^^^ This. You can also improve your average moving speed by bombing it up to stop line, doing an emergency stop every time (thereby pausing most GPS trackers) and sprinting away again. There's absolutely no point as it doesn't get you anywhere any faster, but it gives your average speed a cosmetic boost
...or simply learn to love riding in your drops.
13mph? You speed demon, you!
(Another 10mph average group ride today... but then that's a deliberate choice for us )
13mph? You speed demon, you!
Besides much good advice above, and in addition to it, I suggest that you try using a heart rate monitor. Having established a baseline from a couple of 'normal' rides over the 26 mile route, then do the route aiming to keep your heart rate (HR) higher (in similar temperatures) than those you've established as the 'baseline' and if you see the rate dropping below 140 (say, YMMV) push a bit harder (to get it back above 140). There may be alarms you can set on your HRM to help. Within your control, what's likely reducing your average speed are the 'micro rests' which it's very easy to take on a bike. And a HRM will point that up to you on the display. Perhaps you can imagine a cyclist ahead that you're intent on catching, but she's good and not easy to catch (you need to be of a competitive nature for this to work).
Stationary cycling may help you get used to higher cadence and allows accurate realtime display of sustained power output and heart rate. In addition, this might help you with establishing your thresholds/what you can manage for an extended period and could inform the approach advocated above. And it can be motivating. Then do it for real.
I agree with the finding a faster cycling partner approach: it has always worked for me. I tend to be a solitary rider, though, so my usual approach to training is just to do lots of distance, climbing and/or intervals, and to always keep pushing myself a little bit out of my comfort zone.
