What is your average speed.

I have been scrolling through many cycling websites and found that one person said he conducts his endurance rides at 18 mph! Now I don't know for the rest of you but I went out yesterday for 2 and 1/2 hours (quite a windy) tempo ride heart rate ceiling of 163bpm and cadence between 70 and 85rpm averaged 18.2 mph. I got back home and my perceived exertion would be arounf 6.5-7.5 out of 10. during endurance rides I average around 15mph. heart rates 133-143 cadence 90+.
I think 18mph is a good hard ride I have been cycling seriously for about 8 months now, let me know your perceived rate of exertion
heart rates and for those with power meters watts aswell.
Cheers

 

I measure my base rides purely on heart rate. As long as I stay within the "endurance" zone, I couldn't care less if I'm doing 15 mph or 25 mph. I've done "base" rides with some of the local pro's, and their notion of "base" compared to mine is completely different. They sit and chat and make jokes with each other, while I'm silently slipping into cardiac arrest.
It's all about your level of fitness. You might have to ride harder than me to reach your "endurance zone", which means that I have to ride even harder to keep up with you.
I also find that my PRE differs from day to day. A nice 20 mph/6 PRE ride today becomes a sweaty 20 mph/8 PRE tommorow.

 

When in a group its not fast I've done 6 hour base trainings averaging 32-33k an hour but also at 27(alone in front all day) or even 24(mountains).

Tomorrow I am on for 6 hour probabely 28k/h average or so(but as VO2 say Heart rate is the important thing when you want to improve).

Its just that so many variables are involved, bunch? Flat? wind? Road Condition? Traffic lights? rain?

 

Club runs at home are completed at 21 to 22 mph average. We all take turns on the front and the last 30 minutes (sometimes of a 5 hour ride) are through and off (with 10 people). Last time I was out we average 30 mph over the last 30 minutes with my computer showing peaks of 35 mph lasting 2 minutes or so. Its good when you're fit and its better when your fitter than your friends!

 

Average speed tells a lot about your fitness. I've talked about it on the maintaining form topic.

20 mph doesn't sound very fast, but most racers will find it difficult to hold 20 mph for an hour by themselves.

Sean Yates said it's hard for him to hold 22-23 mph on training rides by himself. He was turning out 49/50 minute 25's at the time.

Many elite/pro level riders can hold 21-23 mph or more for hours.

I remember Adrea Tafi in the 1995 Tour of Flanders. He was in a mostly solo break (he dropped his companions) for over 100 kilometers and when the pack finally caught him he was holding 25 mph. He was a domestique and had only won 7 small pro races at the time. Think of what a top G.C. rider could do.

If you are doing a 1-2 hour ride without structure (intervals), warm up first, clear your computers mileage and average speed and do your ride.

Obviously, wind will effect speed on different days, but over a period of time you will get things dialed in and see if you are progressing.

I've ridden the same courses for so many years, I can almost predict the typical winds and typical speeds I will encounter along the way.

If you can only hold 17.5 mph for an hour typically, shoot for 18-19 mph. I used to normally average 17.5 mph for hours. Now I can hold 19-20 mph by myself for 1.5 - 2 hours. I'm stronger than I ever was in the past.

It works!!! Give it a go and see what happens. Don't worry about anything except your speed. Constantly look at your computer and if your speed drops below your goal, get it back up right away.
Once you get stronger, raise you goal average speed 1 mph or so. Constantly push and raise your performance expectations. You will have to go a lot faster than your goal to maintain it.

It used to be hard for me to work a 53x17 for long periods. I'm getting to the point where I can work that gear at 80-100 rpm with winds for most of my rides, with time spent in the 15 cog as well. I got the idea from Sean Yates. He says he doesn't train with anything bigger than a 53x17!!!

I'm going to keep pushing until I'm holding 21-23 mph for and hour or two. Even then I probably wouldn't be happy and would shoot for 23-24 mph!!!

Have Fun!!!

 

J-Mat says

Average speed tells a lot about your fitness. I've talked about it on the maintaining form topic.

20 mph doesn't sound very fast, but most racers will find it difficult to hold 20 mph for an hour by themselves.

>> disagree When talking of competiton rider 20mph is'n hard for an hour, this is wat I do with a smile on my face.

Sean Yates said it's hard for him to hold 22-23 mph on training rides by himself. He was turning out 49/50 minute 25's at the time.

Many elite/pro level riders can hold 21-23 mph or more for hours.

I remember Adrea Tafi in the 1995 Tour of Flanders. He was in a mostly solo break (he dropped his companions) for over 100 kilometers and when the pack finally caught him he was holding 25 mph. He was a domestique and had only won 7 small pro races at the time. Think of what a top G.C. rider could do.

If you are doing a 1-2 hour ride without structure (intervals), warm up first, clear your computers mileage and average speed and do your ride.

Obviously, wind will effect speed on different days, but over a period of time you will get things dialed in and see if you are progressing.

>>this is ok

I've ridden the same courses for so many years, I can almost predict the typical winds and typical speeds I will encounter along the way.

