Cat 1/2 physical condition/average speeds

FWIW, according to a cycling mag I read recently, Lance Armstrong's average speed in the 2003 TdF was 25.6mph.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mjw_byrne
FWIW, according to a cycling mag I read recently, Lance Armstrong's average speed in the 2003 TdF was 25.6mph.

Yeah, but he had the help of his team and the peleton for that. That's still an incredible speed for 4 hours of riding every day. Wonder what each of those guys could do on their own. I know Lance does 30 mph or so during his TT, but that's only for about 30 minutes and with a TT bike. If I could get to cat 2, I would be satisfied. Averages obviously aren't the most important thing in attaining that goal, but it is a good goal for overall fitness to shoot for a certain average.

Yeah, it's not that revealing a figure, admittedly. Still, damn impressive when you consider that that includes all the mountain stages, I figure that must balance out the peloton and team advantages somewhat.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by memphiscyclist
Does anyone know what the solo average speed generally is for a typical cat 1/2 rider?...and I mean on a regular road bike, not a time trial bike. I know it depends on terrain and distance, however I am just trying to find out what the physical condition of riders of this caliber is. I have heard that it is usually around 25 mph.

On a rolling hill time trial, I've found that seasoned riders can average 18-21 mph over 20 miles. A cat 4/5 averages 22-24 mph, cat 3 23-27 mph, and cat 1/2's average 26-30 mph.

* Standard disclaimer about how averages don't count here *

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by memphiscyclist
Does anyone know what the solo average speed generally is for a typical cat 1/2 rider?...and I mean on a regular road bike, not a time trial bike. I know it depends on terrain and distance, however I am just trying to find out what the physical condition of riders of this caliber is. I have heard that it is usually around 25 mph.

Around here there is a big difference in solo speeds for the 1s and 2s. There were some guys that I could regularly beat in TTs when I was only a cat 4 or 5 but they could either sprint, handle changes in speeds, or both, better than me. In TTs they averaged only 25 or so and on a regular road bike only 23-24 by themselves for long periods. OTOH I know some of them can do 25+ on a road bike forever and TT at 26-28 mph.