Iainc – the simple answer is ‘yes’. If you do manage to get on the back of a group… don’t forget to do your turn at the front. If you can’t keep up the required speed at the front… you probably have no place in that particular group.

Or just wheel suck your way around…

whats with the constant TDF references? even without climbs their daily mileage is insane.

surely you’d expect a 1 to 2 hr regional/national circuit race to be faster than a 7hr tdf stage?

SURELY???

tsy – sounds a plan ! Not done a road event before and not much experience of big groups, although have done a few small group rides on road

iainc, you’ll be a good couple of mph faster in any groups, though uts hard to find one going at the right speed. Too fast and you’ll stick with them and knacker yourself, too slow and you’ll get frustrated. With good weather you should be able to do it under 4.5 hours, probably nearer to 4.

nicko – they’re top professionals competing in the premier race in this sport… and your strava link is for a ride averaging less than 25mph?

I’ll accept that for a 1 hr race TdF riders would be silly fast.

surely you’d expect a 1 to 2 hr regional/national circuit race to be faster than a 7hr tdf stage?

This.

iainc – Member
looking at this group/solo thing….

I usually ride on my own on the road and my typical ride is hilly and around 40-50 miles. My average is 15-17 mph, depending on weather and how I am feeling.

I am currently upping mileage for Etape Caledonia in a few weeks. Assuming I am ready for the distance, and reconising that the route is about as ‘hilly’ as my typical ride…am I likely to be a bit faster by being in bunches ?iain – looks like you’re doing about the same sort of speeds as I do. I reckon you can pick up another 3-4mph easily enough. When I last did the Etape Caledonia, I managed to get into a couple of decent sized groups for some of the course and got round in 4h13m – that’s an average of 19.2mph.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/1280146

well the top time is 26.9 mph average for his total race as it happens. and 31.8 for a single lap.

so yes i take your point that he didn’t average 30 for the entire race. thanks for making that clear to me.

Iain, Yes- you’ll be faster in a group.

You’ll be ready for the distance no problem. Etape Caledonia isn’t super super hilly to be honest ( like the Bealach or Whitton )

IIRC The first section is undulating hills, then it runs flat along the side of loch rannoch for a long while… its this area that you can put the speed in if you sit in with a group … i’d advise that you dont burst a gut trying to keep up before the main climb. Save something for the climb. I’m not the fastest and I tried to keep up with a group on the run up to the start of the big climb and burned out leaving not much energy for the climb.

After the descent, its a little bit more of undulating, then a long flat stretch again back to the start with a climb just at the end. Again, the long flat stretch heading back can be made better and quicker by means of a group.

Group riding wise, if you’ve not done much then there are probably threads on here and other forums about some ettiquettes involved. some road riders/groups are quite formal about it, some less so, but it does help to know the unwritten rules so that you can identify whats happening in the dynamic of the group and go along with it. the better a group works, the faster you go.

For example riding solo, working along I may settle into a speed of about 18 to 19mph … riding the same with a group of about 8 to 10, that speed ups to 21 to 22 or faster if the gropu really wants to up the effort.

druidh – sounds good, and the endomondo stats are handy, cheers

fisha – excellent info, thanks

Nice but recumbent bikes are the quickest on road or track.

nicko has a PhD in counting if you didn’t know. You won’t beat him on that maths stuff especially if he has a calculator to hand. He can even do the thing so that when you turn the calculator upside down it spells boobless. True Story

so yes i take your point that he didn’t average 30 for the entire race. thanks for making that clear to me.

And it was less than half the length Rochey was talking about. So yes, an example of a far shorter and slower race definitely proves your point 😕

21-22 solo is fine bloody fast.

Few riders can happily knock out >21mph average on their tod. I assume you are one of these few though!

iainc – what is your start time? Too early and you’ll either be left standing or you’ll knacker yourself trying to keep up with the fast guys. Go off too late and it’ll be hard to get into a similarly-paced group.

Nice but recumbent bikes are the quickest on road or track.

I think you’ll find motorbikes are the quickest. And the beard is optional.

druidh – a few of us are going off in a group at 0658, but we are not expecting to necesarily stay together depending on how folks feel on the day

While we’re chin-stroking at average speeds, can anyone tell me what’s going on with the top 8 or so here?

http://app.strava.com/segments/630236

:-O

Mike_D – Member
While we’re chin-stroking at average speeds, can anyone tell me what’s going on with the top 8 or so here?

I’ve just had a look at the top one. If you study the GPS trace, you’ll see that it’s jumping around. Looks like it is trying to adjust the track so that the rider is on the nearby road (some Garmins will do this if not set up accordingly – might happen with other devices too). So – all the speeds are wrong.

njee. get over it.

Ooo, good comeback! 🙂

ainc – the simple answer is ‘yes’. If you do manage to get on the back of a group… don’t forget to do your turn at the front. If you can’t keep up the required speed at the front… you probably have no place in that particular group.

Or just wheel suck your way around…

Hmmph 👿 perfectly describes my average race. I’m usually one of just three working in our trailing bunch until the last lap when every other wheelsucker sprints past for 11th. To me that’s a pointless race for a pointless position.
Die trying and all that.

Totally agree! Get so frustrated with people doing that in crits, or if you do get a break, someone with no jump will try to bridge, and just drag the group back up to the bunch!

While we’re chin-stroking at average speeds, can anyone tell me what’s going on with the top 8 or so here?

Completely messed up gps/Strava combi. See anything wrong with the fastest guy (Carl Dolan) on this section of Boxhill?

http://app.strava.com/segments/713142