How To Increase Your Average Speed To 30km/h!

Speed. Most cyclists love it but always want to be able to ride faster. When out on bike rides, 30km/h is a magic number. It’s like a barrier between an average cyclist and a fast one - if you can average 30km/h (or 20mph for you Americans!) it gives you a great sense of personal achievement. Here, Hank gives you his top tips to improve your average speed on the bike!

0:00 Intro
0:36 Prevailing wind
1:06 Plan your route
1:47 Majority flat route
2:17 Being paced
2:50 Aero
3:35 Specific training
4:15 Fueling
5:16 Pacing
5:45 Brake less

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What tips do you have to improve your average speed? ⏱🚴 Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcn]

What tips do you have to improve your average speed? ⏱🚴

[rockhopper]

I found that lowering my weight from 80kg to 40kg in my Zwift profile doubled my speed.

[stevek]

I increased my speed to thirty, by changing units from imperial to metric.

[diedrino]

Protip: set your head unit auto pause speed higher. That way it won’t count when you go slower than that and you average will go up!

[starwarssucks]

The correct answer is very short rides - 50 to 100 metres max

[thomasarnold]

Always plan routes with the right of way in mind. For example if you're doing a loop in a country with traffic on the right side of the road, always plan the route clockwise so that the majority of turns are to the right. That way you don't need to wait for oncoming traffic for the majority of junctions.

[hzunasdfgbciw]

Never stop pedalling. Get into the drops at least when descending. Keep pushing on descends. Start small ascends with momentum.

[struancochrane]

As a bang average middle aged cyclist, the way I increased my average was to remember it is like motorway driving, it's not your top speed that determines your Ave but your lowest. So if your target is 30khp, rolling when you can above that, roll into climbs faster but don't smash the first bit of the climb and crawl over the top. Pace up the climb finish over the top strong and get above your target ASAP and then recover above your target speed. Work on your cornering speed, and road awareness, try to roll through roundabouts if it's clear and safe. Riding along side people with far more ability than me, it is clear they rub far less speed off at corners and junctions etc. If you have to contrive the situations into your farvour, then that's the ride Ave speed not your own natural Ave. You are just kidding yourself.

[gavinburke]

I went to AERO route recently as for a long time I avoided using my drop-down bars for years as my hips would eventually start hurting. I have recently tried to tackle this by adding hip stretches and strengthening into my workouts. The pain is now gone and using the dropdown bars helps me maintain a good speed against the wind, and straight roads as well as giving me more power on hill climbs when seated. I was about 3km faster last month last time I checked on my usual route and losing weight gradually hope to be 5-7km/hr fast by year-end.

[rsbullock]

Be young, as a 66 year old rider I think those days of maintaining a 30 kmh or 18 mph are behind me. The best I have been able to maintain lately is about 25 kmh or 15 mph over a 25 mile ride with about 1000 ft of elevation gain and loss, with a slight breeze. Keep on pushing the pedals.

[watermydriedupsoul]

I've been trying this for nearly a year now got to 29km/h. Thanks so much for this video!

[placki]

I came back to cycling at 2020. I was riding my cross bike and my AVG speed was about 22-23. After some time I was able to do trips with AVG 24 kmh (with quite comfortable pace). Then I've bought new tires with better Rolling resistance. Upgraded to 25 kmh;) this year I have bought my first road bike 😊. Now I can ride with AVG speed about 26 ;) so my conclusion is:
- train more to be able to raise an FTP much above 200W .
- lose weight!
- bike and its equipment Has significant impact on speed.

[jonathanscott]

I don't mean to boast, but in my racing days, I always managed 30km/hour on a racing bike. (32km/hour, 20 miles/ hours actually) once riding 200 miles alone in ten hours. I regarded it as normal then. I did then ride at that time a lot of miles, summer and winter. Now I am 70 years old, and not quite so fast. 🙂 I do still ride though, but touring, not racing.

[Pastamistic]

The key workout sessions for me to break through 30kph was zone 2 training!!! I was stuck at around 26kph for years on a plateau. A few months of zone 2 training with one or two interval, tempo, or sprint sessions a week let me absolutely smash through 30kph average speeds on 30km to 40km routes.

I only had 6 to 7 hours a week for training with roughly 80% of the time per week being in zone 2.

[Silverbrick]

Make sure you keep a clean bike - saves energy if the drivetrain is running well!

[hennrysmustache]

Also smooth roads that are well maintained help. Less rolling resistance, faster speeds. Man do I love a newly paved road

[neelsahay]

I always stay on wooded and sheltered in the headwind and exposed roads in the tailwind. Helps a lot

[suhdud]

Ive been riding fixed gear throughout the winter season in preparation to do a 100km loop around the city in under 3hrs - fixed with a planned overage of 34km/h. My sighting run was 75km at 2h15min avg 32.

[shyamfootprints]

Wow! It looks like this video was made for me. I have set myself this goal of getting to the 30kmph average speed which to me represents the holy grail of my cycling efforts. My goal on my usual route which is a 40km loop with average traffic, starting and ending at my doorstep, with a total elevation gain of about 350 meters. I have slowly increased my average from 25kmph to 28.3kmph which I did just the last week. I use clipless pedals and a performance bike which is entry level by GCN standards, that has Tiagra components and a very good alu frame. I will turn 59 this August and I usually ride solo but the head wind is not that much of an issue on my rides. I really hope to crack this 30kmph sonic barrier before August. The last 1 kmph is the hardest as I have realized. The one tip that helped me is to feel my legs, feel my legs and feel my legs for the entire ride.

[ASTK]

Increasing your average fitness. Add cross training into your cycling schedule. Work on the core & legs with wall sit, crunches, kettle bell lifts etc...also work your ride from zone 2 the add zone 3, 4 & so forth...