# What is the accepted way to calculate you avg speed for a long ride?



## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Im still new to road fun. I've been on mtb for 3 yrs. 

I have been enjoying the long distance solo road rides in the 65-90 mi range. Didnt plan it like that, I just like them. 

I calc avg speed by total distance and total time. It seemed the logical way. This includes all stops (usually 3 at the most, 1 is my general goal). 

I did the Livestrong ride in Austin a few weeks back with 90.2 mi in 6:13. It was mostly solo really as my buddy and I kept getting separated. So, I figured 90.2/6.21 = 14.5 mph avg speed. 

This included my 3 water refills, waiting for a friend so he made the right turn, helping the same friend with a crash, and missing a turn myself later on. 

So, I look on my computer and it says 17.6 avg***. It was set to only record moving time. So, I kind of disregarded it. 

I get back and some of the other guys in our ride team are talking about 17 mph avg and such. I was thinking, "Ahhh, you came in AFTER me......how were you faster?"

Is there a generally accepted way to get your avg speed? Or do you just toss out the number that makes you look the best, LOL.


***Edit: had to correct the typo 17.6 not 18.6 mph :blush2:


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## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

You stopped for an hour and twenty-five minutes?

And yes, avereage speed is total time and total distance.


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## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

ziscwg said:


> Is there a generally accepted way to get your avg speed? Or do you just toss out the number that makes you look the best, LOL.


In my world, the "generally accepted way" is to generally regard it as an irrelevancy.

I'm sure the king of the freds has a way to do it so it's always over 20 mph.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

doesn't really matter how you calculate average speed because this stat really doesn't provide very useful info.

my computer uses total time (moving and stationary), my riding buddy's only uses moving time.

we ride the same stop-n-go intown route together at the same pace and mine shows 16.2, his reads 17.4.

who's faster?


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## Indyfan (Mar 30, 2004)

What Otox said in his last statement is so true and points to the problem with comparing someone else's data to yours. There are some variables that could cause another person's computer to show they had a faster average than your's. If all things were equal, I'd first think that they had more time stopped than you and were going faster for the times they were moving. Then there's calibration of the computer - both the number we put into it and how the computer actually manipulates the number of times the magnet passes the sensor. Other small things matter, like how you roll up to a stop, negotiate areas of caution, how fast you take off from a stop, how much you walk your bike around during the event (like at rest/feed stops.) So I would just use the info from your computer to compare to your previous efforts. Besides, unless it's really a race, with a podium and actual placements posted, that's not really the point of most distance riding anyway. And that's what draws many of us to it - non competitive.

Bob


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

15mph. Unless it is a race. I use that speed when I plan a ride..."Lesseee, it is 130 miles today, that will be about 8.5 hrs, total" (at a casual pace) That speed has worked for me in planning for many many years..If I am training or feeling macho..I can certainly exceed that pace, but over the years, that seems about right.

Of course, you will go much faster, average speed, in a race as part of a peloton or with your club's 'A-group' on a 50mile weekend ride..

My computer records average speed "when moving" the time quits when you stop...but I compute total time vs total distance, at least for planning purposes...


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks everyone,
I was just trying to gauge my abilities against others. I have recd a few, "hey, let's do this ride together."

I so rarely ride on the road with anyone more than myself. I wasn't sure how to judge where I was. I don't want to get dropped in the first 10 mi, but I also don't want to be waiting 30 min to regroup. I don't restart too well either. If I stop for water, it's off the bike, walk quickly to the fountain(mtb shoes), fill, get back on. 3 min tops is my goal when stopping.


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## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

ziscwg said:


> Thanks everyone,
> I was just trying to gauge my abilities against others.


Average speed, especially for two different courses (but even on the same course in different conditions, e.g., weather, solo vs. a group, etc.), isn't going to provide much of a gauge.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Undecided said:


> Average speed, especially for two different courses (but even on the same course in different conditions, e.g., weather, solo vs. a group, etc.), isn't going to provide much of a gauge.



Hummmm
I see your point. I base my assessment of avg speed solo since I don't play well with others. It would probably be a bit higher in a group situation.

