Average speed guide?

sparklehedgehog

and i DO want to get into longer rides but unfortunately i struggle to get the time to do this at the moment due to being primary carer for my 2 year old daughter. I tend to get 1-1.5 hours a day in which to do this including getting ready and packing up, showering etc so time is my worst enemy at the minute.

w00dster

Kudos Sparkle, good ride.
You have to understand though, your weight and being a relative new cyclist will make people sceptical. This being the world of the internet people from time to time may make up times, speeds, distances etc. Your time is quick so the alarms were sounding.
So just think, your quick now, cycle more, you'll get fitter, lighter and quicker. I know how little uns are demanding of your time, mine are 5 and 6. Once they get to nursery / school age things will improve.

Southgate

Half an hour for a flat 10 miles done at TT pace strikes me as typical for a new cyclist who is prepared to give it some welly and take the pain. Your speed is nothing exceptional, but your effort is commendable and shows you have the guts and attitude to do well if you can find the time to train. Well done.

cmhill79

watch those spokes!

Bobbinogs

John, I think most people here are happy to help and give advise but average speed threads always descend into vitriolic exchanges. Your strava profile shows that you can indeed achieve 20mph, so well done for that. However, if you want to gauge how good this makes you then the distances and elevation you do (which only ever seem to be 10miles, pan flat) means you need to be comparing yourself against TT speeds which are very, very different to normal riding. I am in the A group at our club which has over 300 riders. Some TT riders can do a 10 in around 20mins, which I am nowhere near. However, a good training ride for me would be 50 miles in 2'45 with 2500 ft of climbing, which makes me a decent club rider but no more than that. I have riden with elite and cat1/2 racers and those rides are somewhat humbling.

why not try and forget TT and speeds for now. If you want to improve generally then you really need to find some hills or workout how to get elevation into yiur rides or you will simply explode on a normal sportive. Also try and build your mileage up, if you do not have th3 confidence then keep your 10 loops but do them twice...or three times, etc. No excuses, we all have busy lives so find an hour or two for yourself once or twice a week. When my children were very young my Saturday rides started at 7.00 so I could get home before anyone noticed I was missing!

You have proved you can ride hard for 25 minutes...but cycling offers so much more than that including real challenges and beautiful countryside.

BillyMansell

Calm down dear.

Just to remind you, you asked the question, "How fast would you expect a 5' 11" fatboy (17 stone) to average on a ride?" to which people responded with their own experiences as that's the best qualitative information you'll get if you throw such a question at a bunch of individual cyclists. You also said, "Should i be doing something different/better/further?" but unless you tell us more information about your aims and ambitions and what your situation allows (which you now have done) we can't offer anything which might be practical for you.

Like NapD, on an average ride I'd be doing less than 20mph but then average rides for me are 40-50 miles but in TT mode I'd be averaging over 25mph over 10 miles. As someone of similar height and weight to you at the time of those TTs, that's my experience but whether it counts as guidance of what's possible I can't say.

kingstonian

Bobbinogs wrote:

John, I think most people here are happy to help and give advise but average speed threads always descend into vitriolic exchanges. Your strava profile shows that you can indeed achieve 20mph, so well done for that. However, if you want to gauge how good this makes you then the distances and elevation you do (which only ever seem to be 10miles, pan flat) means you need to be comparing yourself against TT speeds which are very, very different to normal riding. I am in the A group at our club which has over 300 riders. Some TT riders can do a 10 in around 20mins, which I am nowhere near. However, a good training ride for me would be 50 miles in 2'45 with 2500 ft of climbing, which makes me a decent club rider but no more than that. I have riden with elite and cat1/2 racers and those rides are somewhat humbling.

why not try and forget TT and speeds for now. If you want to improve generally then you really need to find some hills or workout how to get elevation into yiur rides or you will simply explode on a normal sportive. Also try and build your mileage up, if you do not have th3 confidence then keep your 10 loops but do them twice...or three times, etc. No excuses, we all have busy lives so find an hour or two for yourself once or twice a week. When my children were very young my Saturday rides started at 7.00 so I could get home before anyone noticed I was missing!

You have proved you can ride hard for 25 minutes...but cycling offers so much more than that including real challenges and beautiful countryside.

Good advice in here.

One point to mention - many regular riders will consider their average speed over a 50-60 mile ride, which is a very different prospect to a ride of a third of the distance and thus you won't strictly be comparing apples with apples.

briantrumpet

sparklehedgehog wrote:

I was merely asking for guidance, not being cross-examined for evidence.

