Am I too fast?

[I like Skol]

I got up at 4.30pm ready for my 4th 12hr night shift. After a large coffee and an equally large plate of chilli & rice, washed down with a pint of Pepsi I jumped on my bike in my baggy shorts at 5.30pm and sprinted the 10.5 miles to work. I jumped several red lights and my weaving through the Manchester rush hour traffic would have been worthy of one of the ‘silly Cyclist’ Youtube clips. I averaged 19mph and very nearly saw my plate of chilli again
Was I fast enough?

 

[tyred]

Far too fast. You only need that sort of pace if the bakery is about to close.

 

[HertzvanRental]

I got up at 4.30pm ready for my 4th 12hr night shift. After a large coffee and an equally large plate of chilli & rice, washed down with a pint of Pepsi I jumped on my bike in my baggy shorts at 5.30pm and sprinted the 10.5 miles to work. I jumped several red lights and my weaving through the Manchester rush hour traffic would have been worthy of one of the ‘silly Cyclist’ Youtube clips. I averaged 19mph and very nearly saw my plate of chilli again
Was I fast enough?

Depends on what time you need to clock in!

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

It's at times like these that the forum needs bonj to come back and explain average speeds

 

[Andywinds]

I agree here, average speeds are only applicable if the conditions are the same, i.e. not stuck in traffic and no major head wind etc. Or am I talking crap??!!!

But there's no guarantee that any increase in average will have come from your effort or improvement, as opposed to external influencers like wind direction, air density, traffic conditions, etc. - or even bike choice, wheel choice or tyre pressure..

 

[MrGrumpy]

I use average speeds as a gauge of how hard I`ve been going, but I wouldn`t use them as a gauge if I cycled in town, stop,start etc. However it one of a few measures and considering the average punter on here doesn`t have access to a power meter, what else can they use to gauge how fast or slow they have been going. Funnily enough if you watch any of the big tours they always show the average speed of the stage at the end?? So IMO i think its a perfectly good measure!

 

[Citius]

Funnily enough if you watch any of the big tours they always show the average speed of the stage at the end

It still means nothing. It certainly doesn't tell you how hard they've been going. The flat stages are always going to run out higher than the mountain stages, but you don't need to be a cycling genius to know which are the harder stages.

 

[bpsmith]

Define harder?

A hilly route at 10mph compared to a flat route at 20mph. Would you assume the hilly route was harder. Rider could have taken it easy on the 10mph hilly route compared to the 20mph flat route. Wind would also affect.

Hence its only a guide, whatever you use, short of a power meter.

Total elevation and mph together tells s pretty good story though.

 

[Citius]

Define harder?

Harder = the need to produce more power for longer and/or expend more energy for longer.

 

[bpsmith]

Harder = the need to produce more power for longer and/or expend more energy for longer.

You said that you don't need to be a genius to tell the harder stages, but that assumes the riders will tackle some at greater effort.

 

[Citius]

Sorry, what point are you trying to get across?

 

[slowmotion]

Far too fast. You only need that sort of pace if the bakery pub is about to close.

FTFY

 

[Hip Priest]

Too slow for a group? If I did 60 miles with my club at 17mph they'd have finished their lunch before I got to the cafe.

 

[lee1980sim]

OK so the definitive answer is as I thought I'm not too fast but his group is really slow in comparison

 

[Racing roadkill]

If you come off the bike at anything over 25mph, your skin will come off as well. Unless I was paid to ride quickly, I won't. Even if I was paid to ride quickly, I still won't.