I'm curious to see if I'm slow....I don't have anyone to compare myself to but i ride at an average pace of 4:25/mile. What are some of everyone times? Feel free to add me, I need some biking friends!

Average pace depends on a lot of things. Type of bike, type of tyres, tyre pressure, weight of the bike, quality of components, how well the bike is maintained and then there is the type of terrain and the fitness of the rider. There are too many variables to list...

This. I try not to worry about it too much. I like to generally cruise at 15ish. I can hold that for 2 miles or 125 miles.

Cycling doesn't get easier, you just get quicker...

When I started cycling again in April 2011, it took me 1 hour & 12 minutes to commute to work 21.9km's (13.5 miles) away, now, on a 'good' day, I can do the same ride in just over 36 minutes...

Time and patience is key

I agree with all of the above... As you ride more and drop weight you will most likely see natural increased in your speed. There is a limit to this and when you start leveling out then you can look at speed work. Until then, don't get caught up in the numbers too much it can steal your joy if you let it. Ride, enjoy and maybe once a week test yourself by riding a known route to guage your improvement. One of the biggest pitfalls of new riders (and overly compettitve folks like myself) is thinking each ride has to be better than the last... If you push the limit everytime, you will wear yourself out... Relax. You have time, and you will get better if you keep at it...

Take care
Nikki

Some of it may have to do with where you are riding. Where I live there are a lot of hills but when I go to Florida it is flat and my average speed improves considerably. A second factor may be the bike you are riding. Are you on a road bike ? Has it been tuned and lubricated recently? Learning how to ride correctly (read as much as you can in books etc.) and conditioning will certainly make a big difference too !

How did you do it though? Did you train strategically or did you just keep pedaling the distance and it happened by itself?

Just kept 'at it' really... As the weight came down & the fitness improved, the speed increased...

I bought a turbo-trainer (Tacx Genius) so I could continue riding through the harsh winter months (although it is not the same as 'actual' riding on the road, but it keeps the legs turning and the heart pumping...

Takes me about 1hr 10 to do a 15 mile commute at the moment. I dream of the day I can get that down to 35 mins.

You get that down to 35 minutes and you should look to get with a pro team. That would be smoking.

Wrote the above comment, then went on a bike ride. A couple things I learned:

When I can, I speed up before I hit a hill. Momentum helps. Especially on short hills. I don't push it to be tired before I hit the hill, just get some speed if it is flat or downhill.

Second, when I pedal in circles instead of elevators, I do better. I did this with clips (cages) but it is easier with clipless. Even after being told this for several years, I still need to remind myself. It is not natural. Basically use your foot through the whole stroke, not just on the up or even on the up and down.

Third, PCD. Positive Climbing Attitude. Years ago, a friend told me about PFD--Positive Fishing Attitude. If you don't think you will catch a fish, you probably won't. Same is true on hills. If I think I will be slow or need to stop, I will.

Fourth, keep it in one higher gear. If I know I will be shifting, I will put the front in the smallest ring. Then, I get the rear to one harder than I think it will take and try to keep my cadence up.

As I focused on this, today I took two minutes off the fastest time of the first five miles of hills before I get on the flatter part of the ride.

I am still learning.

Cambridgeshire countryside helps. Flat as a pancake.

Right there with you!

When I was commuting into cambridge tailwinds could be a 25mph average, headwinds sometimes struggling to hold it in double figures.

Tried looking for you in Strava and didn't find you. If you find me - ask to follow --- Midori Raymore. Where I live with the foothills of the Rockies at our doorstep, hills just are. Though I can, if I go east, have realtively flat land to ride in I just tend to ride a lot of north/south. Every time I ride east I know I'm going to have a long crawl back up the elevation. I agree, losing weight makes the hills go faster. But so does riding more. Better conditioning on my legs and body (even though I'm not losing weight) has helped me do hills better. I also can have faster days and other days suck, but I at the moment, I'm just slow on a hill. I figuire I'll get better over time. Currently, my goal is try to keep it above a walking speed - if I could get off and walk faster up the hill than I'm riding - I'm not happy. I keep hearing about how the cadence thing works. Without a cadence meter though, I'm not very good at figuring cadence out while riding. I bought one for my husband last Xmas and I know his riding is better now so I figure that is next year's Xmas present to self. Cateye has one for about $100

We are following each other on Strava I agree about the cadence too! When I done my ride on Sunday my husband was following(in places in the car) and said my cadence was much better. I have learnt to spin faster rather than make my legs ache! Makes everything much easier, all I have to do is lose the weight and all should improve I have soooo much to learn :laugh:

LOL - that's why I couldn't find you - we're already Strava buddies! :laugh: Yeah - I have to figure out why my left lower leg has this weird, almost shin splint feeling to it lately. I think it might be because I tend to unclip for some reason and then ride that way for a while on that side. I think it throws my muscles off and is making wacky stresses. Part of staying young is not only exercising but learning new things. So there we go, staying young! :drinker:

Lots of good advice in this thread.

