mc2002tii

This might be a dumb question, but are you comparing to your friends on the same road segments? If not, your numbers might not be as different as you think. I also average about 14 mph outside because I have to deal with a lot of stop signs, turns, and moving over to let cars pass on narrow roads (and I swear no matter what direction you go in my area the wind is always in your face going uphill). I'm far from the strongest rider, but I can maintain 15-20 on a rolling straight road if I can actually find one.

Barry2 

I've been using FulGaz and writing about it and other things here
The FulGaz software has a beginner 12wk FTP program I'm trying.
It started as a critique of my trainer hardware and moved to other items.

WizardOfBoz

This. You have slow twitch, and fast twitch muscles. Long rides build your slow twitch (endurance). Hi intensity intervals (sprint, then recover, repeat) will build the fast twitch. Oversimplified, but generally accurate. Mix in some interval training with your current distance rides.

ofajen

Yeah, I had to make some changes to the cockpit to get a standing position that I could sustain, for one thing. I’m using touring bars on the MTB now and that works well. The extra bar height and closer reach means it almost feels like I’m running up the hill.

For seated climbing, I use the forward section of the touring bar that is about two inches ahead of the stem clamp. Roughly like climbing on the hoods of my drop bar bike but slightly higher and closer.

I’ve even used that experience as a cue to raise the bar height on my drop bars (a bunch) and it certainly hasn’t hurt my climbing pace.

Otto

noimagination

Comments above.

55murray

Your long rides should really not be an "easy" pace, make sure you are at least at a moderate pace for those. "Easy" is literally training yourself to be slow. And as others have stated, just incorporate intervals into the shorter rides. Two or three weeks of that and 15mph will seem very slow to you. There is probably nothing wrong with your bike.

TJtheWrecker

Definitely agree with all the points you made, especially about the bike being just fine, and improving the motor.

On the last point, how much of a base do you recommend I build before intervals? I've biked around 350-400 miles a month for the last 2 months.

caloso

I like to say "To ride faster you must ride faster."

Thomas15

Very well said.

This is where using STRAVA or Map My Ride apps are very useful. You should have a training/ride log but even so I can look back at a ride i did last year, do the same now and bask in the improvement. On mixed terrain with a hilly emphasis I can see my personal progress over the last 6-7 months where my average speed is increased by almost 4 MPH. The two other things that make me happy, I've gone from dreading climbs to attacking them and last year I was constantly having to reposition myself on the bike, now I'm naturally finding my best riding position without squirming all over the place. But again it was time and pain to get there.

caloso

When you go on these 20 mile rides, can you do them without stopping?

Pop N Wood

Bike weight really doesn't matter if you aren't accelerating or going up hills.

You just need to ride more, get stronger. Don't let it become a burden, just enjoy the ride and you will get stronger.

Big guys can fly. I used to average 20+ on level when I was at 6' 220#. But I've slowed with age, just a fact of nature.

MattTheHat 

Some people want to ride faster than 14 MPH. That's allowed. Why go slow if you can go fast?

TJtheWrecker

Yes, although usually I will take 4-5 min break in the middle. I have ridden without breaks as well!

noimagination

For me, I'd say 5000-ish mi, or about a year. I'm not an athlete, I'm just a very (very, very) ordinary schlub. I've had a repetitive motion injury from riding (knee tendonitis, not very serious, resolved with rest and stretching). There are others who could do high intensity work with a lesser base.

After 2 years of > 3000+ mi, I was able to ride for 4 hours comfortably and do solo centuries in the 6.5 hr (total time) range, was doing some 1000+ mi months, mixing in some 1 hr sub-LT threshold workouts, most rides were averaging over 18 mph, and averaged 20+ on flat terrain (once for 4 hours, but I was running from T-storms for much of that ride) - all on a '95 Cannondale T-700 with 35mm tires, early 40s, 5'10", ca 160-165 lb. As I said, VERY ordinary numbers.

hillyman

I got no problem with speed. But a 20 mile ride is a great accomplishment and averaging 14 mph in 5 or 6 months is pretty dang good I think. Speed will come if that's the goal.

caloso

Here's a way you can do a simple interval set without a powermeter or HRM: Find a relatively flat stretch of road where you can ride for 20-30 minutes without having to stop. Ride out there easily to warm up. Ride 20 minutes at 16mph. Try to keep it as steady as possible. Soft pedal for 5 minutes, get a drink, whatever. Turn around and ride 20 minutes at 16mph back to the start. Easy ride home. Do this a couple or three times a week. After 16mph seems too easy, bump it to 17.

