Weakbikr

I'm sure this is unbelievably slow for alot of folks here. I've been close a few times but never finished with a 16 mph average. Well saturday I got my first at 16.0. Me and my father in law rode our 24 mile route. I was happy to get a new first. Now if I can figure out how to get in the 17's lol.

datlas 

Kudos!

MSchott

I occasionally hit a 16 mph average. It will probably take me a 10-15 pound weight loss (me, not the bike) to get to 17 mph. When I first got serious about riding, in my late 30's I was 15 pounds lighter than now and that was 25 years ago. I recall averaging over 18 mph back then but I hold out no hope of ever getting back to that level.

wipekitty

Nice work!

There's a very easy way to get in the 17s...draft off somebody a bit faster

Seattle Forrest

Awesome! That was faster than my ride today.

Weakbikr

Thanks guys, I was happy. I'm not overly concerned with speed, but I'd like to be able to go fast enough to keep up with some of the local groups. That's about it. It's always good to see a little speed after a ride. I cant imagine what its gonna take to see 17mph. I reckon like was said earlier. Draft off faster riders lol.

mantis

Congrats and well done!

jon c. 

Nice work!

Drafting faster riders does increase your speed by a couple mph. It's the only way I ever do a faster ride.

bikebreak

crazy training tip:

once a week, ride as fast as humanly possible for just 30 minutes. All out!

after a month, you will be faster in general, every ride.

eventually, extend that 30 minutes to 45 then 60. call it the Hour of Power

sdmc530

Nice job....I too sometimes see on my route if I can hold XX mph. I have held 16 as well, now working on 17. Been 16.8 once.....

You will get to 17.....ride on!

firebird854

Road bike?

cycledogg

Nice job! Ride lots = Faster

Weakbikr

I have actually started doing rides similar to that. Theres a 5 mile neighborhood route that I run sometimes after the gym. On those nights to get a quick ride in that's what I've been doing. I have noticed my speed coming up.

Weakbikr

I hope so. I've had a goal to make it to 18. Hopefully I can. I want to try some more group rides this year with one of the local clubs here. They are mostly my age, mid 40s and up. Alit of those guys are retired and man they are fast. Well to me anyway. I'm still very new to cycling so I know I have alot to learn.

Yes it's an 05ish orbea with campy mirage 10speed components. I think the mirage is low end but I tell ya, I like it. I've been eyeing an emonda alr 5 at the lbs but maybe next year. Heck I like my bike alot so may not upgrade for some time.

Weakbikr

Thanks for all the kudos. Nice to see some progression.

joelcool

Nice job!

colnago62

An interval program consistently done can get you there. Intervals can also take some of the fun out of cycling.

Weakbikr

What is a good interval program to follow? i know it may take some of the fun out but for training purposes to build endurance maybe its necessary.

colnago62

There are a lot of programs available for free online. Your goal is to increase your lactate threshold, so look for ones that develop that aspect of cycling. I tend to do 20 minute sweet spot intervals 2-3 in a session.

Weakbikr

Will do thanks.

OldTryGuy

Just another and IMO you should be happy with what ever you wind up with after a ride because ---- you got out for a ride!!!!

Speed will improve by putting in greater effort and more miles. I got faster by riding with faster riders and got to be able to ride longer distances by riding longer distances.

MSchott

Intervals at or near VO2 max is one thing but is it humanly possible to do this for 30 minutes?

sirjag

Great job man...i started 14months ago on a crappy hybird bike from walmart....my speeds were in the 13's...after 10months and about 1000miles i was up to 27mile rides avg 15-16.5mph...

My latest ride was 26miles at 18mph, but that was on a real road bike...i jumped almost 2mph avg just by upgrading.

keep it up man, and good work!

JAG

drewguy

Routes with fewer hills can help too . . .

rm -rf

The average is greatly affected by hills, wind, and even by slowing for a stop sign or light. So different routes and dates can't easily be compared.

Boosting speeds:
Climbing at a slow speed, gravity is the biggest power drain, so increasing power will be quite proportional to increased speed up the hill.

On the flats, wind resistance increases by the cube of speed. So even a one mph increase is very significant.

For example, this bicycle speed-power calculator, taking the defaults, 118 watts is 16 mph, while 138 watts is 17 mph. That's 17% more power! Doubling the 118 watts only gets a rider to 21 mph.

(You can bump your speed significantly by getting more aero, with bent arms and hands in the drops or forearms level with the hoods. Drafting even one rider, perhaps a wheel length away, is similar. And drafting a group is a lot faster -- but those fast groups can fly up hills, so it can be hard to hang on.)

~~~
Group rides
You could contact the cycle club, and ask about the rides. You'd be fine right now with quite a few of my local cycle club's group rides.

I use group rides to push my fitness. I have a good idea of the speeds of some of the local rides. Some are a moderate-for-me pace. Others are a little too fast -- I sit in the draft and rarely get to the front of the group. These harder rides are fun -- and it's more motivation to do a max effort so the group doesn't have to wait for me to catch up. Some fast, mostly flat rides can be 3 mph or more faster than my usual average.