Decent average speed

secretsam

This may sound odd, but what's the going rate for a decent speed for a Sportif? I'm not talking about heroic Gold times, etc here - remember, this is "Road Beginners"!

For example, my 75 miles at the weekend was completed at a positively glacial 12mph average (it was hilly and windy, honest). Clearly this is pathetic. What's a decent speed to aim for?

CiB

Aim for 20, settle for less. 15-17 is good, but the further you go + the more hills there are the slower you'll be unless you run on unlimited energy. If this was that Chiltern Challenge thing I just checked mine (Mar 2012) and did 76.59 at 14.84mph. It's irrelevant really - how fast you were is how fast you are. You might increase it a bit or lose a bit, but it's still fun.

slowbike

13mph ...


Seriously - there are ppl who can only dream of getting 12mph average and those who couldn't dream of doing 12mph average ...

If you want to get faster then you need to set yourself some suitable goals and then work out your plan on how to achieve it.

How realistic would it be to want to do the same course (in the same conditions) at 15mph avg later this year? That's a 25% increase on your current achievement. If you were hammering it to achieve 12mph then it's unlikely that you'll jump 25% in a few months - so you need to set yourself some smaller targets to aim for.

What made you "slow" around the course - headwind, hills or can you not get up to speed on the flat? Perhaps you're rubbish at descending too - or there were too many others on the road to allow you to get up to speed safely ...

I tell you what I've done - I have a short hilly course (~15miles) that I use as a measure. I ride it from time to time and see how I perform. Even with that there is a marked difference with wind conditions (it's a circular course but it's suited to strong NE winds). Other than that, I get on the bike as much as possible and ensure I push into the pain ..

ai_1

Questions along the lines "what's a good average speed" crop up continuously but unfortunately there's no really useful answer especially for a sportive since the terrain, the weather and the amount of drafting you do will all have as much impact on speed as your fitness.
The only average speed values that will tell you anything somewhat accurate about your ability or improvement is if you were to ride a closed loop on flat terrain on a windless day and compare your performances over time to see if you're getting faster.
However, having said that, I usually end up maybe 30% of the way down the field in most sportives I've done and my average speed in the last year has varied from 24km/h(15mph) on a very mountainous 200km route to 29km/h (18mph) on a somewhat hilly 160km route. Light to moderate winds and riding in groups about 50% of the time in both cases and I was pushing myself to my limit.

What do you mean by "decent speed for a sportive"? It's all relative. Any half serious club rider would think my efforts were shameful but I'm quite happy with them. Plenty of others are much slower than me but nevertheless should be equally proud of their efforts. If you're trying to decide if you should enter a sportive and are worried that you won't be fast enough, don't be. If you reckon you'll manage to cover the distance then go for it. there's a huge range of abilities in most events from the serious guys who want to be first to the finish to the leisure cyclist on a mountain bike who fancies a bit of a challenge and just wants to finish with no particular speed aspirations. It's highly unlikely you'll be hanging out the back and even if you were, who cares!
12mph on hills in the wind doesn't sound so bad but, as i said above, it's impossible to say where that puts you in the spectrum of cycling performance because there are so many variables. how hilly, how windy..........

My dad is in his mid 60s and has been an occassional cyclist for the last year or 2. He rides a hybrid, probably never more than 20km once or twice a week and only when it's not too cold. I don't think he averages more than about 16-18km/h (10-11km/h) on relatively flat rides. He's thinking about trying an 80km sportive in a few months. I've suggested he needs to start riding further and do some hills to prepare but I don't think speed will be a particular issue.

BobScarle

SecretSam wrote:

For example, my 75 miles at the weekend was completed at a positively glacial 12mph average (it was hilly and windy, honest). Clearly this is pathetic. What's a decent speed to aim for?

I don't think this is pathetic, or even slow. It is simply the speed you rode at. Nothing more nothing less. You may feel you could have gone quicker, perhaps with kinder weather conditions. You may want to go quicker, that is something to work on in the next months. But on that day, in those conditions, that was the speed you rode at.

I think a far more apt question would be, did you enjoy the ride? IMO people should worry less about speed and more about enjoying riding.

markhewitt1978

SecretSam wrote:

This may sound odd, but what's the going rate for a decent speed for a Sportif? I'm not talking about heroic Gold times, etc here - remember, this is "Road Beginners"!

For example, my 75 miles at the weekend was completed at a positively glacial 12mph average (it was hilly and windy, honest). Clearly this is pathetic. What's a decent speed to aim for?

