# What's your average touring speed



## steveindenmark (23 Aug 2013)

I know there are many variables here, but what is YOUR average touring speed, both loaded and unloaded.

When I say Loaded, I mean the bike not you.

Steve


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## jags (23 Aug 2013)

went for a night spin the other night on my tourer average speed 14mph loaded 12mph.

why you ask Steve


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## mcshroom (23 Aug 2013)

According to mycyclinglog my average speed between the two of them is just over 10mph. I haven't split them into loaded and unloaded speeds though.


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## steve52 (23 Aug 2013)

lucky if i avg ten, allways 13/15 for the first 4 hours then it drops right down


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## Ticktockmy (23 Aug 2013)

For b&b,yha trips I average 12MPH, with full camping touring it seems to be about 9.5 -10MPH


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## mcr (23 Aug 2013)

17.5kmh (cos it sounds better, or 11mph) for loaded on my last tour, but I do travel relatively light by some people's standards. Haven't used my tourer unloaded in comparable distances to give a reliable figure.


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## srw (23 Aug 2013)

11.3mph moving average with four panniers on the tandem across the length of France, according to our stats. 2.2mph overall average - which means that we could in theory have walked the distance in the same elapsed time (three weeks)


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## Bodhbh (23 Aug 2013)

I budget about 10mph including breaks for general rolling stuff. Obviously at the extremes of gradient it goes out, but in the middle tends to regulate itself - if it's flat I arse around more and if it's hilly I take the day more seriously and put my back in.


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## CopperBrompton (24 Aug 2013)

Around 11mph. Luggage-wise, I travel relatively light (25 litres total, split between bike stuff, clothes and gadgets), but the trike isn't the lightest of bikes to start with. I also budget plenty of time for cake and ice-cream stops, of course.


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## BigonaBianchi (24 Aug 2013)

about 1 mph in the ozarks
about 16mph in Kansas


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## Cush (24 Aug 2013)

I budget for 9 and hope to get 10 but it is getting slower.


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## P.H (24 Aug 2013)

I usually average around 10 mph between campsites, including a bit of time sightseeing, photo ops and lunch and cake stops. I can push it a bit if I want and get it close to the speed I'd do on day rides 13-14 mph, but that's for times when it's more about the cycling than the touring. It also depends a bit on distance, when I do 100+ mpd tours I don't care how long it takes, just that I get in feeling willing and able to do it again the next day.


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## Gravity Aided (25 Aug 2013)

10 miles per hour on my tourers, about 8 on my hybrid converted to a heavy tourer, and about 5 on my beach cruiser with wire baskets and tires wider than good sense dictates.


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## taximan (25 Aug 2013)

Fully loaded in hilly terrain I usually manage about 10 mph, same bike without the kitchen sink etc again in the hills, 11.5 mph


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## steveindenmark (25 Aug 2013)

Thanks for your answers guys.

I just wanted to know if I was riding faster or slower than the norm. But it appears we all ride at around the same speed.

Steve


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## Tigerbiten (25 Aug 2013)

Mine was about 8.5 mph over a 4,000 mile tour to Iceland and back on my bent trike.
My unladen average as around 12 mph and I slow down by ~1 mph per 10kg extra weight carried.
So adding around 30 kg for the trailer and camping gear, you see the speeds about right.


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## SatNavSaysStraightOn (25 Aug 2013)

Fully loaded - 4 panniers & rack pack plus 5L of water minimum, for a world tour (so plenty of spares, tyres, Rohloff oil change kits, chains, chain whip, 4-5 days of food, 2 spare tyres each...) we were averaging around 10mph on our tourers.

UK tour, 2 panniers & rackpack - will find out in 2 weeks time!


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## palinurus (25 Aug 2013)

About 10 mph last tour, pretty much that's what it is regardless of length (although I've never done a proper long tour). Last one wasn't hilly, but even hills don't change the average much. If it's flat I'll plod along, if it's hilly I go up slow and come down fast, it evens out the same.


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## stumpy66 (26 Aug 2013)

Between 10-11mph avg fully loaded enjoying the scenery and not shredding the legs


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## robjh (29 Aug 2013)

I also find the 10mph average rule works surprisingly well when averaged over whole days, including stops. It's interesting to see how much agreement there is on this.


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## Haitch (29 Aug 2013)

Italy to Holland this summer on a roadbike with a small rucksack, 1,200 km over seven days averaged at about 20 km/h, or 12.5 mph in old money.


