How to get faster?

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272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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Generally i just go for hour long rides every now and again at a medium pace to supplement my running and weight training but occasionally I do a fast 3 laps of my neighbourhood which is about 7 mile in total. I do this at about 8/10ths effort which is hard but not killing myself - I am nearer 60 than 50 so I try and be sensible and don't try and hit the rev limiter these days.

I find myself averaging nearly 18.7 mph on this short run but have set myself a goal of averaging 20 mph by the end of August, what is the best way of achieving this? The two obvious hurdles that I can see are finding the right day, today was particularly windy and also I had to brake at junctions 4 times for traffic which obviously killed any momentum.

So given the right time to ride and a nice still day, what else can I do to hit that 20mph average, tyre pressure? lose some weight? or should I start to do a few longer rides or maybe some hill sprints to build power?


gl20

1,121 posts

148 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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I think you’ve worked it out. Find a better road. Your route sounds very similar to my shortest circuit (10 miles) where my best average speed is about the same as yours, probably a bit less in fact. But the first time I did our club TT run (10 miles, 5 miles each way down a country road, fairly flat and no junctions other than the roundabout at the halfway) I averaged 20.7mph.

remedy

1,635 posts

190 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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I found a mixture of strava, repeating a testing route and making small mods got me up to 18.5mph.
I have a 34 mile loop at 1600ft elevation that I did over and over. I was pegged sat 17.4 or so then I swapped for aero wheels and tubeless and I added on 1mph straight away.
19 is still elusive!

272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
It is reasonably flat with only an elevation gain of 80ft but it does have 4 annoying junctions on each lap where I have to slow to a crawl or even a stop. I want to do the 20km/hour on this route as I have a bee in my bonnet and any other route would feel like cheating now. My tyres are rated at 65-90 psi and I usually have them at 75 should I set them to maximum for something like this? what other marginal gains boxes can I start ticking off?

Of course, put a gun to my head and I am pretty sure I could do it now. I know how to push myself to the limit (or I used to) and I would rather not go to those extremes.

remedy

1,635 posts

190 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Are you running tubes? It's a bit low if so. I'm tubeless and run 85psi rear, 80 front.
Get down in the drops as much as you can on the flats. The more aero the riding position, the faster you'll go for the same power input.
Keep a high gear with good rpm. Don't let your legs slow- you need to find the balance of putting power in on every stroke (and both feet) but without your legs overspeeding. If you do, you'll lose energy is side to side movement and bouncing.

sam.rog

723 posts

77 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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To get faster you need to spend more time on the bike.

gangzoom

6,250 posts

214 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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sam.rog said:
To get faster you need to spend more time on the bike.
+1, no other way around it......short of getting an eBike wink

272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
I am not on a fancy bike, just a regular hybrid, so not lightweight, no drop bars, slim tyres or clipped in pedals etc. I am sure getting a racing bike and learning how to ride it properly would give me a big advantage but that's a bit extreme for such an arbitrary short term goal.

I will certainly up my mileage and introduce some hill efforts.

272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
remedy said:
Are you running tubes? It's a bit low if so. I'm tubeless and run 85psi rear, 80 front.
Get down in the drops as much as you can on the flats. The more aero the riding position, the faster you'll go for the same power input.
Keep a high gear with good rpm. Don't let your legs slow- you need to find the balance of putting power in on every stroke (and both feet) but without your legs overspeeding. If you do, you'll lose energy is side to side movement and bouncing.
Being more conscious of gears and leg speed is probably a good thing to concentrate on, I will try to do this thanks.

gangzoom

6,250 posts

214 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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272BHP said:
I am not on a fancy bike, just a regular hybrid, so not lightweight, no drop bars, slim tyres or clipped in pedals etc. I am sure getting a racing bike and learning how to ride it properly would give me a big advantage but that's a bit extreme for such an arbitrary short term goal.
In which case even a cheap £500 road bike will see you hit 20mph on your target segment. Getting a higher speed on the flat isn't about trying to go quicker necessarily, its about going as quickly as possible for minimal effort, drop bars alone help hugely as it gets you far more aero.

