Cycle faster with these tips

Today’s topic is how to cycle faster with these tips. First of all, average speed is a crucial metric for cyclists, easy to understand and use as a benchmark for your performance on the bike. Today, we’ll delve into the blog with tips about how to  cycle faster with these tips. However, there are numerous variables influencing your average speed, so comparing one rider’s speed to another’s, or even your own speed from one day to the next, isn’t always accurate.

Yet, cycling faster is something many of us strive for, so what can you do to improve your average speed on the bike? When the great Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi was asked how he could become a champion, he reportedly replied, “pedal, pedal.”

The advice from the Campionissimo of the 1950s still holds true, with pro riders clocking tens of thousands of kilometers per year on their bikes, but there are other things you can do to enhance your average speed. Let’s lay them out.

What is a good average speed?

Let’s start with a question many riders often have. What is a good average speed? As always, that depends on a whole host of things. That includes the bike you’re riding. On a road bike with a low handlebar and narrow tires, you’ll usually go faster than on a hybrid bike with a flat handlebar and wide tires, or a mountain bike intended for off-road riding.

Where you’re riding is also crucial, as hilly terrain often lowers your average speed, as does headwind, wet weather, or challenging conditions. Even the smoothness of the asphalt can make a difference. But crucially, it’s your fitness. A beginner might struggle to maintain an average speed of 16kph for an hour or two on a road bike. Ride consistently and get fitter, and you should be able to sustain an average speed of 25km/h for several hours.

To hit an average speed of 32kph, you’ve probably needed a lot of systematic training. As overcoming air resistance takes eight times as much effort when you double your speed. The winner of the Tour de France rides at an average speed of 25 km/h over more than 3,500 km in three weeks, but he has help – read on to see why riding in a group is important. But you can also cycle faster with these tips.

Cycle faster with these tips

Pedal more

An easy tip. But it’s a fact that more experienced cyclists pedal more than beginners. That’s partly due to fitness, but also because you can see the road ahead and feel confident on the bike. And that’s largely thanks to getting outside and cycling more – Coppi wasn’t wrong.

Brake less

Another obvious tip for faster cycling times. Again, it comes down to experience and reading the road ahead. Riding downhill faster comes with practice and more confidence.

On a rolling road, a faster descent gives you more momentum to partially climb the next hill. If you pace it well, you might make it to the top of the next ridge without needing to shift into your small chainring, and without too much loss of speed. Starting a climb from a low speed will be harder and slower.

Learning to take corners faster will also increase your average speed. Again, it’s about practice but also improving your technique, how you steer through the corner, and how you use the drops to lower your center of gravity. Read our advice on how to confidently take corners.

Ride in a group to cycle faster

Riding in a group can be a surefire way to improve your average speed.

When you’re with other riders, there’s an incentive to keep up, so even if you start to flag, you push on and keep going. And when you’re feeling fresh, you can set the pace and help your fellow riders go faster.

But the biggest advantage of riding in a group is the drafting effect. Riding at the back can save a rider an estimated 40% of the effort needed to ride at the front. Effective and safe drafting takes practice, so again, more miles make you better.

If you watch a road race, you’ll see the riders at the back often freewheeling, even as those at the front of the peloton are clearly making a big effort. And that’s part of why Tour de France winners can sustain such a high pace.

It’s also why sprinters have a lead-out train – they spend much of the time riding behind their teammates, to conserve their energy for the crucial final sprint to the line.

Clubs are a good way to find fellow cyclists to ride with. Most organize group rides at various speeds, so you can pick one you can keep up with and move up to a faster group as your speed and experience increase.

If riding in a group is new to you, we have advice on how to ride in a group.

Work on your cadence to cycle faster

It’s not just about more pedaling, pedaling faster can also help you cycle faster. Your muscles are less stressed, and once you’re efficient at it, faster pedaling should be less tiring. Cadence, if you’re not familiar with it, is simply the number of times you turn the pedals per minute.

There’s no ‘perfect’ cadence, but trained amateur riders usually ride around 80 to 90 revolutions per minute, while some pro riders ride with a cadence of almost 100 revolutions per minute. Chris Froome is famous for his pedaling tempo around this figure, even when riding to a finish uphill.

It’s also about developing “souplesse” – a smooth, efficient riding style where power is applied during a greater part of the pedal stroke, not just when pushing down.

More aero

Better aerodynamics is a key factor and tip for faster cycling times. Around three-quarters of air resistance comes from you, not your bike, so that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune on a new aero bike or deep-section wheels.

Wind resistance rather than friction becomes the dominant factor slowing you down once you go faster than 10 km/h, so it’s important even at lower speeds.

The most important thing you can do to improve your aerodynamic performance is to reduce your frontal profile. Simply put, this means getting lower over the handlebars, riding in the drops, and possibly lowering the stem, if you can do so and remain comfortable on the bike.

If you don’t feel comfortable in a more aggressive position, it might not be such a good idea to drop the bars. Top coaches find that triathletes and time trialists get slower if they sit too low and can’t consistently stay in an aero position.

Even the position of your arms can make a difference: research has shown that arms at a right angle on the tops of the bars are almost as aero as riding in the drops.

Use your bike’s gears more efficiently to immediately cycle faster

Poor gear usage can also cost you speed. If you find yourself spinning out before shifting up a gear, or if you’re using a low gear when starting a climb, you’re expending more effort than if you’d chosen the gear appropriate for the terrain. Learning how to use your bike’s gears, reading the road ahead, and preparing for what’s to come can thus be a valuable tip for faster cycling times.

Cross-chaining, where you run the big chainring with the biggest cassette sprocket or the smallest sprocket with the smallest chainring, is less efficient than when you ride in a gear that’s in the middle of your cassette.

Did you learn something from this post? We think you will cycle faster with these tips.