Increasing speed? stuck around 15MPH
07-29-17, 07:27 PM
#51
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That could be said for many things in life ... to go faster, further, to made advances, to accomplish more ... we have to push ourselves past what is currently comfortable.
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07-31-17, 05:26 AM
#52
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For me going faster means I have to gain the strength to pedal the higher gears with the same RPM as the lower gears. I agree totally that wind and road gradient are factors as well as weight. I've personally never gotten into speed or distance as the primary reason to cycle, but I have noticed these factors influence what is recorded on by bike computer.
07-31-17, 07:42 AM
#53
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I finally broke the 17mph mark this past week on my morning ride. I can get 16-17mph on the carbon fiber Domane, but I'm always 1mph slower on average with my aluminum 1.1. The bike's weight does make a difference.
08-02-17, 11:33 AM
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Personally I'm more concerned with increasing my mileage endurance than I am speed. I have finally achieved a metric century and want to do a full century. One thing I have to learn is how to pace myself since I often want to go full steam ahead at the beginning, and have to talk myself down into holding my speed at around 12 MPH so I don't wear myself out.
08-02-17, 01:13 PM
#58
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57 posts and no one asks about the bike? OP, bike used, tires, psi and gearing? Ride weight and fuel? Start there.
08-02-17, 01:20 PM
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If you're riding a consistent 15 mph average in hilly terrain (or hot climate), then I would say you are not doing too bad at all! Yeah, like someone else said, maybe consider a lighter bike, may something aero-dynamic like a time trialer.
Outside of that, train with someone who is willing to go just a bit faster than you, to give you a target. Even if you have to pay a coach. He/she'll know what to do.
Outside of that, train with someone who is willing to go just a bit faster than you, to give you a target. Even if you have to pay a coach. He/she'll know what to do.
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08-02-17, 01:30 PM
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08-02-17, 02:20 PM
#61
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08-02-17, 02:27 PM
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The top one is for a mountain bike, the bottom is the standard road bike. They are both clipless. And I agree with the others, riding intervals is the best workout for improving your speed. Do it only once per week otherwise you'll burn out. It can and should be a brutal ride, you'll not look forward to them.
08-02-17, 02:40 PM
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There is a training /nutrition section, i think i already linked to it.
I have been slowly getting faster Without every doing a ride I didn't enjoy ... I just get faster more slowly than most would tolerate. If one is in a hurry to be fast, Intervals and more unpleasant rides in general are the key.
To go faster, suffer more and enjoy less.
I have been slowly getting faster Without every doing a ride I didn't enjoy ... I just get faster more slowly than most would tolerate. If one is in a hurry to be fast, Intervals and more unpleasant rides in general are the key.
To go faster, suffer more and enjoy less.
08-02-17, 02:45 PM
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Thats why they race hybrids, fat bikes with 4" tires and mt bikes with knobby tires at the tour de farce? Pertinent to the OP's situation and not addressed. I've been on a 26" mt bike with 2.1" knobby tires and a 44x11 max gear. Yes it has a speed limiter. The bike is one of many variables, agreed? Me? I advise full breakfast and double espresso
08-03-17, 06:14 AM
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I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
08-03-17, 06:16 AM
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The top one is for a mountain bike, the bottom is the standard road bike. They are both clipless. And I agree with the others, riding intervals is the best workout for improving your speed. Do it only once per week otherwise you'll burn out. It can and should be a brutal ride, you'll not look forward to them.
Additionally, I actually ended up averaging 16.2 yesterday! I think I keep gearing up and disrupting things for myself, then I end up pushing harder at what feels like the wrong time.
08-03-17, 06:35 AM
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I'm curious what races the OP has done? How'd you fare? What lessons have you learned? What is your goal? To be competitive? To 'just be faster?'
(cue [MENTION=77814]carpediemracing[/MENTION] 's reminder that avg speed means nothing, which is also true. If you go for an hour ride, and spend half of that sprinting your eyes out and recovering, your average isn't going to be anything to speak of...)
(cue [MENTION=77814]carpediemracing[/MENTION] 's reminder that avg speed means nothing, which is also true. If you go for an hour ride, and spend half of that sprinting your eyes out and recovering, your average isn't going to be anything to speak of...)
Gravel races - I've only done one so far and placed square in the middle (about 51 out of 100) on a 33 mile course with tons of hills and loose gravel. I was really proud of myself. As far as lessons learned: eat more carbs in the morning the day before. I completely ran out of steam about 1/3 of the way through and had to slam some wood and CLIF blocs. It was also insanely hot so I had to peel off the top of my skinsuit on the side of the road for a bit in some shade to cool down. Those choices saved me.
