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What's a good average ride speed for a 52 year old

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PLAYONIT

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
Been back riding now for a few weeks after a 20 year layoff. When I use to ride years ago I had no Idea what my average speed was due the lack of a cyclo-computer and the hilly region I lived in San Diego county..
I have a new bike and a Garmin Edge 500. Everyday I am getting more fit. I live in Western New York now and much more flat terrain wise... I have been averaging roughly 13-14 mph average over 15-20 miles with little elevation gain.. At 205 lbs. and 5'7' I am shooting on 165lb. body weight so as you can see not very fit yet and a ways to go until I hit my goal weight.... Since getting the Garmin I have mainly focused on spinning and maintaining a steady and high cadence. 2 weeks ago I found a small steep hill and have added twice a week uphill intervals spinning until I gas out (about 2 minutes per interval) recovering in between for 3 minutes and repeating this interval 4-5 times..... at which time I can barely make it the 7 miles home...
What kind of average ride speed should I be shooting for at my age???
 
#2 ·
What kind of average ride speed should I be shooting for at my age???
Click to expand...
faster than your current average speed....to keep you motivated to continue to ride and lose weight.

there's no right answer.

i'm sure there's 52 year olds cruising around at 23+mph like it's nothing because they've been cycling their whole lives. and there's one's that are so out of shape they couldn't dream of what you're currently doing.
 
#3 ·
Agree with Nomit. I did a 30 mile ride this morning with a couple 53 year olds and we averaged 22. When I started a few years ago at age 42, 15 mph was about it. I was carrying 225 in a 6'-3" frame. I am now down to 195. Give it time and the speed will come and the pounds will melt away.

If you did not get a heart rate strap with your Garmin, I would recommend getting one. Measuring your efforts by heart rate is a decent way to know that you are going hard enough, but not too hard.

Oh, be sure to talk to your doctor. Make sure he/she understands what your excercise program is and on board.
 
#4 ·
Just keep on riding. If you want to get fit and lose weight, don't worry about your speed. I used to hope I could keep up with the "A Group" on one of the weekly shop rides. Well I can keep up with that group just fine but have found a new A Group that has a whole different idea of a spirited ride. Their first 30 minutes is faster than the last 30 minutes of that other ride. I can't take my turn at the front of that group toward the end of that ride yet. Hopefully I'll get there some day.

The point is that unless you are a tremendous athlete, truly gifted and have a lot of time and motivation to train, you are going to be humbled by some of the great riders out there. Don't worry about speed. Just focus on your own goals. Maybe you can pick a a goal such as averaging half a mile faster on a particular ride and then go from there. (Don't get frustrated because you may be much slower or much faster some days on a flat course due to wind conditions).
 
#6 ·
Performance is influenced by age, but still each to their own. There's slow and fast X year-olds.

I got walked on a hill by an older (looked like late 40's/early 50's) guy. Not my best day, but even then, this guy had legs. Hope I come of age like that :eek:
 
#7 ·
if going by age, I'd use a target heart rate acheived at the preferred cadence to judge the effectiveness of training. I might not even bother to extrapolate speed from that formula as a big motivating factor.
 
#9 ·
Don't worry so much about speed, that will improve over time as your conditioning improves. I'm down here in hilly Westchester county and average about 15 mph for a 30 - 40 mile ride. On a good day I'll crack 16. I'm 52 but most importantly am having fun.
 
#12 ·
Find your own goal and then ride for that and have fun, ditto on the heart strap and Dr's advice, I would even go as far as ask for a Dr who is active, a riding Dr will be a hell of a asset. I had one for several years and he REALLY helped me.

btw..I am 51, and I can do a 30 course TT style and avg 21 mph (weather permitting) Good Luck
 
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#15 ·
PLAYONIT said:
Been back riding now for a few weeks after a 20 year layoff. When I use to ride years ago I had no Idea what my average speed was due the lack of a cyclo-computer and the hilly region I lived in San Diego county..
I have a new bike and a Garmin Edge 500. Everyday I am getting more fit. I live in Western New York now and much more flat terrain wise... I have been averaging roughly 13-14 mph average over 15-20 miles with little elevation gain.. At 205 lbs. and 5'7' I am shooting on 165lb. body weight so as you can see not very fit yet and a ways to go until I hit my goal weight.... Since getting the Garmin I have mainly focused on spinning and maintaining a steady and high cadence. 2 weeks ago I found a small steep hill and have added twice a week uphill intervals spinning until I gas out (about 2 minutes per interval) recovering in between for 3 minutes and repeating this interval 4-5 times..... at which time I can barely make it the 7 miles home...
What kind of average ride speed should I be shooting for at my age???
Click to expand...

Regardless of what your speed is now. After 20 years off and only a couple weeks back you are very slow compared to your potential right now. We all suck if we look hard enough for fast people to compare too and by the same token are fast as heck if we look elsewhere for people to compare to so why even go there. Just do the best you can against yourself and the rest will take care of itself.

So then the question becomes: How much gain should someone who's doing 14mph to start with shoot for.

If my experience can be of any guide: I just started last year and I'm generally doing the same routes roughly 7MPH faster then I was after just a couple weeks like you're at now. So getting up to 21mph might be a decent goal for you. I'm 10 years younger.....but I was not overweight when I started so you probably have more potential gain than I.
 
#16 ·
limba said:
5'7" and 165 pounds will still be fat.
Click to expand...
Considering you don't know anything about the OP's build and body type, this comment ranges from uninformed to just flat out wrong.

I'm guessing the OP knows a thing or two about what a good body weight is for himself and if he considers 165lbs a "goal" then it's probably good for him. Saying that he will still be "fat" at that point is singularly unhelpful.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
drdiaboloco said:
Considering you don't know anything about the OP's build and body type, this comment ranges from uninformed to just flat out wrong.

I'm guessing the OP knows a thing or two about what a good body weight is for himself and if he considers 165lbs a "goal" then it's probably good for him. Saying that he will still be "fat" at that point is singularly unhelpful.
Click to expand...
Yes.... 165 will be pretty trim for me... I just came down from 240 my weight on 12/26/09 to my current 203.. I think it will be almost impossible to get lower than 165lb.... I also lift weights focusing on squats,dead lifts and some light back and shoulder stuff... I had a good lunchtime ride into a good head wind today and averaged 13.8 mph... Without the wind I might have seen my best avg. speed so far.... I thank all for the comments and will take some advice to heart...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33737349
 
#19 ·
simply for comparison

Like you, even though I know there are many factors that contribute, I also like to judge myself against others by my average mph. So strictly for comparison sake, here's my story. I'm 59 and started riding about 9 years ago. I too wanted to lose weight. I started at about 190 and am now in the 175 range with weight getting up to 180 over the winter and back down to low 170' by mid August. My goal is 165 also. I am also 5 7" and even at 175 dont consider myself fat. Big thighs and a big ass contribute to that.

In the beginning I usually averaged about 16 mph over a 15 mile course with about 500 feet of elevation change. I now average about 18 mph ( 700 feet of change) over a 26 mile course. I ride 100-150 miles per week. My best average (no wind) on the course is 20 mph. Only done it once. On light wind days I can do 19 fairly regularly. I ride by myself because I like to control my own time as to when and where I ride.

Have done a few road races. Got droppped very early on and never caught the pack. Started timetrialing about 5 years ago and love it. Financialy able to buy all the equipment and compete about twice a month. Goal is to do a 40K in under an hour but so far can't do better than 61 minutes. But even though I'm getting older I am getting faster. I still hope to break 1 hour this year.

In spite of the fact that average mph is not that meaningfull by itself, it keeps me riding and allows me to move towards that goal of 165 pounds. Keep it up and we will both get there.
 
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