As in most things, it depends, and that is true for ANY rider, professional or amateur.

Aside from one's personal fitness levels, there are many factors that will significantly affect average speed. It is very hard to compare yourself to others on say Strava unless they are doing the same rides at the same time as you.

a) Flat or hilly terrain (even this depends, someone in Florida will have a completely different standard for flat or hilly than someone in Colorado) This holds true for all riders. In the TdF a relatively flat stage will see the winner avg about 26mph or so but when they get into the mountains that number drops to around 21mph or less for roughly the same overall distance. Big difference. From my perspective as a relatively new cyclist (4 years), on one century ride that ! did in the mountains that had over 9,000ft of climbing, my avg speed was 14mph. Another century ride I did at the beach which was virtually flat, my avg was 20mph. I was actually fitter when I did the former.

b) Wind. Even a modest 5-10mph wind can have a devastating (or very beneficial) effect on avg speeds. It is easy to do the same ride and see 20-30% difference in avg speeds or more due to wind.

c) Riding solo or pacelining. You can save around 30% of energy used when you're on someone's wheel. This translates into much higher avg speeds when cyclists work together rotating the lead. On the TdF, team time trial winners avg over 36mph while individual TT winners avg around 33mph for about 20 miles. At my (C+/B-) level, club group rides typically see increases of around 1.5-2mph over the same route ridden solo.

d) Distance. Obviously one can keep up higher speed on shorter rides than on longer ones. See points a) and c) above.

e) Weight. The laws of gravity apply to everyone! The more you weigh, the more energy is required to move you and your bike at a given speed up a given incline. That combined with point a) makes a huge difference to avg speeds. Same for the pros. Marcel Kittel has been the dominant sprinter in this year's TdF so far. He weighs 190lbs and generates lots of power. Because sprints are generally flat sections gravity does not hinder him more than other riders and his higher power output allows him to out sprint the others. Go into the mountains and he will be at the back of the peleton just trying to hang on while someone like Alberto Contador, who weighs 137lbs will be climbing like a gazelle.

f) Equipment. If you are riding a big, heavy steel bike with 2" tyres, you will be much slower than if you were riding an aero, lightweight bike on skinny tyres.

Those things aside, anyone can improve their performance but it takes concerted effort.

1. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!! Climbing as made me a stronger rider on the flats and the only way to improve climbing ability is to climb often. (losing weight helps too )

2. Make sure you have the appropriate gearing on your bike. For most people in hilly areas that means a compact crank or triple up front and at least an 11-28 in the back. Staying in the big ring to look macho is a recipe for disaster. FYI, even Alberto Contador uses an 11-32 on the back of his bike during Le Tour!! If you live in a flat area then a standard double with an 11-23T in back may be the better option.

3. Concentrate on your technique, form and breathing. Try to make smooth circles when pedaling, concentrate on 'scraping your toe' at the bottom of the circle and pulling up on the upstroke. This will increase your pedaling efficiency. On climbs, sit up in the saddle with your hands lightly on the top of the bars. This allows easier breathing. Keep you're upper body still and relaxed, rocking your shoulders and pulling on the bars just wastes energy. Make sure you have your bike properly fitted for your body style and flexibility range, this will allow you to more effectively utilise the power you generate.

4. Work on increasing your cadence. At first I found spinning at greater than around 70 rpm very difficult but it becomes easier in time. Being able to measure and see your cadence in real time is imho a really useful training tool. If you work at it you will soon be able to get your cadence up to the 90+ rpm rate and maintain it. Ultimately this will lead to vastly improved avg speeds.
5. On long climbs, every once in a while change down a couple of gears and stand for a bit. This will recruit other muscles and give your butt and overtaxed muscles a rest. When you sit, shift up again and you may find it a bit easier. You can also use this technique to power over short rollers which will improve your avg speeds too.

6. Learn to suffer That means keep pedaling even when your brain says stop!

7. Most importantly enjoy the ride and have fun!!

6. Learn to suffer That means keep pedaling even when your brain says stop!

Me, Myself, & I have a conversation about everytime I go out in this heat....Nonstop chattering in my head till I hit about mile 8-10 and then the voices shut up. I swear it could be a triple-personality dance! :laugh: :laugh: