VegasJen

I have no idea if it's accurate for the general population, but not even remotely for me. I'm 15-18mph, depending on wind and elevation changes. But then again, I don't ride for leisure activity. I go out every time with the express intention of killing my legs.

raymellott

It's BS. 90% of what you do on your bike depends on you and your condition. When I was in my late 60's, on a low end hybrid hybrid bike; riding every day, 15 to 20 miles, I managed to average about14 mph. Later, after a number of health incidents that whacked my conditioning and the frequency/duration of my rides, I'm down to about - yeah - 11 mph. But almost all that degradation is because my conditioning is in the pits, now compared to then.

beng1

That chart is for a leisure cyclist, not for someone who is serious about cycling. I am sixty years old and I can average a heck of a lot faster than 12mph. One thing I read in "Bicycling Science" by Frank Rowland Whitt, copyright 1982, is that between the ages of 40 and 80 a fit athletic cyclist will lose half of their capacity to take oxygen out of the air with their lungs, and for those who are not healthy or sedentary, the loss is much worse. So you will be slower after the age of 40, but you can still be much faster than the average person if you ride regularly and seriously. I had heart surgery last year in the spring, and by fall I was able to hold a 19.5 mph average over a 13 mile time-trial course riding a 34-pound Huffy ten-speed, and this year, not having had any surgeries or setbacks, I am sure with the same training I could go much faster than that.

AlgarveCycling

As other's have pointed out, that chart is pretty daft and meaningless.

I'm 53, today I did a short lap due to time constraints, did 44km, 312m and 33.6km/h average. Not full gas at all but felt it a bit because it is windy.

Last couple of 200k's earlier this year looking at Strava were 204km, 1700m, 28.4km/h average (7hrs 12min) and 214km, 1705m, 30.2km/h average (7hrs 8min)

Bearhawker

I'm in my 50's and the average speed is spot on - except I ride a FATBIKE at the chart's average speed.

Maybe it's a fatbike avg speed chart?

prj71

That chart is such BS. I'm 50 right now.

EddyR

I think the chart is correct if it was about older people’s activity. Most slow down a lot as time advances. Bike riders are not your average senior. No one besides myself in my building ride a bike of any kind. It is not a good chart of active people. Motivation is what drives people to be active. Some older people are very active but have no interest in bikes, that is just the way it is.
Ed

SpedFast

I agree. When I'm around a group of people my age that don't ride I feel like I'm the only one that's going to make it past five. And I'm not referring to taking an afternoon nap....Most people my age are sedentary and have been too long to turn it around now. I'm just going to keep riding till I can't. It works for me at 73.

caloso

A screenshot of my Strava from Sunday's Golden State Race Series circuit race. This was the Masters 50+/60+ field, so by definition everyone in that race is eligible for AARP membership. I finished midpack, so this is a pretty representation of the race speed.



It's the same guys I've been racing against for years. I keep thinking that as I age up, racing will get easier. But no, those guys don't get any slower.

SpedFast

[QUOTE=
It's the same guys I've been racing against for years. I keep thinking that as I age up, racing will get easier. But no, those guys don't get any slower.[/QUOTE]
Haha. I like that.

caloso

That’s the thing about racing in the Masters fields in NorCal. Every race you’ll see a couple of stars and stripes arm bands. Occasionally rainbow stripes.