Too hung up on average speed?

Churchill123

Is it just me or do others get hung up on average speed for your ride?

recently i've gone out with the intention of doing say 60miles, but after about 30miles i'm heading back home as i've gone off far too quickly, and am too hung up on a fast average speed for Strava..

I associate a fast average speed with being a good rider, however it seems the quicker my averages are becoming, the less far i seem to be able to ride..

do i just need to get over the fact its not all about average, and that i should just aim to get X number of miles done and speed doesnt matter?

Any pacing tips greatly appreciated

StorckSpeed

Sounds like you already know this, but your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users). So as you suggest you need to pace yourself.

The following methods are good:
Get a heart rate monitor and use it.
Or get a Power Meter and use it.
Or read about rate of effort, where you rate your effort from 1-10 and do it.
Look to buy Joe Friels book - The Cyclist Training Bible. Which explains all 3 methods.

But by far the most effective method of Pacing yourself during a cycle run is to join a club and go along to their Sunday Morning Club Run. This is usually a gentle run through the countryside from 50-100 miles and since you'll be chatting away with your fellow riders you'll have to pace yourself or be too out of breath to cycle.

Good Luck

Churchill123

StorckSpeed wrote:

Sounds like you already know this, but your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users). So as you suggest you need to pace yourself.

The following methods are good:
Get a heart rate monitor and use it.
Or get a Power Meter and use it.
Or read about rate of effort, where you rate your effort from 1-10 and do it.
Look to buy Joe Friels book - The Cyclist Training Bible. Which explains all 3 methods.

But by far the most effective method of Pacing yourself during a cycle run is to join a club and go along to their Sunday Morning Club Run. This is usually a gentle run through the countryside from 50-100 miles and since you'll be chatting away with your fellow riders you'll have to pace yourself or be too out of breath to cycle.

Good Luck

Thanks for the great advice chief! - i've definitely become far more conscious and aware of my lack of pacing..

Joining a club and getting a HR monitor it is then And sitting in the middle of a club run should be easier than going it alone too : )

markhewitt1978

Churchill123 wrote:

I
recently i've gone out with the intention of doing say 60miles, but after about 30miles i'm heading back home as i've gone off far too quickly

30 miles out, 30 miles back = 60 miles? Job done?

Seriously though, while I tend to want to blast at it for rides of less than 20 miles. If I'm doing a metric century or more I'm riding at what I call my 'touring' pace. As a general guide if I'm doing more than 15mph on the flat I don't put any further effort in, if I'm doing more than 20mph downhill I stop pedalling entirely, I try and sustain my efforts up hill such that my heart rate doesn't get too high (I don't have a monitor just from feel). Means my average sucks but I don't burn out!

drlodge

Don't worry about average speed, there are far too many variables involved like junctions and the amount of climbing for it to be a good indicator.

I averaged 15.9 mph yesterday on the 50 mile club run, that was with 4,000 ft of climbing (so quite hilly), and I reckon quite respectable. I would hope to get into the 17s on a flat run, the fastest I've done is 19mph over 70 miles, but that was one way, quite flat and probably had a bit of a tail wind.

slowbike

StorckSpeed wrote:

your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users).

Nice negative dig at Strava users ... do you use any other stereotypes with your criticism?

Some people who use Strava may blast around a course and break neck speed
Some people who use Strava may drift around a course and blast off for known segments
many people who use Strava just ride normally - like everyone else who may or may not use Strava ...

ai_1

Plenty of people seem to continually chase fast times. It's fine to occasionally race the clock if you're planning a hard session anyway. However not all of your training should be hard efforts.
If you run out of steam before you finish you've simply paced it wrong. Base your pace on heart rate, power or perceived effort, NOT speed. Weather and terrain play a major part in dictating your speed so it's pointless comparing rides performed in different conditions. It's also pointless trying to maintain a constant speed throughout a ride in order to achieve that average speed - unless it's a completely flat ride on a completely calm day.
You can monitor and calculate your average speed to determine how you're doing against a baseline average speed as you go, and this can be a good way to keep yourself motivated when you're working hard but if you're off the pace but your effort is as high as you can realistically sustain then there's no point speeding up. it just means you'll blow up before the end.

BrandonA

I always follow a route on my Garmin and my goal will be to get around the course as fast as I can. I will though pace myself so that I can hopefully get the best possible average. I've never aborted early due to blowing up at the start having gone off too fast.

I think some of the better riders will put in slower rides though as they are doing specific things (i.e. training) on the ride which will bring down the average speed - for example blasting hills and riding slowly between them. Or going out with the purpose of staying in a certain zone (i.e. tempo).

BrandonA

Slowbike wrote:

StorckSpeed wrote:

your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users).

Nice negative dig at Strava users ... do you use any other stereotypes with your criticism?

Some people who use Strava may blast around a course and break neck speed
Some people who use Strava may drift around a course and blast off for known segments
many people who use Strava just ride normally - like everyone else who may or may not use Strava ...

