10 mile commute - best possible average speed?

snova25

Hi all,

I am a 20 stone (dropped a stone in the last 6 weeks) 44 year old male who needs to shed a lot of weight so am going to start to commute in 2 weeks time.

It is 10 miles each way to work and I have been practising for the last 4 weeks on my new specialized sirrus hybrid bike.

When i completed my first 10 mile ride I achieved 9 mph average speed and this has now risen to 12.5 mph average.

What average speed could this realistically rise to with my current bike? Hopefully the weight will continue to come off and my overall fitness will continue to improve. I am hoping as the weight comes off my speed will increase.

Thanks in anticipation.

Wooliferkins

You're as well concentrating on doing the ride and concentrate on working at a rate that will burn the weight off. There is plenty of professional info on what heart rate/effort you need to be at to do this. As long as you are burning more calories than you put on board, presuming a good diet, the speed will increase and the weight drop off. Some longer rides will prove helpful as well. Speed is relative, a really strong rider might barrel along up towards 20 other riders might ride really long distances at 13 but could each do the other?
Good luck and enjoy

Extralight

Hi Snova. So many variables - number of junctions and lights, as well as terrain, and then of course the weather. A note of caution though - riding in traffic and commuting in general is not the best place to be chasing fast average speeds. I've made this mistake myself: when realising I'm on a fast run, I have tried to beat my personal best for the ride. I try to resist the urge to do this now though. It can encourage you to take unnecessary risks (such as fast filtering, charging at lights before they change - I never RLJ by the way - speed and behaviours that other road users and pedestrians may not expect). So by all means ride hard and ride fast, but stay safe around junctions and areas with lots of pedestrains - make sure that whatever speed you're going, you could still stop in an emergency, and always expect the unexpected.

This is all stating the obvious though, and not really what you were asking, so apologies for that. Clearly you were inviting us all to brag about how incredibly fast we are! For me, on a relatively flat 15 mile commute into West London (where it's only significantly stop and start for the last 3 miles), on a tired or windy day, I'll average less than 15mph. A fast ride would be around 17mph (these are moving averages, so discounting time wiaitng at junctions and lights). Anything above 17mph is just reckless - I've done quicker rides in traffic, but realised having done them that my riding has been far from sensible. Pointless getting squashed for the sake of a new PB.

Enjoy the ride!

snova25

Hi,

Its a relatively flat journey with only 4 sets of lights. Not that much traffic and the only daunting part is about a 2 mile stretch down a rural straight road where the cars like to speed along.

Thanks

Kieran_Burns

PB for me (15stone 45 year old when I'm on my fast road bike) for 10 miles is 28:45, but it's a country commute with no traffic lights anywhere

My heavier friend, a couple of years younger than me on his CX bike: 10 mile in 32:43 (same commute)

His aim was to beat 17mph avg, mine was to beat 20. It's horses for courses... as above: worry more about enjoying it and putting in the right exercise. The speed just happens

Underscore

I have an old Sirrus and, on an 18 mile commute with 600ft of climb, I'm currently averaging ~17mph (so about 1hr 5 mins for the commute). A couple years ago when I was a lot fitter I was averaging 18ish (just under the hour). I'm a forty-something and 13-14 stone - of pure muscle, you understand!

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Initialised

I'm currently down just under 14 stone, I was ~18 stone when I started cycle commuting again and would do 12-13 mph average over 6.5 miles.

10 miles with hills (600ft climbing) 14mph average (my lunch hour ride, includes a 40mph+ descent)
10 miles mostly flat/downhill 16-18mph typical, 21mph is my best over 10 miles

So I'm fast by my standards and could give KB a run for his money. I tend to get slower in winter and speed up through spring and summer. By the time you are at the limit of the bike's capabilities (spinning out in the smallest sprocket on the biggest ring on relatively flat sections) it'll probably be time to upgrade to a road bike.

As you lose the weight you get faster, top tip for keeping the weight loss up is to keep it up through the winter. I didn't my first year back in't saddle and got stuck at 16 stone for a while.

MarkAshton

Don't time your commute, you cant control traffic, lights and idiots on the road. Getting from A-B safely should be your number 1 concern.

godders1

It’s a bit of a cliché but if you just enjoy the ride you will get quicker naturally anyway. Aside from the safety thing already mentioned by others there’s not much to be achieved by chasing PB’s on a commute imo (unlike if you race and have a suitable training plan etc).

I can go for it on a given day and get a “good time” but then it just means I’m knackered when I get to work/home and I’m slower for the rest of the week (and because my legs are tired it’s not enjoyable).

I’ve been known to go a bit nuts going home on a Friday though (weekend plans permitting)!

lockstock666

When you approach traffic speed you need to behave like traffic and so brake and slow down far more often than you would be if travelling at the standard 15-20 mph.

That's where extralight's point about the speed encouraging you to take risks is true, winding up a bike to a decent speed takes some effort and its really annoying slowing down and wasting the energy. Its very tempting to try and continue at high speed where as if I were in my car or even a motorbike I would be slowing down without question.

Underscore

MarkAshton wrote:

Don't time your commute, you cant control traffic, lights and idiots on the road. Getting from A-B safely should be your number 1 concern.

Why does timing your commute mean that getting to and from work safely is not your number one concern? Even if I didn't have a wife and four kids to worry about, I quite like being alive and able bodied so safety always overrides time. I also am aware that the time will vary due to environmental conditions - though my commute is largely rural so a hoolie of a headwind is more likely to influence my time than traffic and lights (16.4mph in and 18.1mph home yesterday: guess which way the wind was blowing!) - but I still find that monitoring my commute time helps me to enjoy my commute more. YMMV.

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Headhuunter

This is so hard to judge, as others have mentioned, it depends on lights, terrain, weather, traffic etc but a decent TT time for 10 miles is 25 mins or less isn't it? So that's what you need to aim at! Basically average of 20-25mph...

Kieran_Burns

Headhuunter wrote:

This is so hard to judge, as others have mentioned, it depends on lights, terrain, weather, traffic etc but a decent TT time for 10 miles is 25 mins or less isn't it? So that's what you need to aim at! Basically average of 20-25mph...

Really?

I feel better about my 28:45 now

Headhuunter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

This is so hard to judge, as others have mentioned, it depends on lights, terrain, weather, traffic etc but a decent TT time for 10 miles is 25 mins or less isn't it? So that's what you need to aim at! Basically average of 20-25mph...

Really?

I feel better about my 28:45 now

I think so... Here's a discussion on Road Beginners about 10 mile TT times:
viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12873330&start=20

Although according to this thread 20-25 is what to aim for...
viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12782975