😆

interested in knowing where abouts my fitness is, i dont race but would like to and would love to know what sort of average moving speed some of you speed demons do to get to said fitness level, or just to see if im about on par with most other riders on here

so here goes last ride :

Average moving speed : 8.3 mph

Distance : 27.43 mi

Elevation Gain: 4,334 ft

now i get that mtb to some is just ‘fun’ but i quite like the competitive edge and theres nowt wrong with a bit of competitiveness(sp?) and im more intrugied to see if that sort of pace vs climb vs distance would be enough to start racing and not come last!

so whatcha’ got

That’s really slow. If I had figures like that I wouldn’t tell anyone

really slow? its peak district riding, on a five, its surely not that slow is it?

hmmmm what sort of average moving speeds to people have to have to not be last in racing?!?!

genuine question by the way

Last techy ride was
12.6mi
Distance

1,824ft
Elevation

01:41:11
Moving Time

7.5mph
average

Not the fastest by any means,

Last mtb ride, in the cotswolds. So road, wooded single track, farm tracks, etc

40.8miles, 3:56 moving, 4:00 total, Av speed 10.3mph, 4137ft climbing.

Not flat out, but not hanging around either, just a pleasant bimble in the summer sunshine.

edit, last mtb race i did i was mid field sport cat.

And last proper road ride,

79.3miles, 4:28moving, 4:34 Total, av speed 17.7mph, 2713ft

And today’s road ride:

23.3mi
Distance

2,045ft
Elevation

01:28:10
Moving Time

15.8mph
average

OP – you need http://www.digitalepo.com/ 😉

rob – looks like i need a road bike ha!

i will add i was hungover on that ride above 😆 but still felt pretty good i must say

mrmo, that sounds quite impressive for the distance/climb with the av speed of 10.3, what bike is that on?

i guess if i wanted to race id ditch the five anyways and get a nice light carbon race machine, should get the pace up a little more!

Trek Top Fuel, Aluminium one.

45mph. More if I shift into 3rd.

My average speed throughout august seems to be around 14mph. That’s mostly for a 15 mile 50/50 on and offroad, not particularly hilly ride with lots of obstacles/gates/twisty singletrack on a CX bike.

I think my hilly road roads are around 16.5mph average.

I’m dead old and would assume I’m not that quick but I never get passed (cheating buggers on modded electric bikes excepted) and I pass loads so from that I’ll take it the 14mph average is above average.

hhhhhmmm i perhaps should have put peak riders only need reply 😆

its difficult to gain judgement with it all really as the climbs in the peak are constantly up and not spread out over 40 miles, ie that ride i did is 28 miles with 4.4k of climb where as yours is 40 with 4k, so some flat/not as harsh riding is spread out over an extra 13 miles which would allow you to get the pace up, you dont really get that around where i ride, its either straight up (vertical!!) and then down again, repeat until legs explode

not having a dig its still quick id say personally, but terrain does make a big difference i guess

again im not having a pop id still personally say mrmo thats pretty quick for an average on a 40 mile mtb ride where ever

Last proper Surrey Hills ride was:

50.9 miles
5,003ft climbing
4:24 riding
11.6mph average

And I was virtually last in my last race!

It means nothing whatsoever though, I really wouldn’t get hung up on it. There will always be faster people, and slower people.

not having a dig its still quick id say personally, but terrain does make a big difference i guess

Not so much terrain, but knowing the terrain is the biggest factor. Did a ride up Mamtor and onto top of jacobs ladder and back a few months back, that was a bit under 8mph, but i don’t know the trails, was stopping to map read, take photos, cursing the headwind, cursing tourists, etc etc.

njee FTW 😆

jesus, thats quite some pace, but i know you race, so your not mortal 😉

but it defo gives me perspective that i would be shit/last at racing 🙁

mrmo, yep its very similar to mam tor, the climbs in question are all trig points on my 28 mile route, so they are exactly like mam tor (some maybe less, but the same sort of vertical climbing for ages! just saps the energy out of you, so if you were around 8ish then that sounds promising that i could potentially be faster somewhere slightly flatter/spread out the climbs etc

Last sundays ride was 114km, average speed 29.7kmh, 1200m of climbing.

