I would like to find out the average speed some of you achieve when training as a barometer to judge myself against and see what I should be aiming for.
Over a 2 hour training ride, assuming its over an average course i.e. not mega hilly or flat, on a clear day and average traffic (taking into account short stops for junctions) what would your average speed be over those two hours?
Id say at the moment my average speed would be about 16-17mph.
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Carl - this is a bit like asking how far you run in an hour. It all depends on the effort.
Generally, a steady Sunday bike ride would end up being about 17. summat mph for me.
Maybe a bit faster if I ride with the club.
In a group, this might have been a one-hour fartlek session, sprinting for hill crests, half-wheeling each other, an extended ride (7 hours, probably covering 130+ miles) or simply winding up 53*12 and seeing who was left hanging on after 10 miles. On my own I would have gone for an easy run anything from 1 to 3 hours sometimes with some climbs thrown in, pace wasn't the main aim of these rides.
I will say I spent my first 2 years getting dropped every club ride, then one day I was dishing out the pain. We trained as we felt but from end March to mid-October most miles were covered in races or mid-week time trials.
Just went out with a friend to enjoy the day really as it's so fine compared to recent weeks! We chose a lovely scenic circular route, but with a few mountainous hills (1:3) that certainly worked the legs. Was out for over 2 hours, but we stopped several times to admire the view of course!
AND it was the first time of wearing my cleats outside and I only fell off twice!
Why is it so hard to get your feet back in the cleats going uphill?
Yes ive got used to getting my feet out of the cleets. Getting them back in is where I struggle, I push off at traffic islands or junctions and wobble for about 20 yrds trying to get my darn foot in. Very diconcerting when your teetering across an island with traffic whizzing all around you (well we do have over 1000 islands here in Milton Keynes so its hard to avoid them).
I to did a long one today (for me anyway), 1hr 40 mins (26 miles) fairly flat but was it windy or what, oh not to mention the driving in your face rain – it was sunny when I left lol - ave speed 14.9mph.
Oh this bring me on to another question, how to clean my bike? Got back and it was soaked, I dried it off and completely wiped it down with paper towels, guess I should oil it a little to so must get some next week. What should I be doing in the way of cleaning / oiling?
When I got back with from my ride I just hosed it down and let it dry in the sunshine. Not sure what the proper way to clean bike is though.
Really enjoyed being out on bike, must try and fit in more rides.
On speed I reckon if you can maintain a computer average of 17mph over 20 miles you could think about going out with a club ride - their steady ride would probably be challenging for you and you might not last the full distance but riding in a group is the best motivator. If you/they are worried you will hold them back just tell them to ride at their normal pace and if you'll keep with them as far as you can. You'll also improve your bike handling skills because following good riders downhill you can go a lot faster. OUr club rides average 17-18mph and are normally about 70-90 miles - then they wonder why there aren't many people doing the club rides.
I know what you mean about road surfaces Alan, round here most of the roads are quite rough ashfelt and it’s a pleasure to get on some of the smooth stuff, on smooth ashfelf my bike just seems to zip along with little effort even uphill.
My bike set-up is thus:
Cannondale R800, Mavic Elite wheels.
Crank TruVatiV Elita SL , 39/53
Rear Cogs SRAM PG-970, 12-26
Pretty standard I guess – but on a ride at the weekend going downhill (not super steep but steep enough) – I maxed out at about 34mph, that was with light wind behind, pushing my biggest gear with a cadence of 90-100 and I was down on my tri bars with elbows, knees etc tucked in.
So how do I get more speed? Ive read some get 50mph plus or is that only down very steep hills or do I need to change my crank and cog set-up? Would full racing tryres make much difference?
If you work out what inch gear 53/12 is you can work out your speed at various cadences.
Realistically though yes 50mph is a very steep downhill.
Oh the hill was only about a 20ft drop over say 1000yards to not really steep at all.
So with what you say about 50mph down steep hills I guess im on about a par.
Should be able to work out how fast I was spinning out at, but too tired.
zzzzzzzzzz