Trouble Getting Averge Speed Up, Your Experiences?

[Peter91]

Just over a month ago I posted here asking what road bike to get, I went with http://www.rutlandcycling.com/28851/Raleigh-Sprint-2010 with a 55cm frame, down from £400. So far I've done 238 miles and absolutely love it, but I thought I'd be able to average about 17mph no problem but am only managing to do around 13mph avg. What sort of speeds where you getting when you first started?

Thanks.

edit: *average

 

[Garz]

Why are you aiming for 17 specifically?

I'm not too sure if I focussed on averages back when I started I think I was more distance orientated. In the summer conditions (dry roads, warm air) on a shortish (24 mile) flat loop I was around 17mph.

Averages are effected by a number of factors such as wind, terrain, temperature, street furniture, wet etc . You shouldn't beat yourself over it and get on with mileage, form and gearing to start with; the speed will come.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I have just increased the average on my commute quite a lot. My commute is 9.5 miles each way and I was averaging just over 13 mph. This is all I was doing as I have not been cycling long and have a knee that had a major operation 1 year ago. How I improved it was that I did a few 30 milers whilst I was off last week. When I came to do my commute on Tuesday which is way less distance I found I could go much faster and averaged 14.7 mph. Probably not much help but that's how I got quite a bit faster on my commute by increasing my fitness I guess

I should also add that when I first started commuting I was using my Marin Mill Valley Alp hybrid that is around 7 years old. I got a Specialized Secteur Sport road bike a few months ago and I too was expecting to see a difference in my average speed on my commute. I saw none, and if any very small. Then again the Marin is not that heavy and has fairly light wheels thin tyres etc. Still I feel better riding the Secteur so that's all that counts.

 

[accountantpete]

I'd say 13mph on that bike is about right.

Getting a better pair of wheels and tyres would add say 1-2mph.

Otherwise you speed is governed largely by your leg muscles and these don't develop overnight. 18 months of reasonable training and you should be at the 18-20mph mark.

 

[cloggsy]

I commute 12.8 miles each way and tonight I have improved my average speed. I have been doing the journey in 45 minutes at an average of 17mph. Tonight I managed 42.05 minute at an average of 18.29mph

I am commuting on a Boardman Team Carbon 2010, which only weighs 8Kg's + my lights, water bottle, pump etc fitted. I've been commuting since the 4th April, so not long...

Loving every minute of it, plus its helping me lose some of my considerable bulk

 

[515mm]

Sprint training.

After a thorough 20min warm-up, sprint for 30seconds flat out - maximum effort then take 90 seconds recovery just turning the pedals over in a low gear getting your breath back. Three of these back to back then ten minutes at a decent pace then three more sprint/recoveries. Only do this once a week though - it's very hard on your body.

After a few weeks do two sets of four then two sets of five a few weeks later. You'll get much faster IF you have the inclination to keep them up. Like I said, they are tough but it's only an hour a week.

Take ten mins to warm down on the way home then have a really good stretch when you get in before your shower. Look up hip flexor and hamstring stretches on a phisio site. I adore the effect hip flexor stretches have. I can spin much faster cadences these days and feel so loose, comfortable on the bike and 'on-top' of the gear I'm spinning.

Good Luck!

 

[WychwoodTrev]

Hi peter I too am a nebie to cycling when I started
My av was 12mph I was obsessed with timing every ride
now I jjust go out and have fun go on longer rides at the weekend just takingit easy but realy attacing the climbs .now I have just timed a shorter route 10 miles and got a17.6 av

 

[david k]

i get the same, i try not to dwell on it

 

[the_mikey]

If the roads were all flat with smooth tarmac and the weather was still, I'd average about 24mph!

My average speed on my last ride was 14mph over a 27 mile ride.

 

[Globalti]

Went out for an evening blast last night with my regular cycling buddy; we tried to be a bit more disciplined about taking turns to lead. It was a hilly ride with some long flat sections thrown in, we rode hard and over the 32 miles we averaged 17.9 mph. We were quite pleased with that.

Think I rode my nuts off though, couldn't find 'em when I got home.

 

[david1701]

depends on the roads, if its a hilly loop thats good, anything better than a 10mph average round here is ok going but there are a lot of hills

 

[2Loose]

My commute average has varied between 11 and 18 mph depending on traffic and lights at junctions or railway crossings over the last 5 years.
On a longer ride on the open roads, that average is much higher because of less stop\start so I think trying to up your average during a commute is quite pointless because it can be easily affected by too many variables which are not of the riders making.

Average over a 20 mile run out in the countryside will be far more accurate way to gauge performance and subsequent improvements.

 

[amaferanga]

Just ride your bike and don't worry about your average speed for now. Then when you've got a decent level of fitness you can start thinking about training to get faster. For now, just ride. Sometimes ride hard, sometimes take it easy.

And don't worry too much about what forumites claim to average as there's a well known forum bullsh@t factor that increases the average speed of a lot of people that have issues (and then there's the fact that one persons hilly is another persons pancake flat).

 

[asterix]

The main consideration in getting speed up is of course strength and fitness. Only motivation and practice will lead to those.

If as you say, you like the bike you are riding then it's probably fine for the job and spending loads on something better is not the answer. That is the big difference between cycling and motor sport: you aren't going to get nearly as much improvement for your money in cycling.

Unfortunately I have no idea what my average speed was when I started. There were no cycle computers or lycra, I used to ride in jeans and trainers on my century rides and my times on them was between 7 and 7.5 hours, elapsed (I didn't stop much!). My target for the next one is simply under 8 - it's a toughie apparently and I shall do it on a steel audax bike with 700 x 28s because I have seen the roads and they are rough in places.

 

[marinyork]

What sort of speeds where you getting when you first started?

Thanks.

edit: *average

Started out about 7 or 8mph, rapidly increased to 10mph and then 11mph. Stayed at that level for the next 5 years (that's still faster than most cyclists round here).

In my experience your typical cyclist is a lot slower than a lot of the silly times posted on the internet. It is of course perfectly possible to get 15,16,17mph (or even higher) averages but these people were perhaps a lot fitter when they started and had the muscles to suit and trained very hard. They may also live in flat places too. These are the elite riders of the 'normal' cyclists.