Road ride stats??

[manual63]

Took my road bike out today. I rode to my parents house in SLP. I took Penn to Harriet to Calhoun to the path behind Cedar lake, whatever it's called. In traffic I could only average about 16 or so MPH, but once I got on the big open path, I could maintain between 22 - 24 MPH. My overall average was 18.2 for a distance of 12.8 miles. Not many hills and mostly flat.

In road bike terms....how is that? Is that a good speed, slow, or what?

Just wondering because I was pushing myself fairly hard. I am sure I could push harder, but I didn't feel like dealing with the leg pain. My back didn't get sore at all, so when my back gets sore MTBing, it must be because of the bumps or something.

[stoneage]

As far as I'm concerned, the best way to get in shape for any kind of cycling is riding the road. It gives you the base you need to build on. I ride almost exclusively on the road through April into May depending on the trail conditions. A very simple rule is to alternate hard days (hill climbs, sprints or intervals with rest periods) on say Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays, with, easy LSD (long slow distance) rides on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with Monday an off day. It can get much more complicated depending on what fitness and/or racing level you want to achieve, so think about what you want to do and get some advice from a coach or join a team and take advantage of their expertise. Baba

[nigel]

Hrmmm, well I'd say dont try for average speeds for rides. The best is to just go for time and figure miles as you go. Speed is too hard to do sometimes, especially with wind your body ect.... sometimes if you try and keep an average on a bad day it hurts more than it helps. Saying that 18.2 is not that bad for 12.8 if your just starting out. Id guess most roadies would do 12.8 in about 25 or so minutes on an average ride, i guess my usuall average for rides under 40 miles is around 21.5 or so for a gauge, and im pretty pokey at times.

Ill add to this later, too tired to do more :)

D

[BrightYellow]

my usuall average for rides under 40 miles is around 21.5 or so for a gauge, and im pretty pokey at times
Obviously Doug is in a lot better shape than I am, becuase I usually average between 18 and 19.5 on rides if I'm pushing pretty good. My route(s) definitely include hills and I like the more open road, rather than inner-city riding. Stop lights and traffic are going to affect your average. So, I'd say 18.2 in the city is doing pretty good for recreational riding.

On the road bike I will often ride the exact same route, so it's easy to judge differences from day to day, whether they're differences in how I am feeling, or differences in the weather. For me, road riding gives a good gauge of what kind of shape I'm in.

[manual63]

Yeah, if I was on the open road, I think I would average 21 or so MPH. In traffic and passing rider/skaters in the lakes paths slowed me down a lot. I will have to go out to the Cedar paths and just see how I do from there....maybe Chris and I will ride together sometimes. I think training on my road bike will keep me from getting my doors blown off at Leb my Mr. Lungs!!!

I don't have to time to have a scheduled training plan. I just ride when I can ride.

[nigel]

Me not fast, I got NO miles in me this year, I just have kick ass muscle memory :)

I also try to use cadance for a guide quite a bit too. If your computer has cadance its a great tool, I try and keep between 95-105, 95 is easy, over that is tough for me to keep constant, i like to push big gears quite a bit, must be that sorted unicogger past of mine.

If you ride when you can get rides in, just try and spin too, dont push it, youll still benifit more from a road spin more than mashing it all out. Unless your training for say a sprint race or something off-road, then id mix up some 20 mile rides as fast i you could go just to see where your at.

D

[Rocky Mountain]

Do 5 or more sets of the Kenwood Hills near the Walker Art Center mixed in with the long distance rides of 30 miles and you will be good to go. Road riding sure does make mtn biking easier when I would normally wear out and crash now I am set to do another lap.

[manual63]

Do 5 or more sets of the Kenwood Hills near the Walker Art Center mixed in with the long distance rides of 30 miles and you will be good to go. Road riding sure does make mtn biking easier when I would normally wear out and crash now I am set to do another lap.
Yeah, I used to rest between laps a Leb, but Friday I did 2 consecutive super laps (Intermediate, X, XX, then X to out) without stopping and pushing myself as hard as I could. I think road riding will improve my mountain biking a lot and probably in ways I don't expect.

[grizzly adam]

If you want a better average speed, get off the paths and away from the skaters/walkers/joggers/bikers/runners/dog walkers who carry a bag of poop and get on the road. Don't several of those paths have a speed limit anyway?
You'll feel better riding on the road and you'll be able to concentrate on your pedalling style, rather than going around everyone else who is slower.

[Trevize1138]

If you want a better average speed, get off the paths and away from the skaters/walkers/joggers/bikers/runners/dog walkers who carry a bag of poop and get on the road. Don't several of those paths have a speed limit anyway?
You'll feel better riding on the road and you'll be able to concentrate on your pedalling style, rather than going around everyone else who is slower.
Easy for a suburbanite to say! :crazy:

The greenway/Cedar Lake trail route I take on occassion is really pretty good. Not much bike/skate traffic and the only really broken up parts are the intersections by Uptown and the connection along 169. Best part is I don't have to worry about getting run off the road by a car that doesn't want to move over to get around me.

But, I dunno, maybe I'm a road-riding weenie and I need to just get out there with the traffic and it won't be so bad ... still, I don't know of any bikes that come with protective crumple zones, air bags and seat belts :confused:

[RockHopper5]

[QUOTE=manual63]... but once I got on the big open path, I could maintain between 22 - 24 MPH.QUOTE]

Reason # 246 why I need a road bike. I ride the path from 169 N to Cedar Lake to Calhoun back to 169 and can only average around 16 MPH...depending on traffic/wind/people. Probably would be more if I wouldn't go around Calhoun though, it's pretty slow there.