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## Gravity Aided (29 Aug 2013)

robjh said:


> I also find the 10mph average rule works surprisingly well when averaged over whole days, including stops. It's interesting to see how much agreement there is on this.


 
Must be the sweet spot where human physiology and bicycle gearing mesh.


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## andym (29 Aug 2013)

Gravity Aided said:


> Must be the sweet spot where human physiology and bicycle gearing mesh.



Hang on a second. I'm not sure how meaningful it is to talk about average speeds without any reference to the terrain/amount of climbing, IME it doesn't usually average out - climbing most mountain climbs my speed will drop to a third or even a quarter of my flatland speed but it's fairly rare to find a mountain road with a long straight run out, so usually I'd expect to only do a max of twice my flatland speed going down the other side.


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## swansonj (29 Aug 2013)

andym said:


> Hang on a second. I'm not sure how meaningful it is to talk about average speeds without any reference to the terrain/amount of climbing, IME it doesn't usually average out - climbing most mountain climbs my speed will drop to a third or even a quarter of my flatland speed but it's fairly rare to find a mountain road with a long straight run out, so usually I'd expect to only do a max of twice my flatland speed going down the other side.


And, of course, even if you could match the quarter speed up the hill by four times the speed coming down, it still wouldn't average to the original speed overall....

I'm another 10 mph tourist for undulating terrain, which reduced however to 5.3 mph for a day' fairly intensive (by my standards) climbing one day this summer.


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## Gravity Aided (30 Aug 2013)

Sometimes, terrain is not the only impediment. I do live in pretty flat land, for the most part. Makes the exceptions all the more stunning.


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## GrumpyGregry (30 Aug 2013)

Moving avg 20kph when loaded is my planning rule of thumb. I usually end up riding about 10% faster.


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## Bodhbh (30 Aug 2013)

Gravity Aided said:


> Sometimes, terrain is not the only impediment. I do live in pretty flat land, for the most part.


 
Regarding that and deviations from the 10mph thing. In extremes, like flat, open landscape with a strong tailwind (Fens/Flanders/Hungary/etc) I've had daily averages which verge on 20mph and moving averages hitting the mid 20s. On the otherside of the coin, headwinds have caused daily averages as low as 5mph or 7mph moving...that is slogging your guts out... I would generally take serious note of what the wind is upto when planning my day across anywhere flat, could be a p*** easy 100miles or killing yourself doing 45.


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## Gravity Aided (2 Sep 2013)

Heat can also slow you way down. We had 97f highs here earlier in the week, with high humidity, and it sure lowered my average speed.


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## bof (4 Sep 2013)

On flattish terrain in reasonably calm weather about 14mph moving average when credit card touring. I budget 12mph per day moving average which allows for weather and short stops en route for checking direction/comfort breaks etc, with meal stops and visits to attractions not counted in the 12 mph.


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## MarkF (4 Sep 2013)

Including all ups and downs and variable weather, I potter along at 10mph usually.


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## HorTs (4 Sep 2013)

When I did my lejog I was doing 100m days at 10-11mph.


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## Danny (8 Sep 2013)

Another 10-11mph rider here.

The main things which effect my average speed are:

a) Hills and wind
b) How often I need to stop to check directions - can be a particular problem on small country roads
c) Getting lost (usually when I don't stop to check the map often enough)


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## doog (11 Sep 2013)

about 12


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## briantrumpet (14 Sep 2013)

I did this route at somehwhere north of 15mph over five days last summer http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1441823 on credit card touring - I had about 3kgs in a seat-post mounted saddlebag, and that was it. I take my hat off to those of you who take the kitchen sink with you.


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## asterix (17 Sep 2013)

On the touring version of the Raid Pyrenean the distance is 790km. If you manage this in the 10 days (240 hours) allowed you have to maintain an average of 3.29166666'. Allow 12 hours a day in the saddle then you have to do 6.5833333' km/h. 

The unladen randonneur version is 720 km for which you have 100 hours, 7.2 km/h overall, or if you ride for only 50 of those hours, a modest 14.4 km/h - only slightly harder considering the reduced weight - will get you there.

So for mountainous stuff, assuming I haven't cocked up the arithmetic: 
Laden: c. 7 km/h (4.375 mph) ; 
Unladen: c. 14.5 km/h (9.06 mph)


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## gbs (24 Sep 2013)

just to confirm: my impression is that a rolling average speed of 10 mph (excluding cafe stops and other wicked deviations) is typical with significant variation for wind, hills and heat and, of course, load.


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