3 ms·

He stated "average bicycle pace", not average competition bicycle pace.

recursive 12y ago
Clearly it's an unpopular opinion, or it's just off-topic, or maybe both, but I've always considered an average bike pace to be 15mph, which is a far cry from a bike race, unless maybe it's up a mountain or something.
- gohrt 12y ago
  > or something ... something like straight up into the stratosphere?
  - recursive 12y ago
    Yes, that's exactly what I meant by "Unless you're talking about biking straight up." in my original comment.
dshankar 12y ago
Pointing out the difference between 12.5mph and 15mph is pedantic and doesn't contribute to the discussion.
- kazinator 12y ago
  15 mph is 20% faster than 12.5 mph. A 20% difference is arguably significant in the context. Going 20% faster on a bike relative to 12.5 mph requires more than 20% more effort, too. 8 is also 20% of 40, so 20% faster is like the difference between a ho-hum 48 minute time for a 10 km footrace, versus just cracking sub-forty. 20% faster can be a huge difference in fitness level.
  - ajkjk 12y ago
    All of which is irrelevant because the only reason bikes were even mentioned was to give you a point of comparison for the rate of his ascension. Only the order of magnitude matters. And, anyway, Wikipedia helpfully explains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance) that the average urban bicycling speed in at least one city is 9.8 mph. Not that that matters in any way.
    - kazinator 12y ago
      Yes, and then someone wrote, gee that number seems a little low for average bicycling speed, and it devolved into a bicycle speed discussion which is clearly irrelevant to the submitted article, just like a discussion about baseball if someone says "ball park figure". Nevertheless, 20% is significant in bicycle speeds. It's not the 20% which is making this whole thing irrelevant. :)
  - kazinator 12y ago
    Ironically, I can't delete the parent any more because ... I went for a 30 km bicycle ride after I posted it! :)
- msandford 12y ago
  When I rode regularly in college anything less than about 20mph was considered "pedestrian" and there were days in group rides that we averaged over 25mph. There were some rides averaging very nearly 30mph. If you've got that kind of a background 12.5mph doesn't feel right. So maybe not entirely pedantic.
  - gatsby 12y ago
    The comparison was meant to describe a speed to an average person - not a college athlete or professional cyclist.
  - ry0ohki 12y ago
    I just did a distance ride (100 miles per day) on my mountain bike loaded with camping gear on dirt paths. Average pace was 10mph, there are more than just carbon bikes on flat roads...

Clearly it's an unpopular opinion, or it's just off-topic, or maybe both, but I've always considered an average bike pace to be 15mph, which is a far cry from a bike race, unless maybe it's up a mountain or something.

gohrt 12y ago
> or something ... something like straight up into the stratosphere?
- recursive 12y ago
  Yes, that's exactly what I meant by "Unless you're talking about biking straight up." in my original comment.

dshankar 12y ago

Pointing out the difference between 12.5mph and 15mph is pedantic and doesn't contribute to the discussion.

kazinator 12y ago
15 mph is 20% faster than 12.5 mph. A 20% difference is arguably significant in the context. Going 20% faster on a bike relative to 12.5 mph requires more than 20% more effort, too. 8 is also 20% of 40, so 20% faster is like the difference between a ho-hum 48 minute time for a 10 km footrace, versus just cracking sub-forty. 20% faster can be a huge difference in fitness level.
- ajkjk 12y ago
  All of which is irrelevant because the only reason bikes were even mentioned was to give you a point of comparison for the rate of his ascension. Only the order of magnitude matters. And, anyway, Wikipedia helpfully explains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance) that the average urban bicycling speed in at least one city is 9.8 mph. Not that that matters in any way.
  - kazinator 12y ago
    Yes, and then someone wrote, gee that number seems a little low for average bicycling speed, and it devolved into a bicycle speed discussion which is clearly irrelevant to the submitted article, just like a discussion about baseball if someone says "ball park figure". Nevertheless, 20% is significant in bicycle speeds. It's not the 20% which is making this whole thing irrelevant. :)
- kazinator 12y ago
  Ironically, I can't delete the parent any more because ... I went for a 30 km bicycle ride after I posted it! :)
msandford 12y ago
When I rode regularly in college anything less than about 20mph was considered "pedestrian" and there were days in group rides that we averaged over 25mph. There were some rides averaging very nearly 30mph. If you've got that kind of a background 12.5mph doesn't feel right. So maybe not entirely pedantic.
- gatsby 12y ago
  The comparison was meant to describe a speed to an average person - not a college athlete or professional cyclist.
- ry0ohki 12y ago
  I just did a distance ride (100 miles per day) on my mountain bike loaded with camping gear on dirt paths. Average pace was 10mph, there are more than just carbon bikes on flat roads...