How Fast for a 10 Kilometre Time Trial?

Rajesh Kumar in India wants to know how well he is riding a 10 kilometre time trial on his road bike. Here are what times we think he should be doing

Question:

I am 47 and how do I evaluate my results from a 10 km. time trial on a Road Bike.

Hi Rajesh,

You don’t say if this was part of a Triathlon or a 10 km time trial, or if it was a circuit, or on smooth roads, or if it was flat or on hilly or undulating roads, this all makes a difference to your performance.

If you are racing a time trial you should be aiming at being faster than 25 miles per hour, which is just over 40 kilometres per hour. So, for a 10 kilometre time trial you should be faster than 15 minutes. If it is windy or very hot, which is possible where you live, then this could be slower.

TOP TIP: If riding in hot weather remember to drink plenty, take a re-hydration drink.

2 Responses to “How Fast for a 10 Kilometre Time Trial?”

Steve August 17, 2009

I have gone from barely being able to ride ten miles at a time to regularly doing half centuries and occasional full centuries. Problem is, I’m slow. I’ll go all day at 14 to 16 mph, how can I turn stamina into speed? I love riding time trials, but I’m tired of getting smoked.

uffe September 25, 2009

hi, there

been there myself not long ago.
here is how I address the challenge…

At the current moment I have average about 35km/h for a 10km stretch. This particular road has a total of 60/70m climb so not much of a climb anyway. The maximum is 7% grade by the way.

On my bike spins I tend to go in slow gears trying not to use the big chain on the front too much unless it is downhill or flat road decline of 1%. So I will train smaller spins with low gears and a lot of RPM between 90-110 it my aim. Current moment average on 88-92rpm.

Best Regards
Uffe