More serious: it requires condional progress. Needs grunt-work. Be hard on yourself, but don't over-train (thin line). Works best for me if (1) I do shorter trainings, but more often (more times per day if time and fitness allows) and/or (2) combine with running/swimming. Where running seems most effective.
you dont need to get a higher average speed if you just name every ride on strava either "coffee ride" "party pace" "casual ride" or "ride with friends" even tho you where completely alone lol.
My favourite tip, besides #5 (pacing) and #6 (smart efforts) is to use the "Lap Avg." on your bike computer instead of the "Ride Avg." - Start a lap when you leave the traffic of the city, and finish that lap when you arrive back into the city. This way, you aren't worrying about riding fast in traffic, you get a warmup and cooldown that don't have any pressure attached, and your true average speed reflects your effortful riding time on the less-trafficked roads where there are fewer stops and obstacles. Who cares what Strava says about your entire ride average, you should instead focus on the average speed where it matters, the middle 80% of your ride (your mileage my vary).
Just keep going at it. Same tips that apply to younger riders apply to older ones. Biking is a low impact sport and 65 isn’t even old in terms of riding ability
@@PaulWhitcomb-ty6md oh really? we older riders have issues that younger riders do not. When you are in our age bracket then you can open your pie hole.
I'll add - go on group rides. They will force you to be faster. Pick groups you hang with and move up to faster groups as you get experienced and faster.
After I started commuting through the city (~16km/10miles, 40 (!) traffic lights) it became my personal interval training (🚦➡🚦). In no time my average speed increased pretty noticeably.
I'm guilty of using the same route over and over again, and I've noticed that it does lead to a bit of a plateau. Thanks for this video Hank, it's given me new ideas and inspiration for mixing it up
@@jameswitte5676 as a commuter, I indeed go on the opposite direction on the same route. However I tend to race against the clock, despite riding a mountain bike on paved roads
I was stuck in this for a few years and couldn't break past 17mph on a 30 mile course I would do. A knee injury forced me to rethink the way I ride and train. After three months, 6 hours a week of zone 2 training with one hard interval ride per week my average speed on that course shot up to over 19mph. Zone 2 training is real and it's where you should spend the majority of your time. You also get to enjoy a bike ride without feeling like you're dying and being toast for the remainder of the day!
All I got around here is mountains, so changing my route isn't going to do much for me. I'm curious to know how I'll perform when I get back to my beloved prairies!
I used to have a goal of keeping my average over 30 kph for my commute for the year. It was part of my morning ritual to fill in my spreadsheet. I used to note down the Strava sections too on the way, aiming to be in the top ten of each section by year end. It kept me motivated. Now I am more concerned about power.
I have 2 or 3 time trial loops, that I alternate, always trying to better my times.All varied terrain loops...btw... Good general information delivered by Hank in expert fashion. I also noticed almost 3 million subscribers , you guys keep climbing in popularity. Congrats and job well done.
I have a couple of different routes I like to ride. When I want to do a different ride, I the do rides backwards, I had to buy two mirrors and am still practicing going up hill in reverse.
This bike was really easy to assemble ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.
I commute on a fixed gear bike, I change my gearing from high gear low cadence to low gear high cadence and back every few weeks and try to keep besting my average with both. So far I’ve bumped my average up about 2mph over the course of the last couple months. My buddies are surprised when I keep up with them and I’m spinning a 47/19 so relaxed.
Find a group or group within a group that is slightly faster than you. Hang on as long as you can and hang on even longer the next week. Rinse, later, repeat. You will get faster over time.
@@joshuafelten6967 Yes, but ride with a group were you have a push yourself to stay with the group. And when it’s your turn on the front you’ll have to push really hard so you don’t slow the group down. Daniel’s advice is really good.
I’ve started trying a more aero position, riding in the drops; from practicing on the turbo and then onto quieter roads. It has made me slightly faster but I am still mindful of changing my hand position when I come to traffic lights and busy intersections
I’m enjoying the bike so far ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.
GETTING AERO AND FITNESS! I really got into riding with a CAAD10 Ultegra in 2013 and it was destroyed in a move. Now I strictly ride steel bikes and new old stock equipment but made a huge effort with fitness and FREE aero gains by forcing myself to ride drops or aero hoods position, and I can seriously ride circles around my old stats and I'm 10 years older from that time too.
One more thing is to do some other sports to. Especially running, some leg-work (lunges) and core-work (situps / crunches) helps your body to provide your power for a longer distance.
got the bike of my father, it's in the family since 10years and i've been the first to attempt to clean it. Cleaned it 3hours today. (like high effort cleaning xD) went to a bike shop afterwards, the first thing the staff there said "oh this is a dirty bike". :'D You CAN'T imagine how dirty it was, but i'm cleaning it now every month once and hopefully it will get cleaner with time....
