Am I doing OK?

DorsetKnob

Hi - Am new to the sport, as I've only been riding since the end of March. I'd put on a bit of weight due to drinking at least a bottle of red a day and thought I'd better do something about it! I've cut down the wine, bought a half decent bike (Battaglin C11) and am really enjoying myself. I'm doing about 300 miles a month and have now lost 2 stone (which is nice!). My average speed on a 25mile ride is about 15-16mph, and it has been this for about a month now - is this about right? and will this slowly increase with time and practice?
A friend wants me to join him for a 60 mile sportive at the end of the month and dont want to embarrass myself by being left behind and looking like a tw@t!
Thanks

Duncanandthemachine

You'll be fine, don't push yourself to hard early on and take head of the various nutritional advise on her for before and during your ride...then enjoy it!

thel33ter

Thats a great start. I would try do around 40 miles alone, if you can do that, you should be able to do a 60 mile sportive, as you will probably end up riding in a group, which makes it a bit easier. I had never done more than 30 miles before my first 50 miler, but I ended up finishing it easily.

Mettan

DorsetKnob wrote:

Hi - Am new to the sport, as I've only been riding since the end of March. I'd put on a bit of weight due to drinking at least a bottle of red a day and thought I'd better do something about it! I've cut down the wine, bought a half decent bike (Battaglin C11) and am really enjoying myself. I'm doing about 300 miles a month and have now lost 2 stone (which is nice!). My average speed on a 25mile ride is about 15-16mph, and it has been this for about a month now - is this about right? and will this slowly increase with time and practice?
A friend wants me to join him for a 60 mile sportive at the end of the month and dont want to embarrass myself by being left behind and looking like a tw@t!
Thanks

Yes, for a new rider, 15-16 mph avg over 25 miles is good - and yes, with regular training and sufficient intensity, you will see the avg slowly increase - (although, you might find that the rate of increase in your avg will decrease over time). Regards the Sportive, go for it - you can ride them at your own pace, and the group riding 'feel' to them will give you added motivation. Try and get in plenty of hills into your riding during the build-up. A couple of 30-40 milers might prove useful in the build up aswell.

unixnerd

You're doing fine. Keep it up and eat a good diet, the weight will drop off with regular cycling.

Next step would be to get proper cycling shoes and clip-in pedals if you've not already done so. Then do some shorter rides (say 15-20 miles) at higher intensity twice a week. Hill climbs are great for this. But to be honest just doing what you are now will work wonders for your health.

briantrumpet

And just to add, go with all the encouragement on BikeRadar - it was thanks to responses here that I did my first 100-mile sportive last year. Even then I was worried that I was going to be struggling along at the back, and to my delight, all the people on here saying "you'll be fine" were right - I'd guess I started out similar to you in about July, and did the Tour Ride in Somerset/Devon in September. Get the miles in, eat well, and have fun!

DorsetKnob

Thanks for all the words of wisdom and encouragement.
I have signed up for the sportive - and I WILL enjoy it!
Cheers.