What's your speed

[Dnlm]

Always a tough question but a few rides and articles recently have made me wonder, a) how people measure speed and b) what is fast.

I have a Wahoo and few different routes. All speeds with the computer pausing at lights etc. and tend to ride solo. All since getting the nicish carbon back out too.

Recent training has made me feel better than most previous March's, and early morning loops of Regents park or Richmond can get over 18mph avg for 20-40 miles (they hurt). Weekend jaunts to Essex of 60 miles and 1000 meters or so climbing are 15-16mph if quick. Kent Alps with a lot of city sprawl more like 14 with 1500m climbing. A London to Brighton felt bloody disappointing at <13.5, but with 2000m up.

Would say I'm neither super fit nor slow, most overtakes are from bling machines or super fit types. However googling and some articles would say that 'aero' is irrelevant under 20mph etc. Is that assuming stretches at that speed, rather than real life rides, or should I be a hell of a lot faster before spending on anything new?

Also, what kind of speeds are you all achieving?

[Harleyboy]

Hi,

I’m 50 and if out for 20 miles on my ‘smash’ route with 600’ elevation I’ll be at about 20mph ave.

Last weekends social of 63 miles and 3300’ was 16.5

A flattish 40-50 solo and I’d be generally 18+

I’m ok with this at my age on an endurance bike but there’ll be loads a shed load quicker!!!

[Harleyboy]

Can add that when riding with 3 others on a car race circuit we averaged 23-24 over 20 miles

[MockingJay]

It really depends on the terrain. I live in the Birmingham area and if I head down to Worcester I can average around 19 mph as it's fairly flat. If I head on over to the west it's quite a hilly area so can be struggling to maintain a 17 average over the way. I have a local loop that I regularly do with `1400 feet of elevation gain which I can average 19.5 mph for 22 miles. I tend to focus more on the power I can hold (or not..)

[Coolbananas]

I did a 125 mile ride solo last week, 9500+ ft climbing at a steady 15.5mph average.

The day after, 25 miles, 1300+ft and 22mph average but felt a bit of fatigue from the endurance ride the previous day.

Today was nearly 60 miles, 3000ft and 20mph.

I'm in my 50's and train for competition, circa 300 miles per week. Currently I'm around 4w/kg with an 18w/kg max. so need to work on my ftp which I'm doing. I'm building slowly though because my knees are suspect following injury years ago. I need to shift a few kg's too, suck at climbing.

[Maximus_Meridius101]

Don’t worry about speed. Power and time is all you need to concentrate on. Think of it in terms of, was your ( insert speed ) achieved into a horrific headwind, going up the Alto del Angliru, or was it achieved in a climate controlled velodrome? There’s a big difference, even if the stated speed was the same. I often get people regaling me with dits about their average speed. It’s of little interest to me personally. I’d rather know what their power and power to weight was, and how long they held that power for.

Edited by Maximus_Meridius101 on Tuesday 23 March 21:04

[Solocle]

Average speed is hugely dependent on route.

With a howling tailwind, I've averaged 20.2 mph on an 85 mile route from Oxford to Cambridge.

And the local TT course is quite fast, although it does have a ski slope start. E.g. I've averaged 22 mph for 5 miles (not of the same course, actually, but just further along the A35)... at the end of a ~60 mile ride.
The initial mile and a half I might be doing 30 average - P415 TT course start

If you can avoid slowing down for traffic lights, roundabouts, and such, it helps considerably. A smooth surface helps further. And passing traffic also gives you a bit of a boost.

[_Hoppers]

My best average last year was 21.5mph over 18miles. Route was pretty flat. After that effort I decided I wanted to enjoy cycling more, rather than nearly killing myself every time I went out!

[sociopath]

North Wales, aged 59, my average is generally around 16mph regardless of how flat or hilly, I've no idea how people go so much faster.

[ucb]

Likewise, barely above 16mph average although I did see an 19mph once on a basically flat 20 miles route.
My only thoughts are that I have st bike which is very heavy and has an upright riding position

[PomBstard]

Most of riding is solo, so I tend not to focus on speed so much as the amount of work I'm doing. I try to average a climbing ratio of 1.5% of distance, so on a 50km/30mi ride, I'd want to have done around 750m/2400ft climbing. Off road I aim for 2%. Over the course of a year I'll do 4-5000km and around 60-70,000m of climbing, and if I'm overtaken by a bunch, I'll usually have the pace to hang on the back and keep up - unless its the local race group...

