What is a good average mph for commute?

[ianrauk]

In which case you should be racing, I don't know your age but if you are young enough get yourself off to British Cycling. Certainly if you can average 23.5mph on a touring bike with a rucksack for 11 miles then you are right up there with some of the quickest men in the country

. Just goes to show the talent we have among CC'ers. My better half is seriously quick and even I am having a job staying with her, but neither of us could come close to you. I have many TT contacts around the country, please turn up to a local time trial and give it a go, the season has just finished but I can put you in touch with your local one for next year.
I think you must take the title of quickest commuter on Cycle Chat.

By a good margin.

Out of the 123 ccers on mycycling log. The fastest has a 19.53mph avg.
It's even higher then the overall highest avg speed on MyCyclingLog (1000+ members) of 23.43mph avg

 

[BentMikey]

I suspect DCLane means he sits at 23.5 on the flat, for a little bit, rather than that being the moving average for his whole commute.

 

[ianrauk]

I suspect DCLane means he sits at 23.5 on the flat, for a little bit, rather than that being the moving average for his whole commute.

Not what his post says

' this morning's was 23.5mph average in 28 mins (11 mile commute)'

 

[CopperCyclist]

I suspect DCLane means he sits at 23.5 on the flat, for a little bit, rather than that being the moving average for his whole commute.

This. Like you say, if he could have a true moving average of 23.5, he could be earning money from cycling and winning medals!

The fastest I've ever done my commute was back home from a night shift, on a Sunday morning. Empty roads, greens all the way and I managed 18.61 and was very, very pleased!

 

[Mozzy]

Just managed 11.2 average over 12 miles to pick up some honey from my bee keeper matey. I suppose I'm embarrassed to admit to that but I'm pleased. We have high winds here in the SW right now and boy in an upright position did it make it hard going. And no I didn't enjoy the wind pushing me along on the way back as I went cross country back along the canal path.

Did hit a high speed of 21 mph just once though; I know, still snail-slow. I'll leave the thread now, just get me hat and me coat

Mozzy

 

[Buddfox]

Presumably it makes a difference if you set your computer to autopause? I did this on my Garmin because I wanted to iron out being stopped at traffic lights for large variances of time from one commute to the next. But that might impact comparability of times on here? So my average speed is impacted only when I hit a red light, not by how long I'm stopped at it.

For those that have the functionality, do you tend to have auto-pause switched on?

 

[ianrauk]

Yes, auto pause is set to on for me with my Garmin.
However Garmin connect does give you both overall times and moving times.

 

[cyberknight]

Best i have managed my commute is 32 minutes for 10.25 miles , on a fully racked , guarded + panniered Virtuoso, i reckon it comes in at about 45 llbs .

Thats a smidge over 19 mph with 450 feet of climbing in the 1st half then fairly flat the rest.

The rest of the time it varies around 35 minutes which is around 17.5 mph, today though it was over 40 minutes against that wind most of the way .

 

[DCLane]

OK ... now I've read the comments - today's was the fastest I've done. Usually it's 29-32 minutes for the 10 mile commute. And yes, I've got fixed pedals, etc. I don't have autopause - tried to pause the computer but I kept forgetting to switch it back on, so I just leave it.

It started at 36 mins in May when I was 13 stone - now I'm 11 and it's getting better. The route's fairly straight, with traffic lights, and bits of downhill/uphill - going in's mostly downhill. Hence the 28 mins today. The worst bit is through central Leeds.

BTW - I thought I was still quite slow. Having read this I'm guessing I'm way off with that one ... I'd better crawl back into my hole.

 

[400bhp]

Something doesn't stack up.

 

[DCLane]

OK - I've gone back and re-checked the route on Google maps and I can't count . It's 10 miles exactly and not 11. Which makes today's mph 21.4 going into Leeds. Counting both ways it works out at 17-18mph average since Leeds is mostly downhill from Dewsbury.

I'm not trying to hide/cover over anything - I simply record the distance and time to and from work. Why? Because it's helped with motivation and letting the wife know that I save £10 each day I ride into work. I've now got to go back and change the mileage on my spreadsheet ...

Happy now? I was simply trying to help the op

 

[briantrumpet]

Happy now? I was simply trying to help the op

You can guarantee that any post quoting average speeds will subjected to scrutiny by the ASP (Average Speed Police) to ensure absolute accuracy. Things that are likely to lead to inflated 'averages' are one-way routes (tailwinds or downhill), miscalculation of distance, or cherry-picking of recorded rides. These are the tell-tale clues that the ASP look for.

 

[DCLane]

Thanks Brian. I'd stated Dewsbury to Leeds is mostly downhill but still ... fair cop over the fact I was a mile out.

I'll submit myself to the police's discipline. Won't be the first time

 

[briantrumpet]

I'll submit myself to the police's discipline. Won't be the first time

It's noticeable that on relatively short distances small inaccuracies of time or distance can make quite a difference too - it's frustrating the number of times my cycle computer has dropped 0.1mph average in the last slower 20 yards as I approach my house, after a 30-mile ride.

Anyway, personally I never bother with doing any timing or averages on the commute, as I use that for more interval-type training - short hard bursts plus a 1-mile straight 'sprint' at the end. The only average mph rides I do are 20+ miles on circular routes, door-to-door, avoiding town and all its hold-ups and frustrations. They are all logged, along with wind direction/speed, and climbing, in a spreadsheet to get a rolling average based on several thousand miles.

There are enough potential hazards on my route into town without me adding trying to improve averages and the likelihood of that altering my relationship to risk.

 

[Buddfox]

How do you measure wind direction/speed?