Whats a good average speed?

kenmc

Just started doing a bit more than my daily commute, been cycling out to celbridge (via churchtown, tempelogue, tallaght, saggart, newcastle) a bit, to the girlfs house. It's 28km door to door, and takes just under an hour - 52 mins odd yesterday, putting an average speed of 32kmh.
But I've nothing to guage this against - is it a fast/slow/average 'average speed'? I try to go as fast as I can but sometimes drop a bit.
Just curious.
Cheers
K

Quigs Snr

That depends. If its downhill then its crap, if its on the flat its good and if its an uphill you should have raced the worlds in Germany today.

If its a typically Irish road with rolling hills but mostly flat then its good. Average enough if its a tailwind, excellent if its a headwind. Average club training pace would be just below that for 3 hours. Race pace for beginners (C cat's) would be about 40km. However, thats much easier to maintain in a bunch so no comparison really.

kenmc

I was hoping by posting the route it might be indicative of the terrain - I'd say it's mostly flat with some hills, the biggest being between tallaght and saggart - no sure of the climb, but it's a couple of km all uphill, maybe 3 or 4km?? Not much wind either way on Saturday.
Thanks for the info though!
K

Quigs Snr

Not from Dublin, so not that familiar with the route. However that seems like a decent speed. Are you on a road bike ? If so you might want to consider heading out for a spin or two with your local club. If you can maintain that kind of speed, chances are you might enjoy cycling for sport !

kenmc

I'm on a Giant FCR2, road bike gearing, mountain bike bars. Am considering doing more cycling, but first am going away in Nov for 2.5 months, so don't have the time to dedicate to it yet. Thinking about it for feb though.

blorg

I'd say an average of 32km/h is certainly good. As this is an internet forum, most I've ever managed in an hour is just a pinch under 50km ;-)

Quigs Snr

Yep KenMC, sounds like you are doing well there. Defo look into getting into a club if you are so inclined. I am away myself for a month in November, and will lose all my conditioning, have to find a way to limit those losses !

rubadub

kenmc wrote:

But I've nothing to guage this against

You can guage against other commuters. 32 average sounds very good to me, especially if you are obeying the law. Lights & loss of momentum really screws up your average speed- you cannot compare it to road racing where they never have to stop, or clubs going on spins with no lights or traffic.

DITTKD

rubadub wrote:

You can guage against other commuters.

On that basis I'd say he's doing extremely well. Based on this thread I had a shot at timing my own commute. I averaged (I THINK!) 29kmh on the way home yesterday, and 26kmh on the way in this morning. I think I've been overtaken by another cyclist maybe twice in the last three months.

So, he's averaging a good bit faster than me over a much longer distance, and I seem to be above average. For a commuter at least.
As another commuter, I'm well impressed with kenmc's speed.

kenmc

My commute speed is a bit lower usually, depending on the lights and cars doing silly things; plus I'm carrying a couple of kg of lock, lunch, clothes etc - the 5km takes me around 12 mins in and 11 home plus or minus. Once on the open road past tallaght there's no traffic lights to contend with the rest of the way for the 28k run.
Cool, so sounds like I should be able to keep up with a club spin anyway. good to know.
Cheers
K

Membrane

rubadub wrote:

You can guage against other commuters. 32 average sounds very good to me, especially if you are obeying the law. Lights & loss of momentum really screws up your average speed- you cannot compare it to road racing where they never have to stop, or clubs going on spins with no lights or traffic.

If a cycle computer is used to measure the average speed, they suspend measuring when you are stopped, for example at lights.

kenmc

True, but there is still the reduction in speed due to stopping and time taken to get back up to speed gain. They measure actual time moving correctly, but the fact that you have to stop and start again impacts the average speed.

Membrane

kenmc wrote:

True, but there is still the reduction in speed due to stopping and time taken to get back up to speed gain. They measure actual time moving correctly, but the fact that you have to stop and start again impacts the average speed.

Absolutely, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. 32kph average is a fine result for a solo ride.

kenmc

Sorry my misunderstanding. I thought you were saying that since it stopped when you stopped, it wouldn't affect the average speed. no worries, thanks for the input.

oneeyedsnake

I have managed 32.3kph for 165k down to arklow and back on my own,is this good enough to be a good club cyclist?