Cycling UK Forum

I am in amazed awe of the miles that some of you are getting in !! I'm doing well this year by reaching my annual target (2000 miles) by 30th June! Not sure if I have it in me to aim for 4000 for the year! Managed a (very slow) 60 miler yesterday (3120 ft of climb and into the wind 2/3 of the way) on top of 43 on Friday and 18 on Saturday. Was going to have a rest day today but can't cycle Wednesday after work and weather looks rubbish for tomorrow so might have to go out tonight The cleaning can wait!!!

Well, yesterday I managed an average speed of 16.9mph over 26.64 miles and 1294 ft of elevation. The average speed was helped a little by a tail wind on some sections (25mph on the flat was FUN!!) and some new tyres but I decided to REALLY push myself for the whole route. And I loved it! Although it took me several minutes at the end to be able to speak again and a good five minutes before I could physically get off my bike

To answer foxyrider the only thing I have done differently since April is way more miles. My gym closed due to Covid so I've been cycling more after work, cycling to work and cycling longer distances over the weekend. Averaging 130 miles a week over three months - previously I was doing around 70.
TrevA like your wife, I'm stronger on the flat than hills but definitely getting better going up the hills as I learn to utilise my gears more and not rely on brute strength which peters out half way up

Thank you to everyone who has responded- its certainly given me food for thought. I'm in the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire area so reasonably bumpy- a 30 mile ride would normally have around 2000 feet of climbing. Not Tour de France territory but not flat! I'm really pleased at the improvement since 1st April - I have a post work ride of 20 miles which before I was doing at around 14.5mph average and now just over 16mph - obviously this does depend on the weather to some extent but I'm definitely faster! I was just curious how 'good' that is for amateur riders.

So pleased to have found this forum and have already found loads of useful information to help me! I've cycled nearly 1500 miles since 1st April and during this have increased my average speed on both short (20 miles) and longer (40+ miles) routes. But I can't find any form of guidance on what is a 'good' average speed for a female rider the wrong side of 50. Is there such a guidance anywhere? My local cycling club suggest 12-14mph for their ladies only cycling groups buy I'm averaging 16-16.5 on short solo rides and 15-15.5 on longer (solo) rides so that sounds very slow,.

I don't want to be a speedster or race anyone but would love some targets to work towards to gauge my ability and fitness levels!

My brother is an ultra marathon runner in Canada but prior to this did lots of cycling endurance races on mountain trails and cyclo-cross stuff., He began using stuff from Hammer Nutrition. They now have a distributor in the UK but even if you don't use anything, their usa/canada website has some fascinating reads on when and how to use gels, electrolytes, recovery drinks etc.

I use their gels as they don't contain all the additives that SIS or Hi 5 do (and the chocolate one tastes like Nutella!) and their rep will contact you if you need nutritional advice. As I'm doing longer rides ie 40-50 miles I'm starting to look at their endurance stuff. Might be worth a look if you're interested.

I had this a couple of years ago in my first full year of longer cycles. It happened on long cycles and turned out to be the shoes I was wearing were a size too small. They were the same size as my trainers but on the long cycles my feet were swelling making the shoes tighter. New shoes a size bigger and problem solved!!