imagine they're pretty crap, but my aim is simple to improve over time.
One problem I have is descending. Lake District roads are steep and twisty and I find it difficult to descend at a decent pace and therefore average speeds on hilly routes even further depressed.0 -
titch124 wrote:how do people work out there average speed, on the garmin?
does the garming stop when you stop e.g for traffic lights
i use runkeeper for iphone, and i always seem to find that know matter how fast i seem to go, my avg speed always comes just short of 16mph, but thats going to happen as i come across quite a few junctions/traffic
it just seems that some other riders must be riding on perfectly straight roads with no turnings or traffic
If you use a cycle compture it will do the speeds for you and they normally work on either one of the wheels so if you are stopped at a light or need a break this will not effect your average speed.0
