Just turned 70. Being a solo rider I decided to install a set of aero bars with 30 mm risers. My average speed over a 55 kilometer route immediately increased 1.5 kilometers per hour. The aero bars have made a huge difference in my rides although I know they aren't for everybody. Great topic for this video.
interesting topic and some good tips Leonard thanks. I used to worry about average speed but now I don't...smiles per mile is my new metric and I'm happy with that :)
I’m on the eastern side of 69 and ride an older Trek. I normally pace between 10.5-11.5 depending on any minor hills. My riding buddy calls them inclines. A month ago I managed 13.0 over 20 very flat miles. it was a real workout but worth it. Now that it is out of my system I am back to 10.5-11.5!
The quickest way to get faster is this = find yourself a road or a loop with about 8-10 ramps or a rolling terrain no big climbs just little ramps , about 10 miles ride the flatter terrain with a bit of effort when you get to the ramps then sprint these ,don’t stop sprinting till you go down the other side . If you do that twice a week you will become faster very quickly , be consistent and basically you forcing your body to adapt ,its hiit for the bike .
I'm not bothered about average speed anymore I just go out and try to enjoy my rides. if I can average 14.5 to 15 mph then I'm happy with that. Anything more than that is a bonus. It's too windy in the UK now to set any speed records anyway.
I'd like to raise my average speed, I guess we all would. Approaching 66 I'd like to improve on last summer's 19mph average on mixed elevation. But if I can keep that up, it's probably OK. As always, enjoyment is what gets me out there and keeping fit.
Very informative video, Lee. Personally, having just got back into cycling, I find my pace improving naturally just by getting out on my bike. Depending on the course, my speed has increased by nearly 20% after 2 months of cycling nearly every day. I realise, that being retired gives me more time to get the miles in but still pleased I can keep a reasonable pace at 74.
@@abritandhisbikeinpoland6802 Yes - I cycled lots in my 30's like 100 mile rides on weekends. Decided using the car was easier in my 40's onwards but did keep the bike for occasional short commutes. Took up running and entered lots of races well into my 60's, so never lost my fitness. stopped running recently due to recurring injuries and started cycling again!
Runners do a speed workout call fartlek. It is Swedish for speed play. You vary sections of speed work at various speeds and distances and periods of rest between. Sort of a mixed bag of interval training and you decide how far and how fast and how much rest. Its a good way to work on your speed.
Most average people reach their peak average speed on a bike through fitness and pure living within a a few years. Pedal strokes is the most effective and number one way to increase average mpg without hoping for increased fitness, which probably won't happen once you have peaked. Changing cadences with a nice range of 80 to 110 rpm during your ride and concentrating on building smooth pedal strokes at 360 degrees of the pedal stroke. Most riders can maintain 2 of the 4 basic pedal strokes without going into high heart-rates. 1) power stroke, the standard pushing down we all know 2) bottom stroke, pulling through the bottom like scraping mud off your shoes. 3) Up stroke, most effective when climbing for long periods combining the power stroke with an up stroke, pulling the crank up. 4) across the top stroke, by sitting back in the saddle this is the most comfortable stroke for high 100+ smooth rpm's. Remember when using the power stroke for climbing or high speed flat training; power through the stroke all the way to the bottom and follow through across the bottom as an option. We tend to shorten the power stroke when tired or climbing because the power stroke can be shortened when we have good momentum on the flats, but this shortening is extremely inefficient when climbing or time trialing.
Higher average speed? Draft. Use a tail wind! Bend elbows to get aero. And… Don’t stop. Drink water and eat snacks while moving, rather than stopping. (These are immediate gains. Getting in shape takes time.) Cheers!
Best tip i got to raise my average speed when riding solo was to "Keep the chain tight" as in try to avoid freewheeling as much as possible. By tight i mean tight aswell always pressure on the pedals not riding like you have cranks made of glass and soft pedalling (Yes even on downhills). Look for a 90%+ pedalling time on Strava even better 95%+.
@@laurainesweeney8186 - it's on the activity main page on a PC on the RH side. Where is shows your Normalized Power / HR % above the box that says "View analysis". It's used to show as pedal % but now shows as pedal time. If you could attach images here I would show you a screen shot.
I added more than 2 mph to my average speed in about a year by consuming protein (and lots of it) while also taking the daily recommended amount of B1, B6, B9 and B12 vitamins every day.
It’s all about the hills round here in Cornwall. A relatively level ride with an average elevation over the entire distance of only 20m/Km (about 100ft/mile) might get an average of 22kph but a more realistic one for these parts of 30m/Km can push it down to 17 or 18 (especially when one is somewhat in the less “aero” category and a little “big boned like me!). Choose a flatter ride and make yourself look better! (Or just don’t worry about average speed so much!)
