# What's your average speed and do you set yourself targets?



## User16625 (27 Mar 2012)

Just calculated my average speed. 14.63 miles and 44 minutes....19.9 miles per hour. DAMN! I wanted a 20! The wind was calm and I wasnt exactly feeling low in energy so no beatin around the bush, im bloody S.L.O.W!! The route wasnt flat but not severely hilly either.

Anyone here calculated your average speeds? What are your targets and what do you actually achieve?


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## Arjimlad (28 Mar 2012)

When you are at 19.9 you're bound to think like that !
I have taken to doing a 14.4 mile commute into work, and without going bonkers at it, I am managing 17.7 mph average speed. There is one climb to do but otherwise it is fairly flat.

Hopefully things will improve as I lose some weight & get fitter. I'd like to get faster. I remember training for a 30km ride a couple of years ago when my average over a 10m commute crept up to 19mph. At the moment I want endurance rather than sheer speed, though.


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## GrasB (28 Mar 2012)

The Sperminator said:


> Anyone here calculated your average speeds? What are your targets and what do you actually achieve?


Trip comp with data logging. So yes I record my average speed & no I'm not going to give my averages. I also don't set speed targets, they're effected by way to many variables, I set other markers.


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## gaz (28 Mar 2012)

Most of my riding is done commuting through london at rush hour, so my averages appear pretty low, that is only because I spend between 10 - 20% of my journeys stationary at traffic lights.

Weekend rides for me are about enjoying cycling, so I don't go hell for leather all the time to get an amazing average speed.


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## Kiwiavenger (28 Mar 2012)

i just set myself a cadence target, if its too easy change to a bigger gear! saying that i averaged 15 mph today over 22 miles had to stop a few times and take a dodgy diversion off of the cycle track!


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## tyred (28 Mar 2012)

'Tis an irrelevant comparison. Terrain, road surface, bike type, weather conditions all play a part.


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## SquareDaff (28 Mar 2012)

Depends which bit of the commute. On the lovely country lane bit near my house it's 20mph+. Going through Doncaster at the other end it's nearer 12-13mph due to all the stops and starts!


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## BrumJim (28 Mar 2012)

I have a 20 mile/h target on the fast route which I only use on some Friday mornings (complicated algorithm - I won't go through it).
But I've been improving my general speed recently, and on the semi-fast route I aim to average over 17 mile/h. Managed it again today.
Slow route? Aim to beat 15 mile/h in all weather conditions, but a mighty struggle against a headwind.
Only a 6 mile commute, so more of a sprint than anything.


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## MrJamie (28 Mar 2012)

Im a bit slow i guess, I usually average around 12-14mph at a comfy pace, if im trying to keep speed up i average about 15-16mph over say an hour on a circular route. Im targetting dropping a few stone rather than speed, but it feels like wind resistance is my main enemy trying to get any faster on the flat as im currently quite upright on my hybrid.


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## VamP (28 Mar 2012)

OOOh, we haven't had a average speed thread for a while 


@OP, if you want to get competitive about your commutes you NEED to get on Strava.


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## lulubel (28 Mar 2012)

VamP said:


> @OP, if you want to get competitive about your commutes you NEED to get on Strava.


 
+1

Come and join us on Strava. It's fun.

My averages are screwed at the moment from spending the last 4 weeks on a MTB with suspension forks and nobblies. Then I decided to go pootling round the country tracks today and made it even worse!

On the road bike, it's usually 13-15mph, depending on whether I pick a more or less hilly route.

I went through a phase of setting myself targets, but every ride ended up feeling like a race, and I stopped enjoying it, so I'm making a deliberate effort to not care about my speed now, and just enjoy riding.


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## VamP (28 Mar 2012)

lulubel said:


> My averages are screwed at the moment from spending the last 4 weeks on a MTB with suspension forks and nobblies. Then I decided to go pootling round the country tracks today and made it even worse!


 
I averaged less than 8mph - in a race. Granted it was the muddiest and hilliest of last season's cyclocross races, but the average in no way reflected that I spent the hour at 95% HRmax


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## guitarpete247 (28 Mar 2012)

I fancy joining you on Strava but I don't think I can get it on my Nokia N8. I'm using Symbian Belle.
So I suppose I'll have to stick with Sports Tracker. I'm fairly happy with it, apart from the calorie calculations .


