# Maintaining a rolling speed



## livpoksoc (29 Jun 2014)

I've been out on a cpuple of 35 mile rides in the last week as part of training for the pru. I'm getting concerned that my avg speed will not be quick enough (10.6mph) & one thing I was noticing was that I couldn't seem to maintain a good rolling speed on the flat or very slight incline. Can this be down to my weight (18st) or is there anything I could do to the bike to make it more efficient? I have recently cleaned the chains & cassettes but wondering if there's more I can do.

The only other thing I can think is that the route I've been riding is hilly, it's a total climb of 2100ft, bit not sure if this is actually a lot ofclimbs or not, over that 35 mile distance.


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## vickster (29 Jun 2014)

That's pretty hilly compared to London and Surrey. Not sure what the total climbing is on the ride 100


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## screenman (29 Jun 2014)

You know the answer already, unless you are 7 feet tall that is. At least you are doing something to keep fit, unlike most heavier people, in this area atleast.


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## livpoksoc (29 Jun 2014)

screenman said:


> You know the answer already, unless you are 7 feet tall that is. At least you are doing something to keep fit, unlike most heavier people, in this area atleast.



Thanks, I assumed it was this,but haven't necessarily had a problem with it in other years.


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## screenman (29 Jun 2014)

It counts more the older you get.


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## Rob3rt (29 Jun 2014)

Press harder on the pedals! 

A perfectly clean and lubed chain is worth a rather substantial ~5 seconds over a 10 mile TT for someone who is going at close to 30 mph, in your case, it's inconsequential!


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## uclown2002 (29 Jun 2014)

Lose some weight and ride your bike more!
It's not rocket salad.


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## JasonHolder (29 Jun 2014)

Rolling speed means power. 
The only way to go faster is to pump more power into the bike. 

Nothing else to it.


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## livpoksoc (29 Jun 2014)

Ok cheers. I'll be extending my loop this week, so I'll include some flatter sections, see if I can eek out a better avg speed over that or if not then work on my power. Hopefully with diet & training, I'll shift some of the ballast too.


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## Nicol (29 Jun 2014)

The more you ride your average will gradually increase. Just keep pushing a bit harder every ride, coasting along doesn't really do you any benefit. Best of luck on the run


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## jefmcg (29 Jun 2014)

I found the gpx of RideLondon when @vickster was still doing it, so uploaded it to RideWithGPS, an it shows a total climb of 1000m ~ 3000ft. So that's 3 times the distance but only 1.5 times the climb of your practice loop

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4337379


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## livpoksoc (30 Jun 2014)

jefmcg said:


> I found the gpx of RideLondon when @vickster was still doing it, so uploaded it to RideWithGPS, an it shows a total climb of 1000m ~ 3000ft. So that's 3 times the distance but only 1.5 times the climb of your practice loop
> 
> http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4337379



Thanks. I'm a bit of a newb with gps etc. is there a way I can upload my tracked history & overlay the climbs, or at the very least, view elevations etc.? Better yet, is there a way to view elevation profiles when plotting routes? Aaand finally, is this route the confirmed route for this years & if so, can I put it in my edge 200?


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## stu9000 (30 Jun 2014)

Riding on closed roads and not having to stop at lights will increase your average speed on the day . good luck. You're gonna love it!!!


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## jefmcg (30 Jun 2014)

livpoksoc said:


> Thanks. I'm a bit of a newb with gps etc. is there a way I can upload my tracked history & overlay the climbs, or at the very least, view elevations etc.? Better yet, is there a way to view elevation profiles when plotting routes? Aaand finally, is this route the confirmed route for this years & if so, can I put it in my edge 200?



Lots of ways to do it. If you just want to see elevations, you can sign up for http://ridewithgps.com, then click the plan button. Clicking on the map creates a route and instantly calculates elevation.

But if you have the rides still on your garmin, it's time to join strava. https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20950143-Uploading-to-Strava-Website Upload all your rides, and you can compare yourself to others, and see you improvements too. Beware, it's addictive.


