How to improve my average speed?

[kiwifruit]

It’s not something that has ever appealed to me in the slightest but I’m not that hung up on speed, just getting out there for an hour or two. However, the OP may find it useful and enjoyable

Am the same as @

Firstly, Kent is very hilly. There is hardly a stretch of road that doesn't go up, then down every 100 yds. What part of Kent are you in?

Once you've ridden a route a few times and have got to know the ups and downs and assuming you are riding at "tempo" (a bit breathless), then average speeds will hardly vary. Only the weather is a factor. Over a season, you can expect average speeds to vary by about 2mph, but there should be no significant variations. Average speeds will increase very gradually over the years if you ride through all 4 seasons and start mixing with others in group/club rides.

My training loops on the North Downs give me an average speed between 12 to 14mph. Very occasionally on a perfect day, I might just get into a 15mph. But from this platform, I can ride our club 10 mile time trials on a flattish course and return 20-21mph.

You would be very welcome to try our 10's down in Grain if/when the lockdown is over.

Grain is very windy with the Medway peninsula and you are correct with Kent being hilly

 

[kiwifruit]

What's is your perceived effort? Are you coming back feeling like you have had a really hard ride or aren't your legs feeling it at all?

You might just need to get used to riding at a higher intensity. I'm 106kg and ride Z2 heart rate (130-140bmp) and average 16mph - if I want to go harder I can and pick the average speed up but I don't really want to flog myself when just enjoying the scenery!

My effects tend to be when I approached a short sharp climb am out of the saddle and push hard and my thigh do fell a little sore.

 

[faster]

Joint pain is obvious, yes. Cardio, not so much.

I won't go into it too much (he says, going into it too much) but I had a wakeup call on one of my first rides back after a year off with injury.
A two hour slightly hilly ride, nothing too extreme. Felt slightly winded and tight-chested but otherwise as good as you'd expect for one coming back from injury and significantly heavier than pre-injury.
None of the normal sensations telling me to back off. No lactic acid, burning muscles or gasping, except the usual sensations on steeper climbs. I put being winded and tight-chested down to being unfit and my clothes being too tight.

Looking at the numbers after the ride showed I was in Z5/Z6 for the entire 2 hours. My average HR was 181, max was 196. (For comparison, my pre-injury numbers were ~145 avg/160 max, if fresh, and lower if tired, and my theoretical max HR was 182).

Cardiac stress test in the hospital showed that my heart was ok, but that I was redlining very easily and pushing my heart far harder than I realised.
I now watch my HR like a hawk when out on the bike rather than relying on feel. (And I'm never taking health for granted again.)

This is exactly my experience.

Out of interest, as I wasn't completely sure from reading your post, did you end up attributing this simply to being unfit at the time, or for other reasons?

 

[vickster]

Am the same as @

Grain is very windy with the Medway peninsula and you are correct with Kent being hilly

How much ascent and descent in your 20 miles according to Strava via whatever device you use? How long in total does your 20 miles take you?
Have you been cycling all winter or just getting started again? If you’re doing 60 miles a week all year and have been for 5 years not so much a beginner.

 

[Drago]

Joint pain is obvious, yes. Cardio, not so much.

I won't go into it too much (he says, going into it too much) but I had a wakeup call on one of my first rides back after a year off with injury.
A two hour slightly hilly ride, nothing too extreme. Felt slightly winded and tight-chested but otherwise as good as you'd expect for one coming back from injury and significantly heavier than pre-injury.
None of the normal sensations telling me to back off. No lactic acid, burning muscles or gasping, except the usual sensations on steeper climbs. I put being winded and tight-chested down to being unfit and my clothes being too tight.

Looking at the numbers after the ride showed I was in Z5/Z6 for the entire 2 hours. My average HR was 181, max was 196. (For comparison, my pre-injury numbers were ~145 avg/160 max, if fresh, and lower if tired, and my theoretical max HR was 182).

Cardiac stress test in the hospital showed that my heart was ok, but that I was redlining very easily and pushing my heart far harder than I realised.
I now watch my HR like a hawk when out on the bike rather than relying on feel. (And I'm never taking health for granted again.)

I've had a heart attack and the difference between that and my heart simply turned up to 11 while cycling was night and day. Again, the pain of pushing your lower body muscles where they dont want to go is more than slightly different to a heart attack.

 

[kiwifruit]

How much ascent and descent in your 20 miles according to Strava via whatever device you use? How long in total does your 20 miles take you?
Have you been cycling all winter or just getting started again? If you’re doing 60 miles a week all year and have been for 5 years not so much a beginner.

