how can I get my avg speed up

gubber12345

Hi all
been cycling now almost a couple of years now and I dont seem to be able to get my avg speed above 17-18 mph.i ride 3 times a week, 2 x 25 milers week nights and a 50+ miler at the weekend.
is there any regime I can do to try and bring it up or is it just a case of more miles per week.

not training for anything only an 85 mile sportif later in the year and my only goal is to increase avg speed if I can as I would like to do this in a good time if I can.

napoleond

Intervals, consistency and recovery are your friend.

jibberjim

aerodynamics, ride with other people - training is a waste...

littledove44

Why bother, that's a really nice speed!

Seriously though, your options are, in no particular order.

1. Improve your power (get fitter and stronger).
2. Reduce your body weight (as long as you don't lose power as well).
3. Lighten your bike (it helps, but not a lot).
4. Adopt a more aerodynamic position (again, as long as you don't do so in such a manner as to make a bigger power loss than aerodynamic gain).
5. Make your bike more aerodynamic. (it helps, but not a lot).


Which one turns out to be most important will depend on how bad you are in that category in the first place.

The option is to ride smarter. Hide behind people and get a free speed increase.

markhewitt1978

17-18mph is a good average. I'm usually around 15ish.

t4tomo

Why?
You ride at a decent pace, you're not racing, just riding for enjoyment, so just enjoy it.

Alternatively move to East Anglia, the flatter terrain will increase your average speed

john1967

t4tomo wrote:

Why?
You ride at a decent pace, you're not racing, just riding for enjoyment, so just enjoy it.

Alternatively move to East Anglia, the flatter terrain will increase your average speed

WHY? because he wants to improve...17-18mph is good 18-19mph is better.

NapoleonD wrote:

Intervals, consistency and recovery are your friend.

This..try replacing your midweek rides with high intensity intervals,it does bring improvements.

jibberjim

t4tomo wrote:

Why?
You ride at a decent pace, you're not racing, just riding for enjoyment, so just enjoy it.

Because one of the things about enjoying cycling is riding to interesting places... most people have some time constraints in their cycling, by increasing the average speed, you get to visit people, I've been known to put on deep sections so I can travel further to see a particular place and still get back when I wanted.

briantrumpet

jibberjim wrote:

I've been known to put on deep sections so I can travel further to see a particular place and still get back when I wanted.

Or, similarly, I've been known to leave too little time to do a particular length ride, and have something really important I must get back for. It doesn't half help you keep going on the return part of the ride and push you to dig deeper than you might have done otherwise.

It really is possible to want to ride faster and still enjoy yourself - the two aren't mutually exclusive.

awavey

t4tomo wrote:

Why?
You ride at a decent pace, you're not racing, just riding for enjoyment, so just enjoy it.

Alternatively move to East Anglia, the flatter terrain will increase your average speed

its not half as flat as people think (Im convinced people only ever get as far as the Fens) and even when it is flatter there are coastal cross/headwinds to contend with.

but I would have thought distance is more the thing to be thinking about if an 85mile sportive is the goal

DeVlaeminck

Need to tell us what these 50 and 25 mile rides consist of

markhewitt1978

Not sure on the exact formula but at those sorts of speeds wind resistance is the major issue and it increases with the square of speed so it takes twice as much extra effort to go from 16 to 17mph average as it does to go from 17 to 18mph average. You can somewhat overcome that with a more aggressive position on the bike, tight clothing etc.

Of course that doesn't really help with hills which is down to weight vs power output.

BrandonA

Not sure why people question the OP speed. No matter how fast he rides, its up to him if he wants to go faster. Personally I'm constantly striving to go faster even though I'm a bit faster than he is. Nothing wrong with wanting to maximize your potential

How hard are you pushing yourself? I think some people could go faster if they put more effort in. I'm not the fastest person in the world but I'm not happy if I think that I've not given a ride 100% of my effort.

Sometimes pacing on a ride can affect your performance. If for example you power it up a few big miles it may have a negative effect on your cruising speed which may result in a slower ride. Or if you start to fast you may fade in the second half of the ride.

meanredspider

If you continue to do the same things, you will naturally plateau. As suggested above, mix it up a bit. You might also want to try adding to the distance that you ride at weekends. I've been doing endurance training this year and now a century seems quite normal (did two last week as part of 560k & 4500m I did that week). The spin-off is that my pace on shorter rides has really improved too and I'm finding I can average 20mph on the flat for a couple of hours solo and wind-neutral (a loop) which was a pleasant surprise. I've done no interval training (yet) but I do plan to add it. I'm at the point where my legs will go on and on now I just need "the lungs" to go with them at real power.

markhewitt1978

meanredspider wrote:

If you continue to do the same things, you will naturally plateau. As suggested above, mix it up a bit. You might also want to try adding to the distance that you ride at weekends. I've been doing endurance training this year and now a century seems quite normal (did two last week as part of 560k & 4500m I did that week). The spin-off is that my pace on shorter rides has really improved too and I'm finding I can average 20mph on the flat for a couple of hours solo and wind-neutral (a loop) which was a pleasant surprise. I've done no interval training (yet) but I do plan to add it. I'm at the point where my legs will go on and on now I just need "the lungs" to go with them at real power.

