Average speed for beginner

[luuri]

Hello everyone! So, two weeks ago I bought a bike for commuting, namely Author Compact (http://www.author-bikes.com/bikes/2012/compact-2012-en/), but to my surprise I got very excited to see how fast and far I can go. So far I have done 170 miles on it, doing 25-40 miles at a time (I have no biking experience save for when I was a kid, now I am 24). Today I decided to check how fast I can go. After half an hour my average speed was 16.7 miles, after an hour 15.9 and then I had to rest for a good 10 minutes. Road was flat. Is that more or less acceptable? Also, how much difference would a real road bike make? Thanks in advance!

 

[alienator]

That's fine for you. How fast someone goes is an individual thing. There is no rule that says how fast someone new to cycling or returning to cycling after a long break should go. The only thing you should expect is that if you stick with it, you'll be going faster in the future.

 

[limerickman]

For a beginner there is no "set speed" at which you should ride.
My advice is to ride at a speed that you can maintain but is close to 90% of your current speed capacity.

So if your flat out speed threshold is 20mph at the moment, if you can maintain a consistent pace of 18mph throughout your ride, your fitness levels will increase and your speed threshold should start to increase beyond 20mph.