Experienced riders, what progress should one expect over a year?

Schecter01

Im looking to guage what sort of progress one should make over a certain amount of time, did you go from 20km to 50kmph over 6months or 2 years? Or from starting to racing ? Thanks.

Beasty

No-one goes to 50km/h. You started another thread about leisure spins which are typically done around the mid 20s km/h. Racing is done in a group. Groups usually go a lot faster than single riders

If you are talking about riding on your own, after a couple of years I was doing a 23km commute at around 27-28 km/h. 3 years later I was doing it at 29-30 km/h. With a strong tailwind once I did it at 38 km/h.

Just to add my commute is relatively flat. Hills slow you down. The longer you go the slower your average will be all other things being equal

DirkVoodoo

Schecter01 wrote: »

Im looking to guage what sort of progress one should make over a certain amount of time, did you go from 20km to 50kmph over 6months or 2 years? Or from starting to racing ? Thanks.

You go up and down, slower and faster, then slower again. You will get bored, excited, re-energised and fed up.

The only constant is that you will continue to spend money. Lots of money.

Schecter01

Thanks a mill, sorry didn't mean to double-thread

RonanP77

I started cycling around this time last year, my average pace was around 19kmph, it got up to about 23kmph over the summer, one spin in particular I was at 29kmph. I always cycle alone and I'm a Cavan man so have to deal with a lot of hills.

Distance wise, I started out with 12k or so cycles and upped it a little a week to 120k ish spins. I normally find it hard to go much beyond 60 on my own though, I get bored and lose motivation.

nilhg

Schecter01 wrote: »

Im looking to guage what sort of progress one should make over a certain amount of time, did you go from 20km to 50kmph over 6months or 2 years? Or from starting to racing ? Thanks.

There is no should when it comes to something like this, it really depends on where you are starting from and how much time you want to commit, my strong belief is that for people starting off the most important thing is regular time on the bike, cycle every chance you get even if it's only short spins in your street clothes.

Also you can't separate average speed from endurance, which wold you rather do, 20km at 27km/hr or 100km at 24km/hr?

Schecter01

Endurance definetely, speed is only an issue if and when I join groups and don't want to be lagging 50m behind the pack, pissy weather is not helping! I'm hoping to do a charity sportive on April 5th or at least aim for it

Alek

lagging 50m behind the pack

If you're lagging at a constant distance you're doing the same effort as the guy on the front - you should be rather leading the pack

If you find that is happening often it may be a psychological barrier rather than lack of performance. Make that jump and close the gap

nilhg

Schecter01 wrote: »

Endurance definetely, speed is only an issue if and when I join groups and don't want to be lagging 50m behind the pack, pissy weather is not helping! I'm hoping to do a charity sportive on April 5th or at least aim for it

Just come along to the club spins out of the Square Saturday or Sunday mornings, just think of it as 2 20km spins with a nice relaxed coffee break in the middle, no one gets abandoned or left behind and it really is easier in a group, worst that can happen is that you don't like it, at least you'll know.

equivariant

Beasty wrote: »

No-one goes to 50km/h. You started another thread about leisure spins which are typically done around the mid 20s km/h. Racing is done in a group. Groups usually go a lot faster than single riders

If you are talking about riding on your own, after a couple of years I was doing a 23km commute at around 27-28 km/h. 3 years later I was doing it at 29-30 km/h. With a strong tailwind once I did it at 38 km/h.

Just to add my commute is relatively flat. Hills slow you down. The longer you go the slower your average will be all other things being equal

To add to this, weather conditions apart from wind also play a big role, Last summer I was typically doing my commute in about 27-30 minutes depending on wind. Since then I have lost weight, got stronger and got a better bike, yet I am really struggling to get under 30 minutes on the same commute (even without any wind).

I really noticed this last week on a particular strava segment. I have the KOM on that segment from last summer at about 40kph for 10 minutes or so (big tailwind). I had a nice strong tailwind last week on the same segment, so I thought I'd give a good go at improving my time. I put in a big effort and kept pushing as hard as I could. When I checked strava after the ride, I was nearly 2 minutes slower than my own KOM time!!! Warm weather and pyschology make a big difference.

godtabh

When I started cycling it would take me an hour to commute 20km. Now (depending not the weather!) I can do my training rides of 40-50km with about 350m of climbing at an average of between 27-32km/h.

On a good day I could do Dublin to Athlone and average 30km/h. All of this was a result of spending a lot of time on the bike. I've done maybe 25k km over the last 2.5 years.

Schecter01

Athone to dublin return trip?? Fair play!

godtabh

Schecter01 wrote: »

Athone to dublin return trip?? Fair play!

I've never done the return trip in one day. Did it in two days. ON the way down the wind was savage. On the way back the wind was savage!