average speeds etc...

mudcow007

i have ridden bikes most of my life but tend to take long breaks off. this year i started riding again on the 7th Jan but the time before that was July last year (ive done 597.71 miles so far)

i understand speed and average speeds etc all come down to fitness, equipment and food. but how long does it take to start noticing increases in speeds

on my mtb with marathon + im comfortable at 14mph and was keeping up with a lycra clad roadie the other night at 19mph (ish)

when im riding alone i tend to slow down until i see someone in the distant, then it becomes a chase, which speeds me up

i want to go faster!!!

UndercoverElephant

If you want to go faster, go faster - eventually your fitness and strength will catch up. If you can go 19 mph, why settle for 14?

Oh, and buy a road bike, you know it makes sense.

SimonAH

^+1

notsoblue

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Oh, and buy a road bike, you know it makes sense.

+1 You'll get much more speed out of the effort you put in if you're on a road bike

suzyb

Surely if you don't have the fitness or speed you wont be able to go faster :?

mudcow007

i think its lazyness to be honest, like this morning i was plodding along (about 10mph) because of the headwind then a guy goes past on a road bike so i catch up an stay behind him, not drafting but keeping pace around 16mph

i think i need to man up

is it good to ride as fast as you can for say 1/2 a mile then slow down to recover then repeat etc?

rjsterry

I too suffer from laziness - if there's no-one to chase, I can be 5-10minutes slower on my commute. Doesn't seem to be such an issue on the few weekend rides I get to do though.

jonginge

suzyb wrote:

Surely if you don't have the fitness or speed you wont be able to go faster :?

You can for a short while, which will boost your fitness in the longer term. Most of the time, though, your brain tricks you into going more slowly than you are actually capable of: it's a built-in safety mechanism to save the body from damage. It can be overridden... (see rjs' comment above)

sketchley

By a garmin and put in virtual partner mode, race yourself from the day before

UndercoverElephant

JonGinge wrote:

suzyb wrote:

Surely if you don't have the fitness or speed you wont be able to go faster :?

You can for a short while, which will boost your fitness in the longer term. Most of the time, though, your brain tricks you into going more slowly than you are actually capable of: it's a built-in safety mechanism to save the body from damage. It can be overridden... (see rjs' comment above)

Plus, he's already said that he *can* go faster, when he pushes himself. It's just a matter of pushing yourself more and more.

meanredspider

Sketchley wrote:

By a garmin and put in virtual partner mode, race yourself from the day before

Was going to suggest exact same thing - even the Forerunner 305 has this feature. Certainly, unless you set yourself a goal, you're unlikely to improve. Once you're determined to achieve something, there are loads of threads on getting faster and almost noone agrees (because noone knows) on how to achieve it the best way.

Why do you want to go faster? Certainly a roadie will make you at least 3mph faster just because it's easier. If you want to go faster because it shows you're getting fitter, don't expect miracles. I've found I am an mph or two faster but more than that I hurt less.

Set yourself a goal, though, because, without it, you're unlikely to achieve much

Canny Jock

Agree on the bike computer option - I spend rides on my own constantly trying to push the avg up.

Aidy

mudcow007 wrote:

i think its lazyness to be honest, like this morning i was plodding along (about 10mph) because of the headwind then a guy goes past on a road bike so i catch up an stay behind him, not drafting but keeping pace around 16mph

I've been pretty tempted to put a speedo on the commuter to encourage me to keep my speed up. I have too many gadgets cluttering my bars right now, though... I'm not sure I want to add another one.

is it good to ride as fast as you can for say 1/2 a mile then slow down to recover then repeat etc?

It's called interval training (google for stacks of information).

mudcow007

i like the idea of racing my self, that sounds a winner via a garmin

i dont think i have any particular reasons for wanting to go fast...i think i just do, plus i dont like being over taken by kids on bmx's (what are thier FCN's?)

i think part of the issue around here is lack of other cyclists any that i do see are either:

A. a scally wag on a stolen GT

B. olderly chap wearing cord trousers

C. elderly women with shopping in the basket on the front of the bike

D. guy with one of them kiddy trailors attached to the back of the bike

prawny

wrote:

"Aidy" I've been pretty tempted to put a speedo on the commuter to encourage me to keep my speed up. I have too many gadgets cluttering my bars right now, though... I'm not sure I want to add another one.

Get one that goes on the stem, keeps everything symmetrical 8)

I couldn't put a comp on the bars now.

To the op, time your commutes, pick a shorter time then aim for that. When you start to beat regularly choose a shorter time. No need to even get a speedo then.

My commute is basically a time trial twice a day. Or it was, now it's a snooze on the train. I'll be back soon though.

Quote fail :?

Aidy

prawny wrote:

Aidy wrote:

I've been pretty tempted to put a speedo on the commuter to encourage me to keep my speed up. I have too many gadgets cluttering my bars right now, though... I'm not sure I want to add another one.

Get one that goes on the stem, keeps everything symmetrical 8)

I've already got a garmin mount there
(Garmin's a bit overkill to be running all the time, and I'm too lazy to be swapping brackets on and off).

prawny

You need a longer stem

Butterd2

Sketchley wrote:

By a garmin and put in virtual partner mode, race yourself from the day before

+1, did this at the weekend and kicked my arse by 4mins over my 49 mile loop.

