Another daft Question

[darth vadar]

Bear with me here please.

I was watching the TDF last night and the commentators highlighted the fact that the cyclist were hammering along at 40mph.

Now, as a beginner, I have only ever hit about 20/22 mph on the flat or faster when freewheeling down a steep hill.

My question is; how do I get to go a bit faster? Do I need to just practice more? Am I in the right gears (no technical terms please) - big cog at the front, small cog at the back sort of language please.

I have a hybrid and a flat bar road bike.

Am I doing something wrong or am I just useless ?

Take it as read that I am old(er) and fat (ter)

Thank you.

 

[WychwoodTrev]

Were they on their own or in the peloton ? As the peloton normally travels faster than a single rider. But for you to get faster you need to train/practice build up your power. Have a look in interval training . Which is basicly 4 mins at arounf 75 % then flat out for 30seconds then back to 75% for anouther 4 mins. Only do 5reps in session. As you get fitter,faster you will be able to do the flat out bit for longer but build up slowly say 30 secs increase at a time. And only do interval training a max of 3 times a week

 

[The Horse's Mouth]

Firstly the TDF riders are the fitess of the fit. Bradley Wiggins is 6ft 3in and weighs only 11 stone. Secondly, they have super tuned bikes costing a good few thousand pounds each.

If you want to go faster I suggest you try cycling 50 miles a day plus and buy a 5 grand bike.

Small things you can do is get better/lighter equipment on the bike you have. Clipless pedals for example could add a couple of mph to your speed.

Alternatively be happy with the 20 mph you are doing, sounds pretty average for a beginner to me. Doubt I do much better and Ive been commuting for three years. Saying that im a lot older and a lot fatter.

 

[arallsopp]

I was watching Usain Bolt a few years back. The commentators said he was running at over 27 mph.


As a beginner, I have only hit about 12 mph.


How do I get to go a bit faster?



Just teasing, don't mind me. 22mph on the flat is a respectable speed. Few go faster.

Practice will bring improvements. As will checking your bike fit and tyre pressures. There are diminishing returns in upgrading anything other than the engine on a bike, but it sure can be a lot of fun trying.

Andy.

 

[yello]

Yes, I recall the commentators here saying that O'Grady and Cancellera were leading the peleton at 65kph. I shook my head in disbelief. I don't even hit those sorts of speeds downhill, 50 is around my max. It's a different world innit?

 

[italiafirenze]

More power friend. Simply put they can work between 3 and 5 times harder than you for a similar heart rate.

If you watch the SRMlive data feed whilst they are on the move http://data.srmlive.de/TDF/ you will see the speeds, power output and heart rate of some of the riders. One rider was doing around 350 watts at 150 bpm. At a similar heart rate you would probably be lucky to be doing 180 watts.

They are just lots fitter. Forget the bikes.

 

[lejogger]

I was watching Usain Bolt a few years back. The commentators said he was running at over 27 mph.


As a beginner, I have only hit about 12 mph.


How do I get to go a bit faster?



Just teasing, don't mind me.

Andy, You may have been teasing, but it's spot on.
These are elite athletes at the end of the day, and while you can always get faster and more efficient, the hopes of getting close to these sort of speeds for a lot of people (unfortunately) are just not possible. You look at their bikes and they're not entirely different, and their gearing is probably very similar. I'm afraid that they just have engines that are a world away from you and I.

It is amazing how much you can improve your own performance though. Just by logging my ride times and average mph I can see that merely by cycling more I get fitter and faster.
You can improve your position on the bike to be more efficient and aero, and there are always marginal gains to be made, and given a large amount of training and tweaking, you will find that you're able to sustain much faster times on the bike... but getting close to the TDF guys would be something else.

 

[Matthames]

Train, train, train and more training. The great thing about your cardiovascular system is that it is reactive to stresses placed on it. The more it is stressed the more resilient it becomes, but it also works the other way, once you become fit you need to keep up the training.

However, all this comes with a health warning! If you want to train your body to be able to cycle at those sorts of speeds I would first suggest getting checked over by a doctor to make sure your body can take it, also getting a professional trainer to make sure you are training correctly wouldn't be a bad idea either. If you don't do it right there is a good chance you could at best injure yourself and at worse kill yourself.

The guys in the TDF will have trained for the event. They would have tailored their training so that they would peak during the TDF, because after a time you will eventually over train and your performance suffers.

 

[swee'pea99]

You can even take the bike out of the equation...I remember a post from a bloke who said that he - a pretty serious amateur distance runner - was doing a marathon one time and Paula Radcliffe loped by. Just for the hell of it, he decided to see if he could keep up with her. And he did. By running just about as fast as he could. He lasted a couple of hundred metres, then dropped back, and she just carried on. He - a committed runner - could sprint at a speed she could sustain, with no apparent effort, for over 20 miles.

 

[Globalti]

Nobody has mentioned gearing - the pros use bigger chainrings and have the muscle power to turn them. I use a 50 tooth chainring and I can sprint up to 38 mph for a few seconds with my legs going like the clappers, so for them with a 53 (or bigger?) chainring over 40 mph isn't too much of a problem.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

So in summary - The are Super Fit Human Beings with non standard road bikes and nothing illegal in their bodies

 

[Fletch456]

It's amazing what they can do. Though whatever level you're at riding in a group is said to add 3mph to your average speed, then add fact this is their life and youve got a few more mph and at least one has said above there is the power factor. Recently saw a video about the Aussie world track champ who beat Hoy and his preparation - in it they said at his absolute max he churns out 2500 watts whereas a "fit adult" (I think was their term) would produce 700 watts. A bit like an old cavalier 1.6 versus some Bentley Continental - or any other similar analogy you like. Tour of Britain last year was, if memory serves, averaging 24 - 27mph - so that includes hills.

 

[Cosmicned]

I too am utterly astounded by the speeds these guys achieve over such long distances too- at 52 years old & a tad overweight... I can average 17-18mph over a 30-40 mile jaunt- but thats on my own (johnny 'no-mates' & what peloton? Me... ) but even on a down hill with legs going into warp drive, I've only managed about 38mph- and the slip stream was eye-wateringly astonishing to say the least... mind you my legs are excessively hairy... I'm already eyeing the Wife's Immac as we speak... actually the black & decker strimmer might have more effect... Seriously- the TDF has become an addiction for me now... facinating stuff...

 

[italiafirenze]

I was once told a story by another cyclist.

A few years back when the tour of Britain started in Blackpool, somehow he and a friend had managed to sneak themselves and their bikes into the area where the riders convened at the start of the race and they lined up at the back along with the pros and even set off with them. They were rolling along and he felt comfortable and was enjoying his new found professional cycling career. All of a sudden the peloton left the neutralised area and they just started pulling away and even at full sprint this fella and his pal couldnt keep up.

They really are streets ahead of us in terms of fitness. Even if they were on old full suspension mountain bikes I think we'd be getting dropped.

But, on the plus side, with enough dedication, commitment and training you too could be that good. Probably.

 

[apollo179]

the tdf riders make it look easy - they seem to spend half the time freewheeling along in the peleton. But that is deceptive. After todays stage bradley wiggens described it as "horrible , the worst stage so far," which i for one could empathise with.