Yeah I’m on a plan at the moment, if I did them rides outdoors it would be a lot higher mileage but the time is getting put in. I’m doing my core exercises 3 times a week and slowly getting better at being aero on the bike for longer. Cheers for the advice I wondered who requested to follow me haha.
Make an effort to stay aero on the flats because you get diminishing returns with your wattage output as your speed increases. If you can’t hold an aero position for long, make a point of doing it where it matters (i.e. on flats / downhill and in to headwinds).
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Like a lot of these replies I think we’d all like to go faster.
Like a lot of these replies, as you go faster, aerodynamics becomes more and more important. So that’s bike fit, getting a bit lower, tighter fitting clothes etc.
And of course it will depend on the route you are riding. I have ridden quite a few routes and been pleased with my average speed until I hit a big uphill (and then I realise I must have been on flat or slight downhill previously)
But the most important advice I can give is to stick to TrainerRoad and train consistently. Best wishes!
As a fellow rider in the 90+ kg group my number one tip for getting a faster avg speed is to only ride downhill.
The factors you can control which influence avg speed are;
Route choice
Aerodynamics
Power
Weight (to a certain extent)
You have TR and a PM so can focus on those aspects relatively easily (consistency is king).
Aerodynamics comes from your position and to a lesser extent your equipment. Probably better to work on flexibility/positioning as best you can before “buying speed”.
Weight is a trickier one, being a bigger rider you might be able to generate more raw watts and go faster on the flats than smaller riders. Obviously that doesn’t always pay off when riding up hills though.
You can definitely look at your avg speed as a benchmark (taking weather and course into consideration). We’re all trying to ‘Get Faster’, but I wouldn’t fixate on it.
Cheers for that. I tend to look at it when I get back but never judge a ride on it but I’ll crack on with the training as I am and just see if it goes up over some time.
So…I’ve seen a bunch of people focusing on aerodynamics and your position on the bike, but I wanted to highlight another area that is likely relatively low hanging fruit for you given how long you’ve been riding.
If you want to maintain a higher average speed: Never. Stop. Pedaling. Many riders, even experienced group riders, go very hard up a hill and then freewheel down. This can be faster in the short term (depending on terrain) but will burn your energy stores and as you ride longer durations you will have less and less energy and your speed will drop. Level out the effort and you’ll be faster in the second, third, and fourth hours
Another piece of advice - a higher average speed is a typical goal, but not one that makes a ton of sense. What are you actually trying to achieve with a higher average? If it is how you are measuring your fitness there are better ways that aren’t course and condition dependent (FTP or average power over a time duration). If it is a goal to help you stay with a group ride then average speed isn’t what you’re actually after - but instead the ability to not get dropped which requires an analysis of why you’re getting dropped (i.e. what’s happening in the points of the ride preceeding getting dropped)
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Dunno if it’s coincidence or not, but that 20mph power numbers seems to be pretty much spot on for me.
Last week I did a 100km flat ride in low wind conditions where I averaged 32.2km/h (20.01 mph) on 181W average. I’m 75kg though, so would probably take like 10W extra for a heavier 95kg rider. Ofc all depending on position, weather and course conditions.
Similar dude.
Im 6’2" but about 15 lbs heavier than you, also coming from a weight lifting (and chocolate addiction) background. Been cycling maybe 2 or 3 years.
My main goal is also to average 20mph for a ride, and that’s on normal Scottish bumping and rolling roads. This past weekend I hit an all-time best 19.3 mph for 41 miles with about 3000ft of climbing.
I guess my somewhat layman’s advice to you my friend would be to keep training with purpose and depending on your body composition lose some weight if that’s possible.
In my situation I know that all that is standing in my way just now is the extra 15lbs of food baby I am carrying up each and every hill.
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It’s not that I judge my fitness on the average speed it’s just nice to maybe look back at a ride and say oh I did well on that ride to average 20mph. More of just the satisfaction of actually doing it. I’m happy if I average 16/17mph I can do that comfortably and not feel too bad afterwards.
I totally understand - focusing on average speed for a ride or total distance riden in a year are very common things for cyclists to focus on.
I would just gently nudge you away from these metrics of success as they are not as controllable as others nor are they going to be as helpful in progressing your training.
By all means - chase whatever goals give you satisfaction, I don’t want to yuck your yum, and I gave some (hopefully) helpful advice in my last reply for a way to increase your average speed.
I don’t Ride in groups I only ride solo or maybe with 2 others at a push but 99% solo. I’m currently trying this stop pedalling stuff on downhill sections and trying to keep my power up on flats. As for hills I don’t really mind climbing even though I’m heavy I do quiet enjoy it, one thing I struggle with is power output on climbs I tend to put more power out on climbs? Say I do 230w on flats I can end up doing say 300+ climbing and that’s in a relatively high gear spinning 80+ rpm. Any tips for climbing as a heavy rider?
Depends on the climb fella.
Last year I bought a new bike that didn’t have the same friendly climbing cassette my previous bike had. The result was I could get up the same climbs but I was cooked by the top and quite often the only thing that kept me going was the one minute break I promised I’d take at the summit.
In the end, last year, I focused on maintaining my rolling speed wherever possible and when it came to hills my main goal was just getting up them without frying myself.
Dont know if that’s any help to you😅
Ha ha, that’s not heavy 
Yeah I’ve being doing that a bit just forgetting about the segment and just getting up it without blowing up haha. Seems to work later in the ride when you need the energy.
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Gidday,
I am a Clydesdale 6ft3 100 kgs. I average on flatish runs a bit over 30 kph. But i agree with alot of comments above and my focus is not what speed i am doing but what my ftp is and also what my average power is. I know that if i can improve my ftp and drop weight i will be to result in a faster velocity. If i am going on a long ride i break it down into segments and then keep my average power around SST and focus on this and the not the speed solely. As the velocity will always vary with the rides you do.
The TrainerRoad plan builder is making me kick goals with my riding. Just stick with it, believe the process and you will get faster and ride stronger.
Good Luck
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As you say, there are problems with measuring road speed, in that there are a few too many variables. Change your tyres, and you can gain a kph. Change your position and you gain another kph. Lighter wheels better up hill. Aero wheels spin more freely on the flat.
If you keep all of those variable under control, you still have the weather, the wind, your head, your weight, your nutrition.
Then there’s the distance. Short runs I do 28-29 kph. Centuries and more, 22-24 kph solo, but up to 35 kph at an event. I’m 85Kg and 1.84m so not quite as much mass to carry around, but I am over 60 too…
I’d love to go faster … just so that I could go faster !!
However, after a good year of TR, my endurance is significantly better, and being able to maintain that power is a joy., and personally that makes going out on the road much more enjoyable.
It all comes down to why you ride and what you want out of it, and although there is a lot in common, each of us is slightly different.
Have fun, stay safe 
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Yeah I’m starting to focus more on my average power and NP rather than speed. I’ve only got 5 sec watts l, heart rate and cadence on my head unit to try and stop me obsessing over average speed.
I’m basically in the same boat as you. I want to go faster just because I like going fast lol. But sounds like your going well mate keep it up!
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You see, we all enjoy the speed
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It’s very common to find it easier to put out more power on hills than on the flat … most people are in the same position. It’s more of a case of learning how to consistently put out slightly more power on the flat … I find that TR sweet spot and threshold workouts have really helped with ‘feeling’ what that’s like.