[Closed] Roadies whats your average speed?

Time trials - the race of truth!

Though having said that you can still buy speed.

Maybe the question should have been "Roadies what's your w/kg?" or "Roadies what's your 20MP?". A "Roadies what have you done to improve your average speed?" thread would have been interesting too.

There's nothing wrong with this whatsoever, but it does basically affirm that threads like this are just willy waving exercises.

Still, it's been quite entertaining 🙂

I suspect there might be calibration issues on a trainerroad group too.

Probably, but good enough I reckon to illustrate the point.

Also, measurements should be metric. It's much easier and it makes more sense.

Nonsense... Distance should be in miles, vertical ascent should be in metres. A person's height should be in feet, weight in stone, bike sizes in cm and weight in kilos...

Now [i]that[/i] makes sense... 😉

Faster isn't up for debate

Wasn't querying your comment that race winner doesn't necessarily equal faster, was merely asking a similar question - who is 'faster', the person who can race quicker (call it TTing or mountain biking where race craft is less relevant) or the person who does training rides quicker?

Njee, I ride mountain bikes too. If you scrolled back over the winter months, that's mostly what you've been looking at.

Nope, gave you the benefit of the doubt there and looked at summer rides, most of us slow down significantly over winter after all.

[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/129357893 ]16.2[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/164233817 ]16.5[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/153928246 ]16.9[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/141191637 ]18.1[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/152426572 ]17.9[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/264771029 ]15.2[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/262604298 ]15.2[/url]
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/267894954 ]16.2[/url]

Again - chosen completely at random, apologies if I've chosen rides where you were riding slowly, but they're all between April and August... You're among friends, there's no reason to show off!

Distance should be in miles, vertical ascent should be in metres.

Never! Miles and feet. Bike weights in pounds, but parts in grammes (up to wheels), FS frames in pounds, hardtails and road frames in grammes. People weight in kg, height in feet!

[quote=gatsby ]Nonsense... Distance should be in miles, vertical ascent should be in metres. A person's height should be in feet, weight in stone, bike sizes in cm and weight in kilos...
Now that makes sense... Headsets should be internally imperial and externally metric....

Njee, without resorting to being as big a bellend as your good self, let's have a look at some of the rides you've chosen.

One is called "Dragging Poorly Dave Round the Trough of Bowland".
Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the pace might have been affected by "Poorly Dave", does it.

Another is called "Ride Home stopping off to see big stack at the CDNW Crits". That was a gentle recovery spin home from a time trial, in which I averaged over 25mph. 🙄

"Guild Wheel Anti-clockwise" is a mountain bike ride. 22 miles at 16.5mph on a mountain bike is rather respectable.

Sadly, I've got better things to do that go through your list, but I will point out one other thing. You highlighted a ride in April 2014 which was quite slow. You'll notice that there was a significant break prior to that which was also the reason you'll not see any racing for the last 2 seasons.

Early last year I contracted a rather nasty little illness called Lyme disease. I don't know if you know what that is, but you'll probably quickly google it, like David Brent googling Dostoyevsky on the Office.
As that was the first ride back from a rather debilitating illness, I thought it best to try and keep below threshold.

Another is called "Ride Home stopping off to see big stack at the CDNW Crits". That was a gentle recovery spin home from a time trial, in which I averaged over 25mph

No, you averaged [url= https://www.strava.com/activities/164233820 ]23.4mph[/url]. Sorry, this is quite good fun now!

Erm, anyone exaggerating their speed is only cheating themselves surely? No need to get all Sherlock Holmes about it.

I know via Strava some people do manage to average 20mph - but it usually seems to be shortish, flatish rides in a small group.

I ride solo and I don't think I average above 18mph even on a good day - and that's when I'm not looking for hills (though it's hard to avoid them locally).

aim for 20mph no matter what the terrain

In his defence he did say he'd aim for 20mph, not necessarily achieve 🙂

Apologies Njee, still significantly higher than 20mph though.

In his defence he did say he'd aim for 20mph, not necessarily achieve

He won't hear you, he's too busy pouring over my strava files with his calculator.

I suppose I should be flattered...

In his defence he did say he'd aim for 20mph, not necessarily achieve

I nearly said that. 😆 I aim for 52mph average on my rides.