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## redcard (28 Mar 2012)

To join in the penis contest, I'm around 14mph for 90 minute workouts. 

Have been only been riding a fortnight, and start commuting tomorrow, so hopefully see this rise gradually throughout the summer. 

My target is always to go faster than the last time. If I don't, I feel like a failure!


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?p3hxs5


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## gaz (28 Mar 2012)

Let's move onto moving average vs total average.


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## Red Light (28 Mar 2012)

I threw away my cycle computer a few years ago and now just enjoy the ride without the tyranny of trying to maintain some speed or average.


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## numbnuts (28 Mar 2012)

My routes are hilly and I'm old so on a good day 12.5mph that's over 25-35 miles


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## Globalti (28 Mar 2012)

Riding alone on the very hilly terrain around here I always average 14.2 mph. Riding with my buddy in hilly terrain we do 15.6 mph. Riding alone on a long flat ride, say the A6 to the south Lakes, I can average 17.5 mph.


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## ohnovino (28 Mar 2012)

I found that examining my average speed could suck all the fun out of a ride.

Now I have one loop that I do against the clock (designed to take me around 60 minutes, but I won't admit to how long it is!) but every other ride is done at whatever pace I find the most enjoyable.


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## Rickshaw Phil (28 Mar 2012)

I generally average from 12 to 14mph depending on which route I ride and which of my bikes I use, though it can be as low as 10mph on a seriously hilly route or up to 15mph on a flatter ride.

I always set out with the intention of just enjoying the ride but quite often find that after a few miles I'm trying to match or better my pace from the last time I rode that route. I don't mean to - it just happens, honest.


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## dave r (28 Mar 2012)

I no longer set myself targets, as for average speed I don't take that very seriously these days, I look at it from time to time to give an idea as to how my fitness is. I'm just coming back from serious illness and the average is down to 13-14 mph, when my fitness is OK its usually somewhere around 15-16mph.


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## Glenn (28 Mar 2012)

1st commute into work today, 15.5 miles in 69 minutes, but I hadn't been near my bike for a few months, it feels like it too. I hope to take 10 - 15 minutes off that over the next few weeks.


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## totallyfixed (28 Mar 2012)

The one thing that has always puzzled me on these threads, is for those that average around 19mph, how exactly do you measure that? I ask because it takes me around 11 miles to warm up and fellow club men / women at least 5 or 6 miles. If someone leaves the house for anything less than a 30 mile ride and averages these speeds I can only suggest that they may be damaging their health.
I've just got back from a relatively short 26 mile training ride, I'm injured at the moment [gets excuses in] but nevertheless on a rolling course for the first 9 miles my average was only just over 15mph and didn't get settled into a hard rhythm until well after that, in the end I finished with 17.52mph average.
The next bit is a request for one of the fast people to run a forum ride and advertise it as a quick ride, ought to be quite a few takers, yes?


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## GrasB (28 Mar 2012)

There's 2 stages to warming up. One is to get loosened up & to the point you're not doing damage when getting power into your legs. This can be done with proper stretching & minimal bike time if the ambient temp is high. The second is to get full power out of your muscles consistently for sustained periods.

For me 2 or 3 min of stretching then a 5min blast on the turbo gets me to stage 1. From there I can get to 165-180w ave over the first 5 miles simply by holding a high cadence, 110-125rpm, that's a fairly nice pace when it's flat. Once I'm much beyond 5 miles the cadence starts to fall to a more reasonable 95-110rpm & the power stars to increase as does the speed. This is how I manage near 1h 25 mile commutes from home to work.


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## snorri (28 Mar 2012)

I record my mileage religiously, but seldom notice speed and ignore average speed. The most regular run I do takes about 20 minutes outward, I can't remember ever noticing how long the return leg takes but would imagine on average it would be considerably less due to the prevailing wind.


