# Why i am not getting any faster



## Grayduff (9 Nov 2012)

So i did a 30 miler today with an average speed of 14 mph and an average cadence of 85, 3 months in i am slightly concerned that i cant get any faster no mater how hard i push, is it the hills is it me or is it the hybrid i ride OR am i paying to much attention to Strava..any advice would be welcome..cheers


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## helston90 (9 Nov 2012)

If Dorking was anything like Cornwall don't forget the wind, 18-20mph head wind all the way home- have you factored it in?


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## Grayduff (9 Nov 2012)

helston90 said:


> If Dorking was anything like Cornwall don't forget the wind, 18-20mph head wind all the way home- have you factored it in?


Funnily enough it was very windy but according to a very good friend of mine who lives in Truro, Dorking only has two noteable hills Boxhill and Liethth Hill ( not gone near either of them yet), however they may be smaller hills but they do on for a long time...


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## Sittingduck (9 Nov 2012)

What about Ranmore and Whitedown?!

I rode round the Dorking area Today and the conditions were not exactly favourable. Avg cadence of 85 sounds pretty quick to me - nice one. My avg was 78 and Col du Boite felt like a right slog in the drizzle and wind.


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## Crackle (9 Nov 2012)

3 months is still not long and 14mph is not so bad. I'm sure others with some better advice will be along but in general you need to mix your rides up. Short and fast, long and steady. That kind of thing. Keep it regular and put in the odd back to back ride (assuming you don't) and you'll progress.


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## Kookas (9 Nov 2012)

Grayduff said:


> So i did a 30 miler today with an average speed of 14 mph and an average cadence of 85, 3 months in i am slightly concerned that i cant get any faster no mater how hard i push, is it the hills is it me or is it the hybrid i ride OR am i paying to much attention to Strava..any advice would be welcome..cheers



What is your top speed? The thing is I think you might want more in depth speed stats. Hills are terrible for bigger bikes and will bring your avg to the floor if you have a lot of them.


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## Nigelnaturist (9 Nov 2012)

Grayduff said:


> So i did a 30 miler today with an average speed of 14 mph and an average cadence of 85, 3 months in i am slightly concerned that i cant get any faster no mater how hard i push, is it the hills is it me or is it the hybrid i ride OR am i paying to much attention to Strava..any advice would be welcome..cheers


Mines getting worse. but as


Kookas said:


> What is your top speed? The thing is I think you might want more in depth speed stats. Hills are terrible for bigger bikes and will bring your avg to the floor if you have a lot of them.


points out I have been climbing more recently


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## BrumJim (10 Nov 2012)

Four issues that can affect average speed:
1) Weather. Wind pays such a significant effect on speed, that it cannot be discounted. Unfortunately what you gain with the wind behind you does not make up for the times when it is ahead of you. Also measuring wind speed and the effect of gusts on your ride is only for the seriously retentive.
2) Traffic. Although most significant on commutes, red lights, traffic queues, etc can all have a big effect as you slow down, stop, and accelerate again.
3) Temperature. It is definitely slower the colder it gets. Furthermore, sub-zero has a significant impact on what you appear to be able to do before running out of breath.
4) Recovery days. Battle against yourself every day, and you won't get much faster. Have a recovery day or two, give your body time to adjust rather than just repair, and you'll come back fitter, stronger, and faster.


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## Grayduff (10 Nov 2012)

BrumJim said:


> Four issues that can affect average speed:
> 1) Weather. Wind pays such a significant effect on speed, that it cannot be discounted. Unfortunately what you gain with the wind behind you does not make up for the times when it is ahead of you. Also measuring wind speed and the effect of gusts on your ride is only for the seriously retentive.
> 2) Traffic. Although most significant on commutes, red lights, traffic queues, etc can all have a big effect as you slow down, stop, and accelerate again.
> 3) Temperature. It is definitely slower the colder it gets. Furthermore, sub-zero has a significant impact on what you appear to be able to do before running out of breath.
> 4) Recovery days. Battle against yourself every day, and you won't get much faster. Have a recovery day or two, give your body time to adjust rather than just repair, and you'll come back fitter, stronger, and faster.


