guadzilla

A lot depends on your road conditions. For example, I did 2 hours @ 190W today, and only averaged 14.9mph, but that is cos the roads are absolute crap and rolling. The same wattage gets me ~19mph on a decent, smooth road.

However, given that you are in San Diego, I doubt this is the case.

How often do you ride, how fit are you, what is your height/weight?

RUOkie

Thanks Zephyr!

wphamilton

OP: 12 or 13 mph is about average for a non-athlete who just rides around a bit. You almost certainly have the ability to improve, but not unless you deliberately work at it. Daily rides at more effort, that sort of thing. Put forth the effort and you'll soon be cruising around at 15 or 16 just like any other enthusiast.

You're posting in the Road Cycling forum. To put it bluntly, the challenges that concern these folks have little or nothing to do with the issues you face and I'd take it all with a grain of salt.

guadzilla

Thank you.

There is general goofing around/busting chops that goes on between the regulars, which is fine.

Piling on to someone who appears to be asking a genuine question is just ******baggery of the highest order. You guys arent as funny as you think you are.

ErichM

For awards Strava includes stops, for the general stats of the ride it does not. So you're averaging what is displayed with the stops removed.

For example, take this ride:

https://app.strava.com/rides/1762506

You rode 44 miles, and you did it in 2 hours 26 minutes 51 seconds.

Thats 18.18 MPH which Strava rounds to 18.2

If we include stops, which allow you to rest, so they shouldn't be simply ignored, we come up with a total time of 2 hours 37 minutes 13 seconds. Your average speed then becomes 16.98 mph. We can round that to 17.

There you go Vicey, no math required for the average with stoplights. But since you asked for math, I did it for you with the stops.

Oh, and I don't know that it takes much math skill. It probably does require more skill than counting golf balls, but not by much. Here's how you do it:

MPH is Miles Per Hour. Anytime we see the word "per" we can think of it as a ratio, which is the same as division (That is a forward slash on the computer, or some calculators might display it as a line with a little dot above and below it). Strava gives us "total time", you can think of that is "speed I'm pwning everyone at + stoplights that slow me down."

Now, here comes the tricky part. I know what you're thinking, you're going to add 2 + 37 + 13 for the bottom. Not so fast, those are different units of measure! It should be 2 + (37/60) + (13/60/60), because we want them all to be in hours.

So our top is distance, our bottom is the hours formula I just gave you.

You can use your computer's calculator to make it easy for you! Type 44.5/(2 + 37/60 + 13/60/60).

I hope this helps Vicey.

Vicelord

I did not pause my garmin at the stop light... I left it going. My understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that you actually have to be stopped on the garmin for it to count as "resting time" on Strava. Even if it does omit the stopped time at the light, there is still the deceleration/acceleration. Either way, the .8mph is not exactly a huge difference from what I said, and I believe that would be easily made up by the stopping and starting at lights.

As for rest, it's a 44 mile ride, why do you need to stop and rest?

This thread isn't about me, so if you'd like to continue the discussion, I'll create a thread dedicated to that ride and we can discuss in further detail for 8-10 pages what the significance of that ride is.

Makel

I hate stop lights. I run them whenever possible.

Vicelord

I think this holds true for almost all of us, myself included. Unfortunately it's rarely possible where I live, riding on a weekday at 6:30/7:00 in the morning when people are fighting to get to work.

RUOkie

but you continue to post about your own "accomplishments" anyway.

RUOkie

and besides, 18mph moving time is not "cruising at 19-20" for 50miles

ErichM

You don't need to stop and rest, but stopping at a stoplight is resting. Your body doesn't know the difference. It will take advantage of it.

Look the stats are the stats, you can justify it all you want by saying "I still had to slow down...", but Strava says you averaged about 18 MPH, that isn't 19-20. Quit trying to impress everyone with your twang.

Oh, and I'm not trying to be an ass here. I think 18 MPH is pretty good for someone that is new to cycling and also quite a bit overweight. I can relate, I'm overweight as well, as evident by my ticker in the signature. Just be proud of what you're doing and quit trying to inflate your stats. You're slow just like me, but you're out there working to change it. Now quit bragging about made up numbers.

hhnngg1

Piling on, but ok, if that's your average, then I'll bet the OPs average is closer to 2mph faster as well given the same metrics. A 16ishmph Strava avg would completely within the realm of a not terrible beginning rider for 20ish miles.

Just putting things in perspective for all the posts about how much the OP sucks.

Vicelord

You're quite a **** wad. In one post you managed to call me fat, a liar, and pompous. Sure you didn't actually say any of those things, you worded it differently, but it had the same meanings. It's the internet, so I can't do anything about it, but if you called me "quite a bit overweight" in person, you'd be lying on the ground bleeding.

If it will get you to shut up, I should have worded my post differently. So, here goes. On flat ground, if I'm not consistently going 19+ (idk why but thats my baseline) then I am not doing what I need/want to be doing.

I'm not bragging, either, jackass. I'm making a point that here is a guy about the same age as the OP, who is newer to cycling, and is comfortable doing much higher speeds on a regular basis without pain or exhaustion. You can intrepret is as bragging, or you can intrepret it as me questioning what is wrong with the OP's bike or body. I cannot change the way you intrepret things, I can only make an attempt to explain my intent.

I'm sort of hinting at the fact that I think he should be in around the same place as me. I still say something is wrong with his bicycle.

RUOkie

make up your mind. "cruising at 19-20" and 19+ on flat ground are different things.

njkayaker

From this.

To this!

The irony is strong in this one!

Is there anybody else (here) who says this sort of stuff?

kandyredcoi

its all on your body...u can work out to increase your speed or increase your endurance...not everyone is the same

i have a riding buddy that constantly averages .5mph faster then me...but when we ut the hammer down i simply dust him by at least a few mph....everyones body and physical ability is different...work on what u want to imrpove and youll be fine

guadzilla

The God of Irony just keeled over from an overdose.

Vicelord

I could easily go on a 40/50 mile ride in Phoenix with less than 200 feet of elevation gain.

Velo Gator

Well this got ugly.

RUOkie

you might want to stop talking now Brick

Makel

guadzilla

You sound surprised.

Someone came and actually admitted to being a less than stellar rider - so of course all the lowlifes came crawling out of the woodwork to crap on him.

ErichM

I'm sure I would be. I've never been in a fight in my life, so you for sure have more talent. I've always used my brain to handle disagreements. But I suppose one has to use what they've been dealt by nature, right?

How long have you lived in Arizona by the way? I don't see any felony record for you in AZ. If you're out assaulting people all the time, I can't imagine you're free of a criminal record. I guess if one brags about their bicycle stats, they probably would brag about beating people up too. My guess is in person if I said you were over weight you would throw a temper tantrum and storm off, then go write about it on some internet forum, proudly titled "Communication can lead to fights."

Vicelord

Are you really searching my name in public records?

OK, that oficially creeps me out.

Stalker'ish behavior.

whatever, I'm done with this thread now. The moderator who talks crap left and right just sent me a message about breaking rules. Apparently it's ok for people to insult me but if I stand up for myself, I get in trouble.... Your comment about using "what they've been dealt by nature" is a perfect example of an asinine insult which will go probably ignored by moderators... you have to be in some inner circle around here, then you can get away with being a cock to everyone all the time with your little quips and snarks.

Have some personality and stand up for yourself and you get in trouble, that's how the world has always worked. Free thinkers only thrive in history books.

Grumpy McTrumpy

you have obvious anger management issues.

even in a place like this it stands out. impressive.

by the way, I no longer wish to be helpful. falling back on violence pretty much closed that avenue.