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## Hacienda71 (28 Mar 2012)

VamP said:


> I averaged less than 8mph - in a race. Granted it was the muddiest and hilliest of last season's cyclocross races, but the average in no way reflected that I spent the hour at 95% HRmax


 Hope you didn't carry the bike for any of that !!!!


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## fatblokish (28 Mar 2012)

12.9 mph over my 63 mile journey today. But more importantly, isn't the weather just dandy.


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## Nebulous (28 Mar 2012)

Hmm - I'm an oldie just over a year into cycling, and I measure my speed on a door-to-door basis. I don't warm up, though my ride starts off uphill and I'm certainly not at full throttle immediately. My final bit on the way home is a fairly long downhill- where I do some cranking, but partly just tuck down. So I suppose as a fortunate by product of geography I have a bit of a warm-up and cool down built in. My holy grail is a 20mph average - again door to door. I haven't made it yet, but I still hope to!

So what harm am I doing by not being more structured in my warm-up? 

My commute is pretty much the same route, but is only 2 miles, and I often push hard for the whole of it. Again am I doing any harm with that?


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## totallyfixed (28 Mar 2012)

For any exercise that involves hard muscular activity a period of gradual warm up is necessary to achieve maximum output without tearing muscle fibres. In general the shorter the period of exercise, the longer the warm up relative to that exercise.


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## Alien8 (28 Mar 2012)

My normal ride home is a touch under 12miles of flat riding which during the better months I'll do at an average typically between 19/21mph. If this is damaging my health how will it notice it? Note that this is hard riding but I don't feel I'm flogging myself to death.


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## totallyfixed (28 Mar 2012)

Distance / speed / averages are of course only relative to an individual and as such it is impossible to gauge what your maximum output is. Without going to ridiculous extremes like buying a powertap, a heart rate monitor can be a useful tool. I certainly wouldn't be hitting anything like maximum power or heart rate within a few minutes of leaving the house. You are obviously a fit individual and are capable of sustaining a high speed but I'm willing to bet you a drink [I'm in Cambridge several times during the year} that if you go at 50% for the first couple of miles, 75% for the next 3 then hit it for the last 7 you will average higher than you have managed before. You won't be damaging your health per se, but you will be tearing tiny muscle fibres which your body then has to repair instead of building and strengthening existing and new fibres.
On top of all that there is age related exercise damage but I'm not going there.......


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## Dave 123 (28 Mar 2012)

My target is to come home in one piece.
There is a roadsign on my commute about 3/4 mile from home, I used to aim for 20mph as I passed it, now it's about 28 on a good day..... I think you know what I'm aiming at!


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## Glow worm (28 Mar 2012)

My cycle computer thing tells that me my average speed is normally 10-12 mph. I'm working hard to bring it down to about 8-10mph. To be honest, I'd much rather enjoy the ride rather than faff about worrying about speed or targets. The world's a fast enough place as it is these days, so I like to be still be able to do something slowly/ at my own pace just for a feckin' break from all the whizzing about the place madness everyone else seems so hung up on.


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## DRHysted (28 Mar 2012)

depends on how I feel.
Generally I aim to keep above 3:30 minutes per mile. but if the body feels good I'll push, if it feels spent then I'll go easy(er).

For example coming home from work this morning, I ran out of all steam with 4miles (of 8) to go (I knew I was pushing it due to too many shifts and not enougth rest over the last nine days, but I didn't want to take the car to work, I'm starting to enjoy the pain). So I dropped to the middle crank and took it easy (had to drop to the inner crank for the last hill).
However when I went in last night although I was tired I managed an average cadence of 91 and speed of 17.8mph.

My overall averages are road bike 17mph, MTB 13mph.


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## al78 (28 Mar 2012)

I like to average 13-14 mph when cycling to work, and 16+mph cycling home. Headwinds and fatigue will slow me down by around 1 mph, using the folder or mountain bike instead of the road bike will knock another 0.5-1 mph off the average.

Fastest average heading into work is 15 mph. Fastest average coming home is 20 mph.


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## HLaB (29 Mar 2012)

I like to look at the average but after the event as a curiosity, I'd rather not get hung up on it during the ride.


