# What's a decent average speed for a 30 mile loop? Mixed terrain...



## zuppy51 (Mar 9, 2009)

What do you consider a good average speed. No drafting, for a 30 mile loop with combined, hills and flats and slight inclines. Basically rolling hills. No big downhill sections.

I'm currently back up to about 19.4 average. I occasionally do around 20-21 with a tail wind or no head wind.

By the way, I'm 42, getting back into shape...
Thanks in advance!


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## nOOky (Mar 20, 2009)

I would say that's a good pace. I usually do around the upper 19's for that distance on my ss road bike (44x17) and pretty close to 21 on the geared bike. Depends on what you think rolling and slightly hilly is though...


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Meaningless question without knowing exactly how much climbing is in the loop, the wind conditions etc.
Around where I live a 30 mile loop would have a minimum of 2500 feet of climbing with lots of 10%+ sections and days without a steady 10 to 15 mph wind are rare. Here 20mph would be realy good.
No wind and flat - pretty much anyone who is young(ish) and fit can do 20mph.


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## mr_pitiful (Aug 21, 2008)

Some of the best advice I've ever received was to not focus on speed or time and work on pedal stroke, cadence, and climbing efficiently. Sounds like you've set a baseline, so now work on achieving a better avg mph by improving technique.

It might help to map it out on mapmyride.com and post the link though.

I'm also 42 and on some long rides my avg speed will be 24+mph and on some 15mph. A good head wind can make you feel like your standing still and push your HR up and a few beers, a shot of tequila, and a super burrito the night before can do the same thing. So even on the same loop I've seen a drastic difference in average speed from one ride to the next. 

The speed and time will come naturally as you improve your technique. Here's my example:


http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/felton/738123881376765050

Two years ago a friend dragged me onto this loop and I was doing the 18mi with 1100 feet of climbing at maybe 12mph avg and would be dead after. I was new to biking. Now I typically do it at 19 to 21mph depending on stoplights and traffic and it's that slow because it's my recovery ride on an off day. I almost never stand on the pedals and maintain a high cadence on the climbs so I burn less fuel. I have also learned to use the entire pedal stroke instead of just mashing on the downward portion. My knees are happier and so am I. 

Anyways, best of luck, hope this helps.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Somewhere between 12 & 27 mph, depending on your level of fitness (and your training plans for the day)


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

albert owen said:


> Meaningless question without knowing exactly how much climbing is in the loop, the wind conditions etc.
> Around where I live a 30 mile loop would have a minimum of 2500 feet of climbing with lots of 10%+ sections and days without a steady 10 to 15 mph wind are rare. Here 20mph would be realy good.
> No wind and flat - pretty much anyone who is young(ish) and fit can do 20mph.


Well, he said it was a loop with mild rollers. For purposes of the thread, I understand that to mean we can mostly consider the wind and the elevation to be a wash since he ends up at the same point. Ascent = descent and headwind = tailwind. Not exactly, but close enough.

19ish isn't bad under such conditions, but I wouldn't consider it quite "fast" either. 21+ is starting to be fast.

The one thing not mentioned that kills avg speed is stopping at lights. Even if your computer automatically turns off while waiting, just stopping and starting usually drops my avg speed by an 10th of a mph per light.


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## unit (Jun 11, 2008)

zuppy51 said:


> What do you consider a good average speed. No drafting, for a 30 mile loop with combined, hills and flats and slight inclines. Basically rolling hills. No big downhill sections.
> 
> I'm currently back up to about 19.4 average. I occasionally do around 20-21 with a tail wind or no head wind.
> 
> ...


I find that my answer to this question changes as I get faster. It is sort of like the answer to the question, "how many bikes should a person own?" 

The correct answer is n+1, where n is the current number. For average speed I use "n + 0.1"


As others have probably said, it is pretty individualized to the person, the terrain, and the weather conditions. The only way to really know how you compare to other cyclists is to race against them. You will likely find that you are faster than some, but also slower than some.


