Today I did my first 20 mile (33km) ride on my hardtail XC bike. I learned how to ride a bike about 1.5 months ago, but I’ve been riding pretty consistently since I learned. I ride exclusively in the city, it’s a very walkable city, but the paths aren’t always the best. I did 33km in 2 hours 53 minutes, not including breaks for water or to eat.
I see people saying that 10MP/H (16KM/H) average is a good average to shoot for, but i can’t even get my average above 7.1MPH (11.5KM/H), even on shorter rides. What am I doing wrong here? How are people going so freaking fast on bikes in cities?
Who cares. Are you having fun? Because that’s all that matters.
Fair enough. Maybe I’m just too competitive for my own good. But to be honest, it takes up a lot of time, and I’d like to get that sort of distance done in less time :D
Well, what kind of bikes are the people you’re comparing yourself to riding? Because a cross-country hardtail - while versatile - is still fundamentally a mountain bike, and it’s never going to reach the same average speeds as a fixie or a gravel bike, for example.
Probably road bikes, I don’t see many people doing fast or long distance around me on MTBs