Monday nights interval based ride was 34km, 30.2kmh, 200m climbing.

a typical ride for me is about 20-30 miles around the Surrey Hills. 3-4k feet climbing at average moving speed of 10-11 mph if I’m focussed on getting round and not playing around on the trails.

MTB: 34miles, 6250ft, 8mph average.
Road: 50miles, 3150ft, 16mph average.

The only time I worry about my pace is if I think I’m holding someone else up.

but it defo gives me perspective that i would be shit/last at racing

You’d be last in Expert at a national race anyway! You wouldn’t be at a more local event with a more diverse standard.

Some people push themselves harder when they ride too. I’ve known people who will always be first up every climb when you’re out riding, but I’ll beat them in races.

cheers njee – true i guess in a race environment i would defo push myself harder as i wouldnt want to be last

i pass a hell of a lot of people when out riding, so perhaps its given me a false sense of my own ability, this thread has defo bought me back plummeting down to earth ha!

yep there are always people faster out there, i guess from a local point of view im pretty quick for a peak rider, but i guess going into a race environment id get absolutly annihilated by most, and most of you!

don’t forget that Peaks trails are more rugged than those in the Surrey Hills, and therefore slower.

I’ve done rides where i could have walked faster, but then thats not the point ( to me ) 😀

Oscillate, do you use Strava? it has many issues, like wind assisted KOMs, chaingangs etc. but you can use it to get a feel of where you are. Ride lots of segments, see where you tend to sit in the leader board. If your at the bottom, unfit, if your KOM of everything then you are probably quite fit…. You can also use it to get a feel for if your getting fitter. Pick a standard loop and just see how you time varies.

To be honest, if your interested in racing, just do it. You won’t know how you will do unless you do it.

Perhaps a change of tyres could help. This forum is an excellent place to look for advice. 🙂

Some interesting Stats popup when you start looking. Off road I’m slow but always in top 10/20 % in the segments, must be some really slow people out there.
Racing {SITS} averaging 9 MPH in the dry 7.2 in last years mud.
Road it depends on the hills and who you ride with, Anything from 9.6 MPH [Solo Alpine climb] to 20 [TT] on the flat. In a group 18 MPH is an easy ride

brakes – yep i know what you mean, that was my logical thinking, i guess some of the climbs are a little more challenging here, and im sure some of the riders in surrey hills would fair slower up here too, be interesting to see the difference i must say if njee etc did a similar ride up here, i still bet he would average something silly though! that said i still feel some of the above averages are pretty quick as you are still doing a lot of climbing in the posts above, spread out further yes, but still alot on a mtb

mrmo – nope dont use strava at the mo, but a few lads i know do and they have some KOM’s on stuff i do and i beat them up the climbs when i ride with them, so i know in a local kind of way i are’nt that slow, as some of his hes in the top 10 of 50 odd etc, but i dont want to use it in a way as i ride alot of cheeky stuff and dont want to advertise it really, i may well sign up for it though as ive always said im intrugied as to where i would stand on there

haha martinhutch dont get me started 😉 , i was actually quickest by far on a racing ralph rear most my rides were averaging 9mph on the same routes in the peak of summer (complete dry dusty), and its the fastest grippiest tyre ive ever used, just the sidewalls were shocking in the peak 🙁 and thats a full UST version, not fit for the riding i do in the peak unfortunately

cheers njee – true i guess in a race environment i would defo push myself harder as i wouldnt want to be last

You would, and you won’t be last, there’s always mechanicals and what not anyway! If you want to have a crack at racing just do it, it’s good fun!