If you can only hold 17.5 mph for an hour typically, shoot for 18-19 mph. I used to normally average 17.5 mph for hours. Now I can hold 19-20 mph by myself for 1.5 - 2 hours. I'm stronger than I ever was in the past.

It works!!! Give it a go and see what happens. Don't worry about anything except your speed. Constantly look at your computer and if your speed drops below your goal, get it back up right away.
Once you get stronger, raise you goal average speed 1 mph or so. Constantly push and raise your performance expectations. You will have to go a lot faster than your goal to maintain it.

>> I disagree

This is what racers smilingly call the recreational rider error fixating on speed. First to improve you should do enough of base work, the performance people find of themselves to be able to do for an hour is much more intense then base work If you use this as a mesurement you will e riding hard but exhausting your body to hard. Get yourself a HRM an learn to work for it and concentrate on base rides primarely.
Certainly the keep your speed up there is with all respect crap. Speed is influenced by road surface, wind, slope and lots of other variables so its perfect possible that your speed varies a lot and that your a still doing a more or less constant nice base work effort.
Do not fixate on speed.



It used to be hard for me to work a 53x17 for long periods. I'm getting to the point where I can work that gear at 80-100 rpm with winds for most of my rides, with time spent in the 15 cog as well. I got the idea from Sean Yates. He says he doesn't train with anything bigger than a 53x17!!!

I'm going to keep pushing until I'm holding 21-23 mph for and hour or two. Even then I probably wouldn't be happy and would shoot for 23-24 mph!!!

Have Fun!!!

 

I have been scrolling through many cycling websites and found that one person said he conducts his endurance rides at 18 mph! Now I don't know for the rest of you but I went out yesterday for 2 and 1/2 hours (quite a windy) tempo ride heart rate ceiling of 163bpm and cadence between 70 and 85rpm averaged 18.2 mph. I got back home and my perceived exertion would be arounf 6.5-7.5 out of 10. during endurance rides I average around 15mph. heart rates 133-143 cadence 90+.
I think 18mph is a good hard ride I have been cycling seriously for about 8 months now, let me know your perceived rate of exertion
heart rates and for those with power meters watts aswell.
Cheers

As mentionned several times before speed strongly varies by condition but to give you an idea I 'll state some of my numbers.

Conditons 22years old, 1m85 73kilo's, sprinter type, rest heart rate 50(used to be 38 in the good old days when I was a decent 16 y.o. climber), max rate 201, roads mostly flat winds present but no really hard winds. Race since 14 years old haven't trained seriously during 2000-2002 period due to university studies paced up training level considerabely about 3months ago.

165k 28,4k(17,75mph) average HR 137 this is what I consider a low intensity base ride 80% of the time I was riding alone or as first of the bunch.

160k 26k( 16,25mph) very low intensity ride heart rate +-115 all day in front (I ride as a coach of younger lads and girls pacing the bunch, but this is to slow to be real training for me) , this is what I call a sleeping ride, you ride slow and actually its just long but for the rest exhaustion not much.

168k 32k(20 mph) endurance bunch ride heart rate 140 75% of the time hanging in the wheel. This are keep going rides only duration is exhausting, speed is not or only little difficult, real base work.

I ride about 27k/h for relaxation rides 30 for training and 43 for racing.

 

hmm i think doing rides and just concentrating on speed is good to do now and then but only to see how your improving. I dont thing hammering all the time for high average speeds improves you the quickest , infact it probably makes you tired quicker. I have to agree with maarten.

Intervals, Easy rides in between help with rest/recovery wich help you get better quicker.

Ive Improved Heaps ever since iv done 1 training ride a week with 1 or 2 blokes who where a lot stronger than me. their hr used to always be 10-15 beats lower than mine on the ride. Now the hr rates are the same or mine is sometimes lower than theirs.
This is a real indication that you are improving. IMO

 

You should worry more about heart rate and power. there are too many variables in the environment to go by ave spd alone. I do get a bit fixated by speed, I spose most of us do. I use to feel if I didnt averge 32km/hr I wasnt riding well, or had a slack ride. The problem was somedays the wind was 40km/hr and I would be killing myself, and other days it was windless and I may do 30 somthing easy. Which day was I doing the best base/endurance/strength..... whatever training????? you cant tell from ave spd.

 

tomb;

18-25Km/h. Depends on the duration, grades, and amount of wind during the ride.

-CG

 

This is an interesting thread. When I started riding my road bike regularly (about 7 years ago) I focused exclusively on speed. For the past year or so I have used heartrate and time for all my training rides. I don't think I ever ride a regular training ride much faster than 18 miles per hour. I am able to do a timetrial in the low to mid 20's (mph) depending upon the distance. Because of consistent endurance training since last fall I can keep up with faster group rides (19-20 mph with lots of hills) and I can climb without maxing out my heartrate. I do agree it is fun to ride and check your average speed. The only way I can maintain a high average speed is to push hard and no resting or intervals. Speed in a group is obviously eaiser with the drafting and constant push of the group ride. Any way, it is all good. Don.