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## livpoksoc (30 Jun 2014)

jefmcg said:


> Lots of ways to do it. If you just want to see elevations, you can sign up for http://ridewithgps.com, then click the plan button. Clicking on the map creates a route and instantly calculates elevation.
> 
> But if you have the rides still on your garmin, it's time to join strava. https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20950143-Uploading-to-Strava-Website Upload all your rides, and you can compare yourself to others, and see you improvements too. Beware, it's addictive.


Ha thanks, I need something new & addictive to fill my life. I've exhausted my efforts on su doku, 2048 & 1,000 balls, might be nice to have a geeky tech hobby with some slight fitness benefits too.


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## WellyWonkey (30 Jun 2014)

Hi livpoksoc. Sounds as though you made the same mistake as me with being "drawn" to the hills. Everytime I went out I ended up in the Peak District thus becoming deflated with my progress. I then changed my training loop to one which was a lot flatter which in turn built up my stamina. My average was 10.5 mph until I changed and is now 15.5 mph (in 6 months). Even if you have to do a shorter, flatter loop 2 or 3 times on the same training day is more beneficial than struggling up and down hills. That will come later when your legs have toughened up.
Also, if you haven't got a track pump already then get one. Proper tyre pressure is crucial, the little mini pumps aren't good enough for the pressure you need. I'm still a bit weighty myself but have lost 2 stone in 6 months but my rolling speed definitely improved after I looked after my pressures better. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work, it does getter easier and more enjoyable :-)


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## livpoksoc (30 Jun 2014)

WellyWonkey said:


> Hi livpoksoc. Sounds as though you made the same mistake as me with being "drawn" to the hills. Everytime I went out I ended up in the Peak District thus becoming deflated with my progress. I then changed my training loop to one which was a lot flatter which in turn built up my stamina. My average was 10.5 mph until I changed and is now 15.5 mph (in 6 months). Even if you have to do a shorter, flatter loop 2 or 3 times on the same training day is more beneficial than struggling up and down hills. That will come later when your legs have toughened up.
> Also, if you haven't got a track pump already then get one. Proper tyre pressure is crucial, the little mini pumps aren't good enough for the pressure you need. I'm still a bit weighty myself but have lost 2 stone in 6 months but my rolling speed definitely improved after I looked after my pressures better. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work, it does getter easier and more enjoyable :-)



Thanks for the encouragement! I checked the elevation profile of my current loop & there are very few flat sections & no flat sections longer than half a mile so that may be part of the issue. When I did ldn2par, I walked up a couple of tough hills so I've tried to be more disciplined & stay in the saddle for these. 

I'll be looking at the maps this evening to figure out what I can change & see if I can find a quiet 20 & 50 mile circuit near me which has few hills, then add in my current 35 mile to it to give me some climbing practice tied with a long ride, at the end of July.


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## KneesUp (30 Jun 2014)

It's the inclines that are the killer. I've recently started riding again, and some roads I commute on look flat - every day I think they look flat - but they're not.

You soon get used to it though, but make sure you have low enough gearing if you live somewhere hilly. I gave up cycling when I moved to Yorkshire because I didn't know then about long-cage derallieurs or triple cranksets (and there weren't compacts) and it was just too damn hard to get anywhere: I've always had dodgy knees so hills and high gearing just killed me.

I now don't think anything of my (albeit short) commute which gains 50ft per foot cycled on average even on my ancient mountain bike with knobbly tires - it's surprising how quickly you get used to it if you stick at it. I've nearly completed building a drop-bar bike with a 42-32-22 on the front and 12-28 on the back giving me super-low gears (the small ring on my MTB is bent and chucks the chain so I don't use it at the moment) and I'm looking forward to adding a few more hills to my commute by putting on a little loop.

