# Whats a good average speed for 20mi ride?



## O_o

Whats a good average speed and time for a 20 mile bike ride for a male in the early 20's? Some hills up and down but mostily flat.

Thanks for your input.


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## gradosu

I'm very new to biking, but have been involved in rugby for a long time. I typically average 17-18 mph on solo 20 mile rides. I ride where there are some gentle slopes and some moderate head winds. My heart rate monitor says I am usually between 140 and 160 rpm and up to 175 when I'm chugging up the hills with the head wind.


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## Trevor Ash

This is one of those unanswerable questions because it's not possible to compare people and riding conditions 1:1. But I am new enough to remember why you're asking so I'll help. For a new rider (first year riding) in their early twenties, anywhere above 16 would be good in my book. The poster above doing 17-18 is what one might hope to be at in their second year of riding. Then again, I'm in the midwest where the winters screw up most of the efforts from the prior season. It all depends on how serious you are though and your background. Good luck. Just measure your own progress and try not to worry about comparison to others.


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## Mr. Versatile

Trevor's right. There's just no answer. 

Up hill or down? You say there's some hills. How many? How steep are they? How long are they? How close together are they? Was it windy? How windy? What direction? How about the temp? Hot? Cold? High or low humidity? How were you feeing that day? What did you eat that day? What did you eat? How long before the ride did you eat it? What kind of bike...road? mt? racing? touring? What kind of wheels/tires did you use? 

I'm not trying to diss you here. I just want to point out that these are just some of the variables that have to be considered. I've ridden 20 mi alone in around 45 min. I've also ridden 20 mi in 1:45.


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## carbfib

(I agree) Be concerned in "measure your own progress." [Trevor] But @ the same time, one must have a goal. It's like the young seeking an idol. Without that idol, progress.....


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## MR_GRUMPY

Anywhere between 14 and 24 mph.
If speed is what you are interested in, find a group to ride with. (a speedy group)


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## JimGagnepain

Wind can easily make a difference of +/- 10-15 MPH here in Colorado.


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## KillerQuads

If I am back home on the sofa sipping on my recovery protein shake before the hour is up, I am doing pretty good. Usually try to ride more than 20 miles though.


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## ARP

*Not to hijack the thread or anything*

I was thinking about that the other day, all cycle computers I have ever owned have ave speed. I tend to agree that it is an insignificant stat. My only use for it is check it before climbing a hill and watch your ave speed melt away as you climb, it gives you an idea of the effort required while climbing to maintain what you perceive to be a "good" ave speed for a ride.


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## Tugboat

For a new rider it's about time on the bike. Set yourself goals of riding a number of hours each week and then do specific training (intervals, hills, recovery, etc) within that time. Don't get hung up about riding to target speeds or distances.


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## ETWN Stu

good - better - best, never let let it rest! just try to better your self each time you hit the same route.


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## Max-Q

Exactly 21.2776 MPH no more no less.


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## Chompers

O_o said:


> Whats a good average speed and time for a 20 mile bike ride for a male in the early 20's? Some hills up and down but mostily flat.
> 
> Thanks for your input.


55 - 65 minutes


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## asgelle

O_o said:


> Whats a good average speed and time for a 20 mile bike ride for a male in the early 20's? Some hills up and down but mostily flat.
> 
> Thanks for your input.


If you can't average at least 28 mph, you have to stop riding. Sorry, but them's the rules.
What difference does it make? I guarantee you're faster tham some slower than others. Enjoy riding your bike.


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## jhamlin38

You're on the right track. However, I think a regular twenty mile ride is poisonous as a beginner. I strongly believe you should vary your distances frequently. Otherwise your endurance will create a "wall" when trying to go longer than 20 miles. 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the twenties, with a hrate of 175 going uphill leaves you room for more effort to go faster uphill. 
And its more fun to ride with computer.


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## asgelle

jhamlin38 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the twenties, with a hrate of 175 going uphill leaves you room for more effort to go faster uphill.


This is a really dangerous statement. The meaning of heart rate is specific to the individual. Without more information, there's no way to know how hard an effort 175 bpm represents for any particular person. If 160 represents something around threshold heart rate, an effort 15 bpm above this may be approaching max.


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## MikeBiker

I'd post my average, but the battery in my bike computer died in December and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.


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## Einstruzende

I live in what I think is a great cycling area. From my front door I can do 50 flat miles by going south and southwest, or I can do 50 miles of very steep hills by going east. If I go north or west, I can get in another 50 miles of varied terrain.

As expected, my average times vary greatly over them. For the flat route, I can hit 20 mph for a 40 mile ride with hard effort. I have a 25 mile flat route out there that I've done with a max of 21.4 with maximum effort (my Time Trial if you will).

For the steep hills to the east, a fantastic hard effort ride will get me barely to 17.0 on a 30-35 mile ride.

Go north where there are long stretches of flat mixed in with groups of hills, and I can do somewhere in the 18s.

I happen to lead a club ride on Wednesdays, so I'm around groups of cyclists all the time, most of which aren't racers but serious riders nonetheless. The general consensus is that if you can do 19 mph or faster on any of our routes, you're in fantastic shape. I think it sounds right too, but then again we're all riding the same routes so comparing avg speeds among us makes more sense.


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## Travis

tugboats advice is spot on ... focus on the quality of training not a metric that is pretty meaningless due to the variables. Short of buying a power meter.
I own a garmin 305 and you can download other people's rides and race against this virtual partner. Even in that scenario you have no idea of the conditions during that persons ride.

cheers, TWD


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## Dctrofspin

If you ride a really cool carbon fiber Italian bike and wear a color coordinated team kit, than anything longer than 90 minutes is really really good.


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## lionheartdds

Don't worry about what other people can do. Measure yourself against yourself first. I'm new to biking (started biking seriously in Feb of this year), but I ran track competitively in my younger years (am 45 now) and I know what your competitive juices are doing. A great deal will depend on your natural gifts, your age, and your current level of fitness. In April, I biked 45 miler averaging 15.4 mph on a flat road, no stops, and last Sunday, I did 60 miles averaging 14.8 on rolling hills with many more turns and stops, and finished fresher than my April 45 miler, so I'd say I'm pretty happy with my progress going from February till now. It's "good" enough for me, and more importantly, my waist is back to a 28" (haven't been this thin since high school) from a 34" waist in January.


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## bas

O_o said:


> Whats a good average speed and time for a 20 mile bike ride for a male in the early 20's? Some hills up and down but mostily flat.
> 
> Thanks for your input.


26.2 mph. 45 minutes.


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## enki42ea

I'm 26 and average 12-13mph on rides around MD. More slow riders need to get garmins so I don't look so slow on Motionbased.


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## Bluechip

In my yearly milage I just hit 100 hrs. and 1750 miles so I guess I average about 17.5 mph. Those rides include 20 milers as well as 100 milers. Sometimes I average as low as 15 mph and sometimes over 20 mph. There are too many variances to give one answer to your question.


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## hairscrambled

I have a mechanic that checks my computer and says stuff like "you rode 23 minutes at 9.6 miles per hour?". What can I say? It happens.


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## JohnnyTooBad

Depends. Are you getting passed by grammas and toddlers? If not, probably fast enough. If you want to go faster, then... well.... ride a lot and go faster.

Around here, it seems that if you can hold an average of about 20mph, you probably won't get passed, and you'll be passing a lot of people on expensive road bikes. But I just use my cycle computer to taunt me into riding faster. I've found it's very difficult to always ride faster than my average speed (something about averages, I think). But it keeps me going.


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