rock_ten

I'm trying to get an idea of average speeds people ride at so that I can better evaluate the chances of my making my planned 140-mile ride in one day, which you guys have probably read about in its thread.

I timed myself over a 2.5 mile distance on roads and came up with 12 miles per hour. This was with stops and starts and not level, so I suppose 12-15 mph is reasonable to expect when planning?
Another time I got 10mph over 1.8 miles into a headwind. Wind must make all the difference, like adding or taking away over 50% of your speed, easily.

What kind of speed do you guys maintain? I'm thinking of during a long distance ride, not racing or anything.

Even more interestingly, how long does it take you to ride a certain distance? 50 miles, 75, 100? 150?
Again, not racing, but at a sustainable pace with stops, but no long breaks or distractions.

Thanks dudes

--Joe

Machka 

I have ridden centuries (100 miles in one day) 125 times in a wide variety of weather conditions and a wide variety of terrains, and I can tell you that centuries take me anywhere between 6 and 15 hours. All were ridden at a sustainable pace with stops, but no long breaks or distractions.


Here's something else you need to know. The longer the distance, the slower you go.

So if you are comfortable with 12 mph over 2 miles ... over 140 miles you're probably looking at 8-10 mph, depending, of course, on terrain, weather conditions, whether you've eaten properly or not, how much pain you're in, etc.

gz_

Heh... I bike across the US this summer and beforehand I was averaging about 18mph on my bike completely unloaded and was looking at the cyclocomputer for the average mph which stops the timer whenever you come to a stop at a traffic light or for a drink. Anyways, I expected to average about 15mph on my loaded bike but that soon learned that was completely unrealistic.

Expect to do 10mph. That includes fixing flats, taking pictures, talking to people in the town, shopping for groceries, etc. So if you want a big day, start really early but do not plan on just biking fast to make up for time or anything. Good luck and have fun.

awc380

I generally seem to be unable to escape long-term average speeds of 20 km/h.
Sometimes 19, sometimes 21, but almost never outside of that range. Except for coming out of the mountains.....or into them.

paul2

Take your average unloaded speed, and subtract about 3 km/h to get your loaded speed.

Bacciagalupe

On a loaded touring bike, I usually plan for about 10 miles an hour. I don't see any reason to rush.

Sebach

I really never timed myself. I start sometime usually like 4 hours after sunrise and then I end around sunset. Usually really relaxed, take lots of pictures, sometimes just stop and listen. I'd say plan for about 16-17kph (10mph) average with a slightly enlightened grin.

neilfein

I average about 10mph as well. I find it a comfortable pace and a low-pressure one. On shorter days, it's fun to try to up that a little.

gmacdermid

I do about 20 km/h (12 mph).

bikehippy

My daily averages, according to my cycle computer, are 9-10mph. Pretty slow even by touring standards but I'm rarely in a rush to get anywhere :-) Then there are stops for food, clothing adjustments, navigation, photographs, stopping to chat, etc. It depends how much you're carrying too, I probably go about 5mph faster than that with little or no load.

staehpj1

On tour self supported:
Average while actually riding - anywhere from 14-20 mph depending on motivation.
Daily average including breaks, lunch, etc. - maybe anywhere from 8-12

Century rides, not loaded:
Usually between 6 and 7.5 hours. All time best 4 hours and 30 minutes. That was when I was in peak contition with flat roads and lots of drafting (15 or 16 years ago when I was about 40).

Lots of variables come into play so this is all probably kind of meaningless.

CharlesC

I would agree that 10 mph is a good estimate. Depends a lot on terrain and weather. For example touring in mountainous areas of Colorado will definitely slow you down. I also plan for one day of no riding. A lot of long distance tourers get sick to their stomach on the 3rd day out. No idea why.

MikeR

One of the main cyclists in our club - the Effective Cycling instructor has a theory. He says that if you include rest stops, everyone averages 10 to 12 mph. He says that the 18 to 20 mph crowd ends up taking longer breaks because they pushed harder.

JoeLonghair

Its also to do with the distance you are travelling, ie if you were spending 3 days riding the alps then you would average 3-5mph fully loaded on tour with a tent etc. If you were to say do Venice, Italy to London passing the highest, road, climb in the alps then your aversge is 10-11 mph. This journey was over 1000 miles and took 15 days. 10 mph is what I always use as a guide. What goes up must come down.

staehpj1

This certainly isn't universally true. A few of the faster riders that I have known don't take breaks at all.

OTOH: I have seen plenty of examples on century rides where his rule seems to be true.

gregw

I agree with gz and most of the other posts, I hoped to average 12mph on my cc, but reality struck and gave me more like 10. Sure there were 12-15mph days, but they were few and far between. Figure 10 and if your ahead of the game, take longer breaks, read some.

gregw

Sorry, I did not look close at his intended tour, I thought rock_ten was talking about a conventional long tour, but he is asking about a single long day on a bike. This is a completely different animal. Your young, just go for it, you will be fine, just start early and end late, no worries. (lots of sugar, bad advise for a long tour but works fine for the short term)

Machka 

And if you were following other posts by this kid here and in the Long Distance forum, you'd discover that his longest day so far is 35 miles, and that he intends to ride 150 miles in one day ... in 3 weeks time (late December) in England. Doable ... yes, it might be if he had already purchased his bicycle and was riding it regularly, but he hasn't. All he has is some old beater that falls apart when he rides it, so his long rides lately have been in the 2 mile to 12 mile range. And it might be doable in the summer ... or if he had some winter riding experience, but he's planning to do this in conditions that could very well be very wet, rather chilly, and frosty.

He may very well do it as he has planned in December, but I think he's going to find that his speed diminishes as he rides, and as the pain increases.

gregw

Thanks Machka, guess I didn't read that far into it. Still no worries, take the junkiest bike youv'e got, go as far as you can, after you bonk ditch the bike and hitch the rest of the way.

rock_ten

lol, interesting idea. Anyway, I have a new bike! Check out my thread about it:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...13#post5714713