average speed

[scott71]

I went for a ride the other night, along the coast with a pretty strong head wind all the way anyway i thought i was doing alright sitting on around 25K's next minute this guy comes from behind and goes past as if im standing still. He was about 40 not much older than me on a steel roadbike as i was. My question is i normally sit on the same gear unless conditions change hills,gradient,or the way im feeling. I was thinking of going up a gear from my normal and doing this till im used to it. Do you guys think this is a good idea to get stronger in the legs and increase average speed. I realise this guy was probably a lot more experienced than me and more than likely races but it would be good to improve average speed.

[twizzle]

Buy a HRM, work out your zones, work out where you are now and start pushing the boundaries a little. I remember a few years ago when 27kph on a particular section was me pushing it hard... now that speed on that section is me having a bludge. Obviously, there's a lot more to it than just riding hard all the time - training smart will bring faster results. But you have to start somewhere...