Sunday 13 April 2014

an average ride

I've been invited on a ride by some local riders, they told me they do 30-50 miles which is within my range but when I asked what speed they average I was told 15-20mph. I've never done more than 16mph average on my road bikes so the last few rides I've been trying to up my speed and tonight was the latest attempt. I had limited time which i thought would be an incentive to get a move on. I also change my GPS so that it stopped recording when i stopped moving,this is useless off road as trees affect the signal and it thinks you have stopped, but on the road it works a treat. With the stop/go option engaged I did my personal best for the route going as fast as I could on the flat and not hanging about on the climbs either but to my dismay when i got home i had done a paltry 14.82mph average. I know the stock answer to "what can i do to improve" is either pedal faster or pedal at the same speed in a higher gear but if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears
ride 46
11 miles
total 756

2 comments:

Shotokan Cyclist said...

I once managed to ride 60 miles at an average of 15.0mph when I was training for my century. The only way I managed this was by having a much faster rider than me [Ant Hill, at Dan's birthday party?] ride in front.
Lots of food, lots of water, aero position...but you know all this already.

Shotokan Cyclist said...

Oh, and yesterday, Jonnie and I managed a 16.0mph average over 20 miles but that was lovely gently rolling hills, in warm sunny conditions. No climbs to speak of.

Drafting other riders really helps!