Apologies Njee, still significantly higher than 20mph though.

Yes, for a 10 mile TT! Sadly the thread isn't "testers, what's your average speed?".

You'll be pleased to hear that I'll stop now. Suffice to say I'll file your "20mph regardless" claim under 'amusing STW fantasy chest beating', and move on! Corking example of why these threads are daft.

Njee, without resorting to being as big a bellend as your good self

Now now, play nice, he may have picked holes in your statements but I don't think he's actually been directly rude to you.

Just give us links to all the > 20mph average rides you've done (which naturally will be significant in number if your original statement is true?), and the matter will be settled 😉

The problem with stuff like this is that if people go round inflating their figures and exaggerating it devalues the discussion and becomes a 'fishermans tale' style bragging contest rather than actual comparisons, the data doesn't lie (much), and for people genuinely trying to get better and wondering about their own performance then it helps to have real data to compare to, it could be very demoralising for someone trying to get into the sport reading threads of posters spouting about all their 20mph+ rides, thinking they'll never get there or are too slow to go out for a ride with people like that as they can 'only' average 17.5, when in reality the figures are much lower and they could join in and would feel better about their own performance and goals.

Although as loads of others have said, comparing averages with different people on different days on different terrain in different weather is never gonna give you much to go on.

I know via Strava some people do manage to average 20mph - but it usually seems to be shortish, flatish rides in a small group.

Seriously, it's not that fast solo. If you are a decent club TT rider you'll be looking to at least get under an hour for a 25. Out recent club 25, the top 8 out of 27 all under an hour, so 25+mph. Ok this is on a TT bike with all the aero accompaniments but you'll still need 280+ watts for an hour (depending on how aero you are.) Winning time was 52:49 and I think he was doing over 360W.

If you can do that then a not too lumpy 20mph solo for two or three hours is probably around high z2 / low z3. Not a huge effort. (This is assuming good position, as over 18mph I think about 80% of power goes into overcoming wind resistance. I think most people could improve their averages just by addressing this, certainly those relatively new to road bikes.)

Just give us links to all the > 20mph average rides you've done (which naturally will be significant in number if your original statement is true?)

[url= https://app.strava.com/activities/72400062 ]Here's a hundred miler at 22mph...[/url]

[url= https://app.strava.com/activities/173686706 ]There's a 25...[/url]

[url= https://app.strava.com/activities/271310358 ]Here's a lumpy 20 on the winter bike...[/url]

I could go on, but a) I've not got as much time on my hands as Njee and b), I'm just not that much of a bellend.

Here's a hundred miler at 22mph...

99.9 according to strava 😉

I'm just not that much of a bellend.

Can we stop with the bellend thing, it's making you sound like a bit of a bellend.

Haha, I must have cheated! 😉

Here's a hundred miler at 22mph...

It's a big enough stretch mixing TT and roadbike rides

Ride London 2013 was incredibly quick, with large bunches of riders, virtually a road race by all accounts, but ok, that's legit. Of the others one is a TT, one is a 19mph average. What am I missing? 😕

I absolutely agree with amedias - I think it's off putting for anyone considering starting road riding when people post misleading things like that.

These are your words:

[b]For my ability, it's a good benchmark[/b] and forces me to press on no matter what the road is doing. I mostly [b]train [/b]solo.

[b]Chaingangs can easily creep towards 30mph average speed[/b] if you're riding with well-drilled lads...

For reference, [b]Cat 2/3 peloton fodder[/b], 23 min 10 and 56 min 25.

But none of that seems to actually be reflected in what you're posting. You seem to mainly ride in groups, at far less than 20mph, let alone "creeping towards 30mph". I've not seen any road racing at all from my brief sojourn through your Strava history!

Seriously, it's not that fast solo. If you are a decent club TT rider you'll be looking to at least get under an hour for a 25. Out recent club 25, the top 8 out of 27 all under an hour, so 25+mph. Ok this is on a TT bike with all the aero accompaniments but you'll still need 280+ watts for an hour (depending on how aero you are.) Winning time was 52:49 and I think he was doing over 360W.

I would definitely disagree, it is quick. Not denying you can do it, but it [i]is [/i]quick, you're definitely in a minority of riders if you can do a 20mph average without trying particularly hard.

