steve52
I'm back! Yippeee
- Location
- bottesford scunthorpe
are we talking true averages as in t/d= v?
Improving average speed
- Thread starter oliglynn
- Start date
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JonnyBlade
Live to Ride
- Location
- Gosport-Hampshire
I'd like to bet on the 3rd day that the tortoise will come into his own
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
For me on the Etape there was no lights, junctions and no stops, so yes we are talking about a true average buts its only 81 miles and pretty flat but that is slow compared to other folk. Some of my club mates are doing 10 centuries in 10 days, OK it was their first but they were averaging 20.5mph
when I last spoke to them they had done 6 btw its v = d/t
Kirstie
Über Member
He needs interval training in the week and progressively longer rides at the weekend - it's not going to happen without some pain and commitment from him, and some understanding from you, but there is still time. I've beasted myself on the intervals for several months now (3 1hr sessions per week) and it has totally worked - it was painful but I am chuffed to bits with the results.
My ex-racing/training partner is really keen to get back into cycling after a couple of years 'in the wilderness' which has resulted in a bit of weight gain and a lot of fitness loss. I quite often go riding with her to get her back into it but the pace is never as high as I want to go and I end up waiting at every junction, but it's completely OK. I would rather spend time with her cycling than not. If I had a different attitude where i was pressurising her to go faster all of the time because it was annoying me, that would completely put her off cycling altogether and would also end our friendship. I wonder why she's not committing to training more but I don't ask - I just try and keep positive and encourage her. I don't know you or the guy you are trying to 'improve' but be careful about how you handle it because you could be making him feel like a total failure.
My ex-racing/training partner is really keen to get back into cycling after a couple of years 'in the wilderness' which has resulted in a bit of weight gain and a lot of fitness loss. I quite often go riding with her to get her back into it but the pace is never as high as I want to go and I end up waiting at every junction, but it's completely OK. I would rather spend time with her cycling than not. If I had a different attitude where i was pressurising her to go faster all of the time because it was annoying me, that would completely put her off cycling altogether and would also end our friendship. I wonder why she's not committing to training more but I don't ask - I just try and keep positive and encourage her. I don't know you or the guy you are trying to 'improve' but be careful about how you handle it because you could be making him feel like a total failure.
OP
OP
oliglynn
Über Member
- Location
- Oxfordshire
I don't know the guy so well either, and am wary about this. Anyway, just about to take him out to climb some hills in a minute... whips at the ready!!!
OP
OP
oliglynn
Über Member
- Location
- Oxfordshire
Went out last night, and you know what, I think he's getting a little faster, especially up hills. We averaged a more respectable 14.8 on our ride.
How none of us noticed until yesterday that he's been going out on these 20-35 mile rides with us without any water or other drinks escapes me
, but needless to say we had a word about hydration!!
Hopefully that, combined with some SPDs will give us some improvement next week!
How none of us noticed until yesterday that he's been going out on these 20-35 mile rides with us without any water or other drinks escapes me
Hopefully that, combined with some SPDs will give us some improvement next week!
SquareDaff
Über Member
- Location
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
+1 for this. Have been cycling now for about 8 months at the distances mentioned. My average speed has crept up to 15-15.5 mph on a town commute from around 13-13.5mph. Fitness has increased as my resting heart rate has dropped from around the low 80's to the mid 60's. I have to really push now to hit my cardio max of around 165-168. I put my speed increase down to changes in cycling style as follows: a) increasing my cadence and b) riding further from the kerb (i.e. where the road is smooth rather than in the rough stuff where the tarmac is irregular) and losing weight - have lost about 3/4 of a stone just thru the increase in regular daily exercise.
ttcycle
Cycling Excusiast
I'd really echo what Kirstie wrote.
Everyone learns at their own rate and there has to be a certain amount of patience with riders otherwise it's easy to become despondent. A bit of patience.
I am really glad to hear that he made some gains on the hills - if he is into the idea of speeding up a bit; there's two things that need to happen - the long distance ride needs to be at a steady pace so that he builds up his capilleries (sp?) and internal organs to work more efficiently - this will take time and will also mean for the rest of you that you need to stick to his speed so that he's not overworking himself and pushing into zones that don't build up his stamina and overall fitness. That would be the compromise.