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## Albert (29 Mar 2012)

I live in Mid-Wales. Average rides have well over 1,000 ft of climbing per 10 miles with regular 10 to 15% ramps no matter where I go. I long for flat rides where these 15+ averages are easy.


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## VamP (29 Mar 2012)

Hacienda71 said:


> Hope you didn't carry the bike for any of that !!!!


 
I might have done


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## Glow worm (29 Mar 2012)

[QUOTE 1785968, member: 9609"]Fantastic - glad someone else sees cycling from my side of the fence. I plan my big days on 7mph, if my cyclecompter is showing 10mph I know its time to find somewhere comfortable to sit and enjoy the view.
[/quote]

And a fine attitude to life it is too. Sometimes just taking a step back and slowing down a bit can be a great thing. The world will keep turning if you don't get wherever you're heading quicker than yesterday, just as I found it kept turning when I had to look up a thing called 'cadence' (shudder), and promtly forgot about it after someone mentioned it on here!


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## Kiwiavenger (29 Mar 2012)

i look at average speed after i finish, plus i try and keep the cadence between 80-85 at the moment with occasional bursts to 100-120 and can drop to 60-70 on the hills


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## Speedywheelsjeans (29 Mar 2012)

Averages on cycle computers are not really good for ride comparison. Different weather conditions, sore legs, bad road surface increasing rolling resistance etc can all alter average speed from ride to ride. 19.4 mph is a respectable average, over 800 miles my bike computer is reading an average of 17.85 mph .... however when I look down I tend to see around 23-30mph when im not being slowed down by anything, when you throw in big hills, slow traffic, recovery riding and poor road surface you can drop your average very quickly, so dont get disheartened about average speed.


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## Speedywheelsjeans (29 Mar 2012)

totallyfixed said:


> The one thing that has always puzzled me on these threads, is for those that average around 19mph, how exactly do you measure that? I ask because it takes me around 11 miles to warm up and fellow club men / women at least 5 or 6 miles. If someone leaves the house for anything less than a 30 mile ride and averages these speeds I can only suggest that they may be damaging their health.
> I've just got back from a relatively short 26 mile training ride, I'm injured at the moment [gets excuses in] but nevertheless on a rolling course for the first 9 miles my average was only just over 15mph and didn't get settled into a hard rhythm until well after that, in the end I finished with 17.52mph average.
> The next bit is a request for one of the fast people to run a forum ride and advertise it as a quick ride, ought to be quite a few takers, yes?


 
I do 10-15 minutes of skipping intervals before I get on the bike for training, followed by 5 minutes stretching. get my lungs co-operating and my blood flowing


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## Nebulous (29 Mar 2012)

Speedywheelsjeans said:


> Averages on cycle computers are not really good for ride comparison. Different weather conditions, sore legs, bad road surface increasing rolling resistance etc can all alter average speed from ride to ride. 19.4 mph is a respectable average, over 800 miles my bike computer is reading an average of 17.85 mph .... however when I look down I tend to see around 23-30mph when im not being slowed down by anything, when you throw in big hills, slow traffic, recovery riding and poor road surface you can drop your average very quickly, so dont get disheartened about average speed.


 
They may not be good for individual ride comparison, but average over the piece is pretty much the best measure of performance there is. It's a harsh master though - I can spend 5 miles or more to garner a precious 3 tenths of a mile an hour and then lose it all and more on 1 hill!


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## gaz (29 Mar 2012)

Nebulous said:


> They may not be good for individual ride comparison, but average over the piece is pretty much the best measure of performance there is. It's a harsh master though - I can spend 5 miles or more to garner a precious 3 tenths of a mile an hour and then lose it all and more on 1 hill!


Power is a better measurement.


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## Nebulous (29 Mar 2012)

gaz said:


> Power is a better measurement.


 
Aye - ok, but I don't have a powermeter, and I'm not likely to have one any time soon.


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## HLaB (29 Mar 2012)

gaz said:


> Power is a better measurement.


Coincidently me and my brother were talking about that last night and Strava prediction of power when we have done identical routes, I've done them faster but he has had more power.


