Average Speed - Group Rides

mooseface2r

Hi Guys, this has probable been asked 100s of times but anyway.

So i regularly ride 25miles in the evening and recently i tracked myself with mapmyfitness app and had an average speed of 14.5mph, admittedly could have pushed myself more.

But today i went for a short loop 8.5 miles averaging 17.5mph, and i was pushing it.

How does this compare? Im thinking of joining a some group rides and wonder if i will be fit enough. what sort of averages do group rides go at?

Cheers for any comments

Bronzie

mooseface2r wrote:

what sort of averages do group rides go at?

Might sound like a stupid answer, but it really depends on the group.

For example, my club's club run (a social ride to the cafe, NOT really training) is usually 17-18mph average (depending on road, wind and weather conditions). You could probably keep up comfortably if you could ride 40 miles solo at 16-17mph. Other local clubs have slower club runs, it really depends on the size of the club and their membership profile.

We also have a 2-group fast training ride on Tuesdays that averages 21-25mph depending on the group.

Best idea is to contact club secretaries of clubs local to you and sound them out.....they are the best placed people to advise you whether you'll be able to keep up.

Pokerface

Or just go on the ride and hang on as long as you can. It might be till the finish !

Cornish-J

x2 - just sit on someones wheel if you find yourself struggling.

cyberknight

Bronzie wrote:

mooseface2r wrote:

what sort of averages do group rides go at?

Might sound like a stupid answer, but it really depends on the group.

For example, my club's club run (a social ride to the cafe, NOT really training) is usually 17-18mph average (depending on road, wind and weather conditions). You could probably keep up comfortably if you could ride 40 miles solo at 16-17mph. Other local clubs have slower club runs, it really depends on the size of the club and their membership profile.

We also have a 2-group fast training ride on Tuesdays that averages 21-25mph depending on the group.

Best idea is to contact club secretaries of clubs local to you and sound them out.....they are the best placed people to advise you whether you'll be able to keep up.

+1
We have a "not so fast group" that averages maybe 17 mph and the chaingang which averages 20 mph.

I persoanlly go for the not so fast , i have 100 miles of fast commuting in the legs each week before i start so it is enough for me

Jon8a

As above we do various training and group rides.

Saturday is the easy/social club run 50 miles at about 14-15mph*. A fast group will add 10 miles before the cafe and "stretch their legs" normally turns into a bit of a race so 20mph and above is common for this bit. Sunday is the "training ride" which is 70-80 miles at 17-18mph. Sometimes faster sometimes slower depending on who's out and what they want to do. Wednesday night chaingangs are about an hour and towards spring 25mph+ is the norm**.

*There is a promise that you won't be left behind to fend for yourself regardless.
**As it's a short lap the aim is to keep the pace high and if you get dropped you take a lap out and rejoin a few minutes later. Training for crit racing mostly and a bit of "fun".

jackmcd

If its a group that leaves slower riders to fend for themselves then sod em - its a group ride not a race and they're probably all BMW drivers...

The group I ride with usually splits into two or three groups naturaly when there is a decent number out (nice summer evenings). On grim evenings when few are out I have been the only older and slower rider at times - but a couple of the fast ones will hold back to join me and I never feel guilty. We all have six days a week to ride as fast as we want - surely the idea of a goup ride is kind of in the title..? But recognise as above - different groups have different rationales and if all are out to train for races - they dont want an old fogey like me hanging on.

It is worth it though if you can - I recall my average speed went from 14 - 16mph on 25 mile group rides after only a few weeks and kept improving. i just push myself harder with others around.

Bronzie

Pokerface wrote:

Or just go on the ride and hang on as long as you can. It might be till the finish !

I still think it's better to know what's expected of you before you turn up. Quite honestly with the average speeds quoted by Mooseface, I think he/she would struggle on my club's club run...........not to say we wouldn't wait, but it could be a painful experience on both sides.

Some clubs have rides to suit every pace, others don't (usually depends on the size of the club)........the time to find out is not 30 miles from home on roads you've never ridden before.

freehub

Varies from club to club group to group.

I reckon most will be around 16-17, some rides I do maybe only 60 miles at 17mph, some maybe 150 miles at 20mph, but it's all easier in a group.

simon_e

It's a question none of us can really answer. One man's hard hilly is another man's easy trundle.

If you were keen on playing football and wanted to join a regular knockabout in the local park you surely wouldn't ask on an internet forum, you'd go and talk to the lads/lasses down there. Same applies here.