You might not be aware that there's quite a history of beginners here 'asking questions' as an excuse to make what turn out to be boasts which are based on spurious figures. The ISP (Internet Speed Police) are usually quick to jump into action and to prosecute the offender. Equally, there are certain members of the ISP who don't believe it's possible to average over 15mph, because that's how fast they can ride.

sparklehedgehog

BillyMansell wrote:

Calm down dear.
Like NapD, on an average ride I'd be doing less than 20mph but then average rides for me are 40-50 miles but in TT mode I'd be averaging over 25mph over 10 miles. As someone of similar height and weight to you at the time of those TTs, that's my experience but whether it counts as guidance of what's possible I can't say.

See now that's more the knowledge i was after.

P.s nicely done!

sparklehedgehog

briantrumpet wrote:

sparklehedgehog wrote:

I was merely asking for guidance, not being cross-examined for evidence.

You might not be aware that there's quite a history of beginners here 'asking questions' as an excuse to make what turn out to be boasts which are based on spurious figures. The ISP (Internet Speed Police) are usually quick to jump into action and to prosecute the offender. Equally, there are certain members of the ISP who don't believe it's possible to average over 15mph, because that's how fast they can ride.

Fair enough

sparklehedgehog

Bobbinogs wrote:

John, I think most people here are happy to help and give advise but average speed threads always descend into vitriolic exchanges. Your strava profile shows that you can indeed achieve 20mph, so well done for that. However, if you want to gauge how good this makes you then the distances and elevation you do (which only ever seem to be 10miles, pan flat) means you need to be comparing yourself against TT speeds which are very, very different to normal riding. I am in the A group at our club which has over 300 riders. Some TT riders can do a 10 in a 20mins, which I am nowhere near. However, a good training ride for me would be 50 miles in 2'45 with 2500 ft of climbing, which makes me a decent club rider but no more than that. I have riden with elite and cat1/2 racers and those rides are somewhat humbling.

why not try and forget TT and speeds for now. If you want to improve generally then you really need to find some hills or workout how to get elevation into yiur rides or you will simply explode on a normal sportive. Also try and build your mileage up, if you do not have th3 confidence then keep your 10 loops but do them twice...or three times, etc. No excuses, we all have busy lives so find an hour or two for yourself once or twice a week. When my children were very young my Saturday rides started at 7.00 so I could get home before anyone noticed I was missing!

You have proved you can ride hard for 25 minutes...but cycling offers so much more than that including real challenges and beautiful countryside.

Nice thorough response with advice i appreciate thank you

ai_1

antsmithmk wrote:

....I suspect the OP either has the Garmin set in km/hr or is on a fishing trip. 17stone and 20mph rides....

For rides on flat roads weight is almost irrelevant.
Weight effects acceleration and climbing. It may have a minor impact on rolling resistance but nothing hugely significant. Being a little bulkier will slightly increase drag but increase in drag will be tiny compared to the proportional increase in weight.
In short being heavier is not a significant obstacle to speed on the flat. In the hills it's a different matter.


sparklehedgehog,

I started riding 3 years ago and started training regularly 2 years ago. I mostly do longer rides at moderate efforts a lot of it in the hills. However about a year ago I did a few efforts to see how fast I could do a 15km route near where I was living. If I remember correctly my best average was just over 35km/h (22mph) on a 15km ride with some gradients of 1-4% but mostly flat. I weighed around 90kg (14.5 stone) at the time but as above, given it was a fairly flat course that's not so important.

On my normal weekend rides of 2-4hrs I'd probably average 25-27km/h (15.5-17mph) on flattish routes and 21-25km/h (13-15.5mph) in the mountains depending on the distance, profile, wind and effort.

Speed on the bike is massively influenced by wind and terrain which makes it difficult to usefully compare your results to other people on different rides.

taff..

this is just as a bit of proof that average speeds are of no use to anyone other than yourself.

I'm slightly lighter than you and yesterday morning I rode 21.8 miles, it took me 1 hr 40 and an average speed of 13.2 mph, why so slow? I did 1680ft of climbing which works out at just under 77ft/mile. I don't think you did 77ft in your 10 miles so the 2 rides cannot be compared in any way shape or form. you would notice a MASSIVE difference in speed if you pointed your bike towards a decent hill

ai_1

taff.. wrote:

this is just as a bit of proof that average speeds are of no use to anyone other than yourself.