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## zuppy51 (Mar 9, 2009)

Thank you all for the perspectives. Excellent feedback. 
I'm going to revisist the purpose of my loop. 

My problem is I enjoy riding mostly alone. SInce my schedule's difficult to coordinate.
I do pass folks regularly, and of course I get passed regularly. 

I also find, I can do my personal best alone, against the clock.



I've actually logged the ride using bikely.com
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/242760
Odd thing is it shows 32.4 miles. Perhaps I need to reclibrate my computer? I'm going to try it on my motorcycle to confirm. But anyway, 

I can do this at about 19.4 mph consistently. Very limited head winds to a a certain section. 
Part of the ride, on the way back south is not protected so the wind can be a challenge.


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## nOOky (Mar 20, 2009)

Quit letting folks past you, it's an insult to your manhood. (At least that's how I look at it!)


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

I'd say if you're not averaging 25+ you may as well get out the wheelchair.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Kram said:


> I'd say if you're not averaging 25+ you may as well get out the wheelchair.



Kram! 



Play nice with the normals.  


To the O.P. if your computer is not calibrated correctly, not only will the miles be off, but MPH as well. Just take the bike to your LBS for a rollout test. Takes just a minute to do.


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## tomk96 (Sep 24, 2007)

Kram said:


> I'd say if you're not averaging 25+ you may as well get out the wheelchair.


lmfao.

i don't have anywhere to ride that doesn't involve a lot of slowing and or stopping. i'm pretty happy with anything near 18 if i get some good efforts in during the ride. basically, that's probably averaging 20+ mph on some open roads while averaging 15-16 while on the MUTs. Since we all ride in different locations it doesn't make a lot of sense to even ask. my avg speed can change by a lot just because i rode some place else.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Kram said:


> I'd say if you're not averaging 25+ you may as well get out the wheelchair.


Or if you're not, you'd better be dancing like a string puppet n the bike while the road goes upwards.

//You have an excuse if your neck and back are effed, courtesy of an idiot though.


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

19-20mph is respectable, 22 is alot better though. Yes with no drafting. (Grumpy I love you  -every time you get me, I wish I could get away with HALF the sh*t you come up with  )


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## zuppy51 (Mar 9, 2009)

You guys are hilarious. LOL!


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

I've been healed, thank you jeebus! Chiropractors are the roxxor!


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## Nashua (Aug 1, 2007)

For what its worth, I just ran a report in motionbased for my local area for all rides that are between 30 and 31 miles in distance. In this report I got 58 individual rides and apporximately 25-30 indiviual riders. the average speed was 17mph exactly with the top speed of 20 mph average and the low average speed was12mph. the average elevation gain was 1,700 verticle feet, and takes place on country roads with few stops. a sample person that road18.1 mph had an average heart rate of 150 beats per minute and 1500 vert. ft gain and average wind of 7 mph. 

For me when I am riding solo I very seldom go over 20mph avg and when I am doing a road course in a race the speed is typically 22-23mph. When I go over my training data from last year my average speed was 16 mph. this is for 5000 miles, average heart rate of 139, which is the start of my zone 2, 81,000 verticle feet climbed, average cadence 82 and a little over 300 hours. this includes warmup and warmdown, intervals, mtn biking racing. I am a cat 4 road and 3 cyclocross and cat2 mtn bike. 38 years old 5' 10 and 170lbs. 

If I was to go out and ride a 30 mile loop at a race pace on typical new england roads, my average would be 19-21 and in a race 22-23 as stated above. If you keep a good journal it will help you in your training and for comparison against your fellow competitors.


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

I think my average for the year is about 21 mph, ~ 1,000 miles. About half that solo. Last night's ride was 38 miles, 22.9 average, 2000 ft climbing. Slowest ride of the year was 60 miles at 17.2, ~6000 ft climbing with lots of steep knee busters.

