# Trying to beat my personal best commute times



## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Well another summer is finally here. My racing days are far behind me, but I like to try and keep doing some intensity in my workouts. I find it hard to keep motivated if there isn't a goal to reach for. So this summer I want to beat my previous best times for my commute route.

So I'm starting this thread. I'm going to record my attempts via gopro. I find, if I record them and know even one person will watch them I will try harder...lol. I bought a chest strap for my Gopro. I figure it's more aero than a helmet mount...lol.

So.....I want to beat my previous best times on a 26 inch wheeled bike and a 700c wheeled bike. My previous best on a 26 inch wheel bike was 18mins 18 seconds for 10.76km's. On a 700c bike it was 17mins and 14 seconds for the same distance. Those times were done 2 days apart from each other, 2 summers ago.

I did a test video today with the chest strap. I rode my Cannondale F4000sl mountain bike with reasonably quick semi-slick XC racing tires.

Keep tuned to this thread for my attempts. I think my best form will come late July and early August. I may make attempts earlier than that. My form is decent right now.

Here is my test video using the chest strap. I hope you like wind noise, heavy breathing and the buzz of knobby tires...


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## PoorCyclist (Oct 14, 2010)

That is nice, you seem fast on the mountain bike, I am suprised the times are so close..
for some reason when I ride the drop bar bike is about 33% faster than my mountain, for example 10 minutes road / 15 minutes on a mountain bike.

I can't seem to put good power down on the mountain bike, it's a 30lb hardtail with 600g kenda kross slicks.. it just seems like I am upright and back and the knee too far forward or something, but I have got the saddle "roadie height", just pedal along maybe 13 mph and on a drop bar bike seems more aero and I can reach 18-20mph easily.

So whats the secret pedalling fast on the mountain bike?


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## z3phrn (Mar 19, 2011)

It seems like you wouldn't be able to top out on a road bike on the MUT, hence the seemingly small gap.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I track my time, distance and average speeds on my daily commutes, but I don't try to break my personal best records every day. For me, that is a prescription for over-training. Most days, I ride at moderate pace, but I'll crank it up a notch 1-2 days a week. Beating my personal bests is more a matter of luck than anything because wind, weather and red lights affect my average speed more than effort. If I'm bucking a headwind all the way to work or catch nearly every red light, there is no way I'm gonna set a record. The past few weeks, my average speeds have dropped about 1 mph due to the extreme heat and humidity. The week before the heat wave set in, I came very close to setting several personal bests on my daily commute several days. My average speeds crashed when heat set in.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

the video is cool, though I know the impression of speed is a little exaggerated by the wide-angle lens. I calculate your record times as 21.9 mph on the mtb, and 23.3 mph on the road bike. Impressive.

You have a great route, obviously with little traffic and good roads and trails. My commute is similar in length to yours (about 10% shorter) and I've never done it faster than a bit over 19 mph (on a fixed-gear road bike). I don't time it very often. But I have 20 controlled intersections (14 lights, 6 stop signs), many with traffic, so there's always some slowing, and often at least a couple of stops. You just keep rolling. 

I would guess that one reason your mtb times are so close to the road bike is the rough transitions and curb hopping, where you have to either slow a lot or pick a longer line with the road bike.

Is that chest-strap mount going to work in the road position?


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

PoorCyclist said:


> That is nice, you seem fast on the mountain bike, I am suprised the times are so close..
> for some reason when I ride the drop bar bike is about 33% faster than my mountain, for example 10 minutes road / 15 minutes on a mountain bike.
> 
> I can't seem to put good power down on the mountain bike, it's a 30lb hardtail with 600g kenda kross slicks.. it just seems like I am upright and back and the knee too far forward or something, but I have got the saddle "roadie height", just pedal along maybe 13 mph and on a drop bar bike seems more aero and I can reach 18-20mph easily.
> ...


 Helps to have a really, really, really nice mountain bike. Hahaha. Mine is barely over 20 pounds. Only 2 or 3 pounds heavier than my "road bike." Which is a cyclocross bike. 

The front fork has a full lockout which really helps, especially when you are out of the saddle. 

Tires. When I did my personal best I used 1.5 inch slicks. I will use slicks when I go for my attempt.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

JCavilia said:


> the video is cool, though I know the impression of speed is a little exaggerated by the wide-angle lens. I calculate your record times as 21.9 mph on the mtb, and 23.3 mph on the road bike. Impressive.
> 
> You have a great route, obviously with little traffic and good roads and trails. My commute is similar in length to yours (about 10% shorter) and I've never done it faster than a bit over 19 mph (on a fixed-gear road bike). I don't time it very often. But I have 20 controlled intersections (14 lights, 6 stop signs), many with traffic, so there's always some slowing, and often at least a couple of stops. You just keep rolling.
> 
> ...


I have both those personal best runs from 2 years ago recorded on my vimeo account. lol

I don't take the most direct route to work. My route actually add's about 2 kilometers, but I avoid 9 sets of street lights and just keep rolling along. That said, a perfect run pretty much needs all green lights and it does happen on occasion. There are 2 lights that I turn right on, where I can cut through a parking lot if the light is red. One is a small office building and the other is a small gas station. Both aren't open yet that time of the morning, so I can just blast through.

Well, my "road bike" is actually a cyclocross bike. It can do pretty much everything that my mountain bike can on my route. The only thing it's lacking is disc brake speed scrubbing power. 

Yeah, chest strap will work, since it's at the LBS being converted to a flatbar set up with some sweet, sweet Avid Ultimate brakes and levers. (Don't hate me)


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## fast ferd (Jan 30, 2009)

I keep track of times and sometimes attempt a PB. Like another poster said, it involves lots of luck. AND, the boss man has got to be out of town, since I'm basically shot all morning!

