Maelochs

Average speed works for me because there are only so many roads leading away from my house and so many routes leading out and back so I frequently ride the same routes. Ifg conditions are radical or extreme (hurricanes, tornadoes, nuclear war, lemming hordes) I will note that in the comments section of my spread sheet.

SpedFast

Yeah, I know what you mean about those lemming hordes. They can really mess up an otherwise good day on the bike....

downtube42

Speed being distance over time, miles per year meets the definition. Typically people mean distance covered over moving time, and strava and most cyclocomputers will give you that number. Other people mean the instantaneous speed they see most often, others mean the speed over a short period of high effort. Many people count speed while drafting into their calculation. I can take amtrak north or south 100 miles and ride a tailwind home, with average speed reflecting that benefit. I can ride a 70 ft/ mile century with nothing over 4% or a 45 ft/ mile century with 8% rollers. Average speeds will be different.

I'm around 5,000/year.

rsbob 

You just made my head explode! 💀🤯

Maelochs

To Mr. @downtube42 It isn't an "average" speed if it isn't an average of speeds. If a person hits 48 mph on the one downhill on a ride and says he "averaged" 48 he is ... well, wrong, let's leave it there. As for "instantaneous speed they see most often" then the average speed is a matter of when they look. If I only check my speed when pulling off form a stop ......

As I mentioned, I use "average speed) which is a function of time and distance, not chance or dishonesty, and I note other factors. I also note the feet/mile of altitude gained. Obviously if I am riding a route with three times the hills, I don't expect the same speed ... but see, i am smart enough to understand that extremes... hills wind, rain, bad traffic, ill health or just the "I don't have it today" factor, all affect the average speed.

Also, since I am not competing with anyone, including myself, average speed is just an indicator, as is rides per month, miles per year, etc. it is a measurement, not a judgement. It is just data, and it has different meaning in different contexts.

If I ride off-road on tough terrain I might travel a third of the distance in a given time and still do more peak-effort work. I know that, so I don't freak out if my average is low .... if I get a tailwind both ways on a flat route, I don;'t think i am Superman (but I feel like it.)

When I read about how much some others here ride, i don't feel elevated or diminished. I assume their averages include good and bad days and different routes and all that, and I notice a lot of them include elevation gained, because they track that too, knowing it makes a difference. This isn't a measuring and comparing contest .... it is just some folks who ride bikes sharing anecdotes.

Yes, if I put my bike on the rack and drive a hundred miles of highway to get to a ride and leave the app on, I can get 100 miles at 80 mph added to my ride ... but that isn't really what this is all about, is it? At least for me it is not.

Not aimed at you sir (or madam) but ... some threads are people riding out high speed through a crowded forum yelling, "Strava! Strava!"

wheelreason

Don't know, don't measure, best guesstimate is 3500 miles per year, 2. something rides per week, maybe 17-18 mph average speed.

The Chemist

In the last three years, which is pretty much the time since I've gotten back into riding seriously, I've averaged over 10000km a year at an average speed of just over 27.1km/h, which isn't bad at all.

jadmt

I don't have a very good average over the last say 10 years I went like 200, 200, 200, 200, 200, 200, 200, 200, 2400, 7000.. to be honest not even sure if I was even doing 200 miles as most of those mile were just beer runs on my mtb. July 2022 I bought a new bike and started getting hooked again and this year I am over 7000 miles. as far as mph depends on the length of ride. I try and go fast enough not to fall over.

rsbob 

You have really stepped up the beer runs!

jadmt

I tend to fall into traps....I bought an Handsome XOXO bike because I just wanted something a little more modern than my 1992 Serotta atx mtb I figured I would do some 10mile rides here and there. I found it rather enjoyable and went out and did a 100 miler on it just to say I did it and well I was hooked..again. I was a fairly serious rider in the 80's and up to the later 90's but quit cold turkey around 97 and never really thought I would get sucked back into it at 64 yoa

downtube42

No offense taken, and I stand by my unfocused ramblings as accurately reflecting my thoughts on the subject and nothing more.

JanMM

My annual totals have been 3000+ for more than a few years, with a high of 5000 in 2019, first year of retirement. A bit low this year with 2600 miles a few days pre-Christmas. Averages? Don't track speed so............averaged about 11 miles on the 230 days I've got out on a bike in 2023.