Oh screw it, I'm just going to go out and ride hard and hope I don't get dropped


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## nosaj111 (Sep 19, 2008)

ziscwg,
Just for the record...when someone say's "I typically average 16.5 mph for a 35 mile ride"...they are never including stops. Almost anyone (99 out of 100 people) remove all stopped time from the calculation. Almost all bike computers do the average speed calculation this way.


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

nosaj111 said:


> ziscwg,
> Just for the record...when someone say's "I typically average 16.5 mph for a 35 mile ride"...


Actually, in my experience when someone says that it means that most of the time, when they look down at the speedo, that's what it says.


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

nosaj111 said:


> ziscwg,
> Just for the record...when someone say's "I typically average 16.5 mph for a 35 mile ride"...they are never including stops. Almost anyone (99 out of 100 people) remove all stopped time from the calculation. Almost all bike computers do the average speed calculation this way.


I agree. That being said, there are brevets or rides that long-distance riders do where there are time cut offs and they are all about total time.
You just need to be comparing apples to apples.
I've heard people brag about 5 hour centuries (total time) and then find out they had a sag and never had to stop for water or food. I'm always in the slow line when filling my bottles or getting a banana so my total time is never a good measure of my ride.


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## fast ferd (Jan 30, 2009)

*This sometimes turns into a heated discussion*

Quote:
Originally Posted by nosaj111
ziscwg,
Just for the record...when someone say's "I typically average 16.5 mph for a 35 mile ride"...they are never including stops. Almost anyone (99 out of 100 people) remove all stopped time from the calculation. Almost all bike computers do the average speed calculation this way. 




MerlinAma said:


> I agree. That being said, there are brevets or rides that long-distance riders do where there are time cut offs and they are all about total time.
> You just need to be comparing apples to apples.
> I've heard people brag about 5 hour centuries (total time) and then find out they had a sag and never had to stop for water or food. I'm always in the slow line when filling my bottles or getting a banana so my total time is never a good measure of my ride.


I'm with you guys. There's really nothing gained from stops. Cyclists lose momentum, muscles stiffen, and it takes some effort to get motivated/going again.

If you really think about it, using total time could cause recklessness. Say you're trying to record a personal best 50-miler. It could encourage taking unnecessary risks like blowing thru stoplights and zig-zagging thru traffic. Who wants to see their chances go down the tubes sitting at three-minute stoplights?


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

The OP was looking at his average speed to gauge his relative fittness for a group ride, yes? Depending, of course, on the mind-set and physical condition of your riding partners, you can anticipate your average speed to be much higher. Especially with some riders who are "into it", cooperating well in a paceline and actually trying to "make time"
20mph is a good pace for an all day group of club riders. 20mph alone on an all day ride, that is really pushing.


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

Avg speed on anything but a TT or something without many stops is pretty worthless info. Although comparing 2 identical rides with avg speed could be useful if trying to gauge fitness or something.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

ziscwg said:


> Thanks everyone,
> I was just trying to gauge my abilities against others. I have recd a few, "hey, let's do this ride together."
> 
> I so rarely ride on the road with anyone more than myself. I wasn't sure how to judge where I was. I don't want to get dropped in the first 10 mi, but I also don't want to be waiting 30 min to regroup. I don't restart too well either. If I stop for water, it's off the bike, walk quickly to the fountain(mtb shoes), fill, get back on. 3 min tops is my goal when stopping.



The only way that you are going to find out if someone is a person with whom you are well matched for riding is to do a ride or two with them. This is especially true for long rides. Different people have different ways that they do long rides. For example, I'm the kind of person that needs a long time to warm up. On a 40 or 50 mile ride, I will be much stronger during the second half of the ride than the first half. One group with whom I ride, never stops for more than 2-3 minutes (usually for a pee break) on a 40-50 mile ride. Another group with whom I ride usually takes longer breaks. Now, you probably never will find someone that is exactly well matched with you. But, you never find someone who even is close unless you try. Insofar as being dropped is concerned, I would not worry about it too much. Just make sure that you know how to get back to the begining of the ride and let the group know when you are ready to drop and that you will get back to the start by yourself.