Solo I'd struggle to do any better than 27kmh/17mph with that climbing, in a bunch I'll hang on to about 35kmh/22mph. On the flat, don't really know - too many hills around me...

[TheDrownedApe]

110kg (46yo) and most of my short routes (15-20 mile) include about 1400ft of climbing and i average about 17mph. I'm training for JOGLE next year and I'm not fussed about speed but endurance. Only done 35 mile rides so far but averaging 15-17 depending on terrain and wind.

Today is a 34.4 mile round trip to collect the wife's M&S clothing order and after two days of ERG C2 11k I'm not expecting too much from the legs.

[Sheets Tabuer]

I felt good about my 14 mph average, there's 3 600ft on my lunchtime route but damn this thread puts me to shame. How the hell do you get faster, I'm going full pelt on every ride.

[okgo]

Quick riders in the UK will average around 20 mph across any terrain/route (save for something crazy hilly) generally speaking, but of course lots of variables, wind, traffic etc.

To be honest, if you're already near, then Richmond Park is a good benchmark. Go when its quiet and go as fast as you can on your own preferably starting at Roehampton Gate and finishing same place. If you want help wait for a light East wind. Anything in the 17 mins is probably what I'd consider pretty quick, under 17 is no doubt quick, under 16 very quick, under 15 extremely quick (assuming you're on a road bike).

Edited by okgo on Wednesday 24th March 09:13

[Maximus_Meridius101]

Sheets Tabuer said:

I felt good about my 14 mph average, there's 3 600ft on my lunchtime route but damn this thread puts me to shame. How the hell do you get faster, I'm going full pelt on every ride.

Ignore the speed, it’s pretty meaningless without knowing where and when it was done, on what kit, with what kit, and for how long. If they can tell you how much power they were making, and for how long, and what they weigh, you’d get a better idea of the effort they could maintain, and how fit they actually are. I know lots of people who can average 20 (odd) mph, on a pan flat course, with no wind / tail wind, on a good surface, in good conditions, on a featherlight bike. However, if they know their power / power to weight, it makes it far more meaningful. I’ve encountered a few of the “I can do 20s yeah” brigade, who suddenly couldn’t get anywhere near that, when I rode with them, on a route I’ve selected. The reason being that their all important power wasn’t actually what they believed. I ride with power meters, and a head unit that measures all sorts of interesting parameters, and judging by what I’ve been looking at, with the data available, and using a bit of ‘finger in the air’ calculations based on what I estimate their approximate weight to be, it’s sometimes a surprise to them, that in actual fact, when they believed they were at, ‘handy amateur / club’ level / cat 2 or cat 1 ( probably 4-5 Watts per Kg for an hour as a loose guide ) my data seemed to indicate they were closer to 2.5-3 W/Kg over an hour. The only reason they were looking at 20+ mph speeds, was largely because they picked a route and conditions that flattered to deceive. Don’t beat yourself up about a speed you can achieve, unless you have more useful numbers to work with ( out of interest a lot of pro peloton riders have power to weight of roughly 6 W/Kg which equates to being able to hold about 390-400 Watts, for a reasonable time, for a 65-70Kg rider). It’s much more useful to know stats like functional threshold power, lactate threshold, VO2 max, maximum heart rate, and Normalized power, than just average speed. The speed is a ‘so what’ by product of the more pertinent figures. That said, I have also ridden with people who have figures to back up their speed related dits, and it’s not always easy to tell which is which, until you ride with them, so it’s horses for courses really. If you want to get faster, buy some power meters, and a decent computer to analyse the data ( a Garmin edge 1030 for example ) then go and ride intervals, or (riding your bike over varying terrain, and in differing conditions, a lot ) as it’s sometimes known. The more you do, the better your figures get, and the faster you go, in given conditions, with given kit. Reducing your weight in unison with this will also increase your power to weight, and should make you faster as well. Obviously depends greatly on your aerobic fitness, as if the engine isn’t in tip top shape, it doesn’t matter what else you do. I’d also say that making sure you’re fitted properly to the bike, and working on your riding position and technique is vital, because if you’re inefficient, you’ll be wasting any improvements. It’s a bit like having a bucket of water with a hole in it, there’s not much point in putting more water in, until you reduce the size of the hole.

Edited by Maximus_Meridius101 on Wednesday 24th March 10:07

[Master Bean]

45 miles, 650m of climbing, 14.4mph average. I feel my carbon frame, carbon wheels and mechanical dura ace may be overkill.