Cheers for the advice, was going out today but the back of my knees are very sore (another thread) long tights pinching at the back of my knees, cheap and cheerfull apparantly caused the problem, which may of slowed me down also..


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## Nigelnaturist (10 Nov 2012)

BrumJim said:


> Four issues that can affect average speed:
> 
> 4) Recovery days. Battle against yourself every day, and you won't get much faster. Have a recovery day or two, give your body time to adjust rather than just repair, and you'll come back fitter, stronger, and faster.


I do this as well, but still getting slower. My routes vary, but as my knowledge of the roads I am likely to be on improves, so should the speeds, i.e. where to put in the extra effort to climb that hill at a better speed, knowing where to brake for bends on downhill sections. The first time you travel an unfamiliar road you will be slower on it. I for one have been doing that a lot these last few weeks, I didnt get any p.b.'s on this http://app.strava.com/rides/27276341, its one of the first loops I started riding till it became to short a run, but I ran this in the dark to test out my new light, avg of 13.5 mph over 10.5 miles, most of it on unlit roads, this was after doing this http://app.strava.com/activities/27245816 in the morning/afternoon 31.4 miles at 13.3 avg mph.
My run on Friday was a combination of hills/wind/comfort a bit more traffic and unfamiliar roads especially the middle 1/3 which coincided with the hill, and there were some unexpected steep sections (where it went under the motorway), I just got totally wrong, but by that time I battled up the hill into a strong headwind, for the record 32.2 @ 11.9mph
I might go and try one of my earlier 30 mile rides if I get time later and see how I compare. (Whilst I havent done all the roads round here, I have covered a great many of them)


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## Fab Foodie (10 Nov 2012)

Riding a hybrid your major barrier to increased speed is wind resistance, as an example:

The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity. A car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome air drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW). With a doubling of speed the drag (force) quadruples.

On a bike, once you're around 15mph, wind resistance becomes the major obstacle as so much more power is required from you for relatively small gains in average speed. So don't be disheartened, it takes a lot of ewffort now to start going faster and the easiest way is to become more aerodynamic! That's why racing cyclists wearslippy tight lycra, are hunhered down over the bars not sitting like a barn door to the wind and use narrow tyres which again offer much less wind resistance.
Don't beat youself up too much!

You can develop more power, the way to do this is ride intervals, short and hard periods followed by relaxation rather than just hammering the pedals at the same rate. The Swedes do 'Fartlek' training, where for example they will springt the next 1oo yards or half mile to the next junction/lampost/pub or other suitable land mark and then spin gently to another one and repeat. We do this when we ride as a group, faster and slower periods throughout the ride. Riding with others is also good for increasing speed too.

Keep it up, you'll get faster, but don't obsess about it!


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## lulubel (10 Nov 2012)

I'm getting slower too.

It's time of year for me. I'm always slower when it's colder, plus it's more often wet and/or windy at this time of year, and both of those slow me down too.


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## HLaB (10 Nov 2012)

I wouldn't worry if you are not getting faster just now, the time of the year isn't conclusive to going faster anyway, reduced visibilities, sketcy surfaces, etc; more speed will come in its own good time


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## Nigelnaturist (10 Nov 2012)

HLaB said:


> I y, reduced visibilities, sketcy surfaces, etc;


Good points, I am not worried I basically know why, its the climbing I am doing, I know its not much to some, but I have made some good improvements, the reason I am not worried is that usually I will still get a good time on sections on strava (well not always), if not a p.b or 2 at least usually 2nd or 3rd, and this is usually when I have ridden 20+ miles, its just the hills drag your avg down so much, it can be disheartening sometimes, especially if you cant compare sections youv'e done before, and dont mean to sound obsessive about it, I am not, its just nice to see, because you then know that there are improvements however small, last Sat I climbed my first recorded Cat4, though it was only part of the over all climb, the one I did yesterday was every bit as tough more consistent climbing and the wind, however I wasn't as sore in my legs as i was last Sunday.
Sat





Fri


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## fossyant (10 Nov 2012)

3 months isn't long at all. Keep at it, keep pushing yourself and it will come. There is no quick fix.


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## jonny jeez (10 Nov 2012)

14mph averge is fast.

is that journey average or moving average?