23 mph? Dayamn...with my 24 miles, I'd be toast all day!


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## Steve B. (Jun 26, 2004)

The only issue I have with using a commute as the "go fast" ride is the greater potential for trouble.

Maybe it's me, but I either commute early, or at rush hour and neither time (for me) is good to try to go fast and beat a time record. At the end of the day, I'm already tired from work and the last thing I'm able to do is to pay even closer attention to all that's going on around me. Thus I tend to use my commutes as my easy/recovery day. 

Note that you have a different commute, with mine a partial Brooklyn, followed by south shore Long Island, neither of which offers much in the way of long easy stretches with no lights, no cars, etc... I pretty much have to be totally clued in to my surroundings and going balls to the wall invites problems, thus I envy you in many ways, but am also grateful my commute is easier.

SB


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Update.... 

Going to give it a go tomorrow morning. We shall see how it goes. Like I said, the traffic lights must be on my side. Too many reds and I have to abort. No chance in heck.

Morning temps matter too. When I did that test video it was 5 celcius. Not exactly a speed friendly temp. Tonights overnight low is 9 celcius. Not much better. Too cold for just shorts, so I will wear tights. My previous best times were set at 12-15 celcius.

I'm not a doper, but I'm kinda, sorta cheating. When I did my previous best times, I had a backpack with my work clothes and a tube, pump, etc. Today I rode my motorbike to work and brought a second set of clothes for tomorrow. So no backpack required. Although I forgot underwear, will have to stuff those in my jersey pocket!

Also, I am running 26*1inch slicks on the Cannondale as opposed to the 1.5's I used previously. It's a risk due to the urban assault tactics that are sometimes required. 

When i did my previous best 26 inch wheel time. I had a 11-32 mountain bike cassette. The gear is all wrong for this sort of riding. I spent most of the ride in the 44*13 feeling spun out. The 44*11 was just too big most of the time.

I now have a 12-27 road cassette on the bike. I miss the 11 on fast downhills, but I have a top gear I can use more of the time.

Pics of the bike battle ready....











I think the lefty design is pretty aero for a mountain bike. What do you think?


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*luck*



Keski said:


> Update....
> 
> Going to give it a go tomorrow morning. We shall see how it goes. Like I said, the traffic lights must be on my side. Too many reds and I have to abort. No chance in heck.


Last summer I set my personal best on my commute. It was the result of some luck, timing, and some very hard training.

I've been doing my commute since 2006, at least 3 times per week. It's 13 miles each way, if I go direct. At least once a week I go hard, sometimes very hard. I've gotten a good feel for the lights and traffic, and how hard I can go.

Last summer I had been doing a bunch of big climbs in the mountains, up to 9,200' elevation. My blood was working very well. 

One day on the way home on a Friday, I felt good. It was pretty hot, around 100 (but dry). I just started going hard, not really intending to set a record. I was on a fixed gear, but geared pretty tall for the road at the time. I was cruising around 25 mph. After a few miles, I realized that I was making all the lights. Nothing was slowing me down. We have great bike lanes, so I was passing lines of cars on the right and timing the lights perfectly. Got about half way and realized what I could do. Bore down even more, sprinting from 1/4 mile out at 30+ mph at times to make lights. Was able to hold it all the way home, with just a few stops, in 34 minutes, averaging about 23 mph. 

The down side is that I kept training hard, and went into deep over training so bad I could barely move, and had to take a week completely off the bike to recover. 

But, the point is that when you combine some luck and good fitness, it can happen. The faster you ride, the more "luck" you create, too, as you may have a better chance of making green lights.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I set a personal best, record fast time on my morning commute today -- despite getting caught by nearly every red light on my route. Cool temperatures, low humidity and a nice tailwind worked in my favor but I could have done much better with a little luck from the traffic signals.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Upate:

Beat my previous best time on a 26 inch wheeled bike this morning. Report and video to follow this evening.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Ok.

Left for work this morning at 7:20am. It was overcast and 13 celcius. I had a mild head to cross headwind all the way. I beat my previous best time by 17 seconds. I'll take it.

I even rode my "beater" bike. It's my winter bike really. A 1997 Rocky Mountain Cardiac. A 42 tooth big ring with a 12-25, 8speed road cassette. I used brand new 1.4 inch Ritchey Tom Slicks at 75psi.

Honestly without the head wind I think I could of been 20 or 30 seconds faster. I really faded the last 5 or so minutes and the headwind really took the edge off my crusing speed.

I had all green lights when and where it mattered. Had I approached a few of the lights faster they would of been red when I got to them. So you never know it's always a crap shoot.

Stats for the ride.
Rocky Mountain Cardiac 26 inch wheel fully rigid mountain bike.
10.75 km = 6.67974 mi. in 18 minutes and 1 second. 
Average speed of 35.8kph=22.25mph. 
Top speed 44.69=27.77mph. 
Average Heartrate 148bpm with a peak heart rate of 160bpm.

Friday I will attempt to beat my previous 700c wheel personal best time. I bought new tires for that too. Panaracer Pasela 700*32c. Fat enough for aggresive urban assualt tactics but looks like they should roll pretty fast. I have Conti 700*28c Gatorbacks to use as well.

Video just below!

Your choice. Youtube or Vimeo.










<p>Work Commute. New Personal Best Time on 26inch wheels. AKA Mountain Bike. 1997 Rocky Mountain Cardiac. 1.4 inch Ritchey Slicks @ 75psi. 42 tooth big ring with a 8 speed 12-25 cassette.<br />
https://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyCyclingVlogger</p>


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