There's nothing wrong with riding at the back/in the wheels until you feel confident and fit enough to do a few turns on the front. Find a group/club that rides at a pace to suit you (or stops to wait if you drop off the back).

bill57

I realize this thread is basically expired, but just felt I should comment.
There's something wrong with your figures. If you can only manage 14.5 mph average on a 25 mile circuit, then no way can you manage 17.5 on an 8.5 mile circuit. (Or vice versa). To actually gain or lose one mile an hour in average speed requires a considerable difference in either terrain or fitness - three miles an hour is just inconceivable.

elmsallmissile

bill57 wrote:

I realize this thread is basically expired, but just felt I should comment.
There's something wrong with your figures. If you can only manage 14.5 mph average on a 25 mile circuit, then no way can you manage 17.5 on an 8.5 mile circuit. (Or vice versa). To actually gain or lose one mile an hour in average speed requires a considerable difference in either terrain or fitness - three miles an hour is just inconceivable.

Or another variable, effort, the op stated he pushed harder on the shorter ride

bill57

Yes, obviously effort is a factor. But we all have good and bad days, easy and fast days. Personally, if I was averaging 17.5mph on any ride, I would not consider a 14.5mph ride in any kind of performance benchmarking - would you? I'd more likely spend the rest of the day checking the bike for some mysterious, and probably non-existent, fault.

airbusboy

Hey,

I see you are basing your average speed on using the mapmyride app. I found the problem with this app (esp living in london) was that it lacked an auto stop/start function. While you sit at traffic lights for 2-3minutes +, slow down to pass congestion etc etc etc your average speed will be dropping... so while you MIGHT be plodding along at 17mph on the road showing sufficient fitness for club rides (esp when drafting) your APP is lying to you.

I'd say go out with a club, avoid the fast group, but aim for the middle group, you can always slip back into the slow group.....

Enjoy

Thelittlesthobo

I am in a similar situation. I have trained myself to the point where i think/hope i could live with a group of likeminded riders but untill i try i wont ever know.

I managed to get myself along to our local clubs YOUTH mid week training ride where they were training for 'through & off' which was interesting and resulted in a very good average for me. I didnt embarrass myself so all good.

Anyhow, i have checked out their website and emailed the chairman to ask what is required for the saturday run with the grownups ;-) I will let him know what kind of averages i ride locally and he can make an informed decision of whether i need to train a bit more or tag along.

jgsi

You'll be way faster

anto164

our club regularly sees us cruising at 24/25mph doing through and offs, but our averages tend to be about 17mph.

It all depends on the club.

freehub

anto164 wrote:

our club regularly sees us cruising at 24/25mph doing through and offs, but our averages tend to be about 17mph.

It all depends on the club.

Hows that work? You can't be cruising at 24/25 if your average is only 17 unless the rides are like 100+ miles.

meanredspider

I had my first experience of a HUGE group ride at LA's Twitter ride - despite hardly pedalling for the first 3 or 4 miles and being on the brakes a lot of the time on the downhill sections in heavy rain (after a few riders came a cropper), we still averaged nearly 20mph (19.4) over the 30 miles. It just gave me a really good idea what a well-rehearsed peleton could achieve on open roads (ours were single-track)

MountainMonster

It's also good to remember that when in a group, to hold higher speeds often requires the same energy as holding a lower speed alone, due to drafting.

anto164

freehub wrote:

anto164 wrote:

our club regularly sees us cruising at 24/25mph doing through and offs, but our averages tend to be about 17mph.

It all depends on the club.

Hows that work? You can't be cruising at 24/25 if your average is only 17 unless the rides are like 100+ miles.

There's a few people that come along that can only ride at a fast pace for a short amount of time.

The club i'm in is as fast as it's slowest rider. We don't bugger off, and we try to help people up climbs.

We tend to do about 60 miles.

peanut

Charging off into the distance at race pace and picking the hilliest club run loops to leave the older or less fit club members off the back is why so many clubs stay so small and actively discourage new members from joining or staying.:evil:

I cannot speak for anyone else but my motivation for cycling is to enjoy both the cycling and the social side so I would avoid clubs that were predominently interested in racing or that left people behind on club runs. They are definitely not the kind of people I would enjoy riding with.

I would suggest the op seeks out a local club whose stated policy towards new members is friendly and welcoming and who have club runs to suit different abilities. No club should leave new members or anyone behind on their own on a club run unless obviously its a training or chain-gang ride

New members are the lifes blood and future of club cycling

Herbsman

Amen to that.