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Sliderule*

Real men ride steel bikes and use a slide rule to calculate their average speed.



ziscwg said:


> I calc avg speed by total distance and total time. It seemed the logical way. This includes all stops (usually 3 at the most, 1 is my general goal).


If a noncyclist ask me how long a ride takes I tell them total elapsed time. No need to brag and it really does not mean anything to them anyways.



ziscwg said:


> So, I look on my computer and it says 17.6 avg***. It was set to only record moving time. So, I kind of disregarded it.


If you are standing around a bunch of bike geeks the computer rules. Moving time only and whatever is displayed is what you brag about if thats your thing. Doesnt really matter much but for some people it does matter. Actually I find it entertaining to listen to them all since I do not have a computer on my bike.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

If you are standing around a bunch of bike geeks the computer rules. Moving time only and whatever is displayed is what you brag about if thats your thing. Doesnt really matter much but for some people it does matter. Actually I find it entertaining to listen to them all since I do not have a computer on my bike.[/QUOTE]

No personal attack meant here on the quoted poster:

Not all who ride with a cyclo computer are Bike Geeks.


I start thinking someone is a Bike Geek when they mount their I-phone or Dingleberry on their bars and spend a lot of time texting, entering data or looking at maps on the screen. When every summit or turn they make is 'entered' and their conversation revolves around figures, data, average speed, grade and power output.


Riding without a computer: I have some friends who "don't ride with a computer" and they'll find a way to mention that to everyone, quite often. Their choice, but that seems pretty 'geeky' they should even mention it to others.... Or maybe 'reverse/geeky'. 

We cyclists haven't all got "the Geek" so bad as a bunch of Jr. High School girls walking through the Mall, each thumbing their smart phones to someone else (or maybe the gal right beside them) rather than seeing or talking to the 'present company"

I often have riding partners ask me..."Hey, how far have we come?" and I go..."Ooops, thanks, forgot to start/zero out my computer" I also find a lot of backroads on topo atlas maps and am curious to see what the actual mileage is after I ride them the first time. I do sometimes use my average speed over an often-ridden route to gauge how my bod is doing, what type of effort I've put out. A watch would probably work as well.


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Nearest 10th*



Gnarly 928 said:


> Not all who ride with a cyclo computer are Bike Geeks.


Certainly agree, but the ones standing around comparing their mileage to the nearest 10th of a mile probably do qualify as geeks. Or the one guy on our rides that starts wanting to compare average speeds as we are finishing. I think he may have shopped for the computer with the slowest restart time so his average is higher or maybe he just miscalibrates his computer on purpose. 



Gnarly 928 said:


> No personal attack meant here on the quoted poster:
> 
> Or maybe 'reverse/geeky'.


No offense, clever phrase.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Keeping up with Junior
said:


> Certainly agree,. Or the one guy on our rides that starts wanting to compare average speeds as we are finishing.
> 
> 
> Now those guys like that....they must be called silly. "as we are finishing"...and "compare average speeds".....almost anyone could 'deduce' that finishing together means you all probably rode about the same average speed. Only a true "Geek" would need his cyclocomputer to confirm an obvious fact like that...
> ...


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*stop?*



nosaj111 said:


> ziscwg,
> Just for the record...when someone say's "I typically average 16.5 mph for a 35 mile ride"...they are never including stops. Almost anyone (99 out of 100 people) remove all stopped time from the calculation. Almost all bike computers do the average speed calculation this way.


People stop on 35 mile rides? I would not even have put a foot down at 35 miles.


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## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

Fixed said:


> People stop on 35 mile rides? I would not even have put a foot down at 35 miles.


I stop at least four times (at stop signs) and maybe six times (two lights) in the first 10 minutes of any ride.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Fixed said:


> People stop on 35 mile rides? I would not even have put a foot down at 35 miles.


I have a 39 mile route that I stop at twice.

Oh, did I mention it has two 7-9% grades going up 2500 ft each. One at 6 miles in and one at 28 miles in. I do take breaks at the top and cruise very slow. Maybe not a foot down, but I'm not moving very fast.


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