# Good Average riding Speed



## jezeisfat (Jun 16, 2005)

I recently decided on the purchase of a road bike after deciding that 30 mile+ rides on my MTB, riding on roads, was probably ineffecient. 

I have ridden close to 100 miles in the past few days on rather hilly terrain and my bike computer has me averaging 13.7 mph. On the flats I cruise at 20mph, topped out at 42mph on a decent and seem to climb around 8-11mph.

My question is, what is a good average speed I should shoot for. On my MTB, I averaged 12.4 mph over 1,000 miles of tracking the info on my bike computer. Should I not see much improved results on my road Bike (Felt F60, Full Ultegra, approx 19lbs).

Any help with this would be appreciated


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## SmellMyGas (Sep 30, 2004)

*shoot for this*

32 mph in the flats (29 if there is a head wind)
54 mph downhill
19-21 mph uphill (the grade does not matter always shoot for this range)



jezeisfat said:


> I recently decided on the purchase of a road bike after deciding that 30 mile+ rides on my MTB, riding on roads, was probably ineffecient.
> 
> I have ridden close to 100 miles in the past few days on rather hilly terrain and my bike computer has me averaging 13.7 mph. On the flats I cruise at 20mph, topped out at 42mph on a decent and seem to climb around 8-11mph.
> 
> ...


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## jezeisfat (Jun 16, 2005)

Those numbers seem insane. Heck, I'd get speeding tickets traveling at 54 mph around town.

Are these numbers for a pro or for someone who is interested in joining in on local club rides?




ICanTearYourLegsOff said:


> 32 mph in the flats (29 if there is a head wind)
> 54 mph downhill
> 19-21 mph uphill (the grade does not matter always shoot for this range)


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## toast (Jan 6, 2005)

*Good target*



jezeisfat said:


> Those numbers seem insane. Heck, I'd get speeding tickets traveling at 54 mph around town.
> Are these numbers for a pro or for someone who is interested in joining in on local club rides?


Those numbers are good to shoot for. They will put you right around the top 10 in the Tour de France.


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## jezeisfat (Jun 16, 2005)

Kidding aside, where should I shoot for some short term/long term goals to be able to keep up with a standard club ride



toast said:


> Those numbers are good to shoot for. They will put you right around the top 10 in the Tour de France.


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## Number9 (Nov 28, 2004)

toast said:


> Those numbers are good to shoot for. They will put you right around the top 10 in the Tour de France.


Those numbers are easy to hit or exceed for short periods of time in an anaerobic state - but if you can do that in an aerobic state, I would expect you to win the TDF.


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## toast (Jan 6, 2005)

*Really*



jezeisfat said:


> Kidding aside, where should I shoot for some short term/long term goals to be able to keep up with a standard club ride


Depends on the club and the ride. 20mph is a reasonable flat land speed for a mid level ride. Faster club rides will be a few mph above that. You will probably find that the hills are where your limits are hit.
The NY cycle club schedules rides with flat land cruising speeds from 13mph up to 23+ to make all riders happy. Club rides will also tend to be a bit longer. Holding 20mph for an hour is different from holding the same effort for 3-4 hours. 
Go out and find a group to ride with, and see how you do.
And see if you are honest with yourself about your flat speed. If you are cruising at 20mph, a 13 mph average seems low unless it is a very hilly route.


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## RodeRash (May 18, 2005)

Part of increasing an average speed over terrain is about technique. Lots of riding will teach you how to not lose your overall average speed on the climbs. You'll be able to pick up lost time on the descents -- even if it's just a short little hill. On the flats you'll figure out where you can fly and where you lose time. 

Probably a huge component in all this is knowing where your LT is. Lactic Threshold, where you move from riding aerobically to anaerobic riding. If you go over the line too much, you'll lose out on the overall average speed. 

