The 20 mph barrier

For starters, I would not ride the bike in your avatar.

Even if I were to remove the fenders??

I wish I could ride at least 12-15 mph for an extended time! 

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Edited by PennState 2009-05-18 10:34 PM

A sub 5 hour Century solo is not that easy.  Most people who make it ride in packs.  I know that I have a route around Amarillo that is a circle on the loop.  It's about 44 miles.  I can do it just at 2 hours, but that's really working it.

I need to know a little more about your route to make a determination.  How high are the hills?  How many of them are there?  What kind of a wind are you talking about?  As someone has already mentioned, what kind of a bike are you riding.  Aerobars and aerowheels could add about a mile and a half an hour in speed.  That would get you under your goal.  There are a few more educated exercise physiologists on this site, but you should probably find a 20 mile similar route and just hammer on it.  Once a week hit it hard and gradually extend the distance by about 2-5 miles per week trying to maintain your pace.  Be as efficient as possible.  Keep your bike straight.  Don't weave across the road.  Find the smoothest spot on the road.  Maintain your speed on curves.  Don't sit up and enjoy the sites.  Touch your brakes as little as possible.  Stay focused on maintaining your cadence.  Try to hold it at least 80 for efficiency.  Every little thing you do different than forward in an aero position at a constant rate going straight will slow you down.  It will add up over 40+ miles.  You sound like you're close and it sounds like it's possible.

You can do what we did at one of the MS rides.  Ride downwind from point A to point B.  Look, my hair isn't even messed up.

There's nothing magic about 20 mph. Keep riding a lot of miles and you'll get there. The way I usually go for PRs on training routes is I start out pretty hard with the same effort each time up to the point of my first split. If I set a PR on that split (or get close knowing I've been riding into a headwind), I'll push a bit harder to the next split point. If at any split point I determine I'm off pace, I just take it easy on the rest of the ride. This way I'm pushing hard a little on every ride and more on days when I'm strong. At some point in the ride if I'm still on pace, I'll make the decision to finish hard for a PR attempt. Once I make that decision I'll start to monitor my average MPH instead of my time and just try to hold on to every 0.1 average mph as long as I can because all my routes have climbs late in the ride that slow me down and then they end with six miles of a constant uphill. Good luck!

I disagree.  A sub 5 hour century or holding 20+ mph isn't a magical barrier separating average and good riders.  Sure it is easier to achieve in packs, but it doesn't take an elite rider to hit that mark.   Look across this site and you will find tons of people that hold 20+ in and IM. 

I would say that 20+ mph can easily be achieved through proper training.  As Fred said above, time in the saddle is the most important concept.  My bike significantly improve over the first few years from simply riding consistently. 

It's not that hard at all if you have the fitness ...... I used to do it every few weeks.  All depends on the course though for average riders.

I guess we need a definition of "easy"

If it was easy they would be doing it at the convenience store.

You have already answered your own question. How do you get to a 20 mph avg, more time in the saddle. A common BT answer, ride, ride, ride. You started out at 13-14 mph, now 1600 miles later you are at 18.8. 1600 miles from now, and you could be at 20. The more you ride, the better your overall fitness will become. The better your fitness, the more likely you will be able to mash the peddles to get to 20 mph.

also - what i have noticed is that in order to push your avg to 20 , you have to figure you are riding 21-23 on flats  (if you figure in hills, stoplights, stop signs, etc).  . unless you are riding a flat country road. . i gots nothing but hills out here!

Hills are definitely part of it, but red-lights, cars, etc. can cause stops, slow downs, etc. that will drop the avg. Thus, those have to be factored in during a training ride. You "should" not have those unknown factors during a race.

"Hills are definitely part of it, but red-lights, cars, etc. can cause stops, slow downs, etc. that will drop the avg. Thus, those have to be factored in during a training ride. You "should" not have those unknown factors during a race."

I have started hitting the 'Lap' button on my Garmin each time I come into a congested area and hit the button again as I get back on open road.  That way, I can differentiate between my real cruising speed and the undesired slow downs.  I can do the math to figure out the average speed of the cruising laps after I get home if I really want to know that.

Just a thought.

Greg

Yep...I average 15.5 on my home hilly training rides and just broke the 20 mph average mark at IM FL 70.3.  I was positively giddy while riding the Florida course.

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Did you give our regards to the "packs"?

Edited by the bear 2009-05-20 3:28 PM

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Wait, the pizza. Do you eat it or sit on it? Isn't chamois cream cheaper?

And those Gatorskins need to go in the weight training thread/forum.

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Dude .......

Bad form still riding with your # on your helmet ........

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