It's not pathetic for 75 miles at all. Don't try and compare yourself to the cycling gods who can climb hills like the weigh 0kg, are seemingly unaffected by wind and can complete 100miles in 3 hours...

I've been cycling 18 months now and over the last 3 months I've done three 75 mile rides at 13.5mph, 14.5mph and 14mph respectively, and I was happy with those times because I completed the distance and felt good doing it.

Personally I'm not a great climber, I'm a complete wuss when it comes to descending and on the flat I can't be bothered putting the effort in

slowbike

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I've been cycling 18 months now and over the last 3 months I've done three 75 mile rides at 13.5mph, 14.5mph and 14mph respectively, and I was happy with those times because I completed the distance and felt good doing it.

First time I did 85 miles was on a sportive - I averaged 16.5mph moving and 16mph elapsed ... before then I was riding ~50miles at around 15-15.5mph ... the difference on the sportive was that my brother (a faster rider than me) towed me most of the way around (actually for the first 30 miles we picked up a load of others too!) ... it was still hard work and drained me considerably, but had I not had that dedicated tow then the speed would've been lower.
2 years later and I'm pretty sure I could do the same ride solo at a faster pace... but I'm still not quick!

marcusjb

BobScarle wrote:

I think a far more apt question would be, did you enjoy the ride? IMO people should worry less about speed and more about enjoying riding.

That.

Don't worry overly about it and don't worry about comparing yourself with others.

Enjoy riding the way you want to ride - there's no right or wrong answer, just enjoy.

This weekend was pretty tough with the wind, so speed may be down a bit anyway.

ai_1

Slowbike wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I've been cycling 18 months now and over the last 3 months I've done three 75 mile rides at 13.5mph, 14.5mph and 14mph respectively, and I was happy with those times because I completed the distance and felt good doing it.

First time I did 85 miles was on a sportive - I averaged 16.5mph moving and 16mph elapsed ... before then I was riding ~50miles at around 15-15.5mph ... the difference on the sportive was that my brother (a faster rider than me) towed me most of the way around (actually for the first 30 miles we picked up a load of others too!) ... it was still hard work and drained me considerably, but had I not had that dedicated tow then the speed would've been lower.
2 years later and I'm pretty sure I could do the same ride solo at a faster pace... but I'm still not quick!

I'd never ridden in a group with more than 1 or 2 other riders before my first sportive and had never really made an effort to draft. I was amazed how much drafting helps, especially in large groups. Also you'll likely find you can push yourself harder in an event than you can on a normal training ride, if you want to - not everyone's a masochist!

markhewitt1978

Ai_1 wrote:

I'd never ridden in a group with more than 1 or 2 other riders before my first sportive and had never really made an effort to draft. I was amazed how much drafting helps, especially in large groups. Also you'll likely find you can push yourself harder in an event than you can on a normal training ride, if you want to - not everyone's a masochist!

I've done a bit of club riding and apart from the drafting thing, this is the main difference I've found, that you end up putting in effort when you wouldn't normally or put in more effort than you otherwise would. That's ok for a reasonable distance but over 70-80 miles it would burn me out. At least on sportives you can tend to join small groups for a while then drop off the back (or accelerate off the front!)

slowbike

last road sportive I did was 70 miles - rode the first 40 with my wife then she peeled off (ankle issues) leaving me to ride the last 30 at my pace ... whizzing past those who had overtaken us previously was ever so satisfying - but the problem was I couldn't find a suitable group to tag onto for any real length of time. In the end there were just 3 people who overtook me in that last 30miles - two I'd worked with for a short while then passed earlier - I should've stuck with them at their pace ...
It was nice getting in to see the wife surprised at my "early" return

Slo Mo Jones

SecretSam wrote:

This may sound odd, but what's the going rate for a decent speed for a Sportif? I'm not talking about heroic Gold times, etc here - remember, this is "Road Beginners"!

For example, my 75 miles at the weekend was completed at a positively glacial 12mph average (it was hilly and windy, honest). Clearly this is pathetic. What's a decent speed to aim for?

