Why have I slowed down.

ForumNewbie

Imposter wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

If DavidJB and the guy that passed you can do that sort of average on a Zone 2 ride, then they must be really fast in the higher zones.

It doesn't really work like that. Inevitably they are probably faster in higher zones, although not necessarily over the same distance.

Fair enough, I had assumed that a trained rider that could ride 60 or 70 miles solo in Zone 2 averaging 20mph, would be capable of increasing their effort to Zone 3 and 4 over much of that distance if they wanted to, and therefore have an even higher average speed.

Imposter wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

I remember a recent thread on here when a beginner in the US was targeting 60 miles in 3 hours on a pan flat route on a solo ride, and most people agreed it was an unrealistic target, as it would be unachievable for most, never mind a beginner. I would suspect only a small percentage of cyclists could do that on a Zone 2 ride.

Not sure of the thread you mean, but 60 miles in three hours on the flat is eminently achievable for a trained rider. Not sure why anyone would say it isn't.

This is the thread I was referring you:
viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=13061324
I know a lot of the responses were suggesting he wasn't doing the right sort of training, but others were saying it would be very difficult to achieve anyway, and he should start with a more realistic goal.

MikeBrew

I've actually gotten faster this winter than I was in the summer, hitting 17-18+ mph averages for the first time this year, in the last month . No great mystery as to why though : Didn't get back on the bike till June, and lost 15 kg's since then. :oops:
Generally speaking though I struggle with pace through the winter. I think everybody does.

redvision

OP have a read of this (particularly the second half)
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... enge-35597

StillGoing

ForumNewbie wrote:

This is the thread I was referring you:
viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=13061324
I know a lot of the responses were suggesting he wasn't doing the right sort of training, but others were saying it would be very difficult to achieve anyway, and he should start with a more realistic goal.

Easily achievable for a rider putting the training rides in. Just look at these results for a 100 TT. I know one of these riders personally having worked with him for many years. He puts a lot of time into his training.

Result – BDCA Open 100

Association Event
1 Jason Seabridge Mercia CC 03:38:32
2 Michael Wills Hinckley CRC 03:46:10
3 Stephen Howgill Leicestershire RC 03:53:05
4 Ian Lewis Walsall Roads Cycling Club 03:57:37
5 Jack Hugill Mercia CC 03:57:46
6 Ben Startin Mercia Lloyds Cycles CC 04:06:39
7 Peter Lavine Coalville Whs 04:06:59
8 Courtney Blockley-Campton Leicester Forest CC 04:08:25
9 Dave Pemberton Born to Bike – Bridgtown Cycles 04:24:28
10 Melvyn Lewis Stafford RC 04:27:34
11 David Allison Leicester Forest CC 04:38:08
12 Andrew Dalloway Walsall Roads Cycling Club 04:39:46
13 John Stewart South Pennine RC 05:00:42

paul2718

I followed David's link, it shows the comparison, David on the left,

Distance 18,721.7 km 4,979.7 km 
Time         627h 6m   164h 42m 
Elev Gain   166,759m    38,476m 

I'll let you do the maths, but it's not all about the numbers, I'm quite sure David is a lot faster than I am.

Paul

DavidJB

For some context I'd describe myself as a strong 2nd cat rider, I was 1st cat last year but wasn't good enough to keep it.

ForumNewbie wrote:

I went into the link to have a look at your Strava rides, but I couldn't see them as it has a 'Request to Follow'. I was only going to look at one of your recent rides out of interest, rather than follow you.

Yes sorry I have it locked down.

My Christmas eve ride which was a solo and mid-low base one..my zone 2 HR finishes at about 144BPM for context:

Distance: 71.2mi
Moving Time: 3:45:25
Elevation: 2,871ft

	                Avg	         Max
Speed	        19.0mi/h	36.7mi/h
Heart Rate	129bpm	158bpm
Power	        250W	662W

For context again here is a high tempo/low threshold ride:

Distance: 34.2mi

Moving Time: 1:31:33

Elevation: 1,125ft


Avg	Max
Speed	22.4mi/h	35.8mi/h
Cadence	95	115
Power	326W

Ans finally a base ride in the summer on the same sort of route as the first ride:

75.4mi
Distance
 
3:45:33
 Moving Time
 
2,470ft
Elevation
 
Speed	20.1mi/h	38.3mi/h
HR: 137
Cadence	89	111
Power	231W	659W

All these on my training bike but notice the power is 19w lower on average but speed is 1.1mph faster! (Heart rate is higher because it was very warm IIRC)

penski

Rolf F wrote:

As already said - air density. Not really anything to do with taking longer to warm up as speed is proportional to air temperature at all times - even when it is already warm. Image shows some data of my own. Grey is the actual data, purple a 45 day moving average (time shifter 22 days to bring it back on line) and the other lines are the maximum and minimum temperatures for the month recorded at a local met office station.

The scales are tweaked to set my speed between the two so if I am doing well, I'm above the max line and vice versa. Really though, the better than averages probably usually reflect specific conditions - eg if I get a period of favourable winds in one direction (this is mostly commute data) and I don't pay for it in the opposite direction (eg strong westerly in the morning dying off by afternoon) then it can hugely boost my pace.

3.5 mph or so variance between summer and winter!

Nice stats to see. What happened to bring the average down in 2013?