To be fair, when I ride, I always ride hard. There are no R&R rides. Half the miles are in the "A group" club rides.


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## Nashua (Aug 1, 2007)

*something to strive for I guess?*



Einstruzende said:


> I think my average for the year is about 21 mph, ~ 1,000 miles. About half that solo. Last night's ride was 38 miles, 22.9 average, 2000 ft climbing. Slowest ride of the year was 60 miles at 17.2, ~6000 ft climbing with lots of steep knee busters.
> 
> To be fair, when I ride, I always ride hard. There are no R&R rides. Half the miles are in the "A group" club rides.



Last year you weighed between 210-270lbs at 5'11" and average 21mph. dude that is awsome! and congrats on losing the weight, its no easy task. When you get down to your goal weight you are going to fly. I remember last year wookiebiker having a similiar experience. losing the weight must give you a mental edge.

keep up the good work.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

android said:


> I understand that to mean we can mostly consider the wind and the elevation to be a wash since he ends up at the same point. Ascent = descent and headwind = tailwind. Not exactly, but close enough.


Not true in both respects. Wind is always slower than no wind, and climbing/descending is always slower than riding on the flats. You don't get back what you lose in either case.


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

Kerry Irons said:


> Not true in both respects. Wind is always slower than no wind, and climbing/descending is always slower than riding on the flats. You don't get back what you lose in either case.


That's why I said mostly. For moderate rollers and not very windy the gains/losses are close to equal. The more extreme the difference, the more they begin to not even out.

For example, I get maybe 1 mph difference on the same route between windy and not very windy. Now once it starts to suck* or cranks up to very windy*, then average can really fall down. But I do live in Austin, so my sense of "windyness" is probably way screwed up.

Rolling hills, < 500 ft gain/loss over 20 miles, I'd still call a total wash.

*Windiness Ratings
Not very windy < 5mph
windy 5-10mph
starting to suck 10-15mph
very windy 15+mph


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

zuppy51 said:


> What do you consider a good average speed. No drafting, for a 30 mile loop with combined, hills and flats and slight inclines. Basically rolling hills. No big downhill sections.
> 
> I'm currently back up to about 19.4 average. I occasionally do around 20-21 with a tail wind or no head wind.
> 
> ...


One thing you didn't indicate was how hard you are pushing to get that average speed.
What is your % of LT heart rate during the ride?
Regardless, I think that's a pretty good avg speed.


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## zuppy51 (Mar 9, 2009)

That's a excellent point. I'm normally in my target heart range of mid 140-150's. I often take it up to about 170 during the ride for short stints, typically on climb's. 
Otherwise, I try to do the ride with the point of not being wiped out afterwards. Typically, 3x a week.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Some numbers*



android said:


> Rolling hills, < 500 ft gain/loss over 20 miles, I'd still call a total wash.


If you had 4 miles of 6% grade (1200+ feet of climbing) in a 20 mile loop, assuming you pedaled at constant power throughout (flats, downhill, uphill), your average speed would drop from 20 mph to 16 mph. At your 500 ft of climbing (2.35% grade over 4 miles), your average speed would drop from 20 to 19.1. If you had no flats at all, just climbs and descents, then the average grade (10 miles of climbing) is less than 1%, and it probably is a wash.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Kram said:


> I've been healed, thank you jeebus! Chiropractors are the roxxor!


Does that mean you dance like a puppet on the climbs now?


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## mleptuck (Jul 29, 2002)

*Totally subjective*



android said:


> Rolling hills, < 500 ft gain/loss over 20 miles


That comes out to ~25 feet of vertical gain per mile. I personally would consider that a pancake flat ride. Here in SE PA, I can rarely find rides that average less than 80 vertical feet per mile of elevation gain.

Riding out in eastern Long Island where it IS pancake flat, I usually average 25-30' of elevation gain per mile.

It's ALL relative, so like most in this post have already said, there's no 'right' answer to your original question that can be expressed in terms of mph or kph.


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