What jumped out at me was the 'group rides' comment (if possible). That will really help increase your speed - so I recommend joining a local club if you have one. Mine goes out 3x per week & I join once or twice ,then go out alone or with partner to top up fitness/train. Just getting out there. Also when alone I will sometimes become a 'wheelsucker' to another rider, normally somebody looking all fancy dandy and see how long I can stay with them. Good fun that! It really gives a motivation to keep going and takes your mind off everything else. Often ends at some traffic lights with a friendly chat or a 'thanks' as we part ways.
I will tell anyone. Cycling is one of those hobbies for innately stubborn and determined people. Just like weight lifting, one has to have some amount of self belief and determination to embrace the pain. “Ride ‘til death”
I needed the toilet, one o em emergency situations… but wasn’t too from home 6 miles ish ….. my average speed went up real fast. Never cycled so fast… speed goes up with necessity
Few more tips to raise your average speed for free: 1. Set your garmin/wahoo/karoot to automatically stop when stopping the bike, and restart when getting speed up again. This way you don’t loose average speed due to traffic lights, busy crossings where you have to wait etc. It’s a bit fair to do so, especially when doing a certain route often. This way it doesn’t matter how much time you spend waiting.. 2. Get a more aero position. Lowering position = free speed… makes a lot of difference!
This year, at age 64, I started to take part in time trials on my bike for the first time and have learnt something about aerodynamics as a result. At my age, reducing drag by changing my position on the bike is more effective than trying to increase the size of my engine to boost my average speed. A good skin suit, aero-helmet, clip on TT bars, over-shoes and deep profile wheels have made me 10 to 15% faster with no extra effort. Although I'd be the first to admit it's less comfortable and requires practice.
Try riding a recumbent bike instead of the classic Diamond frame. They are so much more efficient, aerodynamic and comfortable. One can ride endlessly on them. Try a two wheel recumbent or a recumbent trike if you want speed and comfort. Much easier on your wrists, neck, back and crotch. Ride one and you will be hooked. I am 70 years old and ride my Catrike 559 and 700 models 10,000 miles per year with zero pain and no injuries. For incredible speed I ride my long wheel base two wheel recumbent.
@@philiphookham8135 find a good shop/vendor near you and arrange a demo ride on a high end recumbent trike or a two wheel Cruzbike or Bacchetta. Ride a Catrike or an ICE or HP trike
I think there are some easy and some harder things to increase your average speed. First thing is you, your body is the biggest obstacle to going faster because of wind resistance. Optimising your position will give you free speed, it'll take some time to get comfortable riding in aero hood position but it just takes some practice or you could also add clip-on aerobars if that was your jam. Next up, I'd say switching to a high quality tire like a Conti GP5000 and if possible run them tubeless as the rolling resistance is considerably lower. Following that you could add a set of carbon wheels, if you're riding below 30kph they might have less of an effect but they still look amazing ;-) From here you could look into clothing - helmet, proper fitting cycling clothing (vs normal clothes or anything baggy), shoe covers to all optimise your aero efficiency. Once these easier things are done, sadly you'll just need to put in the training :-)
You can raise your speed by spinning in circles instead of mashing up and down on the pedals. This means your trailing leg is pulling up while your leading leg is pushing on the down stroke.
Train: Ride often and try riding a incrementally faster from you last ride. Improve your diet, which should improve your power to weight ratio. Can't go faster if you don't actually ride your bike often and don't really try riding faster.
Easier said than done. I ride a lot on my own and in urban areas where you have to be careful. Even on Sunday rides which is my recovery day I find a lot of learner drivers on the road. Getting stuck behind them is like getting stuck behind a bus. Your patience soon wears out
I’ve been working on my average speed. On my Garmin I have segments set at 5 miles and instead of trying to raise the entire ride I take the small 5 mile victories. On a 30 mile ride if I can see progress in 2 segments the next time out I try for 3.
Love ur vids! As a younger man, I liked going as fast as possible. At 55 this month, I have focused on distance and enjoyment, going places, camping along the way. Given up speed for adventures!
I didn't know you were on zwift. Might have to ride with you sometime . You keep me motivated. I ride 3 times a week. 75 mile a week at the moment outside on the multiple bike trails here in Ohio.
Call me old fashioned but I don’t use tech. Just my watch. I just time myself over a certain route and try to beat it the next time I ride it. I know wind and weather in general can effect my time but I can feel almost instinctively whether I am improving.
Great subject as I always concern myself about keeping up with others, like I said it's the hills and climbs that do me, but I have noticed a slight improvement on my up hill climbs since Sunday while listening to what you all had to say and trying it out yesterday I seen to get up most hills and my speed stayed above 5 mph which it has never done before, 🚴♂️💨💨💨 I'm normally solo but will look to do more group rides as like you say in you piece having someone pace you helps you improve with out even you realising it.
I have an sland course I test myself against. I ride other places at moderate to fast speeds. When I go around the island, I go as fast as I can. First to three lapd (15 miles), four laps. I record my times. The increases in speed is very small over the course of a week This year has been difficult as I keep getting sick after getting back to my level. This week it was Covid. Last month a sinus infection.