I can do it for an hour or so, maybe two on my own, but it sure as hell isn't upper end of Z2!

Here's a hundred miler at 22mph...

I did the shortened 2014 one in horrendous conditions at 19.7 mph and I'm a crap roadie...

https://app.strava.com/activities/178150635

Seriously, it's not that fast solo. If you are a decent club TT rider you'll be looking to at least get under an hour for a 25. Out recent club 25, the top 8 out of 27 all under an hour, so 25+mph. Ok this is on a TT bike with all the aero accompaniments but you'll still need 280+ watts for an hour (depending on how aero you are.) Winning time was 52:49 and I think he was doing over 360W.

If you can do that then a not too lumpy 20mph solo for two or three hours is probably around high z2 / low z3. Not a huge effort.

I fully agree with you, but to be fair you are talking about very serious bike riders. 20mph [i]is[/i] a high average speed that very few riders achieve.

I was listening to Michael Hutchinson on the Bike Show the other week and thinking about having a go at his challenge to do 35km in an hour - which he said was the first hour record (set by Henri Desgrange on something much heavier than my road bike).

I would definitely disagree, it is quick. Not denying you can do it, but it is quick, you're definitely in a minority of riders if you can do a 20mph average without trying particularly hard.

I can do it for an hour or so, maybe two on my own, but it sure as hell isn't upper end of z2!

Agreed, it is a minority (in my example only 8 out of 27 riders went under an hour.) My view probably somewhat skewed by the people I ride and race with and follow on Strava. Though I think if you train seriously and race regularly then it's very much achievable.

Looking at rides done by club members on strava, by far the majority are around the 15-17 mph mark.

I could go on, but a) I've not got as much time on my hands as Njee and b), I'm just not that much of a bellend.

well If I may pick up the bellend crown...

Here's a hundred miler at 22mph...

Distance - 99.9mi
Elevation - 4,957ft
Avg Speed - 21.7mi/h

There's a 25...

dunno why Strava lists this as 20, GPS fail?
Distance - 20.7mi
Elevation - 223ft
Avg Speed - 22.7mi/h

Here's a lumpy 20 on the winter bike...

Distance - 19.9mi
Elevation - 856ft <-- lumpy?
Avg Speed - 19.0mi/h

That's 3 examples, cherry picked, versus the much bigger sample of random rides njee picked, and you were the one that said you aim for 20 on a normal ride, when it appears that in fact, the only examples over 20 are either short (<20miles) and flat, actual TT's, or events, not just a normal ride, and we all know that we ride faster when racing or at an event, can you see how this might erk some people?

I'm not trying to belittle your performance, your rides show a load of good stats and you're obviously pretty quick, especially the London ride, that's very impressive!

But it's just at odds with your original claim, and in the interests of keeping the data [b]genuine and useful[/b] to people perusing the post lets keep it factual.

If the thread had been about what you can do when racing or at a big event (presumably group riding?) then this would be a different discussion altogether.

I fully agree with you, but to be fair you are talking about very serious bike riders. 20mph is a high average speed that very few riders achieve.

Aye, that was my point, and even fewer achieve it comfortably in Z2 - I'd say you're into the top 10% of racers, who are probably the top 1% of ordinary riders.

This depressed me slightly last week:

[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/283995886 ]Wouter Sybrandy doing a 130 mph solo ride at 19.8, without trying all that hard[/url] and [url= https://www.strava.com/activities/283308846 ]trying a lot harder, and not as far, but still averaging 23.5mph on his tod.[/url]

Njee, it's time to sop being so silly! I've posted rides of 100 miles, 25 miles and 20 miles that are 20mph average speed. The one that is a fraction of an mph less is one through heavy traffic. I've not ridden chaingangs since I was forced to stop racing with a blood disorder, but if you look, you'll find them.

You're just making yourself look a complete twunt by trying to split hairs and pick fault in what I say.

You're even now accusing me of "misleading", that's not the case at all, and my strava account backs it up. As MrBlobbly said, I made it quite clear that 20mph was what I aim for. If I do a ride - in traffic and with stops for lights etc, and it's 19.5mph, I still consider that to be a success. Not because I'm trying to hoodwink some internet prick, but because I know that if I hadn't had to stop, the final figure would have been 20mph.
I'm not cheating myself or anyone else, because I'm not competing against anyone else. But if someone asks me what the average speed was, I'd say around 20mph, as I did earlier.