If its journey then well done I say. I cruise along at 22-23mph for most of my rides but my average always works out to around 15mph


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## Grayduff (10 Nov 2012)

jonny jeez said:


> 14mph averge is fast.
> 
> is that journey average or moving average?
> 
> If its journey then well done I say. I cruise along at 22-23mph for most of my rides but my average always works out to around 15mph


Journey average...


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## Grayduff (10 Nov 2012)

Fab Foodie said:


> Riding a hybrid your major barrier to increased speed is wind resistance, as an example:
> 
> The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity. A car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome air drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW). With a doubling of speed the drag (force) quadruples.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply, i have decided to show my wife all the replies in the hope that she will relent, give in and let me have a road bike..


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## Crackle (10 Nov 2012)

In that case a roadbike will add one or two mph 

No really, it will.


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## jonny jeez (10 Nov 2012)

Grayduff said:


> Journey average...


then that's a good pace...(sorry don't let Mrs Grayduff see this post)

Delete-Delete-Delete


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## Fab Foodie (10 Nov 2012)

Crackle said:


> In that case a roadbike will add one or two mph
> 
> No really, it will.


Yep, you still need to put the work in!


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## jonny jeez (10 Nov 2012)

Crackle said:


> In that case a roadbike will add one or two mph
> 
> No really, it will.


totally.... its scientifically proven. Plus it reduces your risk of collision and falls... allegedly.

Same goes for new shoes, pedals, a garmin and those really nice merino wool jerseys...they are all really, really safe things to have.


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## Grayduff (10 Nov 2012)

jonny jeez said:


> totally.... its scientifically proven. Plus it reduces your risk of collision and falls... allegedly.
> 
> Same goes for new shoes, pedals, a garmin and those really nice merino wool jerseys...they are all really, really safe things to have.


So the long and short of it i need to train harder and be more patient..


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## jonny jeez (10 Nov 2012)

Grayduff said:


> So the long and short of it i need to train harder and be more patient..


or just ride more.

which is good because that's what we all enjoy. But it cant hurt to buy some new stuff as well.


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## Boon 51 (10 Nov 2012)

Fab Foodie said:


> Riding a hybrid your major barrier to increased speed is wind resistance, as an example:
> 
> The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity. A car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome air drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW). With a doubling of speed the drag (force) quadruples.
> 
> ...


 
Loads of good points here.. I've started doing what you have just posted, but I started a few weeks ago and its working for me.


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## Fab Foodie (10 Nov 2012)

jonny jeez said:


> or just ride more.
> 
> which is good because that's what we all enjoy. But it cant hurt to buy some new stuff as well.


 Riding more helps, but riding with a club or doing intervals makes you faster quicker. 10 mile Time Trials are also good training. It doesn't matter what you ride, it's you and the clock and sustained max effort over a fairly short period of time. make sure you warm-up and warm-down after.


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## Pedrosanchezo (10 Nov 2012)

Grayduff said:


> So i did a 30 miler today with an average speed of 14 mph and an average cadence of 85, 3 months in i am slightly concerned that i cant get any faster no mater how hard i push, is it the hills is it me or is it the hybrid i ride OR am i paying to much attention to Strava..any advice would be welcome..cheers


Try and factor in the same route to your training/cycling. This way you can gauge wether or not you are improving. Comparing other routes proves nothing. Today i rode 43 miles and climbed a total of 4000ft but i averaged 14.6 mph! A few days ago i rode a 20 miles flat circular and averaged 22mph. Can't compare those rides with average speed. 
Conditions vary so you can take this in to account when comparing efforts. You would be looking for a gradual incline in stats/times on the same routes. This way you can track progress. 
In fact you mentioned strava. Set up a few private segments and track your progress from there. 
As one pro said "ride, eat, sleep and repeat".


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## VamP (12 Nov 2012)

Average speeds are not a good indicator of performance. Don't worry about them.

A good repeatable segment on Strava is much better, but I still wouldn't get hung up on the speed, without considering other factors.


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## black'n'yellow (12 Nov 2012)

The only way to improve is by riding beyond your current capability - not all the time, but regularly enough for adaptions to be taking place. Unless you are doing that, you will not improve. If all you do is the same type of riding - all you will have is the same level of fitness.


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