 

We went on a slow 100km ride Saturday (the same course as a stage on a upcoming 3 day womens race - the girls with us wanted to preride it to see what to expect) and though it was windy and cold, we managed just over 27km/h.

 

My training finally starts to pay of. I went for a solo ride last sunday. Not very windy, but rather cold, rain for +/- 1 hr, mostly flat roads, about 20 km hilly (Heuvelland, with the famous Kemmelberg, although I didn't do that hill)

So: distance 168 km, av. HR 151, av speed: 31 km/h
Didn't feel very tired afterwards, but got a short cramp the day after, guess because I'm not used to doing these distances yet

Niek

 

Or your recovery programme could be better (i.e. nutrition and hydration strategy).

 

Hi 2LAP,

I started following your advice and did improve my nutrition:

* more fresh vegetables
* no more chocolate
* no more sugary snacks in the afternoon
* drastically reduce the coke light (only 1 or 2 cans a week and only during lunchtime

I drank about 1,75 l Extran on the bike and had about 0,5 l water just before riding. Maybe I didn't drink enough afterwards.

My biggest problem is getting enough sleep though.

My average schedule:
I ride +/- 5 times a week. Usually 1 easy day: 1,5h at 65-75% MHR, ! day long intervals: 3X 25 min between 85-90% MHR,10 min recovery in between, easy spinning, 20 min warm up and 20 min cool down, 1 day 1 hr sprinting ride, not very structured, 1 easy endurance day: 3-4 hr at +/- 75% MHR, 1 less easy endurance day 4-5 hr at 80-85% MHR or sometimes at lower intensity when I'm not feeling very well

During the week I can't get more that 6-6,5hr sleep. I have to get up at 5:15 to avoid trafic buildup on my way to work. During the weekends I sleep 9-10 hrs.
Maybe I just can't get enough sleep

Niek

 

Nferyn:

Your biggest problem is sleep not food. You need a lot more sleep than 6-6.5 hours, and that would be low for "normal" people who don't ride. If you ride hard you are an athlete regardless of whether or not you are getting paid for it. Athletes need a lot more sleep. Indurain slept at least 10 hour a day.

As for the food, don't stress over that so much. Lots of top riders suck down can after can of Coca Cola before, during and after races. If your body needs to make muscle glycogen (stored carbs) anything sweet or starchy will work. That means Coke, chocolate, sugary snacks, frits, etc. You can also get it from "healthier" food sources like whole-grains, vegetables, etc, but it is often much more convienient to drink a can of Coke. Eat a balanced diet, and have some "junk" food if you feel like it.

Soreness and stiffness are part of being a rider. The harder you ride, the more important it is to do an easy recovery ride the next day, rather than take a day off. A light 30 minute trainer workout will often work out the stiffness and soreness that day. Keep your heart rate and cadence low. If you take a day off the bike, you will likely still feel some sorness/stiffness the next time you ride.

Eat a balanced diet and get a lot more sleep. Go to bed earlier if you have to. Unless you are one of the very rare people who can function normally on reduced sleep, you need at least 8 hours a day, more if you train hard and have to work full time.

Good luck!!!

 

I've read this a few times about easy days now (ie the low cadence reference). My 2 easy days of the week are Mon and Fri. Both days I do 0.75 - 1 hr on the trainer between about 55% and 60% MHR for recovery. Cadence I keep to 95-100 (my usual range).

When you say low cadence for easy days, how low? What difference is it going to make if I ride my recovery days at a cadence of 95-100rpm rather than a low one? I'm guessing it doesnt really make that much difference, as long as I'm keeping the resistance minimal and keeping my HR in the presribed range?

 

For road riding, I would consider "high" cadence to be anything over 95 rpm. There is no hard definition for this, and varies depending on who you talk to. Most people ride between 75/80-100 rpm. I do most of my riding between 90-110 rpm.

More muscular soreness/damage will result from higher cadences. Since you are fried and trying to recover, it doesn't make much sense to keep the pedals turning fast like you would during your normal training. There is nothing wrong with using higher cadence, but you are tying to recover, and pedalling at 60-80 rpm will give your tired muscles more of a break. Get on your trainer, grab a magazine, and turn the cranks slowly.

The primary function of a recovery ride is to pump oxygenated blood to damaged muscle cells. This allows cellular debris to be removed, and helps with muscular repair and glycogen resysthesis.

Give your muscles a break and slow down your legs!!!

 

for my rides now the average cadence is around 90. My max cadende so far has been 174 in gear 1 at 45kph what about every one else?

 

I rode my first century of the season today. 109 miles in 5 hours and 40 minutes. Ave speed close to 20 mph, but not quite. Ate granola bars and sucked down 5 gatorades and 3 sobe energy drinks on the trip. Was tired at the end, but who wouldn't be. I am feeling okay now, but legs are stiff. Plan to do an easy day tomorrow of about 20 to 30 miles. My cadence today averaged 90 on the center chain ring and the fifth cog. Terrain was rolling with only a few steep hills to contend with. Ride took place in Southern Michigan. What a great day!

PS Rode a RANS V-rex recumbent.