1) attack the hills 2) go over the top your best pace. Rest when you get the downhill 3) dont shift on easyer gear unless you realy have to. 4) maintain momentum when ever you can 5)most important is to keep safe riding in towns. Try to better your average speed ewery time is stupid. Dont be stupid.🧐😇🚴
I got accident with car and spent in gips 2 months, and reabilitation, and recovered just after 10 months. Car turned to the right and I was on its right side near by it. Police formed like im fault didnt kept distance, but tell me, how to keep distance while moving next to the right of the road, and cars pass me constantly? :). Weared all bright red , lights and helm. Driver told he didnt see me. Drive safe.
Stripping away the environmental gains more related to strategy than fitness, I think you gave a good overview of the basic practices for gaining speed related fitness. One thing that I am more curious about is how endurance impacts speed. In running, long easy effort runs are critical to improving speed in middle to long distance runs, but not short sprints, which have more to do with fast twitch muscle fibers. If my goal was to improve my average speed for a half century or a century race, what is the best mix of training rides?
I'd suggest checking out Dylan Johnson's channel if you haven't already. He does a lot of videos talking about training plans - and a lot of it is based on actual scientific studies on endurance athletes. TL;DR would be in a given week you want to do one or two interval sessions, one long ride, two rest days, and low-intensity "zone 2" training for the remaining days - with the goal being to do a little more each week than you did the previous week. Most of your time on the bike should be at zone 2 intensity - the more the better.
Yes just don’t go too hard or make your self tired because that’s how you burn out and waste your average speed..if your aero speed increases slowly as you pedal but people who go all out get burned up later on
So needed these reminders as my average speed hovers around the same MPH every ride & I want to improve so I can rejoin a group ride and not get dropped.
Cadence drills really helped my climbing I'm not super worried about average speed. I'm usually dodging kids on scooters, dogs, red lights, and horrible road surfaces. Don't get me wrong, I want to stay healthy and be able to ride quick if I need to drop into traffic... but average? nah
We used to motor pace. But overall, what I think improves average speed the most is going faster. Seriously though, train on the flats for a bit, where there is no downhill resting. When you never rest during the ride you will get stronger.
Lose weight, build leg muscle, it’s essentially the same as power to weight ratio. More leg power, less body weight, more RPMs in a higher gear,being used more efficiently by less weight,
Train on a big gear. Slow cadence, high resistance but don't force the effort. Hydration tops, protein mandatory. Carbs additional. Keep HR down. Train in blocks such as two weeks doing base work only, then a couple of sessions of higher intensity, but only 2% of total volume. I've proved it works.
I ride the same route to work everyday at 3am. 12km trip with minimal traffic and different types of roads. I keep a record of my time and average speed and try to better it every week or 2.
Just a tune up and cleaning my chain got me 10% average speed back on my commuter. I'm pretty content with my average 21km/hr going up and down hills, with a lot of stop lights, with chunky panniers on the rack, a general windbreaker jacket instead of lycra, and a hybrid commuter bike instead of a light-and-zippy thing. I'm not particularly aerodynamic but I get from A to B :)
One observation. The cycling bars and gels aren't so easy digested. For me at least they cause cramps, so I never use them. A protein bar or a home made chocolate is better, plus a stop for a yoghurt and some vienoiseries..
The way to increase average is to ride harder when below average like uphill and recover when you are above avg like downhill. The reason is it shortens the time when you are slow and not waste energy to wind when fast.
Overall average speed is largely irrelevant. You need more high-volume, low-intensity days in the base-building segment of your training, as well as higher intensity intervals (with adequate recovery). If your training goes well, you can measure the increase in speed you can do on fixed, benchmark rides, segments, and/or distances. Paying attention to your overall average speed will tell you next to nothing about the effectiveness of your training (and therefore your fitness).
I've never ridden in lycra, only loose clothing. I can sometimes average 20mph on a ride. How much faster could I go in lycra? Has this ever been done as a test?
@@andrewcharlton4053 I noticed it when riding with a friend who wears lycra. I can beat him on the hills but have a really hard time keeping up on the flats
@@StreetZipsSZ it will depend on speed, position and how baggy your current clothing is. Being aero will be exponentially better for every km/h over ~19km/h.
My GPS unit is set on auto lap mode so I know how fast every 5 miles is. I’m never disappointed when the first two laps are slower because I always finish strong and usually faster depending on the length of the ride.
I'm at 300m (minimum, can get up to 600m on road and 1100m off road) above sea level and have the Cairngorms on my doorstep...reckon there's 97% of the air at sea level where I live (maybe 87% at 1100m?)so it's technically training at altitude every time I go out lol
All this Aero stuff for us run of the mill, and in my case OLD. is a load of Hogwash. All my Routes in Sydney Austalia are a mixture of roads, Junctions, myriads of traffic lights. And Hills from dead starts. If I manage 19kph on a route I think well done.
I think I’ve plateau. I’m stuck at 16-17mph on flat rides during a 1:30-2 hour ride. I can’t get it to above 18-20 mph. Don’t worry, I have aero bars and deep dish carbon wheels. But riding the same-ish flat route I can’t go faster. Sad.