So yeah, stick with it and make sure you have the correct gearing.

bikehike is great for plotting a route and checking how flat it is. And flattestroute does a decent job of finding you the flattest route, but obviously that means it sometimes sends you down main roads you might prefer to avoid


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## w00hoo_kent (30 Jun 2014)

Only thing I can add is that one change I've made is to add a computer that does cadence to the bike. It allows me to get better feedback with how I'm peddling and by changing gear to keep to a target it's upped my average speed (along with practice, getting fitter etc. etc.) might be worth a go. I think following cadence has now been replaced with heart rate monitoring which has been replaced by wattage meters, but I went for the cheapest option and it seems to have helped.

The basic thing is if the peddling feels easy, snick up a gear. If it still feels easy you're now going faster :-) . Might be a basic thing but I know that's the issue when I cycle with my wife, she'll spin the peddles, but we'll end up with a low average because she's not then upping the gears.


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## Soltydog (30 Jun 2014)

Its hard to compare ave speeds with others, for instance I'm 17.5 stone & my commute is a 36 mile round trip & I've been known to average 17/18 mph on good days, but I have less than 500ft of climbing & very little traffic for most of the route, so once upto speed its easier keeping there. Chuck in a few hills & more traffic & my average would come tumbling down. Try not to beat yourself up with figures, just keep riding & enjoy it


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## RhythMick (30 Jun 2014)

I'd say well worth checking that the brakes aren't running, the wheels rotate without obvious drag/grind/play, the pedal spindles rotate freely and the cranks too. Basic bike checks. 

It is most likely to be weight, I'm 15st 8 myself and struggle on hills. Definitely true that the more you do the easier you find it. Within reason. 

If you're struggling where you didn't last week, perhaps fighting off a cold?


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## GrumpyGregry (30 Jun 2014)

[QUOTE="vickster, post: 3154098, member: 10217"*]That's pretty hilly compared to* London and *Surrey*. Not sure what the total climbing is on the ride 100[/QUOTE]
Depends on which parts of Surrey... 71km y'day, the vast majority of it in Surrey, with 1216 metres of climbing.


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## vickster (30 Jun 2014)

The bits that ride London covers, less elevation, twice the distance


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## w00hoo_kent (30 Jun 2014)

Soltydog said:


> Its hard to compare ave speeds with others, for instance I'm 17.5 stone & my commute is a 36 mile round trip & I've been known to average 17/18 mph on good days, but I have less than 500ft of climbing & very little traffic for most of the route, so once upto speed its easier keeping there. Chuck in a few hills & more traffic & my average would come tumbling down. Try not to beat yourself up with figures, just keep riding & enjoy it



This would be OK for a normal ride, but the OP is worrying about the Ride London which is theoretically 100 miles and an 8 hour 30 minute cut off. I'm guessing the 8 hours 30 is in the worst possible situation (i.e. they are closing the course based on the last rider let go having 8 hours 30) I can't see how it would be done another way, although I guess they may exclude if your chip timing comes over 8:30, seems harsh, but I don't know how they are doing their rules. 8 hours 30 at 10.6 mph average is just over 90 miles, so that's coming up short without factoring in stops. So in this situation the OP needs help upping average speed to make the finish in time.



RhythMick said:


> It is most likely to be weight, I'm 15st 8 myself and struggle on hills. Definitely true that the more you do the easier you find it. Within reason.



I'm happy to say 'weight is an issue' but I'd be wary of making it too much of an issue, I'm currently just over 100kg and while I'm in no way a whippet up the hills they are still achievable as is a reasonable average speed, my ride home from work last Tuesday was just shy of 35 miles, 14,47mph average and 586m of climbing, and I wasn't really feeling up for it when I started. That average for the Ride London would give you almost 124 miles in the 8.5 hours, so if you're doing that on the road you've got about 90 minutes worth of stopping time before timing out on the ride. Seems like a worthwhile target to me.