Not sure whether this is a really clever motivational tool or if I am just sad but I was imagining myself on the road (100ft ahead, 50 feet ahead etc...) as I made the "catch and pass" up Ide Hill?

NGale

I'm just looking for a bracket to hold my iPhone, the cyclemeter app does everything I need it to as far as speed and distance goes.

dhope

NGale wrote:

I'm just looking for a bracket to hold my iPhone, the cyclemeter app does everything I need it to as far as speed and distance goes.

Aint cheapest thing in the world
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dah ... e-ec022856

Pigtail

Well I bought my roadbike in October. I'm old, overweight and unfit.

I have been going to the gym regularly, concentrating on the exercise bike, and haven't ridden my bike as much as I would have liked to - mainly due to darkness and weather.

Of the three features listed the first one has got worse, and the last two have hopefully improved.

I'm down over a stone, I've gone to clipless pedals and shoes, I've improved my cadence and gear changes, I've improved my nutrition and my resting heart rate has dropped about 7 beats.

I worked out a route which is just over 30 miles, a rolling route without any steep hills, and when I did it in early November my average speed was just over 14.5 miles per hour. I did it again on Saturday and averaged 18.4 miles per hour. So an improvement of over 4mph in 4 months.

Given the effort I've put in, and the low base I was starting from, fitness-wise, I kind of expected a bit more.

Obviously there are other variables - weather conditions, temperature etc. It looks like I'm going to have to keep making adjustments and keep working hard for small gains.

jeremyrundle

mudcow007 wrote:

i have ridden bikes most of my life but tend to take long breaks off. this year i started riding again on the 7th Jan but the time before that was July last year (ive done 597.71 miles so far)

on my mtb with marathon + im comfortable at 14mph and was keeping up with a lycra clad roadie the other night at 19mph (ish)

i want to go faster!!!

14mph, 14 mph, I only stared cycling proper last year, a few months before Christmas, I only use MTBs, (with semi-slicks) and I began at 11mph, I came home today at 18mph, I would wonder where I was going wrong if I don't hit 20mph, and I am fifty three and overweight :shock:

And I don't push myself, but, I do think it a lot to do with what you are riding, on my old Saracen I would struggle, on my custom MTB, £1.7k it's a doddle, even on my £800 MTB, slicker gears, cranks, casette etc.

jonginge

numbers without context are meaningless. On the internetz doubly so.

waddlie

jeremyrundle wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

i have ridden bikes most of my life but tend to take long breaks off. this year i started riding again on the 7th Jan but the time before that was July last year (ive done 597.71 miles so far)

on my mtb with marathon + im comfortable at 14mph and was keeping up with a lycra clad roadie the other night at 19mph (ish)

i want to go faster!!!

14mph, 14 mph, I only stared cycling proper last year, a few months before Christmas, I only use MTBs, (with semi-slicks) and I began at 11mph, I came home today at 18mph, I would wonder where I was going wrong if I don't hit 20mph, and I am fifty three and overweight :shock:

And I don't push myself, but, I do think it a lot to do with what you are riding, on my old Saracen I would struggle, on my custom MTB, £1.7k it's a doddle, even on my £800 MTB, slicker gears, cranks, casette etc.

If that's true, how come your name rhymes with "trundle", eh?

itboffin

Butterd2 wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

By a garmin and put in virtual partner mode, race yourself from the day before

+1, did this at the weekend and kicked my ars* by 4mins over my 49 mile loop.

Not sure whether this is a really clever motivational tool or if I am just sad but I was imagining myself on the road (100ft ahead, 50 feet ahead etc...) as I made the "catch and pass" up Ide Hill?

Ah but did you do the "look" as you passed yourself? :roll:

tgotb

Pigtail wrote:

I worked out a route which is just over 30 miles, a rolling route without any steep hills, and when I did it in early November my average speed was just over 14.5 miles per hour. I did it again on Saturday and averaged 18.4 miles per hour. So an improvement of over 4mph in 4 months.

IMHO, 14.5 to 18.4 is actually a pretty significant improvement, and doing it in 4 months is a bit of a result. Don't think of it as 4mph, think of it as 25%. And if drag is proportional to the square of your speed (which it certainly feels like it is) then you've increased your power by more like 50%. Well done!

benno68

I agree with TGOTB - it's a significant improvement - top effort.

I've been cycling for 2.5 years now, I'm happy if I average 18mph on my own - I must be doing something wrong!

jonginge

An 18mph average for a 30m solo ride is good going.

itboffin

My average speed is dropping year on year seems to be matching my weight - dunno what that's about.

Am i bothered ? am I f**k

benno68

itboffin wrote:

My average speed is dropping year on year seems to be matching my weight - dunno what that's about.

Am i bothered ? am I f**k

pastryboy

When I started commuting (non-cyclist but fit from running) I was holding about 13/14mph on my MTB - last time I used the MTB I was holding about 19/20mph on the same stretch.

Av. speed on the London to Cambridge last year was 19mph over the 59 or so miles - I was pleased with that as my cx bike was far from a 'speed machine'.

About 14 months of cycling 100+ miles per week plus running a few times a week to see those improvements.