I am a casual rider on an mtb and I never cared enough about aero (I have a chonky tyre and ride in casual clothes), but I managed to increase my avg speed from 16 (where I've been previously stuck) to 17.5 mph on my track. What I did: 1. Seriously cleaned my filthy drivetrain and relubed it (surprise, surprise, it really helped to decrease pedaling resistance). 2. Changed pedaling a bit. Before I've been pedaling with high cadence most of the time, but now when I move uphill I ride somewhere between 65-70 I think. This actually helps me to put a bit more load on my legs and it actually helped to increase my speed. And I've changed my road aswell. I have a somewhat hilly road and there are couple places where you can skip the hard part with long uphill ride (what I did before). So now, instead of skipping that part I usually ride it and with lower cadence it really makes a difference. The main point is if you've hit a plateau, change your riding style and the road a bit, dont let your body to adapt. Ah and I think this should be said, since everyone knows this, but I'll add it anyway. It helps me a lot to push myself further when I have a cool pumping music with me. It's like night and day when I'm riding with my headphones.
Ride faster, blow through stoplights, draft semi trucks are just a few ways to increase your average speed!😂. Just kidding! I’ve found that my average speed will increase after doing rides with hard or long climbs with a rest or light day after. Recovery or rest is key to allow your body to adapt to the hard effort.
Have you seen the video of a cyclist drafting a manure spreader on the highway: when the spreader goes to turn into his field he loses a few gallons. Be careful what you're drafting! 💩🙄💩
Cadence really is a big one for me. My current bike has 42/28 as smallest gear. Therefore I cannot stay und my prefered cadence on climbs. My newly ordered bike will help in that regard with 36/30 a lot.
On my steel MTB with 26 inch (57-559) tires, my average speed was 28kmph/17.5mph My bike is a TECNOBIKE PORTOFINO with 3x7 Shimano Tourney Groupset. 30-52T Crankset 11-28T Cassette
@Here Comes Salvation because If I switch to a Road Bike, I would like to sprint without pain in my legs. I know that with a road bike there is less effort needed to accelerate to the same speed as on a Mountainbike.
my local area has hardly any hills ... but i want to train like i have hills but lack the resources to be driving around all over just to go to trails (i live in the middle of nowhere)
I’m riding a older road bike (8yrs) that doesn’t have clearance for the new big tires. Can I help my rolling resistance by just riding at lower pressure? Like the max is 120psi, but would I be better off at 90? 100?
Depends on the size of tire and the weight they are carrying. As a roughly 190 lbs combined system, I was able to run 25s at around 80-90 psi depending without worry.
I have a 170 weight (with bike and gear) and the optimal pressure is supposed to be somewhere around 85 front 95 rear on 23s... There are online calculators you can use to check it
It really depends on the surface you're riding on: I've got some roads around here that are super slick and I'll pump the tires right up to max: not a lot of traction and if I hit a bump it near launches me into space, but on that surface it's fast. If I ride on my regular route (much rougher) without deflating them a little, then it's actually slower because they take my horizontal speed and convert it vertically with every single bump instead of just rolling over it. In fact, in that route I'm fastest when I've got just enough pressure that I'm not pinch-flatting from the holes! Short story long, if you feel the road being transmitted up into your bike you probably have too much pressure: those vibrations you're feeling is horizontal speed being turned into vertical speed. You want them just soft enough that you don't feel that, and that'll be different with every surface you ride.
Okay, true confession, I have added a 250-watt front-hub motor to my commuter. And indeed, I have found it speeds me up a bit. And I grin but I am having so much fun with it, not that it is powerful or has juice enough for my entire daily commute, but it makes me think and meter the juice and save it for the boring stretches--the false flats--and it makes me pedal out of the saddle and out of my mind up ramps and hills, usually, so I have more juice for the rest of the ride. And those impromptu intervals are great, the real deal as there is a weight penalty with an e-bike kit, not all that much but certainly enough to feel. All in all, though, it does make the commute easier and so far so good with the daily reliability and all. Plus, I stash the battery in a rear pannier, so the overall look is clean and standard, only the hub and drip-loop of the power line give me away as an e-bike cheater, lol.
Surely training in unideal conditions is good training though? It means that you have to put in more work which is better training (e.g. altitude training). I use a mountain bike for my training since the climbs are a lot harder and if I can do it on that then it will be a piece of cake on a road bike.
I have a gravel bike with GRX group set , I think the crank main ring is too small especially on road between gravel routes , on down hill and on flat road sections i need to spin my legs so fasts to increase the speed +40, can you mix iUltegra with GRX , or is that the wrong thing to do ?
Only issue what i have is herniated disc. It limit my speed and power very effectly. Need to keep few breaks every ride because it start to have bit of numbness every ride.
@@wilfdarr recently I have start to see light end of a tunnel. I have found Finnish web site in earlier this year and there is good instruction to do exercises to back, abs etc. They have start to work pretty well now for me and I have been more enjoyable rides now.
@@lehtjug Oh that's something anyways. They can't do surgery on it though? A friend of mine herniated a disk, had surgery a couple months later, and a month after that he was a new man!
It would be nice to to compare lycra with casual clothes. I would be interested in exactly how much speed of a speed gain/lose there is. I would also be interested in the difference in power. Maybe you could do some science?