[okie29]

I think the defacto "gold standard" for road bikes is 20mph average. We have a tandem and that's what we're always shooting for, but since moving here from oklahoma, have only got up to about 19.4 on them chaska hills ;) . So for us, 19.4 is the time to beat. I think you need to identify your own personal best and work at improving that...my take. Of course, they're going like 28(!)mph average in le tour...

Someday I'd like to get a speedo on my Fish29 and see how fast I'm going when exiting Leb. It *feels* like about 30mph, but it's hard to tell ... Any thoughts on MTBs and computers? seems like wireless is the way to go...

[Tetreves]

... still, I don't know of any bikes that come with protective crumple zones, air bags and seat belts :confused:You big chicken! Try this instead:

http://rockgardn.easystorecreator.com/store.asp

You'll feel really safe in that flak jacket...and...umm...the chicks...dig it?...Yeah...that's it...:eyeroll:

[Kosk]

Reason # 246 why I need a road bike. I ride the path from 169 N to Cedar Lake to Calhoun back to 169 and can only average around 16 MPH...depending on traffic/wind/people.I commute on a 22" alum mtn frame with just a 46 tooth single ring and an 8-pack in back, along with 26x1.5 slicks. I usually cruise easily around 20 mph unless there's a stiff breeze. A little effort and 22-24 mph is doable depending on hills and wind. You should really notice an increase in cruising speed by switching out your bigger nobby tyres for smaller road slicks. The bigger ring helps some too, most bikes come with a 44t as the biggest.

Not as fast or as light as a road bike, but I like the beefier feel for dealing with weather, curbs, shortcuts, & traffic.

[GearDaddy]

Around these parts, hills and wind won't really significantly affect your average speed when going round trip. A simple rule of thumb is to take your "cruising" speed on a flat road with no wind or a cross-wind and then subtract 2-3 mph to get an average round trip average speed guestimate.

I've found that traffic stops and slow-downs actually have a bigger effect on average speed, even with a computer that stops recording when the bike stops. So, my best average speeds tend to be on longer rides, where I'm spending more time on uninterrupted country roads.

If you really want to know how you "measure up", the only way to truly find out is to do club rides, races, and/or time trials. Some would say that the 40k time trial is a pretty good measure of a rider's ability. Cat 4/5 roadies can do them in the 21-22 mph range, Cat. 2/3 roadies can do them in a 24-25 mph range, and Cat 1/Pro riders can do them at an incredible 27+ mph! (can you say "no way in hell!"). Basically, doing a 40k time trial under 1 hour is damn good.

I think most "normal" roadies that train hard can possibly reach Cat. 3. Anyone who can get beyond that would be considered a "gifted" rider.

[RockHopper5]

I commute on a 22" alum mtn frame with just a 46 tooth single ring and an 8-pack in back, along with 26x1.5 slicks. I usually cruise easily around 20 mph unless there's a stiff breeze. A little effort and 22-24 mph is doable depending on hills and wind. You should really notice an increase in cruising speed by switching out your bigger nobby tyres for smaller road slicks. The bigger ring helps some too, most bikes come with a 44t as the biggest.

Not as fast or as light as a road bike, but I like the beefier feel for dealing with weather, curbs, shortcuts, & traffic.
I actually have just put 26x1.5 slicks on my bike and still I cannot turn out anything close to 22-24 MPH for any major distance. I haven't been riding as long as most either. I don't know about the last post either...yeah traffic slows you down but I'd say that most would agree that wind and hills play a MAJOR role in your overall average speed.

[homebrewbiker]

Around these parts, hills and wind won't really significantly affect your average speed when going round trip. A simple rule of thumb is to take your "cruising" speed on a flat road with no wind or a cross-wind and then subtract 2-3 mph to get an average round trip average speed guestimate.

I've found that traffic stops and slow-downs actually have a bigger effect on average speed, even with a computer that stops recording when the bike stops. So, my best average speeds tend to be on longer rides, where I'm spending more time on uninterrupted country roads.

If you really want to know how you "measure up", the only way to truly find out is to do club rides, races, and/or time trials. Some would say that the 40k time trial is a pretty good measure of a rider's ability. Cat 4/5 roadies can do them in the 21-22 mph range, Cat. 2/3 roadies can do them in a 24-25 mph range, and Cat 1/Pro riders can do them at an incredible 27+ mph! (can you say "no way in hell!"). Basically, doing a 40k time trial under 1 hour is damn good.

I think most "normal" roadies that train hard can possibly reach Cat. 3. Anyone who can get beyond that would be considered a "gifted" rider.I just got a road bike and went on one of the "Easy" ride with Erik's Bike Club. I have no issue maintaining ~ 20 over 20 miles. I could see getting into cat 3 with more training. I think you can probably add a few mph when riding with a group than when riding alone. At one point I was going 30 mph on a pretty much flat hill. But I was able to draft the leader so I was not expending a lot of energy. And it was only a 20 mile ride. I am amazed at how fast my road bike is compared to my Hybrid, which does not have knobby tires, but does have a front suspension. Those skinny tires and light frame really make a difference.

[TomT]

[QUOTE=homebrewbiker]a pretty much flat hill.QUOTE]

My favorite kind of hill! :cool:

[homebrewbiker]

[QUOTE=homebrewbiker]a pretty much flat hill.QUOTE]

My favorite kind of hill! :cool:I prefer the downhill hills.:banana: