Average Speeds

[Sarah79]

Hello,

I'm new here, absolutely adore cycling and would like to get into time trialling. I've not ridden for about 6 months, due to knee problems, but as they're going away with intensive physio, I got on my bike yesterday and hammered out 25k in 30 minutes. I know that's not a bad speed, but I'm just interested in how that may sit relative to time trials. I know it's a very broad, rather ill-equipped question, but for someone with no athletic background, certainly no formal training, do you think I could compete at a decent standard with that kind of basic average?

Cheers

 

[HLaB]

There's too many variables to make a direct comparison, terrain, weather, etc. Anyway on a 10 mile Cleish TT last week one bloke in the club did 23:33 and one did 30:30 and most folk were under the 30min but you did 5.5 miles further other things aside you seem to be flying and your time are far better than average :-)

 

[Sarah79]

There's too many variables to make a direct comparison, terrain, weather, etc.... but you did 5.5 miles further other things aside you seem to be flying and your time are far better than average :-)

Thank you! Yes, a lot of missing variables but thanks for the comparison. Hopefully, I can train hard all summer and get into great shape. I've never done time trials before but I'm doing some research - looks really good fun!

 

[brockers]

That's a very respectable time for someone who's not particularly trained. In fact you'd beat the men's world champion with those figures.

 

[ColinJ]

Hmm ... 25 km in 30 mins = 50 kph or 31.1 mph. 31.1 mph for 30 minutes sounds more than respectable to me, it sounds, er, unlikely!

I have a theory - was that out on the road or on a turbo-trainer?

If you were out on the road, was it on a circular route ending up back where you started from? (That would largely eliminate any advantage due to tailwinds and downhills.)

I went up a long climb from Hebden Bridge at about 25 mph earlier in the year. (Mind you, I did have a huge tailwind at the time!)

 

[Herzog]

With no athletic backround (and a dodgy knee), to average 50kph for 30 mins is astounding... Was it downhill with a tailwind and no road junctions?

 

[DrSquirrel]

Must be a mistake, 15km sounds more like it. Which would be a decent non "event" speed for a female rider.

Ludlow CC run loads of TTs - their "try it" event has now passed (was only 5.7miles anyway), but there is no reason why a newbie shouldn't run a normal event.

 

[Sarah79]

Eek! Okay. Hang on! I feel embarrassed and kinda stupid. Right, this was on my fixie at home, so there was no wind, etc....I set myself 30 minutes, including a 5 minute warm up and warm down. And then I stuck to ten minute stints with 20 seconds of doing hell-for-leather as fast as I could inbetween. And the end calculation had me at 23.3 kilometres.....Baffled of Shropshire

 

[DrSquirrel]

So 40 minutes for 23.3km is almost 22mph average. No wind though? It's been bloody windy around here the last week.

Including warm ups that is very good - under TT conditions you'd assume better. You could do with recording better if you really want to see your average.


Best lady down here gets between 22-24mph av for a 10 on a full up TT/disc/aero helmet - you'd be in serious contention if you can do that speed in a race. Better off doing a TT to find out (Ludlow or Wheelers, for south end TTs they over lap)

 

[Sarah79]

So 40 minutes for 23.3km is almost 22mph average.

The warm up and warm down were included in that 30 minutes....

 

[DrSquirrel]

The warm up and warm down were included in that 30 minutes....

29mph still... which is way too fast for anyone to be asking about average speeds.

I'd suggest something is being measured wrong.

 

[ColinJ]

Ah ha!

You can't really compare turbo efforts to efforts on the road because there isn't any wind resistance, and how much resistance do you put on the turbo? All the reading is telling you is what distance a point on one wheel will have turned through.

If you really want to know how fast you are over 30 minutes, find yourself a quiet road loop and ride round it as fast as you can for 30 minutes and measure it properly. I reckon you would manage 15 km max. (but if you could manage that, I'd say that is pretty good for an untrained rider).

 

[Sarah79]

Okay, so if we assume something is afoot, let's return to your 22mph average. I'm okay with that! I do have very strong legs, I'm 6ft, there's no technique, per se, but just a lot of muscle pedalling. Brute force + sheer ignorance, perhaps?

 

[DrSquirrel]

Oh sorry, is "fixie at home" meant to mean turbo?

Saying 15kph max is pretty harsh though


Turbo miles don't count, ever! Mainly as you cannot compare turbo to road effort.


Ludlow CC have a 10TT on the 28th @ BRIMFIELD. £3 for guests.

 

[Sarah79]

If you really want to know how fast you are over 30 minutes, find yourself a quiet road loop and ride round it as fast as you can for 30 minutes and measure it properly. I reckon you would manage 15 km max. (but if you could manage that, I'd say that is pretty good for an untrained rider).

Last summer, I did 17 miles in 90 minutes. Had some huge hills in that route though, so sometimes I was slogging it, sometimes I was free-wheeling it.