It’s hard to get a good average speed in a City environment due to slowing down for complete stops and working back up to your average speed . Strava only temporarily pauses at a complete stop .
The sign that tells you things are going easy is a low heart rate. Inversely, a high heart rate indicates you are giving effort. Find a Sports Centre with a proper ergometer with recording facility. Do a cadence ramp test at constant power absorption. If your HR chart increases in slope at high cadence, that's a sign you shouldn't spin. Visa versa with low cadence. It will be your fast/slow twitch muscle fibre mix. Everyone is different, so ignore people who tell you to spin. Do your own test. If you cannot access an ergometer, ride round for a couple of years and you'll get to know your natural cycling style.
Maybe it's just me but eating breakfast before my 35km commute to work ctually makes my legs feel like lead and it feels like much more of an effort to get to work than doing it on an empty stomach. ...once I get there I'll just have a pb sandwich or 2 and I'm good 👍
Not just you: your stomach is taking the blood for digestion! If you're riding more than about an hour then yes, you'll probably need to eat something, but if your commute is right around an hour, take your breakfast with you and eat it when you arrive.
@@wilfdarr yeah it's a noticeable difference for sure and I should really probably start using the gels for the morning part of my commute so I still get something on the way and won't be hard to digest maybe?
@@cilldaracyclist2822 I don't know what you do for breakfast, but for me, instead of eating my fruit and cereal before I get on the bike, I throw it in my bag and I eat it when I arrive. Eating the gels does have the advantage that you'll have a better idea how your stomach reacts to them when you do a ride where gels are the answer, but they're kind of pricey for what they are, so I wouldn't use them on the daily just for that reason.
Ya, if you have the coin it's the way to go. And honestly, even if you can't afford a power meter, as a metric, average speed wouldn't be the one I'd focus on.
Do you have any tips for improving your average speed?
Aero bars jk
I usually say "I am speed" like Lightning Mcqueen, helps keep the morale up
Visor!
Why don't road cyclists use visors more?
Has the UCI banned it?
More serious: it requires condional progress. Needs grunt-work. Be hard on yourself, but don't over-train (thin line). Works best for me if (1) I do shorter trainings, but more often (more times per day if time and fitness allows) and/or (2) combine with running/swimming. Where running seems most effective.
I barely get 17kmph. I can't do more. I need to dope myself. 🤣😂
you dont need to get a higher average speed if you just name every ride on strava either "coffee ride" "party pace" "casual ride" or "ride with friends" even tho you where completely alone lol.
Brilliant!! “Quick ride with the kiddos”
@@buzsnyder i am so gonna name my next ride like that haha
Or “recovery ride”.
Lol. Perfect
@@CastleKnight7that's iconic
My favourite tip, besides #5 (pacing) and #6 (smart efforts) is to use the "Lap Avg." on your bike computer instead of the "Ride Avg." - Start a lap when you leave the traffic of the city, and finish that lap when you arrive back into the city. This way, you aren't worrying about riding fast in traffic, you get a warmup and cooldown that don't have any pressure attached, and your true average speed reflects your effortful riding time on the less-trafficked roads where there are fewer stops and obstacles. Who cares what Strava says about your entire ride average, you should instead focus on the average speed where it matters, the middle 80% of your ride (your mileage my vary).
Yes, that is called "segments" on Strava.
That's genius!
I just realized bikes have computers. I have never seen any bike with a computer of any sort, all I know is Google FIT and Strava.
Great point. Also disable the auto lap feature on your head unit
I’m 65. I’d like to see you provide tips for us older riders. Great vid’s
ebike 😅
No e bike..
Just keep going at it. Same tips that apply to younger riders apply to older ones. Biking is a low impact sport and 65 isn’t even old in terms of riding ability
Stop thinking of yourself in terms of age.
@@PaulWhitcomb-ty6md oh really? we older riders have issues that younger riders do not. When you are in our age bracket then you can open your pie hole.
I'll add - go on group rides. They will force you to be faster. Pick groups you hang with and move up to faster groups as you get experienced and faster.
good tip
After I started commuting through the city (~16km/10miles, 40 (!) traffic lights) it became my personal interval training (🚦➡🚦). In no time my average speed increased pretty noticeably.
I'm guilty of using the same route over and over again, and I've noticed that it does lead to a bit of a plateau. Thanks for this video Hank, it's given me new ideas and inspiration for mixing it up
Also do your routes in the opposite direction.
@@jameswitte5676 as a commuter, I indeed go on the opposite direction on the same route. However I tend to race against the clock, despite riding a mountain bike on paved roads
I was stuck in this for a few years and couldn't break past 17mph on a 30 mile course I would do. A knee injury forced me to rethink the way I ride and train. After three months, 6 hours a week of zone 2 training with one hard interval ride per week my average speed on that course shot up to over 19mph.
Zone 2 training is real and it's where you should spend the majority of your time. You also get to enjoy a bike ride without feeling like you're dying and being toast for the remainder of the day!
All I got around here is mountains, so changing my route isn't going to do much for me. I'm curious to know how I'll perform when I get back to my beloved prairies!
