raising average speed

bluebarnsta

I'm planning to do a 100mile sportive at the end of the month and have done a couple of long rides as training. My question is how to raise my average speed from 15mph to maybe 17/18mph? I can ride my local route of 18.2miles in just under an hour, but over the last two 100mile+ rides i just average 15mph. I have recently started to spin more which i believe is more efficient but im not sure if it is a lack of stamina, muscle or what.
any help or suggestions as to how i can increase my speed id be grateful.
Ta

letap73

100 miles is more than x5 18.2 miles - you are very much likely to slow down. Try longer distances than 18.2 miles eg 35, 51 and try achieve said distances in 2 & 3 hours.

Omar Little

Whatever the training you are not going to be able to make a 2 or 3 mph improvement in speed in by the end of the month. Dont be too disheartened though - if you have been managing to do a solo century with a 15 mph average then on the day of your sportive, if you get in a reasonable group, then getting an extra couple of mph is very achievable.

bluebarnsta

Thanks. I know that tdf riders are athletes but they seem to average around 30 mph. What are they doing to go that much faster. It can't all be physiology can it. Is it certain muscles that need building up or general fitness? I don't expect to ride anywhere near to their level but somewhere in-between must be achievable. Any ideas?

danowat

bluebarnsta wrote:

What are they doing to go that much faster.

Shit loads of training.

You need volume for base and intervals for speed, although I did my first 100 mile TT in 4:15 (23.5mph) on a longest ride of 2.5hrs tempo (i.e. 2.5hrs hard) and about 150 miles a week

Tom Dean

bluebarnsta wrote:

Thanks. I know that tdf riders are athletes but they seem to average around 30 mph. What are they doing to go that much faster. It can't all be physiology can it. Is it certain muscles that need building up or general fitness? I don't expect to ride anywhere near to their level but somewhere in-between must be achievable. Any ideas?

They train hard for years and years. It takes more than a couple of long rides!

sloppyschleckonds

Tom Dean wrote:

bluebarnsta wrote:

Thanks. I know that tdf riders are athletes but they seem to average around 30 mph. What are they doing to go that much faster. It can't all be physiology can it. Is it certain muscles that need building up or general fitness? I don't expect to ride anywhere near to their level but somewhere in-between must be achievable. Any ideas?

They train hard for years and years. It takes more than a couple of long rides!

I've heard eating Soreen is good

thiscocks

bluebarnsta wrote:

Thanks. I know that tdf riders are athletes but they seem to average around 30 mph. What are they doing to go that much faster. It can't all be physiology can it. Is it certain muscles that need building up or general fitness? I don't expect to ride anywhere near to their level but somewhere in-between must be achievable. Any ideas?

In-between what? Forget about what the pros do and just concentrate on small improvements to your own riding. I suggest joining a club to do some good group rides where you can get good average speeds and have better riders to try and keep up with.

MountainMonster

I'm doing so well not commenting on this topic, just too much bait to take in at once.

Legshaver

+1

bluebarnsta

Sorry for the ignorance.

Legshaver

Don't be sorry bluebarnsta. It's all good humoured banter. Your question is fine. There's many visitors to this forum that would like to ask questions like yours, and so they should. That's what the forum is about.

Basically, most of the replies are realistic. You just need to keep increasing your long distance ride by a few miles each time, and try to keep to the same average speed. Go for some shorter faster rides of about 1 hour and try to ride at a higher average 1-2 mph more then your long ride average. Try and find a suitable circular route for this if you can, so that any wind condition is evened out. Even better, as one poster has already stated, go out with a club and see if they have rides which will suit you. Most clubs have various groups where the faster riders will go out together, and I would see how fast the slower groups are before going out with the faster ones.

There's obviously much more you can do, but don't be put off from asking here.

Good luck.

snowley

All about miles in the saddle.....

MountainMonster

Why you apologizing? No need!