On and off road, sunny paphos cyprus
17.2 m
Av11.0
1,516 ascent/descent

Speed is relative, as long as you are happy try a race.
Pick one with a few shorter laps, so when you finish know one knows how far you’ve gone.
You all finish on the same lap as the leader, some might have done 5or6 you might have done one less.

njee20 – Member
cheers njee – true i guess in a race environment i would defo push myself harder as i wouldnt want to be last
You would, and you won’t be last, there’s always mechanicals and what not anyway! If you want to have a crack at racing just do it, it’s good fun!

cheers njee/stoddy – i really wanna give it a try, reckon i need a h/t or similar though, dont think my five is light enough/right tool for the job (even though its kinda light for what it is)….could always borrow a lbs bike for it though

Seriously, it’ll be just fine. You see all sorts at races! Even at the NPS at the weekend there were folk in body armour with dropper posts.

Find an endurance type race – 2 hours or sommat, you get all comers lumped in together, so you’ll have a feel for where you sit in the full ‘elite-plodder’ spectrum. Dunno what there is around you, if you’re ever down here the Gorrick Brass Monkeys winter events are great.

cheers njee – i really wanna give it a try, reckon i need a h/t or similar though, dont think my five is light enough/right tool for the job (even though its kinda light for what it is)….could always borrow a lbs bike for it though

seriously, if you want to try racing, use what you have. Unless you have to buy a new bike that is…

You know how the bike handles, gives you somewhere to start. It is your legs that will make the difference more so than a new bike.

If you decide to take racing (semi)seriously then look at a new bike.

Not read all that, but:

I usually hit about 10mph average for long (80km +) SS MTB rides, with a mix of road and off-road. That’s a proper average, not a moving one, so includes all stops.

To beat the time cut-offs at the Kielder 100, you had to hit an 8 mph (proper) average.

Just in from a ride on the fixie – first time out on the road for a long while – I feel a bit sick now too…

Distance 36.3km
Time 01:05:38
Elapsed Time 01:05:38
Max Speed 50.0km/h
Avg Speed 33.1km/h
Cadence
Device Garmin Edge 605
Bike Fixie

Only 115m climbing though!

Obviously I’m a bit slower off road.

DrP

ooh, and looking through Strava at big rides… 😆

Distance 164.5km
Elevation 3,216m
Time 10:17:57
Elapsed Time 11:37:43
Max Speed 54.8km/h
Avg Speed 16.0km/h
Device Garmin Edge 605
Bike Meta

DrP

Whats that in English ?

🙂

Cheers guys njee, mrmo etc I’m gonna try and give it a shot

Maybe as njee suggests perhaps I’d be more suited at enduro and I have a bike to suit for that so may well try that first off!

I love the idea of XC racing but understand the level of training and commitment etc is far far far greater than I’ve got time for in reality …. To be any good of course!

9.19444444 m / s
and
4.44444444 m / s

Respectively…

DrP

(20.6mph and 9.94mph)

I always tend to aim for 10-12mph depending on climbing.

Fastest ever off road ride was 100 miles at 13.8mph. That hurt 😆
http://www.strava.com/activities/49713958

For the peaks i’d say 8.5mph is good though. You will ALWAYS go faster in an actual race.

Last XC race was:
18.3km distance
335m climbing
00:55:47 moving time
19.7kph average speed

Last MTB ride – welsh hills
32.3km distance
845m climbing
2:14:00 moving time
14.4kph average speed

Last road ride
112km distance
1000m climbing
3:46:00 moving time
29.7kph average speed

I’m by no means fast, but I’m not that slow either

Not a race, so I wasn’t caning it, but I wasn’t dawdling either, but:

75Km
1462m (think this number’s a bit low from other’s reports)
15.5km/h average

Was enough to get me 3rd back on the long heaven of the south route. First back on the long route that stopped for cider mind, so a moral “victory” there…

…but not sure that helps you, as it wasn’t a race and I wasn’t treating it as such. I’d not expect to be up the top in a similar race! Though I have bothered podiums* in occasional endurance races.

*never won ought, except some socks which are ace. But nearer the top than the bottom.