Me too
I used to have a goal of keeping my average over 30 kph for my commute for the year. It was part of my morning ritual to fill in my spreadsheet. I used to note down the Strava sections too on the way, aiming to be in the top ten of each section by year end. It kept me motivated. Now I am more concerned about power.
Easy to ride 30kph commute to work with out traffic stops lol. 🚴☕🚴
I have 2 or 3 time trial loops, that I alternate, always trying to better my times.All varied terrain loops...btw...
Good general information delivered by Hank in expert fashion. I also noticed almost 3 million subscribers , you guys keep climbing in popularity. Congrats and job well done.
I have a couple of different routes I like to ride. When I want to do a different ride, I the do rides backwards, I had to buy two mirrors and am still practicing going up hill in reverse.
This bike was really easy to assemble ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.
I commute on a fixed gear bike, I change my gearing from high gear low cadence to low gear high cadence and back every few weeks and try to keep besting my average with both. So far I’ve bumped my average up about 2mph over the course of the last couple months. My buddies are surprised when I keep up with them and I’m spinning a 47/19 so relaxed.
I'm on a 48/17 and I still feel like I'm gonna fall off at 35 kph 😂😂 trying to improve on that
Find a group or group within a group that is slightly faster than you. Hang on as long as you can and hang on even longer the next week. Rinse, later, repeat. You will get faster over time.
Did 100k with 31km/h average on a groupride. I was toasted after but it will get better.
But isn’t a group ride easier cause of drafting?
@@joshuafelten6967 Yes, but ride with a group were you have a push yourself to stay with the group. And when it’s your turn on the front you’ll have to push really hard so you don’t slow the group down. Daniel’s advice is really good.
Easy way to be overtrained look into polarised training instead
@@James-co3os overtrained?
Negative splits are great to practice on a typical commute "hey I've got plenty of time to get to work: oh crap I'm gonna be late!"
That totally works!! Love it
My wife won't let me ride my bike down the hallway. 😢
@@Outsideville haha... “no riding in the house young man”
This is the most useful information on how to get a good average that ive ever seen on UA-cam. Happy cyclist.
I’ve started trying a more aero position, riding in the drops; from practicing on the turbo and then onto quieter roads. It has made me slightly faster but I am still mindful of changing my hand position when I come to traffic lights and busy intersections
Great video as always. Love watching these to help me be a better cyclist! Keep up the amazing work guys!
I’m enjoying the bike so far ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.
GETTING AERO AND FITNESS! I really got into riding with a CAAD10 Ultegra in 2013 and it was destroyed in a move. Now I strictly ride steel bikes and new old stock equipment but made a huge effort with fitness and FREE aero gains by forcing myself to ride drops or aero hoods position, and I can seriously ride circles around my old stats and I'm 10 years older from that time too.
In my case just getting out on my bike is an improvement 😉
One more thing is to do some other sports to. Especially running, some leg-work (lunges) and core-work (situps / crunches) helps your body to provide your power for a longer distance.
It's all about pacing. Thanks for reminding of that✌️
got the bike of my father, it's in the family since 10years and i've been the first to attempt to clean it. Cleaned it 3hours today. (like high effort cleaning xD) went to a bike shop afterwards, the first thing the staff there said "oh this is a dirty bike". :'D You CAN'T imagine how dirty it was, but i'm cleaning it now every month once and hopefully it will get cleaner with time....
"Ride your bike. Ride your bike. Ride your bike." - F. Coppi.
1) attack the hills 2) go over the top your best pace. Rest when you get the downhill 3) dont shift on easyer gear unless you realy have to. 4) maintain momentum when ever you can 5)most important is to keep safe riding in towns. Try to better your average speed ewery time is stupid. Dont be stupid.🧐😇🚴
Nice summary
Yup. You should only be looking to PB a few times a year, otherwise you're cutting into your training plan.
I see this in running too, especially Parkrun. Folks seeking to beat themselves every time rarely retain interest beyond 10 weeks.
I got accident with car and spent in gips 2 months, and reabilitation, and recovered just after 10 months. Car turned to the right and I was on its right side near by it. Police formed like im fault didnt kept distance, but tell me, how to keep distance while moving next to the right of the road, and cars pass me constantly? :). Weared all bright red , lights and helm. Driver told he didnt see me. Drive safe.
Stripping away the environmental gains more related to strategy than fitness, I think you gave a good overview of the basic practices for gaining speed related fitness. One thing that I am more curious about is how endurance impacts speed. In running, long easy effort runs are critical to improving speed in middle to long distance runs, but not short sprints, which have more to do with fast twitch muscle fibers. If my goal was to improve my average speed for a half century or a century race, what is the best mix of training rides?
I'd suggest checking out Dylan Johnson's channel if you haven't already. He does a lot of videos talking about training plans - and a lot of it is based on actual scientific studies on endurance athletes. TL;DR would be in a given week you want to do one or two interval sessions, one long ride, two rest days, and low-intensity "zone 2" training for the remaining days - with the goal being to do a little more each week than you did the previous week. Most of your time on the bike should be at zone 2 intensity - the more the better.
Mr Spok won the Tour De Vulcan by taping up his ears to his his head increasing his time by over 10 Vulcan moon minutes!
I've always found the best pacing philosophy is to "start slowly then taper"
Yes just don’t go too hard or make your self tired because that’s how you burn out and waste your average speed..if your aero speed increases slowly as you pedal but people who go all out get burned up later on
So needed these reminders as my average speed hovers around the same MPH every ride & I want to improve so I can rejoin a group ride and not get dropped.
Cadence drills really helped my climbing
I'm not super worried about average speed. I'm usually dodging kids on scooters, dogs, red lights, and horrible road surfaces. Don't get me wrong, I want to stay healthy and be able to ride quick if I need to drop into traffic... but average? nah
We used to motor pace. But overall, what I think improves average speed the most is going faster. Seriously though, train on the flats for a bit, where there is no downhill resting. When you never rest during the ride you will get stronger.
Doing climbs as if its flat terrain is what gets it done in combination with that.
Lose weight, build leg muscle, it’s essentially the same as power to weight ratio.
More leg power, less body weight, more RPMs in a higher gear,being used more efficiently by less weight,
Train on a big gear. Slow cadence, high resistance but don't force the effort. Hydration tops, protein mandatory. Carbs additional. Keep HR down. Train in blocks such as two weeks doing base work only, then a couple of sessions of higher intensity, but only 2% of total volume. I've proved it works.
I ride the same route to work everyday at 3am. 12km trip with minimal traffic and different types of roads. I keep a record of my time and average speed and try to better it every week or 2.
Great tips, thanks boss. 😉
Just a tune up and cleaning my chain got me 10% average speed back on my commuter.
I'm pretty content with my average 21km/hr going up and down hills, with a lot of stop lights, with chunky panniers on the rack, a general windbreaker jacket instead of lycra, and a hybrid commuter bike instead of a light-and-zippy thing. I'm not particularly aerodynamic but I get from A to B :)
Perfect 🚴☕🚴
19/9/23Lowering my head, shoulders & flattening my back improved my aerodynamic efficiency today 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾🦋🦋🦋
I love videos featuring Hank
I've always cycled but just not a lot & not very often 😅, now at 54 albeit fit and healthy I'm looking to improve. Is it ever too late... Great vid
Never too late!
Living in the Netherlands it's always a flat ride. The only thing we have are bridges.
And here I am complaining that I can't find a flat spot: all we have is mountains!
One observation. The cycling bars and gels aren't so easy digested. For me at least they cause cramps, so I never use them. A protein bar or a home made chocolate is better, plus a stop for a yoghurt and some vienoiseries..
The way to increase average is to ride harder when below average like uphill and recover when you are above avg like downhill. The reason is it shortens the time when you are slow and not waste energy to wind when fast.
Overall average speed is largely irrelevant. You need more high-volume, low-intensity days in the base-building segment of your training, as well as higher intensity intervals (with adequate recovery). If your training goes well, you can measure the increase in speed you can do on fixed, benchmark rides, segments, and/or distances. Paying attention to your overall average speed will tell you next to nothing about the effectiveness of your training (and therefore your fitness).
100%
Avg speed entirely depends on the route.
I've never ridden in lycra, only loose clothing. I can sometimes average 20mph on a ride.
How much faster could I go in lycra? Has this ever been done as a test?
I've noticed a difference in feel but I haven't measured it. I'd say 1-3kph for a given power. It's more noticeable at higher speeds obviously
@@andrewcharlton4053
I noticed it when riding with a friend who wears lycra. I can beat him on the hills but have a really hard time keeping up on the flats
You would notice the difference I think.
Love the color scheme on Hank's Orbea.
@@StreetZipsSZ it will depend on speed, position and how baggy your current clothing is. Being aero will be exponentially better for every km/h over ~19km/h.
My GPS unit is set on auto lap mode so I know how fast every 5 miles is. I’m never disappointed when the first two laps are slower because I always finish strong and usually faster depending on the length of the ride.
What is auto lap mode, Can you do it on mobile strava app aswell?
I'm at 300m (minimum, can get up to 600m on road and 1100m off road) above sea level and have the Cairngorms on my doorstep...reckon there's 97% of the air at sea level where I live (maybe 87% at 1100m?)so it's technically training at altitude every time I go out lol
All this Aero stuff for us run of the mill, and in my case OLD. is a load of Hogwash. All my Routes in Sydney Austalia are a mixture of roads, Junctions, myriads of traffic lights. And Hills from dead starts. If I manage 19kph on a route I think well done.
I think I’ve plateau. I’m stuck at 16-17mph on flat rides during a 1:30-2 hour ride. I can’t get it to above 18-20 mph.
Don’t worry, I have aero bars and deep dish carbon wheels. But riding the same-ish flat route I can’t go faster. Sad.
ride hills. up and down and up and down. Maybe go spinning in a gym or do squats. When you are stuck, change.
I am a casual rider on an mtb and I never cared enough about aero (I have a chonky tyre and ride in casual clothes), but I managed to increase my avg speed from 16 (where I've been previously stuck) to 17.5 mph on my track.
What I did:
1. Seriously cleaned my filthy drivetrain and relubed it (surprise, surprise, it really helped to decrease pedaling resistance).
2. Changed pedaling a bit. Before I've been pedaling with high cadence most of the time, but now when I move uphill I ride somewhere between 65-70 I think. This actually helps me to put a bit more load on my legs and it actually helped to increase my speed. And I've changed my road aswell. I have a somewhat hilly road and there are couple places where you can skip the hard part with long uphill ride (what I did before). So now, instead of skipping that part I usually ride it and with lower cadence it really makes a difference.
The main point is if you've hit a plateau, change your riding style and the road a bit, dont let your body to adapt.
Ah and I think this should be said, since everyone knows this, but I'll add it anyway. It helps me a lot to push myself further when I have a cool pumping music with me. It's like night and day when I'm riding with my headphones.
Uphill my knees wouldn't stand such a low..
Ride faster, blow through stoplights, draft semi trucks are just a few ways to increase your average speed!😂. Just kidding! I’ve found that my average speed will increase after doing rides with hard or long climbs with a rest or light day after. Recovery or rest is key to allow your body to adapt to the hard effort.
Have you seen the video of a cyclist drafting a manure spreader on the highway: when the spreader goes to turn into his field he loses a few gallons.
Be careful what you're drafting!
💩🙄💩
Cadence really is a big one for me. My current bike has 42/28 as smallest gear. Therefore I cannot stay und my prefered cadence on climbs.
My newly ordered bike will help in that regard with 36/30 a lot.
Better learn to mash.
I improved my century time by making a simple adjustment. I switched my computer from mph to kph! 😂🤣
Excellent video
But how big is that porridge portion? How many grams of carbs per kilogram?
On my steel MTB with 26 inch (57-559) tires, my average speed was 28kmph/17.5mph
My bike is a TECNOBIKE PORTOFINO with 3x7 Shimano Tourney Groupset.
30-52T Crankset
11-28T Cassette
@Here Comes Salvation on that day more than 30 kilometers.
@Here Comes Salvation because If I switch to a Road Bike, I would like to sprint without pain in my legs. I know that with a road bike there is less effort needed to accelerate to the same speed as on a Mountainbike.
@Here Comes Salvation in order to cycle more aero and faster on average. On a road bike I may also reach top speeds of more than 100km/h.
@Here Comes Salvation currently 17, next year I turn 18 years old.
@Here Comes Salvation currently 17, next year I turn 18 years old.
Thank you
This Ronald-Mc-Donald paintjob looks like the German flag, Hank. DAS IST GUT!
To prevent overtraining, you shouldn't do more than two (or sometimes three) high intensity interval sessions per week.
Per week? Per month? Per day?
Ever
@@TheKorusuk per week, thanks for noticing
@@TheKorusuk it says per week, learn to read
@@pepperroni6252 he probably edited it after mate. Calm down.
my local area has hardly any hills ... but i want to train like i have hills but lack the resources to be driving around all over just to go to trails (i live in the middle of nowhere)
Great vid, Hank💪🏾👊🏾🙌🏾
Another way to boost your average speed is to put your Garmin on _pause when stopped mode_ 😆
Heart rate is, besides spiroergometry, is actually the most direct way to asses your performance levels, not power output or speed.
Thank you so much for this I use to hit like 30 mph and like an hour ago I hit like 40 mph
Aerodynamic rear derailleurs are at the extreme end of snake oil.
See also large jockey wheels.
I’m riding a older road bike (8yrs) that doesn’t have clearance for the new big tires. Can I help my rolling resistance by just riding at lower pressure? Like the max is 120psi, but would I be better off at 90? 100?
Depends on the size of tire and the weight they are carrying. As a roughly 190 lbs combined system, I was able to run 25s at around 80-90 psi depending without worry.
I have a 170 weight (with bike and gear) and the optimal pressure is supposed to be somewhere around 85 front 95 rear on 23s... There are online calculators you can use to check it
It really depends on the surface you're riding on: I've got some roads around here that are super slick and I'll pump the tires right up to max: not a lot of traction and if I hit a bump it near launches me into space, but on that surface it's fast.
If I ride on my regular route (much rougher) without deflating them a little, then it's actually slower because they take my horizontal speed and convert it vertically with every single bump instead of just rolling over it. In fact, in that route I'm fastest when I've got just enough pressure that I'm not pinch-flatting from the holes!
Short story long, if you feel the road being transmitted up into your bike you probably have too much pressure: those vibrations you're feeling is horizontal speed being turned into vertical speed. You want them just soft enough that you don't feel that, and that'll be different with every surface you ride.
@@santiagopbecerra thanks! I used the online calculator from Zipp and so far so good.