Just did my first 100 yesterday and it's hard to imagine that being 'normal'. But then again I used to think 50 miles was a massive ride and now that's just a normal half day spin.

meanredspider

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Just did my first 100 yesterday and it's hard to imagine that being 'normal'. But then again I used to think 50 miles was a massive ride and now that's just a normal half day spin.

Absolutely - I only did my first one this time last year (4 in a row on the a Rat Race a Road Trip L2E) and it seemed massive then so it's funny how quickly the distances shrink when you get a few under your belt. I was thinking only today that I'd hardly bother going out for 25 miles which is why I should really add interval training to practice what I preach and mix it up some more. Hills don't worry me any more either - but that's a good thing because I'm training to do Alpe D'HuZes in a month's time - 6x up Alpe d'Duez in a day. - over 6000m

gubber12345

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Need to tell us what these 50 and 25 mile rides consist of

25 milers consist of just going out and pushing and getting around as quick as possible and the sunday ride is either with the club or a few mates at a more relaxed pace.

gubber12345

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Need to tell us what these 50 and 25 mile rides consist of

the 25 milers are usually just try and get round as quickly as possible and the weekend one is either a club run or out with a mate at a more relaxed pace usually 15-16 avg.

actually feels like I have plateaued at the minute so feel I need to try something different to get out of it.

Toks

You're going to have to do 1, 2 or perhaps all of the following
1. Ride more frequently - 5-6 days per week
2. Ride more intensively - go harder on current rides
3. Get more aerodynamic - ride in the drops (get tighter fitting clothing)
4. Increase the duration of rides - ride for longer

Some of these things may be done with much faster group/club
Good luck

CRAIGO5000

Don't stop?

I can't believe this advice hasn't been offered? Average speed can mean very little in terms of ride quality.

I can average over 21mph on my 5.5 mile commute to/from work if I get through all the lights. If i get stopped on a few occasions then it'll plummet as low as 18mph?

It's an indicator, but can't be used to assess the quality of ones fitness/power. What if it's really windy one day and the next it isn't?

cougie

Turbo sessions. You can do a lot of training with an hour in the garage. Much better bang for your buck timewise than nipping out for 25 miles I reckon.

Bozman

Intervals and the turbo helped me get so far but the quicker you get up that hill the more likely you are to maintain a good average.

BrandonA

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

Don't stop?

I can't believe this advice hasn't been offered? Average speed can mean very little in terms of ride quality.

I can average over 21mph on my 5.5 mile commute to/from work if I get through all the lights. If i get stopped on a few occasions then it'll plummet as low as 18mph?

It's an indicator, but can't be used to assess the quality of ones fitness/power. What if it's really windy one day and the next it isn't?

I think commutes are different than recreational rides. A commute tends to go from A to B and not involve a loop where you start and finish at the same place. A commute will therefore have a positive or negative amount of climbing and will be affected more by wind as you could have a tail or head wind for the entire ride.

Personally if the ride is under 40km and is not a loop, to me the speed is irrelevant. On the roads around NE Brum and the surrounding Warwickshire and Staffordshire countryside the hills are not large enough to have an overall effect on your average speed. Also if you plan to have the headwind on the return part of the ride then I find that a wind of 15-20mph has little effect on average speed. You have to get the average speed up when the conditions are favourable and try to minimise loses when they are not.

meanredspider

Around Amsterdam the wind has a massive effect because there's hardly anything to stop the wind and the route is typically raised above the surrounding ground. A recent ride I was averaging around 20kmh in one direction and 40kmh on the return leg.

Colinthecop

meanredspider wrote:

A recent ride I was averaging around 20kmh in one direction and 40kmh on the return leg.

Just like being back in the Highlands...

gubber12345

Toks wrote:

You're going to have to do 1, 2 or perhaps all of the following
1. Ride more frequently - 5-6 days per week
2. Ride more intensively - go harder on current rides
3. Get more aerodynamic - ride in the drops (get tighter fitting clothing)
4. Increase the duration of rides - ride for longer

Some of these things may be done with much faster group/club
Good luck

looks like 1 is out as I work up to 60-70hrs per week but 2,3 and 4 could be doable with some intervals thrown in.

cheers toks

marcusww

A strange idea for me works - I just bought a cx bike and rode on the rode with knobbly tyres - hard work to say the least especially trying to ride alongside a mate with a road bike. The next day I got back on my road bike and flew!

andyeb

Lots of good suggestions here.

My advice would be to get a bike fit - an experienced bike fitter will be able to set you up as aero as you can get, given your current flexibility levels.

Worked for me - I've gone from 16-17mph averages to 18-19+. I'm also more comfortable, can ride for longer before getting dead-end and the bike handles better too. Results will likely depend on how aero you currently are and whether your bike is more endurance or race focussed geometry.

Other than that, find a good hill which is a decent warm-up away and do hill reps. That will boost your average by not going slow on the hills.

It's also worth looking at your clothing - if your jersey is flapping around, that can easily cost you 1mph of average over a longer ride.