Lenkearney

I find I average 13 to 14 (on a 20 mile ride) which to me seems slow, so I thought I would ask.

Jean3n16

Im about an hr from you and we do have a LOT of hills that slow us down!!

13-14 is pretty fast actually! I can go about 11.

dr_lha

Firstly let me say. Don't worry about it. Everyone is different. Everyone rides on different terrain, everyone has different goals when cycling, and people on here have a wide range of speeds and abilities. Anyway 13 to 14 mph isn't that slow, my local club has group rides for people who average 8-10mph! You're several levels up from that!!

For me, between 17 and 19 mph is my average, depending on the ride, and my fitness level. If you want to go faster, ride more!

PhotoJoe 

....which is 13 to 14 mph faster than anyone sitting on the couch! Good job.

Jeremy_S

That's nothing that can't be remedied with more riding. When I left mountain biking for road two years ago I was 6ft 200 lbs. I ran a lot and my average 5k time was 24:30 which isn't fast but not bad for being almost 40 and a big guy (20 years ago I was a 17 minute 5k guy).

My average on the road was 14mph over 20ish miles. 3 months of steady riding I was 18MPH over 30 to 50 miles. Still 200 lbs, that's just my walking around weight but my speed came up just from getting used to pedalling.

Keep at it and you'll get faster without even realizing it.

shipwreck

Those speeds are faster than what I have averaged for years. I would say don't worry about it, but that would be sort of hypocritical of me right now.

I downloaded strava about a month ago in order to get a route for a ride. Before that I had no idea what my average speeds were. I only use a computer on tour, and not always then. Been riding for many years.

Turns out I am slow! Since I have always just ridden to ride, and ride alone I never pushed myself. Looking at all the other times on some of the routes I ride, I was about 36 out of 40 down on most climbing segments. Strangely, a competitive urge that has never ever hit me before is taking over. Realizing that at 215 I am probably 55 pounds or so heavier than most of the other riders helps(I have not paid for premium so dont know where I stand on weight stats).

So, in the last month I have been actually riding pretty hard. My speed has increased a little. I wish I knew what was considered not bad. The other day I did a 31.2 mile ride, with 2,395 feet of climbing, with an average of 12.9 mph.
I am now in the top ten on some category 4 climbs, and have smashed a lot of downhill times

To be honest, I have no idea whether I should care or not. It seems that I am improving fast due to all the base miles under my belt, but I haven't dry heaved at the top of a hill since I started riding I have used my secret hill climbing weapon a few times, one that I usually only use on tour with a fully loaded bike. Thinking about every High School coach I ever had that gave me crap for being fat and un-athletic, which means all of them. That anger gives me a few extra watts, even though it was 25 years ago.

jeichelberg87

If you live in Louisville and ride there, you are doing just fine. More time in the saddle and you will learn to pedal the bike plus hopefully lose some weight.

Jarrett2

Sometimes I go ride with folks that average 19+ mph.

Sometimes I go ride with folks that average 10mph.

I did a solo 67 mile ride at 17 mph last Saturday.

I've done a century at 18mph. I've also done a century at 11mph when on tour.

It really just depends on the ride, how I'm feeling and the folks I'm with.

But in general, who cares what speed you're going. Just ride the ride you enjoy.

Strava can be fun but it can also be detrimental to enjoyment. Recently an otherwise happy group of friends all got on Strava and started doing "training" rides without really knowing what training rides were. People started getting dropped. Feelings started getting hurt. Subgroups started forming based on speeds. Now the group of friends is split up. Some not talking to each other. Some not riding at all that I'm aware of. All because they quit riding as friends and started doing the "frenemy" Strava quasi-racing thing.

I was trying to warn them, but no one listens. Unless you are racing or training to race, just go ride for fun. Don't stress over speeds. Focus on making the ride enjoyable and social. Encourage folks and ride as a group when possible.

MRT2

13 to 14 mph doesn't seem too bad to me. After getting into some decent bike shape, you will find your average speed will settle into a range, and you seem to have found yours.

BadBurrito

I have two routes I often ride. one is 23 miles the other is 22 miles. both have some hills and some flat, plenty of stoplights, and cross traffic. On a good day, feeling feisty, I'll average 13.something, maybe 14 mph. routinely though, I'm around 12.5mph or a bit.

I'd like to be faster, and recently I've set a goal for myself to do HIIT rides a couple times a week, so we'll see.

BTW, I'm 62, 207+ so shifting 30lbs would help.

However some days, I have more of mindset that I just want to ride and I don't really care how fast/slow I am. I'm not at work, I'm not mowing the yard or running some errand or vegging on the couch, no one is bugging me to do this or that. So why should I bug myself about my speed.

bulldog1935

My two 32-33 mi routes that I run several times/week, I make in about 2hrs 10 min including water/stretch stops, eat a banana and intersections. Weekend group ride into downtown (crack-of-dawn and largely deserted streets) lead group runs 18 mph and I'm always with them except for their sprints to stop.