I'm slightly lighter than you and yesterday morning I rode 21.8 miles, it took me 1 hr 40 and an average speed of 13.2 mph, why so slow? I did 1680ft of climbing which works out at just under 77ft/mile. I don't think you did 77ft in your 10 miles so the 2 rides cannot be compared in any way shape or form. you would notice a MASSIVE difference in speed if you pointed your bike towards a decent hill

When I rode up and down Mt Teide my average speed was just under 16km/h (10mph) but that was a 70km ride with 2200m (>7200ft of climbing)!

saprkzz

Also with Average speed, people base it on where they live and what figures they achieve.
I live in the chilterns, we have ramps but nothing too serious,
On a flat(ish) ride 20mph is easy to maintain in my area, around 800ft of climbing and I can hold 20-21mph ave, I did a tough sportive on my own last year starting from towcester, which ended up 93 miles and avergae 19.0mph and did 4500ft of climbing.

I suppose it totally depends on where you are and what you are doing.

taff..

Ai_1 wrote:

taff.. wrote:

this is just as a bit of proof that average speeds are of no use to anyone other than yourself.

I'm slightly lighter than you and yesterday morning I rode 21.8 miles, it took me 1 hr 40 and an average speed of 13.2 mph, why so slow? I did 1680ft of climbing which works out at just under 77ft/mile. I don't think you did 77ft in your 10 miles so the 2 rides cannot be compared in any way shape or form. you would notice a MASSIVE difference in speed if you pointed your bike towards a decent hill

When I rode up and down Mt Teide my average speed was just under 16km/h (10mph) but that was a 70km ride with 2200m (>7200ft of climbing)!

and imagine what sort of speed you could have done IF you had put in a bit of effort

dodgy

sparklehedgehog wrote:

http://www.strava.com/activities/118823848

That course is as flat as a witch's tit, but 20mph is still 20mph so good going, especially for a novice.

Also, that route is perfect for a high speed attempt, it's mainly (I think) left hand turns, no traffic lights or possibly give ways, probably very light traffic etc. I'm surprised if the local TT lads haven't earmarked it as a TT route

I know the area, I was based at Digby a few miles to the west

lancew

I tend to average around 15mph-17mph as someone who is 6' & 13 stone.

Thats with a 206 meter climb on it.

Here is a link to my solo ride on Sat, I'm no pro so I'm not that fast.

http://www.strava.com/activities/118638464

Southgate

I did the Ride London 100 at over 20mph average (closed roads, fairly flat with some bumps in the middle)
I did the last 10 miles of the same event at 29mph (slight downhill into central London)
I rode 10 miles into work this morning at 15mph
Yesterday I did a 40 mile club ride at average 13.6mph
I have ridden a 10 mile TT at over 24mph
I hold one Strava KOM (1.4 miles downhill, 30.6 mph, 1st of 666 riders)
I completed a 125 mile Etape over four mountains, and averaged something like 12mph.
I have raced round Hillingdon at an average 25mph (not hard) but my eyeballs start popping when the pack surges to 30mph.

What does my average speed tell you about me as a rider? Not much, really. It does tell you that closed roads are faster than open roads. That going up hills is harder than going down them. That traffic lights and cars slow you down. And that riding in a pack at a constant pace is easy, but the surges are hard. Beyond that, my average speed tells you or me very little of value. At best it suggests that I am a club level rider, but no Bradley Wiggins. Well, I think I knew that already.

AdrianStuart

Southgate wrote:

I did the Ride London 100 at over 20mph average (closed roads, fairly flat with some bumps in the middle)
I did the last 10 miles of the same event at 29mph (slight downhill into central London)
I rode 10 miles into work this morning at 15mph
Yesterday I did a 40 mile club ride at average 13.6mph
I have ridden a 10 mile TT at over 24mph
I hold one Strava KOM (1.4 miles downhill, 30.6 mph, 1st of 666 riders)
I completed a 125 mile Etape over four mountains, and averaged something like 12mph.
I have raced round Hillingdon at an average 25mph (not hard) but my eyeballs start popping when the pack surges to 30mph.

What does my average speed tell you about me as a rider? Not much, really. It does tell you that closed roads are faster than open roads. That going up hills is harder than going down them. That traffic lights and cars slow you down. And that riding in a pack at a constant pace is easy, but the surges are hard. Beyond that, my average speed tells you or me very little of value. At best it suggests that I am a club level rider, but no Bradley Wiggins. Well, I think I knew that already.

+1

markhewitt1978

For a totally flat course like that it's good but not amazing of course. Mostly because weight doesn't come into play when there's no climbing.

