Slow, slow, no quick slow.

[Davidc]

A stone is easy. It's the next 5 or 6 stone that will be hard. I am 18.5 stone!

I'm 5'10" and around 13st 7lb (in medieval measures). I'd like to be down to 12stone but I just can't get it down any more. I can put it on and then bring it back down to the 13.5 st but that's as far as it goes.

Your problem sounds worse, hope you can find a way to defeat it.

 

[compo]

My weight has really gone on since having a total thyroidectomy and becoming dependent on Thyroxine to replace the missing thyroid hormone. So many people say that thyroxine doesn't cause weight gain, which may be true for many people, but for many it does. This may be down to the efficiency of the body to convert T4 to T3. However the rules of weight loss still stand, eat less move more!

 

[MattHB]

I also think in the New Year, once Christmas is out of the way, I am going to make a determined effort to lose weight. I wonder how many MPH equals a stone in weight!

A huge amount more wattage is required to move even a kilo up a slope. It's truly staggering how much.

Power to weight is everything

 

[Oldspice]

Replace the barrel with a bottle

 

[Pauluk]

I think you definitely loose power as you get older. Couple this with excess weight and it has an even bigger effect. I'm 59 and can't pedal with any where near the power I could when I was younger (say 15 to 20 years ago).

I think you have to increase your speed markedly and consistently to get your average up by any significant amount and its surprising how slowing down in traffic, for lights etc pulls your average down. Seems to me your average speed can be reduced a lot easier than it can be increased if you see what I mean.

Next outing I am going to start my clock at 2 miles and see just how much that first little bit does drag my time down.

Quite a bit I would expect.

 

[screenman]

Do not forget a lot of average speeds mentioned on forums are internet speeds, which often bare no resemblance to real speeds. On my ride today I averaged 34 mph, now I could stop there but I will carry on and say it was only for about 200 yards downhill and wind behind, internet speed talk would not mention the last bit.

As I have said before stick another magnet on the wheel and enjoy to sudden lift in both speed and distance.

Please also remember that you guys are fit, very fit to be able to do those distance at your age as most in that bracket would struggle with 6 miles let alone 60.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Do not forget a lot of average speeds mentioned on forums are internet speeds, which often bare no resemblance to real speeds. On my ride today I averaged 34 mph, now I could stop there but I will carry on and say it was only for about 200 yards downhill and wind behind, internet speed talk would not mention the last bit.

As I have said before stick another magnet on the wheel and enjoy to sudden lift in both speed and distance.

Please also remember that you guys are fit, very fit to be able to do those distance at your age as most in that bracket would struggle with 6 miles let alone 60.

A magnet on the wheel? Huh?

 

[screenman]

What do you mean? Huh!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

What do you mean? Huh!

I don't understand how putting a magnet on a wheel would make any difference?

Am I missing a joke that was set up elsewhere?

 

[screenman]

Now I am not sure if you have a speedo on your bike, if so you will have a magnet on one of the spokes that basically moves something inside the part attached to the fork leg which then sends a signal to the bit on the handle bars. " magnets = 2 signals and the bit on the bars reads twice as fast.

To surmise, sorry but you did miss my very poor attempt at humour.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Now I am not sure if you have a speedo on your bike, if so you will have a magnet on one of the spokes that basically moves something inside the part attached to the fork leg which then sends a signal to the bit on the handle bars. " magnets = 2 signals and the bit on the bars reads twice as fast.

To surmise, sorry but you did miss my very poor attempt at humour.

Ha, now I get it! Very good

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I think a magnet on each spoke might be fun. My cheap replacement Decathlon one would probably catch fire. But don't worry, with the speed I'll be going at it will blow itself out again in no time.

58 and getting slower, just that I'm getting slower at a slower rate than you. (Actually, to be fair, I'm mostly riding a tourer this year and it really doesn't want to go any faster than its own speed - which wasn't in the technical details - and I'm adapting to it. Slowly.)

Hang on, if I get slower than you at a slower rate does that mean I'm twice slower than you?

 

[compo]

It's a moving average. My clock stops when I stop. However this morning I was non stop. Next outing I am going to start my clock at 2 miles and see just how much that first little bit does drag my time down.

This morning I did just that. I went out on a short 12 miler but didn't start my computer until the two mile mark so I was nicely warmed up. My average speed over the remaining 10 miles was 11.9 mph. I was pushing it along a bit, especially up the couple of hills on the route.

Also I taped my sat-nav to my bar extender. That constantly read .7mph (point 7) faster than my bike computer. I would have thought the sat-nav to be the more accurate. It is beyond my arithmetic abilities to work out the difference that would make to my average speed, or if I should add or subtract a few mm's from my wheel circumference setting. (I am not going to obsess over a small inaccuracy by the way. A few yards a mile isn't going to be the end of the world).

 

[Davidc]

^^ That would suggest that the figure you have in the computer for wheel circumference is wrong, but the difference shouldn't be constant for all speeds.

The satnav and computer will never consistently be quite the same. The satnav doesn't measure (afaik) the up and down bits, just the horizontal component, whereas the cycle computer measures the length of tarmac you've crossed. The difference you quote, if taken at 10mph, is far too high for that to be the cause though.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Why are we worrying about average speeds? The most important thing is the enjoyment, as long as you are enjoying the ride thats all that matters. I'll be 61 next month, I've had angina in the past, my speed, both average and top is down a bit and I can't keep up with the club lads like I used to, but out on a Sunday ride, or a commute, the grin readily comes to the face after a mile or two and I still get that feeling of anticipation before the ride same as it always has, thats whats important.