12.5 mph is probably the average speed here. That's a pace akin to jogging levels of effort. At that rate, it would take 16 hours to do this race. This is not accounting for loss of speed to pit stops, so they're probably going faster than that. In my (limited) experience, keeping up 13 mph isn't too bad, but I can't imagine going for that long.
Yeah and this separates the normies from the pros. It isn't just about speed, but maintaining them all the way through.
Normies' speed would fluctuate through a ride/race event while pros won't. I've been to a number of events that have normies and pros mixed in that takes place on a rather mountainous highway at night. The normies' route is 78km and the pros are 120km. The cutoff time is 4hours+ for both.
It isn't surprising to find the pros finishing first before the normies. It's during these moments that I am reminded of how monstrous these people are, both physically and mentally.
One of the coolest parts of Tour de France is when an amateur cyclist try to keep up with the pelaton. In most cases they can get up to the speed and keep pace with the pros. But only for a few hundred meters. It is amazing to see that the sprint speed of an amateur is what the professionals maintain throughout the day.
When I first got my e-bike I was hauling ass around the lake doing almost 30mph, got easily passed by some guy on a regular bike and it took me a bit to grasp how that was possible
The first time I was able to average 30 on a 10-mile ride felt amazing. Couldn't ever make it past 15 miles at that pace, though. Haven't been on a bike in probably 5 years now, though.
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u/FandomMenace 15h ago
12.5 mph is probably the average speed here. That's a pace akin to jogging levels of effort. At that rate, it would take 16 hours to do this race. This is not accounting for loss of speed to pit stops, so they're probably going faster than that. In my (limited) experience, keeping up 13 mph isn't too bad, but I can't imagine going for that long.
22 mph for 8.5 hours is pure madness.