I wonder if we're missing some basic questions here, what type of bike is being ridden, type of tyre etc. It's probably worth the OP doing some group riding if they aren't already to see if that ups the rolling average, I presume we're talking rolling average and not door to door with breaks (that also changes things a lot of course.)

I'm sure it's all doable, and average speeds are very easy to effect by throwing in traffic, junctions and other reasons to slow down. If the training routes aren't flat, are you descending at a good speed to counteract the climbing speeds would be another relevant question I guess...

Considering the OP isn't going to lose 3 stone between now and August 10th, there must be other ways to solve the problem. I keep on reminding myself that last year Boris managed it for instance :-)


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## vickster (30 Jun 2014)

I think they re route you onto a shorter course if you are way behind the time limit


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## w00hoo_kent (30 Jun 2014)

vickster said:


> I think they re route you onto a shorter course if you are way behind the time limit


Seen that happens for some, no idea if Ride London is one of them (it's not like I've actually done a sportive yet!). I guess it would be easier to let you tootle home at a slow place than end up with bikes stuck all over the course needing retrieving...


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## vickster (30 Jun 2014)

I think it is the case as everyone has to be clear of the mall by a certain time for the end of the pro race. No idea where I read that, perhaps the Ride 100 thread


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## livpoksoc (30 Jun 2014)

w00hoo_kent said:


> This would be OK for a normal ride, but the OP is worrying about the Ride London which is theoretically 100 miles and an 8 hour 30 minute cut off. I'm guessing the 8 hours 30 is in the worst possible situation (i.e. they are closing the course based on the last rider let go having 8 hours 30) I can't see how it would be done another way, although I guess they may exclude if your chip timing comes over 8:30, seems harsh, but I don't know how they are doing their rules. 8 hours 30 at 10.6 mph average is just over 90 miles, so that's coming up short without factoring in stops. So in this situation the OP needs help upping average speed to make the finish in time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Cheersc I'll try and answer the above:
1. Exclusion or road closure?
I'm not sure myself, the way I understood it was there's a sweeper to pick up those behind time. I'm not that fussed about achieving a designated time or even being recorded, it's finishing the 100 miles that matters. I have 8.5hrs including stops to do that in.

2. Bike type/tyre/group?
It's a spesh secteur elite roady. Road tyre (mostly slick) continentals. I haven't done any group riding since 2012, I am planning on doing a ride or two woth my Dad & another who are due to take part in pru too. Should I seek out a club willing to let me tag along at my pace?

3. Door to door inc breaks?
I'm not sure if my edge 200 has factored in my resting time in my recent rides. In those, I stopped at different intervals & with only 3 minutes shaved off I can only assume it hasn't included non moving tim le in the avg speeds etc.

4. Descent speed - is pretty reasonable, peak speed is somewhere around 35mph (am scrubbing off with brakes on most steep descents to take the edge off as I nearly ran into a tractor on my first time on this loop a couple of weeks ago, so conscious of oncoming traffic as opposed to.actual speed.


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## w00hoo_kent (30 Jun 2014)

I'd imagine the Edge is doing rolling average only, I'm pretty sure that's what my Touring+ is doing.

Group riding is going to help, if only for the motivation to push a little harder. Nothing there is screaming 'this is what's doing it' to me so in your shoes I'd get out with some other people (I'm about to do a group ride with the FNRttC lot and then one with the shop I bought my Ride London bike from on Sunday) and persevere on finding a flatter route to train on. Getting the average up a little (and I really don't think it needs to go up much for you to be happy) should be a huge mental boost (again it would be for me anyway.)

Keep with it.


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## vickster (30 Jun 2014)

It would be good to do a hundred miler at whatever speed before the event, just so the actual distance isn't a mental barrier


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## livpoksoc (30 Jun 2014)

Cheers again for all controbutions. I'll come crying back if I'm still panicking next weekend!