You've said that you couldn't hold 20mph for 2 hours, so you're clearly not very quick. I've posted actual proof that I can for over 4 and a half hours and cover 100 miles at a speed significantly higher than 20mph.

You can't do that, and you can never dream of doing that. I understand that you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about this, and to a certain extent, why you might feel motivated to try and do down other people's achievements.

But to be honest, it comes across like a man with a 4" cock questioning the measuring technique of the bigger lads.

Njee, it's time to sop being so silly! I've posted rides of 100 miles, 25 miles and 20 miles that are 20mph average speed.

No, you haven't!

[img] [/img]

You've said that you couldn't hold 20mph for 2 hours, so you're clearly not very quick. I've posted actual proof that I can for over 4 and a half hours and cover 100 miles at a speed significantly higher than 20mph.

Life's too short to argue with you, but I said that I could probably do 20mph on my own for 2 hours, on the road. I'm not impressed that you could sit in for a reputedly very very fast ride for 4 hours!

It is getting a bit silly now. I believe njee20 to be rather quick (and very honest!)

Wouter Sybrandy doing a 130 mph solo ride at 19.8, without trying all that hard and trying a lot harder, and not as far, but still averaging 23.5mph on his tod.

That is bloody impressive!

I understand that you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about this

Of the two of you, you're the one coming across as the one with the chip and only one of you has called the other names.

But if someone asks me what the average speed was, I'd say around 20mph, as I did earlier.

And all that's going on here is someone questioning whther that is correct, and based on the available data, you've over-estimated by a couple of mph, except for a few particular rides, this is about averages remember?

I've posted actual proof that I can for over 4 and a half hours and cover 100 miles at a speed significantly higher than 20mph

In a big group ride on a not very hilly course.

You can't do that, and you can never dream of doing that

This isn't about what other people say they can do, and at no point has he claimed he can go faster than you, stop trying to turn this around and attack, people are questioning the validity of [i]your[/i] statement based on the available data, and it's not adding up.

That's 3 examples, cherry picked, versus the much bigger sample of random rides njee picked

Njee picked a ride with a sick bloke, a ride home after a time trial, a mountain bike ride, and the first ride back after being hospitalised with Lyme disease!

people are questioning the validity of your statement based on the available data, and it's not adding up.

And what was my original statement? That I aim for 20mph. I've posted proof that I can achieve it. My results show that not all rides do, they also show that there are rides that are done at recovery pace. But if I achieve it regularly (ignoring mountain bike rides, recovery rides, rides home and rides with sick fellas), how the hell can my statement be wrong???

A quick squint through my Strava history I did come up with [url= https://www.strava.com/activities/66369838 ]this[/url], 43.7 miles, only 1,900ft of climbing, but 20.0mph average. Quite possibly a bit of wind assistance, so not hugely fair, but it was also from the City, so a lot of traffic and lights to contend with. Taking the bit from Epsom to home, so including the North Downs was 20.9mph. 21.5mph from Dorking - so excluding the Downs completely.

Legs feel a bit shit today, but I now have a 20 mile route home planned, see if I can muster a 20 for an hour at least!

Njee picked a ride with a sick bloke, a ride home after a time trial, a mountain bike ride, and the first ride back after being hospitalised with Lyme disease!

You're still missing the point though. You had the choice of any ride in your Strava history, anything at all, and you chose a TT, a group ride and a ride where you were actually 5% under your claimed speed.

I told you I chose rides completely at random from the last year, and none of them were anything like 20mph. We're not splitting hairs over 19.5 being rounded up or anything. I posted 8 rides with a combined average of 16.5 mph.

He picked a few more than that, 8 I think it was...

So you make excuses for 3, ignore 5 and then go find what appears to be 3 of your quickest rides.

And what was my original statement? That I aim for 20mph. I've posted proof that I can achieve it

Aiming for it is one thing, I could aim for 30, I would achieve it (briefly) on some flats and downhill, but this is about averages, you've shown that on a few occasions you've done some rides at that (and above), but this is nothing like a representative 'average', which is what the thread is about , and how your original post was worded.