I don't know what my goal is yet for gravel racing. So far, get faster and stronger. I'll be doing a 55 mile race in Northern Minnesota this fall so I'm trying to prep for that.
08-03-17, 06:38 AM
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Yes definitely walk into your local bike shop and plunk down $1200 for a Stages Power Meter.
Also, a quality heart rate monitor can be had for under $100 and will get you a decent approximation of how hard you're working. You don't need a left foot right foot watt by watt comparison to get fast. Even the HRM is unnecessary for that.
Mostly getting fast at road cycling is about suffering, badly - with others. Over and over - as often as possible. It's honestly like that. Not 100% of the time or even 50% of the ride has to be a hammerfest. But you have to be willing to occasionally put yourself into a cave of pain beyond where you thought you could go. The way you see it done most of the time is just by riding with others who have already put tens of thousands of miles. Do their pace line rotation crap or whatever and then try to follow when they dial up the effort. Keep telling yourself it's fun!
Also, a quality heart rate monitor can be had for under $100 and will get you a decent approximation of how hard you're working. You don't need a left foot right foot watt by watt comparison to get fast. Even the HRM is unnecessary for that.
Mostly getting fast at road cycling is about suffering, badly - with others. Over and over - as often as possible. It's honestly like that. Not 100% of the time or even 50% of the ride has to be a hammerfest. But you have to be willing to occasionally put yourself into a cave of pain beyond where you thought you could go. The way you see it done most of the time is just by riding with others who have already put tens of thousands of miles. Do their pace line rotation crap or whatever and then try to follow when they dial up the effort. Keep telling yourself it's fun!
08-03-17, 07:57 AM
#69
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I ride a Surly Straggler, Knard 650b tires. Straggler 650b | Bikes | Surly Bikes
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
08-03-17, 10:01 AM
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I've done about a handful of track races. I suck. I have zero competitive drive so I'm really just out there to have fun, finish races, be safe and get stronger. I'm still trying to figure out if I even ENJOY it - track cycling might just not be my thing for racing.
Gravel races - I've only done one so far and placed square in the middle (about 51 out of 100) on a 33 mile course with tons of hills and loose gravel. I was really proud of myself. As far as lessons learned: eat more carbs in the morning the day before. I completely ran out of steam about 1/3 of the way through and had to slam some wood and CLIF blocs. It was also insanely hot so I had to peel off the top of my skinsuit on the side of the road for a bit in some shade to cool down. Those choices saved me.
I don't know what my goal is yet for gravel racing. So far, get faster and stronger. I'll be doing a 55 mile race in Northern Minnesota this fall so I'm trying to prep for that.
Gravel races - I've only done one so far and placed square in the middle (about 51 out of 100) on a 33 mile course with tons of hills and loose gravel. I was really proud of myself. As far as lessons learned: eat more carbs in the morning the day before. I completely ran out of steam about 1/3 of the way through and had to slam some wood and CLIF blocs. It was also insanely hot so I had to peel off the top of my skinsuit on the side of the road for a bit in some shade to cool down. Those choices saved me.
I don't know what my goal is yet for gravel racing. So far, get faster and stronger. I'll be doing a 55 mile race in Northern Minnesota this fall so I'm trying to prep for that.
08-03-17, 10:17 AM
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This
Whenever I've plateaued I go back to interval training. Mostly one-half to hour sessions once or twice a week on the local roller coaster hills. Charge up the hills until my legs and lungs are burning and my body is shaking, then coast down and loaf-pedal for recovery. Later, rinse, repeat.
Sucks. Not fun. At all. But it works for me.
Whenever I've plateaued I go back to interval training. Mostly one-half to hour sessions once or twice a week on the local roller coaster hills. Charge up the hills until my legs and lungs are burning and my body is shaking, then coast down and loaf-pedal for recovery. Later, rinse, repeat.
Sucks. Not fun. At all. But it works for me.
You NEED to be mentally tough. You NEED to convince yourself not to stop. Your body will be screaming at you to stop, your legs will scream stop, your brain will scream stop, then the thought will creep in "Well maybe if I just slowed down" or "Well maybe if I did an extra interval next time."
NO!
You buckle down and you finish that workout. Your speed will reflect your effort.
Don't get caught up in science behind intervals. Go find a hill that takes ~ 5 minutes or less to ride up, ride up it hard, and ride down it easy. When you're riding up, you're not going to be able to go all out every time from the beginning. Make it so that when you get to the top you are very... very tired and your legs are screaming for you to stop.
08-03-17, 11:21 AM
#72
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At this level of riding, almost anything will help.
1. Intervals--go hard for a few minutes, then go easy for a few minutes (don't stop pedaling or coast--keep the cadence up, just change to an easier gear). Repeat a bunch of times.