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## stu9000 (1 Jul 2014)

My time was a sloooow 8h 40 last year but I did the full 100m. The fabled broom wagon never appeared but must have been close behind. There were plenty of people behind me and I'm guessing some of them were encouraged/made to take the short cuts. In think I was possibly a bit too cautious as I was fairly fresh at the end, but it is hard to judge the line between feeling OK and totally bonked is. I also spent too much time faffing at water stops waiting for friends etc. We stopped at most of them and that must have eaten time. 

But I did it. 
Many on this forum would find my time pretty poor. Boris Johnson beat me!!! But a year before the event I would not have believed it was possible and I am very proud of myself.

To be honest it is quite a flat route. I looked at the Jurassic Classic and changed my mind pretty quick. 
I tried to pace myself until Newlands, Box Hill and Leith Hill. After that it was pretty flat (ish). My average speed on the day was a fair bit higher than in training. I stayed hydrated, kept eating bananas, dates, jelly babies etc and just kept going. 

With about a month of training time left I'd be just clocking the miles, working out what food works for you and making sure your bike set up works. Last year I was doing about three 20ish mile runs a week at this point with the odd longer ride if time allowed. I did my first 50 mile ride about 3 weeks before the event.


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## livpoksoc (1 Jul 2014)

stu9000 said:


> My time was a sloooow 8h 40 last year but I did the full 100m. The fabled broom wagon never appeared but must have been close behind. There were plenty of people behind me and I'm guessing some of them were encouraged/made to take the short cuts. In think I was possibly a bit too cautious as I was fairly fresh at the end, but it is hard to judge the line between feeling OK and totally bonked is. I also spent too much time faffing at water stops waiting for friends etc. We stopped at most of them and that must have eaten time.
> 
> But I did it.
> Many on this forum would find my time pretty poor. Boris Johnson beat me!!! But a year before the event I would not have believed it was possible and I am very proud of myself.
> ...



Ok thanks! What were the facilities like for breaks etc. (i.e. Roughly how many were available, rough dist between them & what was on offer in terms of refreshment?).


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## format (1 Jul 2014)

Remember if you're group riding you can keep an average speed up with a lot less effort!


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## Big Nick (1 Jul 2014)

I tend to average around 14-15mph and work from that when going up and down hills e.g. if I go up at 6-7mph I need to come down the descent at 21-22mph to maintain my average during that hill.

Your route is pretty hilly though, I've ridden twice as far and not had quite as much climbing as that


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## jefmcg (1 Jul 2014)

livpoksoc said:


> Ok thanks! What were the facilities like for breaks etc. (i.e. Roughly how many were available, rough dist between them & what was on offer in terms of refreshment?).


Probably you should ask this over here .... http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ridelondon-surrey-100-2014-anyone.137105


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## DaveReading (1 Jul 2014)

Big Nick said:


> I tend to average around 14-15mph and work from that when going up and down hills e.g. if I go up at 6-7mph I need to come down the descent at 21-22mph to maintain my average during that hill.



That would be a neat trick.


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## vickster (1 Jul 2014)

Might be tougher with thousands of people in the way


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## w00hoo_kent (1 Jul 2014)

vickster said:


> Might be tougher with thousands of people in the way


Get an Airzound. :-)

I think that would probably qualify you as biggest kerb in London on that day though!


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## vickster (1 Jul 2014)

Would you really want to be doing 22mph down a hill with lots of cyclists inexperienced in group riding in the way! I think when I start training for 2015, some of my prep will need to be in a group! I'm not too good at just hanging off @jefmcg wheel!


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## uclown2002 (1 Jul 2014)

Big Nick said:


> I tend to average around 14-15mph and work from that when going up and down hills e.g. if I go up at 6-7mph I need to come down the descent at 21-22mph to maintain my average during that hill.



That's not actually true though.

*For example* picture a hill that is 7 miles long, and you go at up at 7mph then down at 21mph. It will take you 1 hr to get up and 20 mins to get down, so 1:20hr total for 14 miles so that is 10.5 mph if I've got my sums right.