The speed building side - this will hurt, bigtime, it will also be hard to get big gains without the first step above of building up general fitness and stamina over longer distances and time. It's worth doing some shorter rides in the evenings of just riding and having one or two rides in the week where the plan is to work on intervals.
A fun way to do this is fartlek training - discuss it as a group beforehand. The plan is for one faster rider to ride off (for very fast and fit riders it won't be just riding off but sprinting off as fast as possible) and then the person to catch them up- you have to take into account that you'd need to not sprint off too fast as that would be too much for him. Then ride easy and at a slow pace to recover and then go again with another person riding off for him to catch up.
The other way to do it is that if your route has traffic signals- you could decide that 5/8 metres before the next traffic signal to all sprint up to the sign as fast as possible until you reach it. Then ride to recover and go again for the next traffic signal.
There's traditional intervals of timed all out sprinting and then recovery periods but the above ways enable groups to do it.
Everyone learns at their own rate and there has to be a certain amount of patience with riders otherwise it's easy to become despondent. A bit of patience.
I am really glad to hear that he made some gains on the hills - if he is into the idea of speeding up a bit; there's two things that need to happen - the long distance ride needs to be at a steady pace so that he builds up his capilleries (sp?) and internal organs to work more efficiently - this will take time and will also mean for the rest of you that you need to stick to his speed so that he's not overworking himself and pushing into zones that don't build up his stamina and overall fitness. That would be the compromise.
The speed building side - this will hurt, bigtime, it will also be hard to get big gains without the first step above of building up general fitness and stamina over longer distances and time. It's worth doing some shorter rides in the evenings of just riding and having one or two rides in the week where the plan is to work on intervals.
A fun way to do this is fartlek training - discuss it as a group beforehand. The plan is for one faster rider to ride off (for very fast and fit riders it won't be just riding off but sprinting off as fast as possible) and then the person to catch them up- you have to take into account that you'd need to not sprint off too fast as that would be too much for him. Then ride easy and at a slow pace to recover and then go again with another person riding off for him to catch up.
The other way to do it is that if your route has traffic signals- you could decide that 5/8 metres before the next traffic signal to all sprint up to the sign as fast as possible until you reach it. Then ride to recover and go again for the next traffic signal.
There's traditional intervals of timed all out sprinting and then recovery periods but the above ways enable groups to do it.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I forget where my brother was a year ago but I think rides were less than 13mph but with a change of bike (he's now on a light cyclocross, he was on a mtb) smooth tyres and clipless he improved to around 14.5mph. He's lately put lighter Planet X wheels and GP4000s on and I dragged him round 41miles at 15.7mph, he actually liked being dropped and being forced to work (PS don't tell him I held back for him 
) a considerable improvement in just a year though he was very fit as a kid (athletics) and has kept himself in shape over the last 20+ years.
) a considerable improvement in just a year though he was very fit as a kid (athletics) and has kept himself in shape over the last 20+ years.
I forget where my brother was a year ago but I think rides were less than 13mph but with a change of bike (he's now on a light cyclocross, he was on a mtb) smooth tyres and clipless he improved to around 14.5mph. He's lately put lighter Planet X wheels and GP4000s on and I dragged him round 41miles at 15.7mph, he actually liked being dropped and being forced to work (PS don't tell him I held back for him
This sounds a lot more normal and balanced and brings this thread back to earth - thanks for that.
OP
OP
oliglynn
Über Member
- Location
- Oxfordshire
Cheers for advice - will get out as much as possible between now and the tour to help him build up a base, and do some intervals too.
Will make sure he hydrates too. I'm always quite conscious of being well hydrated when riding, as I hear the losses in performance can be quite bad even if a little dehydrated. If anyone has any figures on hydration then i'd be interested to know.
And yes, we do want to have fun and take it easy on this tour. We'll be having plenty of pub stops on the way I hope
. It's just that taking it too easy becomes a bit of a chore, as you can't get into a good rhythm and you spend longer in the saddle!
Will make sure he hydrates too. I'm always quite conscious of being well hydrated when riding, as I hear the losses in performance can be quite bad even if a little dehydrated. If anyone has any figures on hydration then i'd be interested to know.
And yes, we do want to have fun and take it easy on this tour. We'll be having plenty of pub stops on the way I hope
black'n'yellow
Guest
thread revival..?
The Jogger
Legendary Member
- Location
- Spain
Well, did he get faster?