2. Hill repeats--pretty much the same as intervals. Ride up a hill, spin back down. Repeat a bunch of times. They're great in that you can't really cheat on the effort--you have to work to get up the hill. But because your posture may be different (slower pace, more upright position, etc.), you may engage different muscles. So hill repeats may help with overall/average speed, but they aren't a substitute for intervals--and intervals aren't a substitute for hill repeats.
3. More aero--remove flappy bits. Spend some time riding in the drops.
4. Cadence--find the sweet spot, where you're not struggling to turn the cranks, but you're still putting in some effort.
5. Rest--after particularly hard efforts, you need to give your body time to recover. Hard exercise is effectively microtrauma to your body, so you need to let your body heal from those efforts.
6. Smoother tires--the knobby tires are probably slowing you down. That doesn't mean you need to go narrower--wider tires supposedly have lower/better rolling resistance than narrow tires at a given pressure/suppleness.
You could make it all very strict and regimented. I don't. I'm not at the level where I need it--I may revisit that when I stop getting PRs on Strava. But for now, as long as I'm seeing improvements on every ride, I know I'm making progress.
1. Intervals--go hard for a few minutes, then go easy for a few minutes (don't stop pedaling or coast--keep the cadence up, just change to an easier gear). Repeat a bunch of times.
2. Hill repeats--pretty much the same as intervals. Ride up a hill, spin back down. Repeat a bunch of times. They're great in that you can't really cheat on the effort--you have to work to get up the hill. But because your posture may be different (slower pace, more upright position, etc.), you may engage different muscles. So hill repeats may help with overall/average speed, but they aren't a substitute for intervals--and intervals aren't a substitute for hill repeats.
3. More aero--remove flappy bits. Spend some time riding in the drops.
4. Cadence--find the sweet spot, where you're not struggling to turn the cranks, but you're still putting in some effort.
5. Rest--after particularly hard efforts, you need to give your body time to recover. Hard exercise is effectively microtrauma to your body, so you need to let your body heal from those efforts.
6. Smoother tires--the knobby tires are probably slowing you down. That doesn't mean you need to go narrower--wider tires supposedly have lower/better rolling resistance than narrow tires at a given pressure/suppleness.
You could make it all very strict and regimented. I don't. I'm not at the level where I need it--I may revisit that when I stop getting PRs on Strava. But for now, as long as I'm seeing improvements on every ride, I know I'm making progress.
08-03-17, 11:49 AM
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I ride a Surly Straggler, Knard 650b tires. Straggler 650b | Bikes | Surly Bikes
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
08-03-17, 12:22 PM
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I ride a Surly Straggler, Knard 650b tires. Straggler 650b | Bikes | Surly Bikes
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
I know it's not built to be a speed demon, for the record.
You should also make sure you're saddle position is good - have some people look at how you ride. Riding at an efficient cadence will require you to have your saddle setback correct, and especially your saddle height correct.
Now, if that's the bike you're using for track racing, then that would be like wearing flip flops to play soccer. You could do it, but it wouldn't be pretty.
I'm older than you, didn't get semi-serious about riding until recently, and have no thoughts of racing. That said, I have found my average speeds on rides of 20-30 miles going from 16.x mph this spring to 18 mph now just by riding regularly, and pushing myself just a bit. No intervals, no hill repeats, no group rides, just pushing myself to ride further and further, resting between hard rides, and focusing on my riding position. If I ride with a faster group, I'm instantly 2 mph faster, but that's just from the improved aero of the group. However, if you find yourself getting bored trying to ride far and fast, a group ride is a great motivator. But make sure the group goes faster than you would on your own, or it actually won't do you much good.
If you can find a set of inexpensive wheels that will work with your bike, you might snag them and set them up with some 35-38 mm slicks or low tread road tires. Save the knobbies for the gravel races. You'll immediately feel yourself flying.
08-03-17, 04:59 PM
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I know that most advice is focused on spending more time on the bike, but I think that doing other exercises helped me to get faster on the bike.
OP, what you may want to try is to buy a set of 5 pound ankle weights at Wal Mart, and then do sets of stair climbs at home. Like, go up and down 10x in the morning and again in the evening. You'd be surprised how much stronger your legs get from something so seemingly simple. It takes 2-3 minutes to do this. Your bang for the buck is huge here, time-wise.
OP, what you may want to try is to buy a set of 5 pound ankle weights at Wal Mart, and then do sets of stair climbs at home. Like, go up and down 10x in the morning and again in the evening. You'd be surprised how much stronger your legs get from something so seemingly simple. It takes 2-3 minutes to do this. Your bang for the buck is huge here, time-wise.