If the question had been:

"what's an example of some of the quickest average speeds you've achieved on rides"

Then you'dbe more on the money, but if you truly were averaging 20mph then [i]most[/i] of your rides, ie: a significant number, would be well over > 20mph, and quite a lot around 20mph.

Fundamentally 20mph is NOT your average speed, it's a speed you can achieve and exceed over some rides and in some conditions, but it is NOT your average, aiming for it is great, but be clear about it, it's NOT your average and for someone asking about what average speeds are like it's not helpful to say it is.

scotroutes - Member
...Inevitably, folk will pick their "best" average for willy-waving purposes.

If your willy is big enough there's no need to wave it to attract admiring attention. 🙂

I'm not impressed that you could sit in for a reputedly very very fast ride for 4 hours!

Ride London 2013 was *staggeringly* fast for a sportive.

I'm just yer average mid-40s recreational fair-weather rider (never raced on the road) and I was five minutes quicker than gatsby that day 😆

No way I'd hold anything like that pace over anything like that distance on my own though.

Amedias, I got bored. But just for you, let me talk you through the remaining 4.

Another mountain bike ride; a 30 mile group ride with a 5 mile warm-up and a 5mile recovery spin averaging 18mph for the lot; a cafe ride on a day when only one other rider turned up due to the horrific weather; and a social ride with the rugby club.

So no, not really representative - I'd say they were rather carefully cherry picked!

So no, not really representative - I'd say they were rather carefully cherry picked!

They really weren't. Completely at random. Which were the MTB rides? Just post a bloody link to a ride where you, on your own, have averaged 20mph for more than an hour?

Do I need to go and get another load at random!? We may hit gold eventually.

...it comes across like a man with a 4" cock questioning the measuring technique of the bigger lads.

So no, not really representative - I'd say they were rather carefully cherry picked!

As were yours 😉

Seriously, it's not that fast solo. If you are a decent club TT rider you'll be looking to at least get under an hour for a 25. Out recent club 25, the top 8 out of 27 all under an hour, so 25+mph. Ok this is on a TT bike with all the aero accompaniments but you'll still need 280+ watts for an hour (depending on how aero you are.) Winning time was 52:49 and I think he was doing over 360W.

If you can do that then a not too lumpy 20mph solo for two or three hours is probably around high z2 / low z3. Not a huge effort. (This is assuming good position, as over 18mph I think about 80% of power goes into overcoming wind resistance. I think most people could improve their averages just by addressing this, certainly those relatively new to road bikes.)

I posted something very similar during this same sort of discussion a year or two back and got shot down by a bunch of people who didn't want to accept that they're slower than their ego thinks they are 🙄

You're still not getting it though!

We get that there are [b]reasons [/b]why some of your rides are less, and that on a TT, or in a race or a big sportive etc. that you cna achieve over 20mph average, the point is that normal rides, training, club runs, solo rides, cruising, exploring, commuting etc. are not at that speed, it is NOT your average speed, nor is it the average speed of your rides.

Just post [b]a[/b] bloody link to a ride where you, on your own, have averaged 20mph for more than an hour

I think more than 1 would be good 😉

And this isn't about ego (certainly not for me, and I don't think for anyone else either), I fully accept that I'm slower than lots of people, probably slower than you too, but this is about keeping information accurate and useful, and not letting skewed examples and inflated claims distort it.

the longer this goes on, the more biscuits I'm eating, the slower I'm getting...

I posted something very similar during this same sort of discussion a year or two back and got shot down by a bunch of people who didn't want to accept that they're slower than their ego thinks they are

I do think there's a distinction between saying "that can't be done", and "that [i]is [/i]fast". I'm firmly in the latter camp - folk need to stop being modest and take a bit of praise, smashing out 20mph averages is quick!

Maybe we need a new thread titled "Roadies what's your aspirational speed?"

the longer this goes on, the more biscuits I'm eating, the slower I'm getting...

Racing fuel 😉

BISCUITS MAKE YOU SLOWER!? WHAAAAAAAT.

Blimey, it's all getting a bit ....

But you'll always get some bellend that pulls you up

[img] [/img]

[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/151508671 ]Example[/url]

My solo evening loop that crops up quite regularly.

The mountain bike rides are the ones that were on the Cotic Soul. That's a mountain bike. Guild Wheel and Clockwise were both mountain bike rides.