On the same stretch of flat road am easily 2-3mph quicker on my road bike than my hybrid with the same perceived effort.

remedy

1,635 posts

190 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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272BHP said:
I am not on a fancy bike, just a regular hybrid, so not lightweight, no drop bars, slim tyres or clipped in pedals etc. I am sure getting a racing bike and learning how to ride it properly would give me a big advantage but that's a bit extreme for such an arbitrary short term goal.

I will certainly up my mileage and introduce some hill efforts.


Sorry, I completely assumed then! I'm not used to working in kmh so it didn't click for me.

But, yes, focus on gearing and keeping that cadence constant and power on both feet.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Crouch down a bit for aero

Have split times to aim for around the circuit

Put some quick 30 second efforts in there. Start with a couple and add another every ride

Learn the route well enough to know where the extra effort gives you most bang for your buck

Home and hosed by the end of August no problem

drmike37

456 posts

55 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Averaging 20 on a hybrid is very hard. My road bike (nothing special but I look after it) is worth about 3-4mph over my hybrid.
Beyond that it’s just hard work. There is truth in the saying that it never gets easier; you just go faster. By that token, just make it harder and you’ll go faster.
Doing hills will get you stronger, spinning on the flats will make your legs faster. It’s the old torque/rpm argument.

272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
There are some great tips here thanks.

I might be a little bit low geared as well as there are a couple of points when I have asked for a higher gear and there was none left but I should be able to make that up with getting up to that speed faster. Better aerodynamic position on the bike when I am on the big straights will probably be crucial too as I feel I am punching against the wind a lot.

Also, my bike has palm rests, what are they used for? could I turn them the other way pointing down and use them to drop lower on the long straights?


towser44

3,472 posts

114 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Definitely more time on the bike and fitness in general. I always ride alone and was generally managing 12-13 mph average over 40-50 mile rides (albeit I have a habit of not pushing myself and enjoying the ride rather than overly exerting myself), but this year I've done much more riding during the lockdown and have been getting 15.5-16 mph averages over 50-60 mile rides with elevation of around 2,000-2,500 feet without really feeling like I was trying and still being able to enjoy the rides.

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

5,069 posts

54 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Couple of additional pointers...

If you have a heart rate monitor, knowing how hard you can push without going above your anaerobic threshold will help.

Also work out where you can start to push hard before your finish. You can gain a lot of time / av speed simply by ensuring that your tank is empty when you cross the line.

Also have a look at the little inclines and hills. You can gain massively by carrying speed down, and it can be worth pushing into the red on small climbs to keep the momentum.

BrundanBianchi

1,106 posts

44 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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Lose weight, add power, get decent tyres, smash stuff. If you want the fitness that leads to better power, ride intervals.

gangzoom

6,250 posts

214 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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This is a good tool to play with and shows the importance of aero.

For the same drag to go from 18mph to 20mph requires 25-30% more energy, 177 watts versus 133watts. That's assuming aero benefits of a road bike.

Improving aero by getting a road bike is far easier way to improve speed versus increasing watt output by nearly 30% through training.

Also shows the massive impact of headwind + gradient, just a 10mph headwind with 2% gradient means you to do 300watts to maintain 15mph, no wonder no one likes riding into wind.

https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html


Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 11th July 14:36

Slaav

4,240 posts

209 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
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I’m dumb and confused.... is thread talking about 20 mph average on a hybrid or 20 kph?

I was delighted to get my average up to 16.5 mph recently on a decent ish ride on my road bike! Have been struggling to get quicker than that and improvements are slowing now so I’m arguably in a similar position to the OP?

18.5mph average on a decent ride is actually beyond even my wildest lockdown dreams right now..... (and have started to use the drops more for aero but I’m huge and ‘chunky’ at 18st so not the most comfortable)



272BHP

Original Poster:

4,960 posts

235 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
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Its 20mph yes, doesn't seem particularly fast to me. I see guys around my area doing that kind of speed at much less perceived effort than what I am doing.