Today I did my first 20 mile (33km) ride on my hardtail XC bike. I learned how to ride a bike about 1.5 months ago, but I’ve been riding pretty consistently since I learned. I ride exclusively in the city, it’s a very walkable city, but the paths aren’t always the best. I did 33km in 2 hours 53 minutes, not including breaks for water or to eat.
I see people saying that 10MP/H (16KM/H) average is a good average to shoot for, but i can’t even get my average above 7.1MPH (11.5KM/H), even on shorter rides. What am I doing wrong here? How are people going so freaking fast on bikes in cities?
I think considering you started biking 1.5 months ago you are off to a great start! I think many people in your position would be unable to complete a 33KM trip, especially considering your practice is overwhelmingly city biking.
I of course am unaware of your previous physical shape, but assuming your body has not been trained to bike it will take you a while to get into shape.
My average is around 20-25km/h not including traffic stopping etc. It took me over three years to get here by biking to work daily, which is half uphill and half downhill (so I always have to bike uphill somewhat) and whenever I started feeling comfortable with my speed, pushing harder until uncomfortable again.
Some tips I learned in this experience and some I got from others:
Your muscles will get good and more efficient the more you use them. To avoid becoming complacent in your speed in the city for instance, consider every opportunity to push yourself.
Never going to make that green light anyway? Not today, try to make it as if your life depends on it. If you don’t and have to break hard (you won’t at first) remember you did it to be able to do it in a year if bot today.
Similarly racing plublic transport (where safe) can be fun as well as good training.
Isn’t it nice biking in the wind shadow of this e-bike? Fuck e-bikes(cheaters(JK)), try to always pass them (great interval training) (the slow ones anyway, in my city some are capped at 20kmh and go more like 15)
Nutrition: I noticed after a year or so that certain breakfast items made it easier or harder to push myself biking
I don’t know if you are EU or NA, but if EU or similar consider biking places that are relatively nearby, but you usually drive. This way you get new experience and slightly longer trips than you are used too which always ‘stretches’ you a bit more, then you ‘snap back into place’ a bit better that where you started.
Thanks for the advice! I’m in Europe :)
What I’m afraid of is pushing myself so hard that I have to go home early :( I like biking long distances which makes me afraid to push myself too hard, which would (possibly?) severely cut my distance capabilities.
Unfortunately, I have no car :(. Most ebikes on the road by me are ridden by couriers and they’re just speeding along the road way going 2-3x the speed of me - they’re quite popular here.
A lot of the times I push myself to pick up speed so I can coast for a while after, though this is probably counterintuitive in a way.
Depends if you ride for commute (as in you need to get from point A to B) or for recreation (bike for couple of hours)
If it’s recreation it’s fine to cut down on distance and tire yourself out. Treat it like gym training. If you aren’t tired, it wasn’t good training. Maybe plan a shorter trip but a more intense one.
I found that after couple of months of daily commuting my speeds improved and I could finally go up that steep hill without stopping.
Good luck and stay safe!