As far as I'm aware, it's not a race.

paulleary

I agree with lots of the other comments - Just enjoy the ride , if you want to push it harder do so but not at the expense of enjoyment . only proviso is if you want to start racing .
my first sportive was pembrokeshire last year and we finished dead last on the 75mile route averaging 10mph elapsed , we had some long stops to refuel recover . and we still enjoyed and talk about it to this day . since then we have picked less hilly sportives and we have also got stronger . but get out ride and enjoy mate

Tjgoodhew

A lot of people say just enjoy the ride and dont worry about speed but if the OP is anything like me then part of the fun is looking at all the data afterwards and seeing where i was quick, where i was slow and how i can go faster.

It just depends what motivates you i guess but for me personally average speed and time is very important.

In answer to the OP's question - My regular ride would be maybe a sole 40 miles around 16/17mph. For a 75 mile ride i would aim for the same as would like to think riding with cover makes up for the increased distance. So anything under 16mph i would be disappointed and anything over 17mph i would be happy with

ai_1

Tjgoodhew wrote:

A lot of people say just enjoy the ride and dont worry about speed but if the OP is anything like me then part of the fun is looking at all the data afterwards and seeing where i was quick, where i was slow and how i can go faster.

It just depends what motivates you i guess but for me personally average speed and time is very important.

In answer to the OP's question - My regular ride would be maybe a sole 40 miles around 16/17mph. For a 75 mile ride i would aim for the same as would like to think riding with cover makes up for the increased distance. So anything under 16mph i would be disappointed and anything over 17mph i would be happy with

That's all very well but for your first event, if you're trying to work out what speed is "acceptable" then this does not apply. There is no specific speed range to aim for. He can put in as much or as little effort as he likes depending on what he enjoys but the advice not to worry about average speed is sound. Until he's ridden in sportive conditions he won't know what to expect anyway so the best advice is just to do, enjoy it in whatever way suits him and see how it goes. Most importantly he should forget about any concerns he has that he'll be too slow.

I don't understand your aim of beating 16mph and being very happy if you get over 17mph. Surely those numbers are completely arbitrary unless you're talking about a specific route and weather conditions? Last year I did two memorable rides that had what might seem very low average speeds. One was 70km out and back and average speed of something like 16km/h, yet I would regard it as one of the best rides I've ever done. It was a ride up Mt Teide in Tenerife from sea level to 2100m (6900ft) and back down again. The other was a 45km one way ride on almost flat terrain and yet I only managed 10km/h. However since this was in the middle of a storm into a headwind of 70km/h and more I think I did well just to keep moving forwards.
In cycling, average speed is meaningless without context.

socistep

Last year was my first year on a road bike and I did 5 sportives, I captured average speed and worked out position to see where I was placed

Cross Border - 85 miles - 16mph
Pock Pedal - 100 miles 16mph
RTB - 65 miles - 17.5
Ripon Revolution - 100 miles - 16mph
York 100 - 100miles 17.5mph

So I was pretty consistent speed wise but what it also showed was I got better as the year went on, the last 2 were long and Ripon Revolution had a lot of hills, I was very happy to get 16mph for that one, the York 100 was flatter hence the better mph.

I think there is no harm in trying to set yourself an aim and track how you did, but its hard to direct compare rides due to route/weather conditions etc.

Challenge for me now is that although I do more miles per month then last year I am struggling to get out for longer rides with family commitments, 50-60 miles has been the max for me over the past 5 months

socistep

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

I'd never ridden in a group with more than 1 or 2 other riders before my first sportive and had never really made an effort to draft. I was amazed how much drafting helps, especially in large groups. Also you'll likely find you can push yourself harder in an event than you can on a normal training ride, if you want to - not everyone's a masochist!

I've done a bit of club riding and apart from the drafting thing, this is the main difference I've found, that you end up putting in effort when you wouldn't normally or put in more effort than you otherwise would. That's ok for a reasonable distance but over 70-80 miles it would burn me out. At least on sportives you can tend to join small groups for a while then drop off the back (or accelerate off the front!)

I found for sportives I did was that there was a bit of grouping at the start but then riders drifted apart unless you were in a group that knew each other and stuck together

homers_double

I rode one event last year and didn't even realise I was part of a group until one guy patted me on the back at the end saying "I rode with you most of the way"

Bozman

It'll be down the climbing and the weather, you couldn't put a number on it and I wouldn't be too bothered.

Give me a dry/calm day and a flatish(1200') 50+ mile route and I'll be around 19mph, bump it up to 3000' of climbing and drop the mileage and I'll struggle to get an 18 mph average, add some wind and rain and it'll drop again.

Bobbinogs

If you are doing a specific sportive then it might be worth checking to see if they have set time standards. Most do nowadays, typically Gold, Silver and Bronze with some doing age dependent targets.