I just find it funny that after the TdF finished, so many threads talk about what the pros do, what they ride, how they fart, or if they like brocolli, and so on.

turnerjohn

flat out but shorter training sessions (only done when properly warmed up!) can work wonders improving muscle strength and will make your 100miler easier. You should find (if done properly) your be more comfortable riding harder for longer. The other way is lots of lower paced by much longer (2 to 3hrs) to improve your base fitness. All of these take time, however from personal experience I've found flat out and harder training more benefical; though probably cos my base fitness is very good but my outright speed was lacking....works for me...you may find it helps !
Dont get het up on the PRO speeds though.....those guys are all freeks of nature !....oh and train rather a lot !!!

woolwich

There was an article on this quite recently, possibly in Cycling plus, so a google search might find it.
The biggest tip I gained from it was learn to corner confidently and quickly carrying more speed.
Apart from the bleeding obvious, ie by not slowing down you go quicker. You dont expend additional energy getting back up to speed and getting fatiqued in the process. Also you continue to spin at nearer your optimum groove.
The difference in average speed over a century is not subtle.
Good luck.

gsvbagpuss

woolwich wrote:

Apart from the bleeding obvious, ie by not slowing down you go quicker. You dont expend additional energy getting back up to speed and getting fatiqued in the process..

I am only a beginner at cycling but momentum seems key to me. I fared better over the second half of a 20 miler on sunday by driving a smaller gear quicker and more consistently, rather than pushing a huge gear for a bit then needing a rest.

the_spooks

turnerjohn wrote:

flat out but shorter training sessions (only done when properly warmed up!) can work

This interests me a lot as I also want to improve my power/fitness/stamina, is that flat out as in how much your legs and lungs can handle or as in heart rate, also how long should your session last, 30 mins 60 mins?

MountainMonster

If I'm really look to increase power (not often) I do interval training. Get yourself on a turbo, go flat out for 30 seconds, pushing to the limit you possibly can, then a 30 second pause, repeat those back to back for 10 minutes, and you should see an increase in power.

turnerjohn

the_Spooks wrote:

turnerjohn wrote:

flat out but shorter training sessions (only done when properly warmed up!) can work

This interests me a lot as I also want to improve my power/fitness/stamina, is that flat out as in how much your legs and lungs can handle or as in heart rate, also how long should your session last, 30 mins 60 mins?

several ways round it....turbo sessions (though personally I can't stand them !) pyramid training is good....there were a few different sessions placed on bikeradar writers...would be worth a read.
You need to work out your obsolute max heartrate (not the 220 minus your age which isn;t accurate) then use a heart rate monitor and work out your zones. I do my 3 to 4 hrs rides at zone 4 punching to 5 for sprints and hard hills....everyones different tho.
you would be able to go 100% for 60mins. I've found on my longer rides simply get out the saddle on every rise and sprinting really has helped improve muscle strength and flexibility and of cause ups average speed. I've also found seated speed higher though as well. On my ride to work I do 3 steep short climbs that I hit and bascially sprint them as hard as possible and use the down the spin out and recover...still keeping a good tempo on the flat sections (around 85 to 90% max heart rate)....works for me but like I said everyones different.
Do a search for turbo training sessions or pyramid training and give them a go. End of the day its upping the time where your working at maximum heart rate and forcing yourself to "hold it" without colapsing in a heap at the side of the road !
Oh and eh dont forget to warm up, warm down and rest poperly between sessions...dont try to do it every day !!!

davicio

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Tom Dean wrote:

bluebarnsta wrote:

Thanks. I know that tdf riders are athletes but they seem to average around 30 mph. What are they doing to go that much faster. It can't all be physiology can it. Is it certain muscles that need building up or general fitness? I don't expect to ride anywhere near to their level but somewhere in-between must be achievable. Any ideas?

They train hard for years and years. It takes more than a couple of long rides!

I've heard eating Soreen is good

This is absolutely true. Food of choice for me prior to my triathlons, whether right or wrong!

But for the OP, seriously, it's about additional training.

I for some reason or other a year ago just could not get above 30kph average over 29km including some nasty hills in North London. I went from 2 days training to 3 to 4 per week, and all of a sudden, an increase. For me it was really that simple.

bluebarnsta

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try out the interval training and just push myself a bit harder. think ive been more hung up with distance rather than speed and power. looking forward to combining both aspects together.

dabber

I've started concentrating on hill repeats... I seemed to be travelling at a reasonable speed on the flats .. 20+ mph but my average speed was getting pulled down to my slow progress up the hills. Although I've been getting up them OK I was travelling very slowly. Since I've started the hill repeats I've found that hills that I was crawling up I'm now getting up a couple of MPH quicker. The overall effect is that this is helping get my average mph up.