Why do people like you stop in front of people like me?

[tadpole]

Right il post a picture of the strava app , note the diff between top speed ( which is what I'm sure folk are quoting their ave as ) and the actual average ( stopping at lights / getting going again/ gen road commuting£

This is my commute to work through Glasgow and as u can see I wasn't hanging about ( by no means fast but a few wee downhill sections )

It's one iv posted before but it illustrates what iv said

My average is worked out over the whole distance of the ride. if you see my strava ride you'll see that my ride is listed as 8.8 (9.2 but strava takes off 2 tenths each end so for privacy, not relevent) and the time is 31.17.
this website http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html works out the average as 16.877mph
My top speed on that ride was I think 27.7 mph but only for a couple of hundred yards.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

Ah come on, my bum's not THAT lethal

 

[400bhp]

It's not an average if you only choose to consider your fastest speed .............. .

To AVERAGE 30mph riding a bicycle you pretty much have to be doing a time trial with few obstacles to slow you down. I suppose you could do it around town if you hung onto the back of a bus but then a bus keeps stopping .............

I've done 40 average before. Indeed, I've averagred 50 too.

I am a CYCLING GOD

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I am a CYCLING GOD

Like him?

 

[GrasB]

Right il post a picture of the strava app , note the diff between top speed ( which is what I'm sure folk are quoting their ave as ) and the actual average ( stopping at lights / getting going again/ gen road commuting...

However there's a big difference between a rider who can achieve those sorts of speeds on the flat & one who does those sorts of speeds down hill. If they've got the power to hit those speeds regularly then they'll accelerate far far quicker than most cyclists & still have the filtering advantage. This should allow them to get into the 20mph average if they don't get much interference from slowly accelerating traffic. This route is an example, there have been the very rare occasions I've completed it 10min & a handful of seconds (22mph). However 12-15min (15-18.5mph) is a much more typical door to door time.

Edit: my like went AWOL

 

[jim55]

^^^^ this
i know for a fact that i couldnt maintain anything like 36 mph (unless in a car or something ),id say i could maintain 16 or so (on my own ) for a good while ,i only posted that as some people see the top speed and think its great ,it isnt a true measure as its down a wee incline and tbh a lot of peeps would go a lot faster
in fact i was out at the weekend in a group and we done a section and it was about 3-4 ml before we stopped at lights and the average pace was 21 mph (all fairly normal riding ,no major hills and flat(ish)

a fair way off 36 mph!!!

 

[RedRider]

I thought the original post might be provocative but wasn't expecting six pages so I'm enjoying the responses and all their diversions. Cheers.

In relation to the original point maybe the tangent into average speeds over the last couple of pages is strangely relevant. Could it be the bloke who made my woman cry had his eyes on the prize of a PB?

Probably not but it raises a thought about how aggressively we sometimes ride our city commutes. Reminds me how people get on tubes in London where they'd curse a pregnant pensioner pausing to stretch their aching back.

The OP was not anti-stretchy material by the way but perhaps dressing up does have an effect on our behaviour. Wearing lycra is not a crime (and if it is then lock me up) but just because we definitely look like gods it doesn't mean we are.

PS I'm happy to report my partner hasn't missed a pedal stroke. She's out there and prepared with a little finger gesture and a gust of wind!!

I'll shut up now but bottom line...there's no excuse to make someone cry on your commute.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

(... )pregnant pensioner(...)

 

[al78]

However there's a big difference between a rider who can achieve those sorts of speeds on the flat & one who does those sorts of speeds down hill. If they've got the power to hit those speeds regularly then they'll accelerate far far quicker than most cyclists & still have the filtering advantage. This should allow them to get into the 20mph average if they don't get much interference from slowly accelerating traffic. This route is an example, there have been the very rare occasions I've completed it 10min & a handful of seconds (22mph). However 12-15min (15-18.5mph) is a much more typical door to door time.

Edit: my like went AWOL

I doubt they would be filtering at 20+ mph though (if they are then they are insane).

I can believe it is possible to get to 20 mph average in an urban area over a set number of miles but it would require free flowing traffic conditions. Going from Manchester to Salford for example a powerful cyclist could sustain 20+mph along the bus lane on the A6 easily if the few traffic lights are favorable.

I've only averaged 20 mph a couple of times on my 9.5 mile ride from work to home, but that involves a net descent and is almost entirely rural.

 

[RedRider]

Terrible problem with pensioners down here. All sex and drugs and hanging round Piccadilly Circus spitting.

 

[Cyclopathic]

It's not an average if you only choose to consider your fastest speed .............. .

To AVERAGE 30mph riding a bicycle you pretty much have to be doing a time trial with few obstacles to slow you down. I suppose you could do it around town if you hung onto the back of a bus but then a bus keeps stopping .............

He didn't say his fastset time he said "over some segments". It is perfectly possible to collect up the data from all the "segments of ones journey where the speed is about 30 mph and come up with an average speed over those specific segments of 30mph. No one is for a second claiming that this is an honest appraisal of ones actual performance, it is simply an exercise in semantics to give a misleading but humorous impression that one is an impossibly quick cyclist.

 

[400bhp]

He didn't say his fastset time he said "over some segments". It is perfectly possible to collect up the data from all the "segments of ones journey where the speed is about 30 mph and come up with an average speed over those specific segments of 30mph. No one is for a second claiming that this is an honest appraisal of ones actual performance, it is simply an exercise in semantics to give a misleading but humorous impression that one is an impossibly quick cyclist.

I couldn't be arsed to spell it out - thanks for that

 

[GrasB]

I doubt they would be filtering at 20+ mph though (if they are then they are insane).

My really fast city crossings are more dependent on oncoming traffic conditions than in-lane traffic conditions. When you have very light oncoming traffic simply go onto the other side of the road & overtake at 25-30mph... motorists faces look a little like this:
It's a real case of showing people in motor vehicles you're not in traffic, you are traffic.

As I said that's exceptional, more usual end to end speeds are 15-18.5mph, with rolling averages above 20mph.

 

[BentMikey]

I once managed a rolling average of 21.4mph over the 22.5 mile trip from home to work. Never come close to that again. Usually it's closer to 17-19mph.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I couldn't be arsed to spell it out - thanks for that

You're very welcome.