average race speeds

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by laurence edgar
Recently i have been thinking about entering a race. That was until i asked a friend in work who races regularly "what the average speed was in a race"? His reply made me want to throw my bike in the river, his answer ,Average speed around a 27 mile course was 26mph. Man i could never make that kind of average and if that was the case no point in me entering they would have all packed up and gone home by the time i reached the finish line. So guys what IS the average in a race. I realise weather conditions/ fitness levels etc play a big part in speed but if all races were that fast well its not for me. By the way im 41yrs old can manage to do 43 miles with an average of 18mph on my own. Have as i said never entered a bike race in my life, wife thinks that i have hit some type of crisis in my life with all this cycling. never know maybe.

You're not as bad as you think. Consider that if you ride in a peloton, you only have to exert 60% of the power of the lead guys, the ones that block the wind and create your draft. Also, when you go on your rides, I bet you don't make adjustments for stopping for traffic, hazards and pedestrians. This can drop your average quite a bit. These things don't happen in a race.

I wonder what category your friend is in. There are many different categories of riders. Don't compare yourself with the pros. That's rather depressing. Find out if there are any novice races in your area. These will be people like you that don't know whether they want to try racing or not.

Who cares if other guys can blow away everyone in the race? They won't be around in this group. You'll be testing your legs against people you might be able to bury yourself.😉

Let me put it to you this way ............

An average Cat. 5 race now averages around 25 for the entire race. Surges up to 30, and slows down to 20, all within the same lap. Short races almost never maintain a constant speed. The trick is knowing when the accelerations are going to come and starting with them, not having to jump to catch up. And stay in the front as much as possible. If you are in the back, then every corner you will be sprinting to play catch up ..............

And if you think that running the masters category would be better, then don't consider it. Most of the guys in the masters field are 1/2/3 level riders. It is typically the 2nd fastest race of the day behind the pro/1/2/3 fields. They will average over 26 usually for shorter races, less for the longer ones.

Find a local weekly training series (we have a few in the Maryland area), or club race/rides with local teams. See how you can hang with them before going out and spending $25-$40 for an hour race that you are worried you'll get dropped in.

I agree with you on that. I should have made it clearer that he probably doesn't want to enter a race that says "Cat" anywhere in the race announcement. Cat 5 is the lowest of the Cat's, but there are other races. I have seen one called "novice", another called "B". Maybe these are harder to find than I think. I don't even look to race officially. The only time I race is when someone challenges me on the fly while on my daily rides.

I did do a hill climb race about 13 years ago. It was more than 800 meters climb in 10 km. I got 2nd place in the B category, but I would have placed first in the veterans. Apparently, the other guy was unsure of himself too and didn't sign up under a hard enough category. The open category blew us both away.

Another thing to consider is that the higher you go up in the "Cat's", the more experienced the riders are. I'm not sure I'd want to ride in bunches with a bunch of inexperienced riders. It seems that you would be more likely to crash. So that's another thing to consider on a crit ride. Hill climbs are pretty safe--just gut busters.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Daremo
Let me put it to you this way ............

An average Cat. 5 race now averages around 25 for the entire race. Surges up to 30, and slows down to 20, all within the same lap. Short races almost never maintain a constant speed. The trick is knowing when the accelerations are going to come and starting with them, not having to jump to catch up. And stay in the front as much as possible. If you are in the back, then every corner you will be sprinting to play catch up ..............

Write this down... This is soooo true. I did my first race last week. It was a 25 min. crit. From the beginning, we went FAST. I didn¡¯t get dropped but I was at the very back and the average speed came out to be 26 mph. Also Yo-Yo Effect SUCKS. Try to stay front if you can.

Have a look at the results section in www.tvcc.asn.au to get an idea of race paces down here at the bottom of the world.

The races are in km and km per hour, but you can convert to mph. The Div 1 riders are world class (a couple have won at world masters level), they range in age from high thirties to low 50's. Div 2 riders are still pretty good, most are 100 to 200 km per week trainers or have been elite riders on the way down. Div 3 and 4 riders are reasonably fit guys (and some girls) who are pretty fit and can have a good go over 30 to 70 km. Div 5 and 6 are generally beginners and people who don't get much chance to train.

Vets (masters) cycling is great fun. Have a go, don't be frightened. Join a friendly club and they'll help you with racing, how to sit in the peleton etc. I guarantee on your first race you'll get dropped off the back pretty quickly unless you have more fitness than the people you are graded with. Stick at it and you'll soon move into a grade with people of similar ability and you'll wonder why you didn't try it 20 years ago.

One thing I have experienced is that the more you ride, the more you seem to enjoy it. Also I'm amazed at people who are in their 60's and 70's who can still maintain their grading in Div 2 and 3. They leave me for dead and I thought I was pretty fit. One of the older guys told me it would take three years to develop good "race legs". I believe him. Moving up the grades is harder than I thought.