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## vickster (1 Jul 2014)

I don't think ride 100 has 7 mile hills, I think box hill is 1.6 miles, I did it recently at around 6.8 mph in 13m36 (could probably have gone faster but as a first timer I didn't know what to expect and it was a hot day). Wimbledon hill is a bitch but not too long, 0.4 miles. My best time is a stunning 8.4mph! Not after 90 miles though! Will help not getting caught at the lights at the bottom as invariably happens to me :/


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## byegad (1 Jul 2014)

18st will always take more work to get up a hill than say10st. That said, over a hilly ride I'd be well chuffed to average over 10mph!


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## livpoksoc (1 Jul 2014)

Thanks again for the continued input. I've got a northbound route to Reading planned for this weekend. It looks a lot flatter, so if I can get that at a decent pace, I'll be a bit more relaxed.


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## screenman (1 Jul 2014)

You could lose a stone+ in the time you have left, that would give you the most benefits.


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## DaveReading (1 Jul 2014)

uclown2002 said:


> *For example* picture a hill that is 7 miles long, and you go at up at 7mph then down at 21mph. It will take you 1 hr to get up and 20 mins to get down, so 1:20hr total for 14 miles so that is 10.5 mph if I've got my sums right.



Another way to look at it is this: if your climb is at half your average speed up to that point, then even descending at light speed won't get your average speed back on track (assuming the climb and descent are of equal length).

Or put even more simply, you never get back on the descent what you lose on the climb.


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## vickster (1 Jul 2014)

I base mine on strava which is a moving average through the iPhone


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## Big Nick (1 Jul 2014)

uclown2002 said:


> That's not actually true though.
> 
> *For example* picture a hill that is 7 miles long, and you go at up at 7mph then down at 21mph. It will take you 1 hr to get up and 20 mins to get down, so 1:20hr total for 14 miles so that is 10.5 mph if I've got my sums right.



Ruddy hell a hill 7 miles long, I wouldn't be on that in the first place!!

The maths is mind boggling! So how fast would you have to come down then to maintain your 15 mph average ??

The whole length of the ride needs to the factored in, if you spend an hour riding up hills at 7mph you've covered 7 miles. If you then spend an hour doing 21mph you've done 21 miles. So 28 miles covered in the above 2 hours means you'll recover your average I think???!!!

My head hurts!


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## livpoksoc (1 Jul 2014)

User13710 said:


> I often suspect that people base their average speed on what they keep seeing when they glance at their computer - if it always seems to say 14 mph that doesn't necessarily mean your average is 14 mph, it will probably be a bit lower. And as DaveReading says, it's easier to drag the average down than it is to pull it back up.



Avg taken from my edge 200 & is same as when I loaded it to Strava.

Have found a group near me so will hopefully be able
To join them this weekend & join them for a 40 miler at a 14mph pace.


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## jefmcg (2 Jul 2014)

Big Nick said:


> Ruddy hell a hill 7 miles long, I wouldn't be on that in the first place!!
> 
> The maths is mind boggling! So how fast would you have to come down then to maintain your 15 mph average ??
> 
> ...


Yes, but we are talking about averaging it over a hill. so you go up the hill at 7pm, get to the top in an hour. up and down again is 14miles, so to bring your average back to 14mph for the hill, you need to get to the bottom immediately. 

If you go up at, say, 10mph, then you get to the top in 42 minutes and you have 18 minutes to get down. so that's around 24mph down.


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## Big Nick (2 Jul 2014)

jefmcg said:


> Yes, but we are talking about averaging it over a hill. so you go up the hill at 7pm, get to the top in an hour. up and down again is 14miles, so to bring your average back to 14mph for the hill, you need to get to the bottom immediately.
> 
> If you go up at, say, 10mph, then you get to the top in 42 minutes and you have 18 minutes to get down. so that's around 24mph down.



Ultimately though, who cares!


