How Fast Am I On My Mountain Bike?

Randy has got a mountain bike, he has lost weight and he is very competitive, he’s got a personal time trial course and is putting some effort into improving his time, he wants to know how well he’s doing, or he’s just showing off! Either way we give him something to think about

Question: I started riding my Mountain bike about 5 months ago. I was way out of shape I am 5.8 and was weighing 255. Now I am down to 197 I am 45 years of age.

My question is I was told by someone that a 10.k was 6.2 miles. I use my mountain more has a street bike when I ride which be everyday since April. I got a friend to time I had a few small hill to climb nothing major. I ran it the 6,2 mile in 21 min is that good for my age group. Even at my age I am still cant help but to be competitive. If a not good time well may you can tell me what would be a good time for someone of my age.

Hi Randy,
Age is not a problem Randy, you are doing well, you are loosing weight and you are getting fitter and you sound like you have some “fire in the belly” for competition.

In England there are many older people who regularly ride 10, 25, 50 and 100 mile time trials, they do this every week, they love it and they look at who they beat and there personal best time.

Some of these riders are in there seventies and eighties and are very fit for there age and can ride 10 miles in under 20 minutes and 25 miles in under one hour.

Put this into perspective, they are practiced at it, they use special bikes and its on a flat road, also personally I think they are a little mad!

You are riding a mountain bike, possibly with off-road tires which will slow you down, also you have been at it for only 5 months, the more you do the faster you will get.

In the 2006 Tour of Spain there was a time trial stage of 33,2 kilometres, the winner did it in 41 minutes, which is about 13 minutes for the 10 kilometres, I wouldn’t aim for that kind of speed if I was you, but improvement is always possible, enjoy it what ever you do.

I have a question; did you talk to your doctor before you started all this riding? It’s a good idea if you are over weight or have not done anything active for a while to get a check up, especially in your 40’s.