faster

[Pat "5mph"]

No Strava !! just worried about a ride i have been invited on, later in year (by Yello) i dont want to hold everybody up

I see!
Got a wee bit of the same problem, some rides I'm invited to I know that I would spoil it for the group, so I don't participate.
However, if Yello invited you surely he knows from the forum that you ride a hybrid (wearing sandals sometimes ) and that you started riding fairly recently.
Hence I deduce he invited you for the pleasure of your company, not to race you up a 20% incline.
Go, enjoy!
It is great fun to gatecrash the big boys rides from time to time, like my Belles and I did at the CCEcosse Perth ride

 

[vickster]

For a man maybe. My good average speed over urban fairly flat terrain is about 15 if I push it and am lucky with the traffic lights!!

 

[RWright]

Just carry one of these in your Panniers.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2013/may/24/rocket-propelled-mountain-bike-video

 

[Born2die]

Oh I thought a 15 average for a 50 miler was a tad on the slow side. The local club does a 70 on a Sunday with a 18/20 average ah well I feel better now I know I'm not that slow

 

[London Female]

15mph isn't exactly slow!!

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Oh I thought a 15 average for a 50 miler was a tad on the slow side. The local club does a 70 on a Sunday with a 18/20 average ah well I feel better now I know I'm not that slow

The difference is riding in a group. I managed 17.32 over 11 miles last night, but I dont think I could do it over 50 solo., I have managed it over 37miles with a little bit more elevation per mile but not much

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The point's not how high your average is, it's about S7ephanie's stated desire to go faster - and an understandable nervousness about holding up a ride with @yello later on in the year.

 

[vickster]

Oh I thought a 15 average for a 50 miler was a tad on the slow side. The local club does a 70 on a Sunday with a 18/20 average ah well I feel better now I know I'm not that slow

And I am guessing most are young fit blokes or wiry older ones who have been riding in a club for 30+ years. Group riding done well will give you a couple more mph too

 

[Paul Gee]

i want to go faster !!! i think my gears are 'off' but the bike is pretty heavy as well. I really need to get faster, i'm ashamed to put my average speed on here, maybe i should change my name to snail !
been loooking at bikes on ebay but what size - i'm 5ft 2 inches short !!

My thoughts on 'going faster': I started cycling regularly this spring, and went from gasping to feeling more comfortable and able to keep a regular speed. After a couple of months I bought a bike computer and found that at that stage I was travelling at around 13.5mph. Weighing the bike, an old tourer, I found it weighed 15kg.

I bought a virtually unused road bike on ebay, weighing 10kg (at half new price), and now alternate rides between them. Despite not doing mega mileage my average has slowly crept up: 14mph on the old bike and 16mph on the road bike.

So the lessons I have learnt is that you need to ride regularly to improve your fitness, and a lighter bike will add a couple of miles an hour and give you a continuing interest. And lastly that measurable speed improvements will be seen over months not weeks. I am 65 (age not waist ) and don't expect to be pushing too many barriers but I know I am still improving slowly - good enough for me.

Good luck !

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I'm at the other end of the scale, I've been riding for over forty years, twenty years ago my solo average was sixteen to seventeen mph and I could keep up with a group averaging nineteen to twenty mph, now I'm 61 and have had a close encounter with our friend angina and I have started to slow down, fifteen to sixteen mph is about my limit solo, in a group seventeen to eighteen mph is about my limit, also I have learnt that outside of competition how fast you go is unimportant, the most important thing is to enjoy the ride.
The thing to remember is that most of those those that do these very high average speeds are racing snakes that do road racing, time trialling, cyclecross or other competition riding, they get most of their speed from the best equipment they can afford, attention to diet and hours of training, they are a small elite group that most of us can't join no matter how much we spend or how much we train. The other thing is that there is internet speed and real world speed. I take any online speed claims with a pinch of salt, its riding with someone that tells you how fast they can go.

 

[yello]

I can understand s7ephanie being a little anxious. She knows neither me nor the other people that might be riding. Truth is, I won't know most of them either. I've no idea who will turn up and so it's safe to say that there will be a variety of expectations about the ride.

All I can say is this ride is intended to be a social ride. 20ish km, lunch then another 20km. The intention is to ride at a pace to not leave anyone behind. If anyone wants to hare off the front then I'll let them, that's up to them, but I'll be trying, as much as is possible, to keep the group together. The ride is being advertised and organised through a local expat magazine and is nothing to do with my cycling club (nor any cycling club for that matter). The readership of that mag is largely, I'd guess, the retired expat community. I'm not expecting race whippets! If any do show, I suspect they'd head off and do their own thing anyway!

s7ephanie, as long as you can turn the pedals then I think you'll be fine. I understand your concerns but I wouldn't have mentioned the ride to you unless I thought it'd be of interest to you. I'm half-guessing you'll be in good company.

Oh, and there'll be a support van just in case

 

[s7ephanie]

Took bike to have service this morning and to have gears put right, but i hadnt realised how heavy it is, had trouble getting it into car (i am a weakling) looking into getting a better/lighter bike but will have to be 'on tick' or on ebay.fr (saw an ancient bike for over 600 euros )

 

[theloafer]

Took bike to have service this morning and to have gears put right, but i hadnt realised how heavy it is, had trouble getting it into car (i am a weakling) looking into getting a better/lighter bike but will have to be 'on tick' or on ebay.fr (saw an ancient bike for over 600 euros )

hey steph the sales will be starting soon ...clearing all there old stock ready for 2014 might get a bargain...

 

[Kevin Alexander]

15mph isn't exactly slow!!

Was going to say 15mph is a pretty steady pace, especially if the road you ride is uphill.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Start cycliing up hills ; at 5 foot 2 inches short, you have a natural advantage there, because in hill-climbing, more weight = more calories expended getting up there . How I wish I had a hill-climbers build, because I love cycling up hills, but at 6 foot 3 inches and 85kg, I have to work for my hill summits.