Pross

OP, have you thought of going longer distances? The average speeds on your Strava profile are pretty good but I'm not sure I could put up with the bother of getting the bike out for an average distance of less than 10 miles. As someone said above, you'll get good at going short distances quite quickly. Mix it up a bit - ride some longer, slightly slower, rides as well as the short blasts and maybe build the blasts up to longer versions. It's perfectly respectable riding but it does suggest you could manage more than you are doing.

daxplusplus

AdrianStuart wrote:

Southgate wrote:

I did the Ride London 100 at over 20mph average (closed roads, fairly flat with some bumps in the middle)
I did the last 10 miles of the same event at 29mph (slight downhill into central London)
I rode 10 miles into work this morning at 15mph
Yesterday I did a 40 mile club ride at average 13.6mph
I have ridden a 10 mile TT at over 24mph
I hold one Strava KOM (1.4 miles downhill, 30.6 mph, 1st of 666 riders)
I completed a 125 mile Etape over four mountains, and averaged something like 12mph.
I have raced round Hillingdon at an average 25mph (not hard) but my eyeballs start popping when the pack surges to 30mph.

What does my average speed tell you about me as a rider? Not much, really. It does tell you that closed roads are faster than open roads. That going up hills is harder than going down them. That traffic lights and cars slow you down. And that riding in a pack at a constant pace is easy, but the surges are hard. Beyond that, my average speed tells you or me very little of value. At best it suggests that I am a club level rider, but no Bradley Wiggins. Well, I think I knew that already.

+1

+1

diamonddog

Southgate wrote:

I did the Ride London 100 at over 20mph average (closed roads, fairly flat with some bumps in the middle)
I did the last 10 miles of the same event at 29mph (slight downhill into central London)
I rode 10 miles into work this morning at 15mph
Yesterday I did a 40 mile club ride at average 13.6mph
I have ridden a 10 mile TT at over 24mph
I hold one Strava KOM (1.4 miles downhill, 30.6 mph, 1st of 666 riders)
I completed a 125 mile Etape over four mountains, and averaged something like 12mph.
I have raced round Hillingdon at an average 25mph (not hard) but my eyeballs start popping when the pack surges to 30mph.

What does my average speed tell you about me as a rider? Not much, really. It does tell you that closed roads are faster than open roads. That going up hills is harder than going down them. That traffic lights and cars slow you down. And that riding in a pack at a constant pace is easy, but the surges are hard. Beyond that, my average speed tells you or me very little of value. At best it suggests that I am a club level rider, but no Bradley Wiggins. Well, I think I knew that already.

^^This totally agree, good post.

rickeverett

I live in Lancashire and for the most part ride east lancs bowland and and over to Yorkshire.
Would love to see the mid 20mph+ average speeds on those rides but I rarely get over 16-17.
The fellas that go on about the 20-30mph average come from the flats. Unless your in the TDF league, then that's a dream around here. So yeah terrain, bike, age, rider type, weather all play a part and tell you sweet f all.

damocles10

NapoleonD wrote:

Enter a local race

+1.....see how it goes.

HellsCyclist

MOD EDIT Cut out taking topics off topic and being so rude!

ScreaminWargasm

I think it also depends on whether you are riding from point A to point B or are riding a loop of some sort. Many people you see with quickish rides have spent X amount of miles with the wind behind them. If they was to then turn around and ride back, there avg would often go from 21+ to 16-17mph.

As suggested, you should start riding longer routes which would obviously be at a slower pace. The more you do, the quicker you will get.

I tend to avg around 19 - 20 over distances of say 40 miles. Fairly flat though with around 1200-1500ft of climbing.

http://www.strava.com/activities/119389515

Mick

alphacharlie

While Lincolnshire may be as flat as a pancake it always seems to be windy at this time of year and when I try to ride any kind of loop at the moment I always seem to encounter a head wind most of the time.

"Sparkle" I'm only just really getting into road cycling now my kids are getting older and I can get some free time, I'm only 10 or so miles from you so once summer hits if you fancy a meet up, a little ride and a coffee and chat in Archie's let me know.
Cheers
AC

antfly

ScreaminWargasm wrote:

I think it also depends on whether you are riding from point A to point B or are riding a loop of some sort. Many people you see with quickish rides have spent X amount of miles with the wind behind them. If they was to then turn around and ride back, there avg would often go from 21+ to 16-17mph.

As suggested, you should start riding longer routes which would obviously be at a slower pace. The more you do, the quicker you will get.

I tend to avg around 19 - 20 over distances of say 40 miles. Fairly flat though with around 1200-1500ft of climbing.

http://www.strava.com/activities/119389515

Mick

You were with somebody else, that also makes a big difference.