These threads crop up quite often and if the speeds quoted were true, there’d be a much larger pool of cyclists going for the Olympics!

This, always make me chuckle.

33KPH for the 50KM round trip commute (killer of a hill for the last 3Km)..

So you dip to a meagre 20.5 mph with the massive hill? Get thee to a race sharpish!

I commute 2 miles on my Dahon 7speed foldie and it takes me 11mins..there and 10mins back.

This mornings commute home average 17.2mph over a distance of 10.2 miles. That’s a bit faster than normal as I usually average 15-16mph mostly because it’s bloody hard work riding to/from work in the small hours of the morning (arrived home at 0430 this morning!).

I have a very sedenary job so I’m never pyhsically tired, but often mentally shattered. When I first started to commute by bike I was quite suprised just how much mental tiredness could effect my speed. If I were to ride to work now it would take around 30mins so that would be around 20mph. At least I don’t get lazy gits drafting!

I do a 24 mile commute daily average is around 14MPH.

24 miles each way?

Some very suspect figures quoted for urban only commutes, any commute with lights and junctions (that are stopped at) is going to struggle to get near 20mph.

I sometimes commuted to my old job which was 8 miles through Bristol the 22 countryside miles each way. The fastest was 16.5mph in and 18.6mph back (was 19.5 until I got into Bristol)

I think we need to see some GPS logs for these averages…

My speed is only due to have 2 road crossings, and 1 set of lights in 16 miles, hence its just a case of head down booting it.

If I had to share the route with cars, my average would be wayyyyy down

i would assume they are speedo averages which don’t count times you’ve stopped (right?)

they’re not unrealistic speeds for the distances.. but i hope you have showers at your work.

They’re very quick times to be doing day in, day out though. I’d not fancy doing two sub-30 10 mile TTs every day!

Whilst I suspect you’re right about ‘moving average’ being the quoted figures there’s still time braking and accelerating, makes the >20mph in urban areas pretty dubious in my mind!

If I had to share the route with cars, my average would be wayyyyy down

Heavy traffic maybe, but cars per se don’t slow you down!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97707559

19.7mph average moving speed for 10.7 miles London commute.

Have quicker ones that need downloading from my Garmin. There is a 30mins 28 secs moving time on there which is 2 mins quicker than the link. That’s my PB

MM

I’d not fancy doing two sub-30 10 mile TTs every day!

really? i mean 20mph on a road bike is not hard to do, especially not on flat roads.. agreed as soon as there’s stopping and starting that average is going to drop very rapidly but i think most people who do a lot of cycling should be able to do 30 minute tts..

as you say though, that’s not what they’re actually doing!

I think we need to see some GPS logs for these averages…

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97198300

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85150257

bound to be some anomalies with timing due to lights, auto pause etc that is why time, moving time and elapsed time are different

offroad version here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96416938

offroad is via GPS only whereas road bike is GPS plus speed/cadence sensor

still quite happy with the times.

My ride to work is 23 miles but I only do it once per day and a couple of times per week: Mon – ride in; Tues ride home; Thu – ride in; Fri – home.

Best daily averages are 19.2mph in and 17.2mph home. Averages over the last month are 18.6 in and 16.5 home.

It’s a- and b- roads into Leeds with a 500′ climb at the home end. Slow down a bit while dodging buses and students through Headingley and Hyde Park.

Another way I guage my ride is by a ratio of riders I pass compared to the number of riders who pass me. Not very scientific but it does stop me from slacking!

longer ride on brompton:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83044432

moving average 14.8mph, though taking into account 2 hours of stops makes in more like 11.5mph – that is causes by the autostop feature on garmins if enabled. Garmin connect does not use elapsed time to work out averages.

My average seems to be in the region of 16mph for a 12 mile commute from Hampton to Victoria.

The roads are shite, there’s a zillion sets of lights, countless pedestrian crossings etc etc, I too struggle to see how many can do it quicker in the morning to be fair.

It’d be interesting to see what sort of averages people who post very quick commutes are capable of over long hilly road rides and Marathon type MTB events, cos surely if they’re knocking out very quick commutes then Gold medal standard in sportives and top 10 finishes in 3/4 cat races should be run of the mill, n’est pas?

About 18mph usually – keep it steady so I have fun at the weekends 🙂

I was being chased by a guy (that I had seen on my route into work) on a hardtail the other day when I looked around he had dropped his mate and was gaining on me slowly – I though OK lets see what you have under your bonnet…..

Didn’t see him again 😆 But I am not competitive 🙂

Whether posted times are BS or not is very dependent on the actual route and terrain, which we don’t know. Any fittish cyclist could equal my speed on the way into work – it’s a very fast route, lots of downhill and flat, only two tiny climbs, excellent visibility if it’s not foggy. Could I average 25-30mph over the same distance on the flat? No. Or through town? Unlikely. My return time back up the hill is much slower, but it’s more fun to post the silly-high one-way speed, with the return time as disclaimer 🙂

TBH, my average speed into work is more governed by risk management (aka balls) than strength. There are bits where it’s possible to be touching 50mph, but if there’s any sort of side wind or gusts, or animals near the road then that sort of speed is extremely unwise… The times I’ve done silly near-30mph averages have been perfectly dry, clear days with no sheep within ambush distance and a light, non-gusty tailwind. It’s then possible to use the speed off the steep downhills to maintain high speed on the flatter sections, but it’s all generally down hill (about 900ft drop I think). So not BS, but not exactly a normal commute.

When I used to ride TTs regularly (quite a time ago now…) I used to do 27ish munutes on my road/audax bike on the old Bristol loop from the rugby club on Cribbs Causway (before they cocked it all up with lights everywhere), so I’m not any sort of super-hero.

my average speed is like the clappers.

I think we need to see some GPS logs for these averages…

This is my commute..

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97247079

It’s nearly 10 miles.. a bit lumpy and for some reason i have a Heart rate monitor and tri bars on 😉