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## Andrew_P (29 Mar 2012)

HLaB said:


> Coincidently me and my brother were talking about that last night and Strava prediction of power when we have done identical routes, I've done them faster but he has had more power.


I assume that is down to bike weight and rider weight which you put in, since losing weight I "think" Strava is showing I have also lost power even on my recent PB ----> rushes off to check I read my figures right


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## Andrew_P (29 Mar 2012)

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20959332-power-calculations

In our own tests, we found the difference between our calculated watts and watts reported by a power meter to be less than 5%. Our calculations are especially accurate when climbing, where we saw the difference to be less than 1% given accurate rider and bike weight.

Like they say they do not know weather conditions and assume 0mph wind and 15c which is why up hills are the most accurate. They also stress that it should be total weight clothes and everything.


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## User16625 (29 Mar 2012)

lulubel said:


> +1
> 
> Come and join us on Strava. It's fun.
> 
> ...





tyred said:


> 'Tis an irrelevant comparison. Terrain, road surface, bike type, weather conditions all play a part.


 
Most of the time I dont actually measure my performance, although I always cycle at the highest speed I can maintain. Also my longer rides probably result in a lower average speed. Its when conditions are great for a fast run I sometimes work out how fast my average must have been throughout it. I would agree with lulu on timing ones self everytime, no need to pressure yourself everytime your out riding.


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## subaqua (29 Mar 2012)

gaz said:


> Most of my riding is done commuting through london at rush hour, so my averages appear pretty low, that is only because I spend between 10 - 20% of my journeys stationary at traffic lights.
> 
> Weekend rides for me are about enjoying cycling, so I don't go hell for leather all the time to get an amazing average speed.


 
this is very familiar. endomondo puts my total average at around 12mph and my bike puter gives a moving average of just over 15. traffic lights are great interval training opporunities though. andmy thighs have been burning for a few days now


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## Part time cyclist (31 Mar 2012)

I too am trying to reach the 20 mph target do a lunch time tide out of 18/19 miles but can't quiet get there. Apart from cycling faster I don't know what the answer is(apart from spending out on a carbon bike  n+1 )))


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## Bigsharn (31 Mar 2012)

Total average is about 10mph thanks to slowing for/waiting at traffic lights
Moving average is roughly 13mph around town. I hover at around 14-15mph in the country though


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## the_mikey (31 Mar 2012)

I'll join in: on a 30km ride last week, my average speed was 18mph. 

On a 100km ride my average will be a lot slower.


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## Hacienda71 (31 Mar 2012)

Mine is reasonable for the conditions I am riding in at that particular moment in time.......


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## HLaB (31 Mar 2012)

Part time cyclist said:


> I too am trying to reach the 20 mph target do a lunch time tide out of 18/19 miles but can't quiet get there. Apart from cycling faster I don't know what the answer is(apart from spending out on a carbon bike  n+1 )))


Train harder, my mate on a relatively heavy alu road bike was averaging just under 25mph for the 50mile race today on a reasonably hilly circuit. Ive averaged it in stints and on flatter rides but I certainly couldn't keep it up for 50miles but he's also 10 years younger than me, well thats my excuse anyway


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## dalewheeler (31 Mar 2012)

14mph average here in Sussex


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## Part time cyclist (31 Mar 2012)

I cycled 103 miles to Hastings from dartford during the week the average was 15.6 mph


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## mattobrien (2 Apr 2012)

I think if you are looking at average speeds for fitness purposes, then a rolling average isn't unfair, but worthwhile mentioning that it is a rolling average.

In response to what is my average speed, it depends on how fast I go 

Realistically, on shorter routes my average is faster than on longer routes and currently ranges from 17-19mph.

Aiming for a 20mph average by the end of the year on my short route.


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## guitarpete247 (2 Apr 2012)

On today's 15.5 mile ride I managed to up my average to 16.2mph. A little up from mid 15's. of previous runs. I might try to get out tomorrow as it's Easter break but I might have a few jobs to do before we go camping on Thursday .
I have a 30 year old, steel, bike and a 55 year old body so don't expect to get my average up much more .


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## Part time cyclist (2 Apr 2012)

No that was actual rolling time, the coffee shop stop and cafe stop is on top


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