Buy a 2nd hand hybrid with an untrue rear wheel stick two ortliebs on it with 2 kyptonite NY locks in together with lunch full tool kit, poncho,
now i believe that beard + mustache = +10years of age :D
Great video
Okay, true confession, I have added a 250-watt front-hub motor to my commuter. And indeed, I have found it speeds me up a bit. And I grin but I am having so much fun with it, not that it is powerful or has juice enough for my entire daily commute, but it makes me think and meter the juice and save it for the boring stretches--the false flats--and it makes me pedal out of the saddle and out of my mind up ramps and hills, usually, so I have more juice for the rest of the ride. And those impromptu intervals are great, the real deal as there is a weight penalty with an e-bike kit, not all that much but certainly enough to feel. All in all, though, it does make the commute easier and so far so good with the daily reliability and all. Plus, I stash the battery in a rear pannier, so the overall look is clean and standard, only the hub and drip-loop of the power line give me away as an e-bike cheater, lol.
Surely training in unideal conditions is good training though? It means that you have to put in more work which is better training (e.g. altitude training). I use a mountain bike for my training since the climbs are a lot harder and if I can do it on that then it will be a piece of cake on a road bike.
I have a gravel bike with GRX group set , I think the crank main ring is too small especially on road between gravel routes , on down hill and on flat road sections i need to spin my legs so fasts to increase the speed +40, can you mix iUltegra with GRX , or is that the wrong thing to do ?
Wolf tooth has a compatible ring up to 46t for grx.
Thanks Hank. Your forgot the 12th way - organise a monster tail wind!
One more thing that makes you faster. Train on a MTB then switch to a decent road bike. It's embarrassingly fast....
Only issue what i have is herniated disc. It limit my speed and power very effectly. Need to keep few breaks every ride because it start to have bit of numbness every ride.
That sucks! Any hope on the horizon?
@@wilfdarr recently I have start to see light end of a tunnel. I have found Finnish web site in earlier this year and there is good instruction to do exercises to back, abs etc. They have start to work pretty well now for me and I have been more enjoyable rides now.
@@lehtjug Oh that's something anyways. They can't do surgery on it though? A friend of mine herniated a disk, had surgery a couple months later, and a month after that he was a new man!
Step 1: pedal harder
Step 2: repeat step one
cheers Hank
Thi is Very good vídeo,tanks ,I am from Brazil, Planeta da bike s/a
Glasses on and off could be secret gains?
Turn off the Wahoo on the climbs
Aero position makes the biggest difference at high speeds. Get aero on the downhills.
Now watching master cycling ❤
Dear GCN video editor, you’ve got some gap frames at around 3:00. Might want to reupload a new file.
i have something to yell at connor:
DO A KICKFLIP!
whats the app used to plot your root ?
What about maybe using a Hybrid on different road surfaces as change?
Love the bike
What width bars does Hank use?
can i apply this on mtb?
It would be nice to to compare lycra with casual clothes. I would be interested in exactly how much speed of a speed gain/lose there is. I would also be interested in the difference in power. Maybe you could do some science?
It’s hard to get a good average speed in a City environment due to slowing down for complete stops and working back up to your average speed . Strava only temporarily pauses at a complete stop .
Polarized training!
best cheapest mips helmet? :)
I'm so much fitter than I was 2 years ago, but still can't manage to beat records I set back when there was no traffic on the roads.
Avoiding traffic does help keep the average speed higher 😅
The sign that tells you things are going easy is a low heart rate. Inversely, a high heart rate indicates you are giving effort.
Find a Sports Centre with a proper ergometer with recording facility. Do a cadence ramp test at constant power absorption. If your HR chart increases in slope at high cadence, that's a sign you shouldn't spin. Visa versa with low cadence. It will be your fast/slow twitch muscle fibre mix. Everyone is different, so ignore people who tell you to spin. Do your own test.
If you cannot access an ergometer, ride round for a couple of years and you'll get to know your natural cycling style.
Don’t lower your head as you can’t see the road ahead , just had a massive crash last week trying to break my mile record.
Maybe it's just me but eating breakfast before my 35km commute to work ctually makes my legs feel like lead and it feels like much more of an effort to get to work than doing it on an empty stomach. ...once I get there I'll just have a pb sandwich or 2 and I'm good 👍
Not just you: your stomach is taking the blood for digestion! If you're riding more than about an hour then yes, you'll probably need to eat something, but if your commute is right around an hour, take your breakfast with you and eat it when you arrive.
@@wilfdarr yeah it's a noticeable difference for sure and I should really probably start using the gels for the morning part of my commute so I still get something on the way and won't be hard to digest maybe?
@@cilldaracyclist2822 I don't know what you do for breakfast, but for me, instead of eating my fruit and cereal before I get on the bike, I throw it in my bag and I eat it when I arrive.
Eating the gels does have the advantage that you'll have a better idea how your stomach reacts to them when you do a ride where gels are the answer, but they're kind of pricey for what they are, so I wouldn't use them on the daily just for that reason.
🚴Very informational guide GCN 🚴🚴
i love it
As an American, I'm not looking to improve my kph. Can you make one on mph next?
Not to go by avg speed at all and use a power meter instead - much smarter way of training.
Don’t think comparable like HR and power.
Ya, if you have the coin it's the way to go. And honestly, even if you can't afford a power meter, as a metric, average speed wouldn't be the one I'd focus on.
A Speed challenge and Connor brings a barbag.