Most would expect a 100 miler with 7,500ft climbing or more to be 6-7 hours for gold, etc. Flatter ones have less time, typically 5.5-6 hours, etc. Hence, you don't need to be pro to get gold but you will need to be a 'decent' standard.

Thing to bear in mind though, the standards are made up and the difference between a crumpled paper certificate with gold or silver written on it will be lost on the average person. I find it puzzling when some folks rush past feed stations with a target in mind...which kind of overlooks just what makes the blinking thing expensive in the first place.

Peddle Up!

I'd echo pretty much all of the above. For what it's worth I like to see my times improving over the year, then seeing if I can at least match them the following year when I'm a year older.

The thing that really gets to me though is getting off to a cracking start then hitting a long climb after about 30 miles and watching the average crumble. You never get it back.

drlodge

A guide for me (everyone is different)

- A hilly ride, 15mph average is OK
- Flatter ride or very long ride (and this includes usual Sunday club rides), 16-17 average is what I'd expect. Club rides sometimes slower due to stopping.
- Any average over 17mph I deem to be "good".
My highest averages are:
- Prudential London-Surrey 100 (OK its closed roads) 20mph (5 hours minus 45 seconds)
- 68 miles to my Dad's I averaged 19mph. May have had some help from the wind, since its a one direction route but I had to work pretty hard on this ride to achieve it.

Peddle Up!

PS. You will see posts around where riders boast of "breezing along at 30mph on my hybrid" etc.

This is, of course, complete beau locks. :roll:

OverTheHillAt21

I'm still in my first year of riding and most of my rides are around 14-16mph. The biggest sportive up here goes east and based on my epic ride due east today into a strong easterly wind I would expect to be crawling along if the weather was the same! My segment speeds immediately either side of the turn were 10.9mph and 17.4mph. An entire sportive into a headwind isn't a joke. :shock:

ianbar

averages are very much individual, unless your racing i guess. my main sportive for the summer is the big G, i averaged 15 mph and i gave it everything, its a pretty hilly route and over a similar distance on flat could do say 17mph. my target for this summer was to jump from 15 to 17 but i know i won't make it already its too big of a jump. just ride and enjoy and set yourself little targets and you will keep improving.

slowbike

ianbar wrote:

averages are very much individual,

Yet most here seems to be able to post ~16mph times.

But that's the whole thing about an AVERAGE speed isn't it - it's average - sometimes above, sometimes below - dependant on all sorts of things ...

So if you ride an average course on an average day then you would hope your average is about the same average as everyone elses average for a similar average course.

whoof

Ride at what every pace you can (very) comfortably maintain as you will start to feel more tired towards the end. You are doing this for fun, whilst it is fun to ride a bike quickly it is less fun to go into the final 25% of the event with nothing left in your legs and finish a jibbering wreck.

As you progress in your riding you will naturally find that you can ride further and faster and may wish to set specific goals based upon you past performance and preparation. Then if you truely want to test yourself enter a race.

Crouching Peeky

I'd love to be able to increase my average speed for my commute. Despite my best efforts, I really struggle to set any PB's on Strava these days and I'm miles off the top 10's on all segments.

Commute Romford to the City btw.

ai_1

Slowbike wrote:

ianbar wrote:

averages are very much individual,

Yet most here seems to be able to post ~16mph times.

But that's the whole thing about an AVERAGE speed isn't it - it's average - sometimes above, sometimes below - dependant on all sorts of things ...

So if you ride an average course on an average day then you would hope your average is about the same average as everyone elses average for a similar average course.

Okay, so in the spirit of averageness I went to my Garmin Connect account and did a report for my average speed in the last 365 days. It comes to 24.4km/h average across all my rides in the last year. That's about 15.25mph. I don't know if that's any particular use to anyone but there you go.....

P.S.
In case others have higher overall averages I feel I have to point out that a lot of my rides were in the mountains and I ride with slower friends most weekends - very sociable but it hurts my numbers! I could average 50km/h on a hybrid if I really wanted to.

littledove44

I am a nearly 60 year old and new to cycling in the last year. I have found my aversge speeds are creeping up from 18kph last year to about 25kph this year. (A little over 15mph for you non-rule followers).

I just need to lose another 10kg and then hopefully see it more like 30kph.

ianbar

just thinking about it, if you ride sportives you could always look at the average speeds they give gold silver bronze times for and look to jump to the next level.