Occasioned by the TDR thread, but just thinking out loud. For how long could you sustain an overall (not just moving) average of 10mph, on a road bike? A century in 10hrs seems like a dawdle. 2 in 20hrs? 3 in 30? I assume some of the Audaxers on here have made these sort of figures.

On a road bike, assuming terrain wasn’t too extreme, probably 2-3 days. With a few months specific training maybe a week – hard to predict how you respond to a few nights with low sleep until you’ve done it.

I did 300 in 23 hours and it felt very leisurely indeed.

I would guess at least to the point of needing sleep, as long as there was nothing too hilly.
I think the year record was about 200 miles a day, so not far off.
Of course if we’re talking about me not “one”, dunno, totally flat and windless with food and drink points waiting for me etc i could go until I picked up a severe injury. 16mph on a Velodrome is a tiny effort for example so you’d even manage a reasonable sleep.

I did 300 in 23 hours and it felt very leisurely indeed

To you maybe, chapeau

It was one way, with a light tailwind, and there were 6 of us, which undoubtedly helped.

i did my last 100 miler in 10 hours including stops. i am steady away.

I’d find it hard on the road bike to sit at 10mph from a time on the bike perspective.

I did a 300 and a 200k audax back to back in one weekend – portmahummock to fitness and back – then tour of the black isle.

The key to doing these long events (HT550, tour divide, Iditerod, etc) seems to be minimising downtime whether that’s sleeping or sitting in cafes/pubs.

E.g. walk in to cafe, order food, while it is being cooked head to toilet, if it’s still not ready when you get back get your water bottles filled. Meal arrives, catch up with social media whilst eating, pay, leave. Can make a difference between having to average 11mph when riding vs 12mph or even 13mph which is a lot.

I have two average speeds showing on my GPS: one is my moving average and one is my overall average which include stops.

I never look at total average, but it is amazing how much time you lose in the course of normal faffing. Definitely the place to make gains.

Same reason stopping whilst doing a 24 solo is a bad idea. No matter how much better you’ll feel after 15 minutes sat down its a total **** to try and get it back!

dunno, 150 miles in 9 hours is about my best (inc stops)

trail_rat – Member
I’d find it hard on the road bike to sit at 10mph from a time on the bike perspective.

I did a 300 and a 200k audax back to back in one weekend – portmahummock to fitness and back – then tour of the black isle.

Aye, but you’re not exactly notorious for hanging around… 🙂

I did a wee experiment. Just trying to sustain a nice, steady effort and seeing how it worked out. I guess all the “lessons” are pretty obvious but it’s handy to have some real-life context.

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2016/07/10.html

Nice ride ..

How long for 10mph overall, not easy at all once sleep is included? Very good going if you can maintain it for a couple of days or more. Josh Ibbet’s TCR win was probably around 10mph overall.

I’ve ridden 4-5 days on road with all my kit and bivi sleep stops and much over 180 miles a day on anything but easy roads needs good time management, a lack of faff, no enjoying your pizza time, brewing morning coffee etc.

The key to doing these long events (HT550, tour divide, Iditerod, etc) seems to be minimising downtime whether that’s sleeping or sitting in cafes/pubs.

True, look at how well IanF rode the HTR this year. The aesthetics of motion. It’s a really nice part of efficient travel, save time then spend it wisely. I’m too much of a tourer at heart for head-down racing at Mike Hall’s level but a couple I know who are on the GDMTBR northbound at the moment said he was happy to chat for a while when they crossed paths. Time gained spent well : )

My effort from a few years ago.

I eventually did 136 miles but the battery ran out and stopped before getting home.
I averaged just over 10 mph for the trip with no stops ( other than to pee )

I did it on this

Interesting experiment Scotroutes…

I don’t have auto-pause enabled on my garmin, the difference in averages compared with other people after a ride is noticeable, especially if there’s a lunch stop or general faff breaks…

I do think people end up with a slightly skewed idea of their ‘average’ speed/pace thanks to such features…

Nice write-up Scotroutes – enjoyed that

10mph is almost the exact average over 4200 miles for the 2014 winner of the Transam Bike Race. His time was 17 days 16 hrs or 424 hours. 9.9mph.

So I guess with a fraction more luck with the weather and wind conditions 4200 miles is possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Am_Bike_Race

For me the longest would be a 125 mile touring day in Kansas. So 12 hrs or so.The second half wind assisted.

That tour was 3674 miles over 56 days. Or 2.7mph average 🙂 But maintain that 2.7mph for a year and it’s 23653 miles per year which sounds a bit better.

My Oregon has both Overall Average and Moving Average should I choose to display them. I guess that for most purposes, Moving Average is pretty useless.

I managed 440 in 32h so faster. My legs were giving out by the end but to be hones the biggest problems were my arse and stomach limiting what I could eat while still pedalling.

At 10mph I don’t think my legs would give out first.

Nice write-up Scotroutes – enjoyed that

+1