Avg speed is about 60% training and 40% knowing how to ride, I think. There are probably some in here who would peg it differently, but there are absolutely two parts to the speed game -- training and technique.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

*Too many variables........*



jezeisfat said:


> I recently decided on the purchase of a road bike after deciding that 30 mile+ rides on my MTB, riding on roads, was probably ineffecient.
> 
> I have ridden close to 100 miles in the past few days on rather hilly terrain and my bike computer has me averaging 13.7 mph. On the flats I cruise at 20mph, topped out at 42mph on a decent and seem to climb around 8-11mph.
> 
> ...


to compare average speed.

If you do a search on this site, you will see all kinds of average speed claims, unfortunatly, most times you are comparing apples and oranges. Things that affect average speed:

1.) Stops and starts, (lights etc.) some computers calculate average speed from the time you turn the computer on to the time you turn it off. Some stop every time you stop. I ride with a guy whose computer does the former, mine the latter.....we never have the same average speed.

2.) Some people don't turn the comuter on until they warm up (they don't want their average speed affected by their easy warm up.

3.) Hills and wind. I live in a flat area with lots of wind. Same ride, same effort, different wind + different average speed.

4.) Some people quote average speed based on what they see mostly when they look down at their computer.

5.) Type of ride. A zone 2 endurance ride, will have a different avg speed for me than a recovery ride, or a heavy interval ride, or a A group ride hammerfest.

Most new riders want to know how their riding compares to others....that's natural. But what is really important is how you compare to yourself over time.....are you getting faster or not (over the same route, with the same sffort). 



If you can sustain 20

for several minutes with no wind, on the flats you are doing ok. 
Len


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## bikejr (Jul 30, 2004)

*...*



Len J said:


> Most new riders want to know how their riding compares to others....that's natural. But what is really important is how you compare to yourself over time.....are you getting faster or not (over the same route, with the same sffort).
> 
> If you can sustain 20
> 
> ...


 In general yes, but if you are trying to hang with a fast group you need some outside data. The best way to get it though is to go on the group ride and get dropped a few times (and get faster in the process), or indeed see that you can hang... 
</ph>


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## cgilker (Dec 7, 2004)

*Agree with LenJ, here is some data*

LenJ has provided all the caveats, so I will simply provide some data:

group ride, think it is 24 miles, rolling hills (nothing huge, long, or extreme gradient)

I rode it at 19.5 average mph:

- "end-to-end" including the "slow" warmup of 10 minutes or so before the pace accelerates
- includes stop times at lights, etc. of which there are seven "hard stops" for lights we never make

I finished with the last group of 4, the other 20 finished before me. Not sure how long before, because I was dropped at about the halfway point, and the lead peloton disappeared out of sight.

I would guess they average 22 mph.


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## StormShadow (Feb 27, 2005)

Don't forget that when you ride with a group that your avg speed is usually higher because you conserve energy by drafting off the people in front of you.


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## BugMan (Feb 16, 2004)

Do not fixate on your average speed - other than to track progress once in a while on a standard route. It's easy for novices to fall into the bad habit of trying to beat their previous ride's average speed every ride. This will result in you doing nothing but time trial type efforts - great for building endurance but easy to overdo and result in overtraining if you do this more than a couple times a week. It also sucks for developing other cycling skills like climbing, sprinting, and enjoying life.

If you want to get faster, just keep riding. Do a group ride once a week and see how long you can hang. If that's a really hard effort, do rides of varying intensities the other days during the week. You can track your progress by tracking how long you stay on the group ride.

Hours in the saddle are much more important than avg speed targets until you've got a few years under your arse.


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## tj69 (Feb 13, 2005)

ICanTearYourLegsOff said:


> 32 mph in the flats (29 if there is a head wind)
> 54 mph downhill
> 19-21 mph uphill (the grade does not matter always shoot for this range)



Good grief.....


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## MikeBiker (Mar 9, 2003)

ICanTearYourLegsOff said:


> 32 mph in the flats (29 if there is a head wind)
> 54 mph downhill
> 19-21 mph uphill (the grade does not matter always shoot for this range)


 So I have to slow down?


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