[okgo]

Maximus_Meridius101 said:

Ignore the speed, it’s pretty meaningless without knowing where and when it was done, on what kit, with what kit, and for how long. If they can tell you how much power they were making, and for how long, and what they weigh, you’d get a better idea of the effort they could maintain, and how fit they actually are. I know lots of people who can average 20 (odd) mph, on a pan flat course, with no wind / tail wind, on a good surface, in good conditions, on a featherlight bike. However, if they know their power / power to weight, it makes it far more meaningful. I’ve encountered a few of the “I can do 20s yeah” brigade, who suddenly couldn’t get anywhere near that, when I rode with them, on a route I’ve selected. The reason being that their all important power wasn’t actually what they believed. I ride with power meters, and a head unit that measures all sorts of interesting parameters, and judging by what I’ve been looking at, with the data available, and using a bit of ‘finger in the air’ calculations based on what I estimate their approximate weight to be, it’s sometimes a surprise to them, that in actual fact, when they believed they were at, ‘handy amateur / club’ level / cat 2 or cat 1 ( probably 4-5 Watts per Kg for an hour as a loose guide ) my data seemed to indicate they were closer to 2.5-3 W/Kg over an hour. The only reason they were looking at 20+ mph speeds, was largely because they picked a route and conditions that flattered to deceive. Don’t beat yourself up about a speed you can achieve, unless you have more useful numbers to work with ( out of interest a lot of pro peloton riders have power to weight of roughly 6 W/Kg which equates to being able to hold about 390-400 Watts, for a reasonable time, for a 65-70Kg rider). It’s much more useful to know stats like functional threshold power, lactate threshold, VO2 max, maximum heart rate, and Normalized power, than just average speed. The speed is a ‘so what’ by product of the more pertinent figures. That said, I have also ridden with people who have figures to back up their speed related dits, and it’s not always easy to tell which is which, until you ride with them, so it’s horses for courses really. If you want to get faster, buy some power meters, and a decent computer to analyse the data ( a Garmin edge 1030 for example ) then go and ride intervals, or (riding your bike over varying terrain, and in differing conditions, a lot ) as it’s sometimes known. The more you do, the better your figures get, and the faster you go, in given conditions, with given kit. Reducing your weight in unison with this will also increase your power to weight, and should make you faster as well. Obviously depends greatly on your aerobic fitness, as if the engine isn’t in tip top shape, it doesn’t matter what else you do. I’d also say that making sure you’re fitted properly to the bike, and working on your riding position and technique is vital, because if you’re inefficient, you’ll be wasting any improvements. It’s a bit like having a bucket of water with a hole in it, there’s not much point in putting more water in, until you reduce the size of the hole.

Edited by Maximus_Meridius101 on Wednesday 24th March 10:07

Welcome back Ares

While all of that is probably true, its pretty easy to work out whether you're quick or not without the need for any power data. Richmond is a good test for such a thing.

Edited by okgo on Wednesday 24th March 10:20

[jimmy156]

I am about 70kg and have an FTP of 203w (according to peloton... no idea how accurate that is but it is based on a 20 min FTP test)

I tend to average 16-17mph on a normal run of up to about 40 miles, or if I am going hard over a shorter distance I can be at about 18/19mph.

This is on a gravel bike with fairly knobby gravel tyres, but they roll okay on the road.

I have been cycling about a year, I have no idea if this represents "good" or "good for a beginner" I just like riding my bike and enjoy seeing improvements.

[boyse7en]

Master Bean said:

45 miles, 650m of climbing, 14.4mph average. I feel my carbon frame, carbon wheels and mechanical dura ace may be overkill.

Speed does depend massively on the terrain and the environment.
My commute to work yesterday I averaged 14.6mph over 13.5 miles according to Strava. It's nearly all flat apart from a steep climb of 100m over the last mile or so.
But my speed is affected by two roundabouts, three or four sets of traffic lights, four zig-zag gates at road crossing etc. all of which mean slowing to walking pace before accelerating again.
Thats on an 11-year old Specialised Tricross which in commuting trim (lights, guards etc) weighs around 12-13kg. I often wonder what my pace would be if i could afford a 7-8kg bike instead.

[BoRED S2upid]

Who uses mph anymore?

Anything between 26 and 30kph average for me. 30kph being very difficult as a couple of unfavourable traffic lights kills the average. A mate of mine is up towards 32 for an hours ride which is crazy he would be 2km further down the road than me.

Compare this to the pro’s who can happily sustain over 50kph on a breakaway.