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Why am I so slow at cycling? (discuss.online)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca
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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?

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (4 children)

You can go fast in that bike but it's not really built for it. If you desire speed there are usually good deals on older street bikes. My 40 yr old miyata 910 weighs half of your MTB and that makes a big difference in acceleration and speed. I commuted with this bike for almost 20 years and got my average up to 50 kph. Would pass traffic between lights, it felt great being faster than cars.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm sorry but the average speed across all stages in the Tour de France is around 41km/h there is no way that you could average 50kp/h unless your route was entirely downhill. Even then if it was a commute you'd have to return up that hill which would then normalise your average.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The tour de France is very mountainous. 50 is 30 mph here and I averaged up sure. I'd bike with pros on the weekends and they would blow by me. But the space between lights were a sprint and I would overtake traffic each time.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago

    Dude, I'm sure you were and hopefully still are a great and well trained cyclist, but it is very unlikely you averaged 50.

    Rohan Dennis, Tour de France record holder for fastest stage in the Grand Tour, managed to break the previous UCI one hour record in an inside hall, on a flat plane and achieved 52.491 km:

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/09/rohan-dennis-sets-new-hour-record

    If your average was 50, meaning you sometimes surpassed that, you should probably get back on that bike and claim the record.

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