On one of the routes this week, I met an Austrian guy at my turnaround stop. He left half a minute before me, and I almost caught him climbing the rolling hills. But when I got to the greenway, his blinkie disappeared. I was floored by his speed. I'm 59 and been mistaken for 39 and I believe this gentleman was 10 years older.

1242Vintage

Fast or slow as compared to the speed of others only matters if you are pinning on a number and lining up for a race.

13 or 14 mph isn't slow. I have countless rides in that range.

Yesterdays commute averaged 18 mph for 25 miles, but it was flat, with a tail wind, and I drafted a buddy for most of the way. Is that fast or slow? No way to know and it doesn't matter.

Keep peddling and work on nutrition and improvements in speed and endurance will continue to come.

Leebo

Speed? Slower uphill. Faster downhill. My 17 mile commute takes between 1'10" and 1'20" minutes. Depends on wind, legs and coffee. I don't have a bike computer on the crosscheck. Is speed important to you? Distance is for me.

NYMXer

There are so many variables to really reply to your question. Terrain, conditioning, bicycle, etc all play a role in your ave speed.
Case in point, a guy from Long Island (fairly flat area) posts Strava rides of over 20 mph while mine are usually around 18-19. We rode together and he was always off the rear because he suffered horribly on the climbs. His 20+ mph rides were closer to 14 when he rode with me. Same guy, same bike but different terrain.
I would be more concerned about monitoring your rides and fitness and challenge yourself to beat last months ride on the same course. If you use most an cycling app, it is easy to do and very motivating.

bulldog1935

Improvement is important. I never use a computer, will listen to others when they report theirs, and don't really time myself, except an occasional glance at my watch when I finish (and that's usually about work).
I measure progress in gear choices and output on climbs.

I feel I'm coming out of this summer stronger than I've ever been. I took a fall and sprained my ankle on New Years Eve day, just before then was the strongest I've ever been. Everything I put out this summer has paid off.

I have two friends, also in the weekend group - one is an animal, and rode 18 mph on a 1934 Rollfast with the lead group last month. Our mutual friend is also a strong rider, not so much blasting 18 mph for a couple of hours, but can ride 12 mph anywhere and loaded for 8 hours.

IAMAMRA

10-11 pulling my tag along with a trailer attached and 2 kids. 12-14 by myself. I'm currently in the 320 and 5'7

xaosbp

12 to 13 mph for 20 to 30 mile rides. Kinda depressing when looking at Strava segments, but it's a good workout on my bike and I'm having a good enough time to keep doing it. Really wanna make the switch over to a road bike by next year though.

corwin1968

My experience has been that depending on wind conditions, I generally average 9-11 mph. Much of this is from a 10 mile MUPS I used to ride on a regular basis. About three years ago I put some much better tires on my bike and I averaged 13 mph on the same MUPS. I haven't ridden that system since but it would be interesting to see my average mph on my Karate Monkey with 60mm Big Apple tires.

SpikedLemon

Agreed that improvement is what's important to me too.

I use Strava to track myself. While it's fun to see what everyone else is doing on segments (sometimes depressing) I use it to track the segments I ride over and over to see how I am improving.

One of the guys at work found me on Strava (and we found out each other was biking into work regularly) as I showed up on one of the segments he just rode.

Honestly: I think Strava does a much better job for tracking running and running routes if you take the same route each ride.

DrIsotope

There's no such thing as an accurate "average speed" over a single ride. Unless you're on a closed course, there are just too many variables-- that average gives no indication of climbing speed, descending speed, or speed on the flats. Average speed should only be viewed as a trend. Over my 239 rides in 2016, I've averaged 16.4mph. You know what that data point is good for? Other that noting that it's faster than last year, it's not useful for anything, really.

I'm only interested in climbing speed. I can go on the flats and descents plenty fast enough.

NYNurse

Just did my 24 mile rail trail ride in 2hrs 5min. The legs aren't screaming and I'm down 10 lbs in 2 months. I'm a happy camper.

jsigone

13ish on my BMX

IBOHUNT

I have over 313 hours riding a trainer since I started keeping track a few years back. Average speed on that deal is @jsigone = 0. That thing just won't go anyplace so no distance therefore no speed.

YOUR average speed is what you do. Just keep riding, enjoy it and pay attention to @jsigone signature bit - Rule #10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster.

Gymschu

I agree with everything that's been said so far........for sure, it doesn't really matter, especially as you age you worry less and less about "how fast I'm going." In my 20's and 30's I could squeeze out some rides with others in the 20-23 mph range. Now that I'm in my 50's and riding a hybrid, it's 10 - 12 mph. I find that I coast on the downhills, stop to take in beautiful scenery, and, really don't look at my cyclocomputer too much. As long as my heart gets the workout, I am content no matter what the average speed.

Milton Keynes

I average around 14 MPH lately according to my stats. I'd likely do a bit higher but most of my riding lately is in town so I have to slow down for and/or stop at intersections. Out on the open road I do a bit better but then often have to slow down while going up hills, but pick up the gain going back down them. So it all evens out I guess. If I were on a road bike instead of a hybrid, I could likely do a bit better, but I enjoy the hybrid for riding on trails, too.