Beginners average speed aim?
Comments
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For most cyclists but beginners in particular, it's probably best to treat speed as just a curiosity. Ride based on effort and if possible heart rate. You'll go different speeds on different terrain and in different weather but if the effort/HR is similar then the training effect will be fairly similar too. I find perceived effort too subjective for my liking. Some days it feels good to push hard, other days you don't want to and that changes your perception of the effort you've put in. HR varies a little based on sleep, illness, dehydration, etc but in general it's pretty consistent and plenty good enough for most of us. Obviously power is another option but I don't think it's one that most beginners will or should bother with.0
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Average speed in itself doesn't matter in racing either, relative speed does. Unless it's a TT.I follow a few pros on Strava - Lauren ten Dam, Niki Terpstra, Lawson Craddock, and Dean Downing - and they rarely average more than 20mph. Not that they couldn't, but pushing hard all the time is not the best training strategy.
I'm not racing at the moment, but I'm low-mid Cat 3 standard (zero talent but I train consistently), and apart from races and TTs I've hardly ever averaged greater than 20mph. I live in an rolling area, and a steady ride for me will involve 1000ft of climbing per hour and will typically be 18-19mph, with 200w AP and 220/230w NP.
Anyone who claims solo 20mph speeds on a regular basis are either very talented, or ride flat courses with strong tail-winds. As others have said, 15/16mph in the hills is a good start and not too shabby.
Think you'll find they rarely average under 20mph, unless in the mountains, and even then some rides are over 20mph.
No, I meant what I said. Check them out on Strava. Outside of racing average speed means nothing, so the pros will take it relatively easy when riding steady, and will ride hard during intervals and on the hills. They won't spend much time in Z3, unlike a lot of amateurs who are focused on average speed or power and ride too hard when they should be taking it easy and then don't have the legs to do justice to the high intensity stuff.
Totally agree, but away from the mountains they average 20+ without pushing. When pushing its 25+.
Your right it doesn't matter in racing, we're simply talking about their capabilities when pushing or not.0 -
It depends what you mean by proper beginner of course. As in never having ridden a bike or not done so for years? Personally having restarted cycling in 2012 after a 12 year break then 6 months to a year of just enjoying cycling and discovering new roads and places, and learning more about yourself and your bike is worthwhile doing before you even start to think about average speed, heart rates, power and the likes.0
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This is true. ii have often been out twiddling in between efforts and been passed by someone on a TT bike or tri bars, then I pass them on an effort doing 30mph interval. I have asked a few what training are they doing and often it is"I am trying to beat my av speed for ride" and they are going about 19 to 21 mph. More to gain doing high speed high intensity intervals, the amazingly your average speed will also increase and you get the benefit of improving top end to catch people
Average speed in itself doesn't matter in racing either, relative speed does. Unless it's a TT.I follow a few pros on Strava - Lauren ten Dam, Niki Terpstra, Lawson Craddock, and Dean Downing - and they rarely average more than 20mph. Not that they couldn't, but pushing hard all the time is not the best training strategy.
I'm not racing at the moment, but I'm low-mid Cat 3 standard (zero talent but I train consistently), and apart from races and TTs I've hardly ever averaged greater than 20mph. I live in an rolling area, and a steady ride for me will involve 1000ft of climbing per hour and will typically be 18-19mph, with 200w AP and 220/230w NP.
Anyone who claims solo 20mph speeds on a regular basis are either very talented, or ride flat courses with strong tail-winds. As others have said, 15/16mph in the hills is a good start and not too shabby.
Think you'll find they rarely average under 20mph, unless in the mountains, and even then some rides are over 20mph.
No, I meant what I said. Check them out on Strava. Outside of racing average speed means nothing, so the pros will take it relatively easy when riding steady, and will ride hard during intervals and on the hills. They won't spend much time in Z3, unlike a lot of amateurs who are focused on average speed or power and ride too hard when they should be taking it easy and then don't have the legs to do justice to the high intensity stuff.
Totally agree, but away from the mountains they average 20+ without pushing. When pushing its 25+.
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Average speed is pretty meaningless anyway. My three most recent rides
70 miles 4,500ft climb = 14.5mph
14 miles 1,000ft climb = 15.5mph
14 miles 500ft climb = 18mph
Quite a variation.0 -
The Bike Radar story about aero helmets includes this comment,Strava wrote:We asked the folks at Strava to pull the average speed of its entire, massive rider database to get a real-world idea of how fast we’re really going. As it turns out, male cyclists ride at just 15.6mph on average; for women, it’s 13.4mph.
I think targetting average speed is generally futile, but perhaps looking back over the year and comparing year on year could be personally interesting.
Laurens ten Dam seems to post a lot of rides, races and training, on Strava, it's interesting to follow him, especially now, and he's recorded 17443.4km so far this year in 541h31m. Which I think comes in at about 20mph. Training rides are a bit less, races are a lot more. I've managed 2817km in 95h. So I achieved 92% of a pro's performance on less than 20% of the time. If only it were that simple...
Paul
(Laurens has climbed 220000m this year, I've only managed 21000. So 5 times the time, 10 times the ascent. There's probably a way of calculating a 'cycling performance grade' from distance, time, ascent and age. But even that wouldn't tell you how close to your potential you are, and that's the only real metric. If the best you could ever expect is an average over a time of 16mph, and you're managing 15.5, then that's impressive.)0 -
I started riding just over a year ago and, because of commitments, typically ride solo in the evenings. I would like to join a club to help me improve and socialise with other riders, but the only local club outings I would be able to make are the more advanced 17-18mph rides and this is somewhat better than I currently achieve.
Last three rides:
32.4 miles - Avg 15.6mph - Climb 1388ft [Gales/showers]
25.6 miles - Avg 16.4mph - Climb 764ft
20.6 miles - Avg 16.3mph - Climb 774ft
Routes are small country lanes, often riding after dark. Rides are normally 1.5 – 2 hours.
I know that in a group, speed should improve but what sort of pace would I need to be riding to consider these club rides? Also, would the lack of group ride experience generally be an issue? I’m 51, love the bike and happy to ride all year long in all weathers!
Cheers
To be honest you look there or there abouts to me. Add 2 mph to your speed for riding in a group.
One off my biggest regrets was putting off joining a club for so long. Worst case scenario you drop of the back - and do a solo ride .....hardly the end of the world ! - Just go for it....0
