What's your 30 mile time

[NorvernRob]

About 1hr 40 for 30 miles. That's with 1500ft+ of elevation, there is nowhere flat around here. I popped out early the other week and managed 36.something miles in 2hrs 4m with 1700ft of elevation. nice clear roads and next to no traffic!

If the whole ride was pretty much flat I could probably break 1.30 quite easily.

 

[Citius]

Most cat 4 riders I know can hold 35mph for a while and do in most races, just a figure to aim for. Crits, well you certainly need good group riding technique there or you will almost be certain of being in an accident.

I don't know any 4th cat, 3rd cat, 2nd cat, 1st cat or elite riders who can hold 35mph on a standard road bike for any more than a few seconds - and sprint speed is largely irrelevant except for the final few metres of a race. The speed of a fast moving group is always significantly faster than the sum of its parts.

The conventional wisdom used to be that if you can ride 20 miles in about an hour, your fitness is roughly where it should be in order to ride competitively. Having said that, it does depend on the terrain you ride on. Round my way, even when I was race fit, I would struggle to average more than 17-18mph on training rides.

Don't be distracted by race average speeds. 3/4 crits usually run off at around 24-25mph average, but that doesn't mean you have to be able to ride at that speed on your own.

 

[busman]

I have managed to do 30 miles in just under 2 hours on the road and just over 90 minutes on the turbo trainer.

 

[paul2015]

There seems to be a very divided opinion on cat 4 lol

 

[Bobby Mhor]

two weeks









under 2 1/2 hours on my hybrid...

 

[Citius]

There seems to be a very divided opinion on cat 4 lol

Not really. Which bit needs clarifying?

 

[screenman]

Come on surely in most training rides you hit 30mph for a while I know this old git does. As for 20 in an hour, well that is not going to get you far in the racing world.

 

[Citius]

Come on surely in most training rides you hit 30mph for a while I know this old git does. As for 20 in an hour, well that is not going to get you far in the racing world.

Doesn't sound like you've understood what I've written.

 

[Simontm]

Title says it all really,

What's your pb for 30 miles

30? No idea spose around 2 and a bit hours judging for the commute

 

[paul2015]

Not really. Which bit needs clarifying?

All the different numbers being thrown around. Needing to be able to hold sprints a 35 etc etc. I didn't even intend to start a thread here about racing but that's how its panned out.

I know I need to be faster, get group experience, race experience etc and I was looking for numbers to compare my 30 miles to here.

But as we are on subject, what speed should I be looking at averaging on my own before I would be capable of racing? 22-24 mph?

 

[briantrumpet]

You are likely to have several local clubs, each with different aims - like in my nearest town, there's a couple for tourists, a couple of sportive-targetting groups and at least one racing club. Other nearby towns have more clubs. If the one you join isn't for you, try another.

Mid Devon are the biggest and most active in that area, and have plenty of riding opportunities, from social right up to some very serious racers. I dare say there are other groups around, but if someone wants to race it makes sense to join one of the few clubs who have plenty of experience in that field.

 

[briantrumpet]

But as we are on subject, what speed should I be looking at averaging on my own before I would be capable of racing? 22-24 mph?

Length of a piece of string question really, but if you can do 30-40 miles on a typical undulating/hilly Devon route at a real solo 20mph average, and also have group riding skills, you'd be in the right sort of area. But get on some hard chaingangs and that will give you a better idea.

EDIT: my estimate is based on what I can do on rides in Devon, and how I compare to my clubmates who race regularly.

 

[paul2015]

Length of a piece of string question really, but if you can do 30-40 miles on a typical undulating/hilly Devon route at a real solo 20mph average, and also have group riding skills, you'd be in the right sort of area. But get on some hard chaingangs and that will give you a better idea.

EDIT: my estimate is based on what I can do on rides in Devon, and how I compare to my clubmates who race regularly.

Thanks that's really helpful,

I wouldn't mind coming to one of your clubs sessions at some point as I'm not too far a way in Bovey

 

[screenman]

Doesn't sound like you've understood what I've written.

You could be right there, but if you cannot sprint mid race quite a few times you will soon be dropped from any crits I know of.

 

[briantrumpet]

Thanks that's really helpful,

I wouldn't mind coming to one of your clubs sessions at some point as I'm not too far a way in Bovey

You'd be most welcome - you can find what rides we do from the link in my signature, or there's a Facebook page you can join (you'll need to email facebook@exeterwheelers.co.uk to confirm your request).