Average speed by age

[Sharky]

Average speeds only make sense when all the variables, remain constant. Gradient, wind, temperature, equipment and age etc will affect avg speeds.

With my age a constant, my average speed will vary by more then 8mph between a hilly, winter training ride and 10 mile timetrial on a lightweight bike and good weather conditions.

If the age factor becomes a variable, comparing seasons best times fo a 10 mile TT over 50 years, my avg drops by 5 mph from 25mph to 20mph.

So I conclude that comparing avg speeds is meaningless.

However to contradict myself, I use the avg speed metric on every ride, but only to compare rides on the same routes.

 

[CXRAndy]

I know several riders late 50s into 60s and nudging 70 years old.

The 70 year old can do 18mph over 50 miles and the younger guys well into the 20s over 100 miles.

Its down to the desire to keep fit, train fast and a bit of good health

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I know several riders late 50s into 60s and nudging 70 years old.

The 70 year old can do 18mph over 50 miles and the younger guys well into the 20s over 100 miles.

Its down to the desire to keep fit, train fast and a bit of good health

Yes, I know guys who are 70 plus and can do time trial times that a young rider would be proud of, but they are in a minority, most of the people I rode with when I was club riding have noticeably slowed down

 

[alex_cycles]

I find my average speed goes up when I ride faster and it goes down when I ride more slowly.

That article really was an abomination. Most of the crap uttered in this thread was of greater value.

 

[MartinQ]

I think we should really thank the OP. In a related article about how to ride a mountain bike,
https://www.declinemagazine.com/skills/how-to-ride-a-mountain-bike/
Ive learnt

Sit on the saddle, feet firmly placed on the pedals, and place your hands on the handlebar.

I think theres something in there for us all.

 

[figbat]

I think we should really thank the OP. In a related article about how to ride a mountain bike,
https://www.declinemagazine.com/skills/how-to-ride-a-mountain-bike/
Ive learnt

Sit on the saddle, feet firmly placed on the pedals, and place your hands on the handlebar.

I think theres something in there for us all.

Oh, it gets better!

Should my feet touch the ground on a mountain bike?​

Keep your feet in the shoes and do not put their full weight on the ground. Try to have the balls of your feet on the rear tire of your bike. Put your feet forward on the pedals and shift your weight forward.​

 

[MartinQ]

Oh, it gets better!

Should my feet touch the ground on a mountain bike?​

Keep your feet in the shoes and do not put their full weight on the ground. Try to have the balls of your feet on the rear tire of your bike. Put your feet forward on the pedals and shift your weight forward.​

Tbh, I did leave it for other people to discover their own pearls. Well done .

 

[figbat]

Tbh, I did leave it for other people to discover their own pearls. Well done .

I’ve looked at a few other articles. It’s just one guy blogging under the auspices of a “magazine” and he clearly doesn’t know what he’s on about. For example take a look at how you are supposed to raise the handlebars on a MTB.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I’ve looked at a few other articles. It’s just one guy blogging under the auspices of a “magazine” and he clearly doesn’t know what he’s on about. For example take a look at how you are supposed to raise the handlebars on a MTB.

By doing a wheelie?

 

[Drago]

Well, depending on which bike I'm on I'm up to 5MPH ahead of the game.

I have the aerodynamics of Brain Blessed's garden shed, and weigh so much that NASA want to study me with a view to deflecting asteroids, and I'm still well ahead. That suggests to me their numbers are hokum, with about as much science as a David Icke astrology column, edited by Russell Grant and published by the Flat Earth Society, and distributed by French Fisherman.

 

[Ridgeway]

as I’ve got older (read heavier) I seem to go downhill faster, neither that nor my aerodynamic baldness seems to be factored in here

 

[fair weather cyclist]

Hi is this also the thread where people fail to understand the simple concept of "average"?

 

[derrick]

Hi is this also the thread where people fail to understand the simple concept of "average"?

Tell me more, i thought average was average

 

[Saluki]

Oh heck. I appear to be over 60 during the winter. Maybe I will get back to my age group, in the summer, when on a roadie and not on skiddy trails and roads.

I am of the belief that, where I used to ride 50 miles in 3 and a half hours, it’s actually better now. It takes 4 and a half hours. That means that I get a whole hour more fun, than I used to. Top banana!

 

[Alex321]

Hi is this also the thread where people fail to understand the simple concept of "average"?

No, though of course it isn't that "simple".

And use of the term in the referenced article is yet another indicator of lack of rigour in it.

Tell me more, i thought average was average

No, what many (probably most) people understand as "average" is the arithmetic mean. Other common averages in use are the Median, and the mode - either of which would be more useful in this context that the mean.

If the article had been based on any scientific survey or dataset, then the author would have specified mean or median, rather than just saying "average".

The mean is where you add up all the values and then divide by the number of value.

The median (probably the most useful in this context) is the value of the middle entry, so if there are 1001 values, you will take the 500th when they are placed in order.

The mode is the most common value among the entries - in this context, you would group speeds into bands of maybe 0.1 or 0.2 mph, and the band which most riders fall into would be the modal average.

Having said all of which - what I suspect @fair weather cyclist was getting at above is that anecdotal evidence that most of us go way faster than his figures suggest means nothing in terms of disproving his charts. Partly because the people attracted to this forum are mainly going to be among the keener members of the cycling community, and therefore tend to be well above the median (or mean) for their age. And partly just because anecdotal evidence from a few dozen people really says nothing about the average (whatever type) of many thousands of people.