And who cares what other people are doing. As long as a rider is not endangering themselves or more importantly others then they can ride however they like.

Churchill123

BrandonA wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

StorckSpeed wrote:

your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users).

Nice negative dig at Strava users ... do you use any other stereotypes with your criticism?

Some people who use Strava may blast around a course and break neck speed
Some people who use Strava may drift around a course and blast off for known segments
many people who use Strava just ride normally - like everyone else who may or may not use Strava ...

And who cares what other people are doing. As long as a rider is not endangering themselves or more importantly others then they can ride however they like.

I think i focus on trying to be faster than my other strava friends... need to focus more on me as a rider personally than worry about them

drlodge

I just cycle to enjoy myself, simples.

slowbike

Churchill123 wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

StorckSpeed wrote:

your too hung up on blasting your way round a course at a break neck speed you can't sustain, common with Strava Users).

Nice negative dig at Strava users ... do you use any other stereotypes with your criticism?

Some people who use Strava may blast around a course and break neck speed
Some people who use Strava may drift around a course and blast off for known segments
many people who use Strava just ride normally - like everyone else who may or may not use Strava ...

And who cares what other people are doing. As long as a rider is not endangering themselves or more importantly others then they can ride however they like.

There's nothing wrong with that as a goal - the problem will be how you go about achieving it. Blasting around like there's no tomorrow all the time will not get you there quickly.


I think i focus on trying to be faster than my other strava friends... need to focus more on me as a rider personally than worry about them

bernithebiker

There are some excellent Cat 1 and quasi-pro riders round our way. Some use Strava.

The vast majority of their rides are at 25-28km/h, so not fast at all.

Around 80% of their riding is low level, base stuff, not fast. This is a great training tip.

It is tempting for me to always aim for a minimum of 30km/h on each ride, but this is a mistake. Ease off, and put the hours in at low level.

You can always spice things up with a quick KOM blast of a few minutes.

dilatory

When I set off for my last 100 miles I made an effort to not care about my average speed. Tried to keep heart rate low and just focussed on enjoying myself. At one point about 30 miles in I was down to 14.8 mph av. When I completed the ride and got home my average was 16 mph. You can worry about your speed when you're heading home.

jgsi

bernithebiker wrote:

There are some excellent Cat 1 and quasi-pro riders round our way. Some use Strava.

The vast majority of their rides are at 25-28km/h, so not fast at all.

Around 80% of their riding is low level, base stuff, not fast. This is a great training tip.

It is tempting for me to always aim for a minimum of 30km/h on each ride, but this is a mistake. Ease off, and put the hours in at low level.

You can always spice things up with a quick KOM blast of a few minutes.

more likely, they are getting their ueber hard efforts done within their racing calendar.. or the devious sods are just not logging their interval type training rides.

bernithebiker

JGSI wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

There are some excellent Cat 1 and quasi-pro riders round our way. Some use Strava.

The vast majority of their rides are at 25-28km/h, so not fast at all.

Around 80% of their riding is low level, base stuff, not fast. This is a great training tip.

It is tempting for me to always aim for a minimum of 30km/h on each ride, but this is a mistake. Ease off, and put the hours in at low level.

You can always spice things up with a quick KOM blast of a few minutes.

more likely, they are getting their ueber hard efforts done within their racing calendar.. or the devious sods are just not logging their interval type training rides.

Yep, absolutely, they tend not to put their races on Strava, so we only see the low level stuff, but still, interesting that they log the vast majority of their hours in Zone 1 / 2.

okgo

Yes. It's common in people to use avg speed to beat themselves with. I know what you mean and even now if I'm near a round number 19/20/21/22 whatever it may be I do find myself pushing on a bit to hit the round number. Odd mentality really, unless in a time trial.

Mikey23

Make it interesting by doing fartlek speed play. Sprint to the next crossroads, ease up to the pub etc. strava sort of does this but imposes it through segments. Just play with speed for fun

Jules Winnfield

The problem I have is that I see my club members Strava uploads and some of these guys are averaging 19 miles per hour for rides of around 60-70 miles. To me that is quick, I can't average that on a short 15 mile blast. I then see their Strava profiles and it's obvious they have been riding a lot longer than I have. Their total mileage is upwards of 15,000 miles, my total mileage is 1700 and I've only been riding for 7 months after a 20 year lay off.

So I try not to worry anymore, my average will work its way upwards the more fitter I get. As long as I do my riding on my own terms using my heart rate monitor to stay in specific zones then I'm happy.

Mikey23

I also take a long term view. I do the best i possibly can and try not to compare myself with people half my age. Year on year my averages are going up

OfficerDigby

Yes you are too hung up on average speed.

And I'm now targeting your average speed!

johnpercival80

i don't even know what my average speed is, its one thing I've never bothered to look at