Yesterday ride was flatter, but my pervious day ride see attached

I do cycle during the winter months and that’s only during the weekends.

 

[vickster]

that’s quite a lot of gain in 20 miles. Wear was the equivalent descent?

 

[kiwifruit]

that’s quite a lot of gain in 20 miles. Wear was the equivalent descent?

Descent is 1194 ft

 

[vickster]

Descent is 1194 ft

Ah so equal up and down

 

[rivers]

Structured training is key. I started a structured training plan on zwift at the start of lockdown to give me something to focus on while on the turbo, in addition to 2 x club turbo nights/week on zoom. I went out today for a ride on a route I know well. For the same solo effort, I am now about 2mph faster (gentle ride, not going for any PRs, just out enjoying the weather). My FTP has increased, hills are easier, and I generally felt stronger while out.

 

[CXRAndy]

The simple description is to ride with people who are faster or train at faster pace than you normally do.

First option join a club, expect to be worked hard, sometimes dropped, but if its a decent club, you will be encouraged.

Second option is to do short and medium time intervals. 30seconds to 10min where you ride above your normal pace. The shorter the interval the faster you ride eg 30 seconds is just about flat out.

You keep repeating the intervals on a ride until you cant do them anymore. Recover before doing the second/third interval and so on.

I went from 16/17mph rides to 20mph.

Losing weight certainly does help with hill climbing speed which will increase your average dramatically

 

[vickster]

The simple description is to ride with people who are faster or train at faster pace than you normally do.

First option join a club, expect to be worked hard, sometimes dropped, but if its a decent club, you will be encouraged.

Second option is to do short and medium time intervals. 30seconds to 10min where you ride above your normal pace. The shorter the interval the faster you ride eg 30 seconds is just about flat out.

You keep repeating the intervals on a ride until you cant do them anymore. Recover before doing the second/third interval and so on.

I went from 16/17mph rides to 20mph.

Losing weight certainly does help with hill climbing speed which will increase your average dramatically

65kg at 5’8 doesn’t sound very heavy

 

[cyberknight]

65kg at 5’8 doesn’t sound very heavy

its not im 5 ft 7 "and im more like 69 , but then again its down to build i have track sprinter legs .

 

[Crankarm]

Hi all am 5ft8in, weigh 65kg age 48 slight built, I got 2 road bike and a mountain bike. I tend to ride the road bike and I do put some effect in on my rides. I do have a cadence sensor average about 80rpm. Please see attached

You need to up your cadence to ride between about 90-100. 80 is too low. Your legs don't have the power at the moment to push heavier gears at the lower cadences you are currently riding to get the figures you want to see. In any case riding lower cadences pushing heavy gears is bad for your joints especially knees.

I would also look at what gearing you have on your bike what is your most comfortable gear and the gear you can comfortably accelerate in up to a max cadence. If you ride routes regularly you must know what gear you can hold at what cadence depending on the gradient and duration? Power data I guess would be nice but power meters are expensive, you don't need it. Maybe you have a HRM?

Back to gears, look at your cassette and see if there are any gears you could do without or indeed add. If there are big jumps up or down in the cassette missing out sequential intermediate sprockets you might benefit from a cassette with sprockets closer in size. If you ride flat routes get a cassette which has pretty much all sprockets with 1T difference. You might be able to ditch 11 and 12T sprockets of a cassette altogether perhaps just start at 13T going all the way up to 23T in even steps if 10spd or 25T if 11spd. Also if you are using a double chainset work out which gears are most useful you and any redundant over laps, typically use gear inches. Maybe change to a compact front chainset 50/34 if you have a 53/39 and are struggling to keep the pedals turning trying to push too heavy gears. A 53 x 11T or 12T combination is a monumentally huge gear for a newbie, plodder commuter, weekend warrior club type of rider to turn even going down hill with a following wind and wearing full Pro team kit.

But as already said pedal faster. Up your cadence. You need to increase your stamina.

 

[Edwardoka]

This is exactly my experience.

Out of interest, as I wasn't completely sure from reading your post, did you end up attributing this simply to being unfit at the time, or for other reasons?

Yes, for me it was down to a lack of fitness and drinking stupidly large amounts of coffee.

I'm not a doctor and everyone's experience and body is different, signs like being winded and tight-chested when exercising are not to be ignored, particularly if backed up with data. If I'd kept riding at the intensity I was, I'd have damaged myself.

There's a history of heart disease in my family, with angina on one side and heart failure on the other, but the cardiac test didn't find anything wrong with me, no arrythmias or bp abnormalities, it was simply that on the bike my legs and lungs were able to write cheques that my heart couldn't cash.