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## Rob3rt (2 Jul 2014)

Big Nick said:


> Ruddy hell a hill 7 miles long, I wouldn't be on that in the first place!!
> 
> *The maths is mind boggling! *So how fast would you have to come down then to maintain your 15 mph average ??
> 
> ...



Absolutely...


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## jefmcg (3 Jul 2014)

Big Nick said:


> Ultimately though, who cares!


people who need to average a certain speed to avoid the sag wagon, which is the point of the thread

(personally, I find the maths interesting. It seems intuitively obvious that doing a distance at one speed and the same distance at another speed, then the average should be the mean of the two numbers. )


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## NorvernRob (3 Jul 2014)

livpoksoc said:


> Avg taken from my edge 200 & is same as when I loaded it to Strava.
> 
> Have found a group near me so will hopefully be able
> To join them this weekend & join them for a 40 miler at a 14mph pace.



Are you having any stops along the way and leaving the Garmin running without auto pause?


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## TheJDog (3 Jul 2014)

jefmcg said:


> (personally, I find the maths interesting. It seems intuitively obvious that doing a distance at one speed and the same distance at another speed, then the average should be the mean of the two numbers. )



Yes, it's the *time* spent doing a low speed that needs to be countered by spending the same amount of time at the same amount over the average speed. Obviously that means doing a much greater distance fast if you've been slogging up a steep hill very slowly. 

If the distances up and down are the same, the theoretical maximum average over the hill is only twice the average speed of your climb. So if you climb it at 6mph, you can only drag your average up to 12mph over the whole hill by descending it instantly. Which does seem strange.


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## Big Nick (3 Jul 2014)

jefmcg said:


> people who need to average a certain speed to avoid the sag wagon, which is the point of the thread
> 
> (personally, I find the maths interesting. It seems intuitively obvious that doing a distance at one speed and the same distance at another speed, then the average should be the mean of the two numbers. )


Sounds like a top night out!


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## srw (3 Jul 2014)

jefmcg said:


> people who need to average a certain speed to avoid the sag wagon, which is the point of the thread
> 
> (personally, I find the maths interesting. It seems intuitively obvious that doing a distance at one speed and the same distance at another speed, then the average should be the mean of the two numbers. )


Intuitively obvious, but as @TheJDog _almost_ points out, wrong. Speed is a time-weighted measure (distance divided by time), so you need to think about the _time_ you've spent doing each bit, not the distance you've done.

It is, honestly, interesting.

In this context, if you're spending half an hour slogging two miles up Leith Hill at 4mph you need to spend half an hour pelting along on the flat (or downhill) at 19.5mph to make the average up to the required 11.8mph. In that half-hour you've got to do nearly 10 miles. If you've spent half an hour with your feet up having a sit down you've got to spend half an hour doing 23.6mph. In that half-hour you've got to do nearly 12 miles.

I suspect my beloved stoker wishes I hadn't set the maths out in quite that way. As, to be honest, do I.

(OK, Leith Hill itself is only a mile, but Box Hill is a bit longer, as is the hill up to Newland's Corner. Fortunately there are plenty of very wide, fast roads to make up, and with two of us on the bike we win downhill, even if we lose uphill.)


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## livpoksoc (3 Jul 2014)

NorvernRob said:


> Are you having any stops along the way and leaving the Garmin running without auto pause?


Not sure if it's auto pausing, but yes initially I stopped every 8 or so miles, second time I stopped every 12, I reviewed it on rwgps the other night & the route only has one flat section in the middle when I loop around Alton, then I come back (albeit with a couple of deviations) along the same hilly route.


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## stu9000 (4 Jul 2014)

jefmcg said:


> Probably you should ask this over here .... http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ridelondon-surrey-100-2014-anyone.137105



This was the setup


livpoksoc said:


> Ok thanks! What were the facilities like for breaks etc. (i.e. Roughly how many were available, rough dist between them & what was on offer in terms of refreshment?).



Last years map has the stopping points marked on.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...cQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNETiC488FBA4MwPqHnb_DPI2xzxAw


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