Koyote

This can take you from zero to hero in one season.

u235

Last year my mathematical average ride went up from 27 to 40 miles including my MTB rides. As time went on I was doing frequent 85+ miles rides. I could ride further and further but my climbing speeds were going down and I was struggling. Funny how that works. This year I've replaced some general riding with doing circles around the yard on my XC bike. Basically climb 40-50% grade (25-35 degree) for about 500 feet gravel and then about 2000 foot gradual decline around to get back to the bottom. Brutal and boring.

70sSanO

You already got all the advice you need from people who have done more training than I, but if you want to go faster you just have to turn the pedals faster. Which does bring the question to cadence.

I don’t know if you just mash or spin. Years ago my goal was 90 or more. I had a computer with cadence and that was what drove me. After a while I didn’t need it; it is just the way I ride.

How fast can you go over 5 miles? 16? 17? 18? 20?

If you can go fast over 5 miles and then run out of gas, you need to ride more miles at speed.

If climbing is your downfall then hit the hills. Hills always made me stronger.

And, everything is a race. Except for some exploring rides.

I don’t adhere to this so much anymore.

John

Kapusta

Funny, I see this claimed on occasion but have never seen the actual math to back it up. Can you link me to it?

What you are claiming can make sense were wind resistance a linear function of speed, (like rolling resistance) but it is not. It increases exponentially.

burnthesheep

The one link in my post above has a link buried at the bottom of that website that takes you to their math. Their wheelsets data has a table broken down my your expected mph for like an Ironman or something and the expected time saved.

Basically, it's the math of it takes a slower rider up to 50% longer to ride the same distance as a fast rider. So, even if the slower rider sees like 20% less benefit than the fast rider.........he or she is on-course for so much longer the time saved is more. Imagine being given a smaller bucket to scoop water into a trough, but given more time to scoop it than the person with a bigger bucket.

Also, since like you say, aero drag is non-linear........those extra watts saved by the faster rider don't make the faster rider linearly faster. Saving 20w at 28mph isn't the same as saving 15w at 15mph. That 20w at 28mph won't get you much more speed. But 15w at only 15mph could get you a lot more.

ofajen

Let us all be truly thankful this is not true. Wind resistance increases with the square of the velocity with respect to the wind (bike speed plus head wind speed) and, for completeness, times the road speed, the combined frontal area and coefficient of wind resistance. If it were exponential, we would just stay home on windy days, I reckon.

Otto

Kapusta

Ummm.... increasing with the square of something IS exponential increase. The exponent is 2.

Tacoenthusiast

This will be a big part of the reason people move away from gravel bikes, now they're so on trend but people will eventually piece together that they're slower than a regular roadbikes.

Unless you are actually riding on non paved surfaces that gravel bike is slowing you down
How much? Not much, but it's slowing you down for certain.

It's not weight, it's aero... The difference between an endurance bike and an aero bike is not just tube shapes, rider position is a huge reason for the AERO advantage of an aero bike. Even at 14 mph aero matters. Depending on setup a gravel bike can be basically the same as a hybrid for rider position.

If you have lots of trails to use nearby a gravel bike could be fun, but riding one on pavement sounds frustrating if speed is your goal

livedarklions

I took a look at the link, and that's a great example of sales-driven logic. The real question is what are the primary factors limiting your speed to 15 mph and where do you get the biggest bang for the buck countering them. Drag would only be one of those factors, and at that speed such a small one that marginal changes in it are highly unlikely to have any noticeable effect. That math is done by a guy selling a product, there's no evidence that it actually works out that way in the real world, and I think it's completely simplistic.