I have absolutely no idea whether I’m fast, slow or somewhere in between for my age and fitness, but when I go out, I do like to ride some sections as fast as I can. Just for the fun of it! My garmin tells me my average speed, but some rides are hillier than others, some windier. So being a Billy no mates, I just enjoy riding how I like, where I like, when I like. Post script: my Garmin has just told me I ride faster than 97% of the people who post rides, so it must be why I’m a Billy no mates! Nobody wants to come out with me! Post post script: in my age group! 55-59
Best way I've found to raise my average speed, is to reduce the amount of time spent going zero. Learned that touring on the moto. Popular as they are as in prevention and post care, I wonder how many riders are on beta blockers, making HR irrelevant. My Max HR runs 110. Distance, watts out, and sustained cadence are good proxies.
@@monkmodemalik8225 High BP, cardiac prevention, post MI care. Pretty common in older riders. Effect is to drop resting HR usually by 10-20/min and blunt the stress increase. Makes another proxy useful, eg cadence, RespRate, watts of power output. We are still sorting out training variables that provide useful information
Unless you are race training, why would you have a screen on your bike? It's kind of like being on your cell while driving a car. HIIT training comes naturally unless you live on a sea shore. So just ride your bike. The important part is that you are riding your bike. The faster part is merely a matter of will. If you don't have the will......forget about it.
Faster, no. Finding routes I haven't cycled yet, yes. When riding on nature I force myself to slow down otherwise at speed I concentrate on bumps, rocks and mole holes and miss all the beauty surrounding me. City is where I like speeding to faster get from A to B.
Floating on the pedals/crystal cranks some days, ride like I've stole it other days, goes on how I can be arsed. The good thing about the TDF, I can take a nap without the wife nagging, jobs a good un.
The key to speed is a smaller frontal area,You are the biggest drawback,an aero bike will only show gains over 20 mph really.Eat properly train hard im 62 and my average is between 19-23 depending on who i am riding with and what sort of area im riding in.....Chain gangs are a great way of upping your performance,it keeps you on the power all the way round.
Lose weight, ride in zone 2 80% of the time and hard the other 20% . Ride regularly and keep consistent! Don't push until you have recovered! Easy isn't it?
Not necessarily, all that means is that you're pushing hard within your current health levels. To give you a comparison, if your aerobic fitness was better you could ride at the same speed but your heart rate would be lower. Cycling is like any endurance sport such as running, skimo - you build your aerobic base by increasing the volume of easy workouts and mix in some short hard stuff to give you top end power/speed/etc. This type of training is referred to as 80/20 (80% easy, 20% hard) or polarized training, there are some really good books on this topic if you're interested.
@@AlistairLattimore Thanks. I am of similar age and build as Leonard i think i need to investigate further the process i need to follow to ensure success.
I hate the virtual partner on my Garmin 520. You can't turn it off, it appears as a masive arrow on the screen so you can't see the map properly and I've never beaten it..... :-) I regret buying it due to this poorly implented feature....
Go to Data Screens and scroll downward BELOW the five data screens and you will see "Virtual Parter" at the near bottom of the list which you can then turn off or adjust the speed.
Sorry read that back and I was really vague: From the main screen: MENU > SETTINGS > ACTIVITY PROFILES > TRAIN (or whatever you called your profile) > DATA SCREENS > VIRTUAL PARTNER (right down near the bottom after lap summary) > DISABLE (or change its speed to something you can drop/keep up with)
Sorry me again. Its worth mentioning that if you set a low speed that you can beat easy and follow a course (or just go on a ride then save the ride as a course when you get home), when you follow that course again it will basically replace the VP with "you" from the previous ride so you can race yourself, if you beat "yourself" then the new faster "you" will become the new VP.
Not really, they help uphill but the motor cuts out at 25km/h (as per legislation they cannot go any faster) so after that you're on your own again ;-)
@@roubaix3843 I found that also to be the case- on the hills the ebike utterly massacres it but on the flats it's slower than my normal bike... So ebike I get the same avg speed as I do with non-ebike thanks to the speed limiters so I don't bother with ebike and keep all the gains to myself.
Lose weight!! Leonard.....Why..oh WHY..do you not stop eating so much>? THAT would give you speed! I say this out of concern, not out of.......discord......
Leonard has repeatedly stated what can only be called "the bleedin' obvious" regarding weight & speed - though mainly with respect to going uphill (going down and the additional weight can become a positive factor - momentum, innit). Why oh why do you think he needs your "concern" - he seems to be having more fun on his bike than most. Arguably, we could all be slimmer & faster, but there are other pleasures in life than cycling like a whippet. Besides, why cycle like a whole whippet when you can cycle like three quarters of a whippet and enjoy a bit of cake. And a beer. Whatever their average speed may be, no-one reading or writing these comments is riding the Tour any time this side of Hell freezing over. Telling someone to stop eating so much (when you have no idea how much they eat, or what they eat) is simply crass. Or do I mean rude? Or do I mean patronising? Or do I mean dumb? Yes...