How Many Miles Can The Average Person Bike In An Hour?
Staying healthy is a practice we should all participate in. For people like us, endurance exercise is one of the best ways to keep us fit and get blood pumping.
Cycling is one of the best forms of endurance training we can do as ordinary people. It’s fun, and we can spend a lot of time riding our bicycle around the neighborhood or somewhere that’s a nice view. However, it can also be quite strenuous because we don’t know how much our bodies can take.
Cycling can be an ideal way to improve our endurance and discover our limits. So if you’ve ever wondered how much you can cycle in an hour, then you should read on.
Contents
How Many Miles Can You Cycle In One Hour?
The number of miles you can bike depends on your skill to ride a bicycle and your endurance. It’s easy to understand why athletes or professional cyclists can cycle more than people who only cycle on weekends. Experienced cyclists can cover more than 20 miles in an hour, but the same cannot be said for an average person.
Depending on their endurance and leg strength, the average person will probably cover less than 15-20 miles per hour. The average person doesn’t need to ride as far as a professional cyclist, so setting your sights on a 10-mile-an-hour pace is perfectly fine. There’s no reason to push yourself harder than your body can handle. So if you can do 10 miles in less than an hour, you can aim for more.
Now that you know your hourly capability, you can figure out how many miles can you ride daily.
What Affects The Distance You Can Bike In An Hour?
The weather conditions, the terrain, the type of road surface, and the bicycle you’re riding are the main factors that affect how many miles can you bike in an hour.
How Can Weather Conditions Affect Cycling?
One of the most important things you need to consider when cycling is the weather. For example, if it’s raining, the road can become slippery, and you’ll have less grip. You could slip easily, making it harder to control the bike and affecting your riding time.
If the weather is windy, take advantage of it, as some experienced cyclists say the wind is a challenge for them. If you ride into the wind, the drag will slow you down, and you’ll ride fewer miles per hour. On the other hand, if you ride with the wind, you’ll be much faster than usual and cover more miles per hour.
The Terrain You Are On
For you to experience a fast-paced bicycle ride, you need to consider the terrain you’re riding on and whether it’s smooth or riddled with obstacles. A path full of pebbles and rocks is much more challenging to ride on than a paved road. These obstacles will also impede your progress and prevent your bike from going faster. Instead, if the road is too rough, you’ll find yourself slowing down.
Sandy roads may not offer the same smooth terrain, but that also depends on the type of bicycle you choose. The last point to mention is the incline and decline of the path you’re on. If you ride downhill, you can cover many miles in an hour, while uphill, you’ll have to make more effort and cover less distance.
The Type Of Bike You Use
Let’s start with the types of bikes you can ride and how many miles you can ride in an hour. And don’t forget you need a comfortable bike saddle installed!
Mountain Bikes
If you’ve never ridden a mountain bike before, you’ll be surprised how much your legs hurt after an hour on the road. Mountain bikes are rugged and have thicker tires, making them perfect for rough terrain. Since the bike is heavier, you may not be able to control it as well. On the other hand, they cover the least amount of miles in an hour, as they’re meant for off-road riding. Even though they’re relatively slow, you can be sure that you’ll enjoy a comfortable ride.
Road Bike
The road bike is the most common bicycle in the world. It’s also one of the cheapest you can find. The narrow wheels have less drag on the road, so you can expect a smooth ride without the wheels being frictionless on the road. They’re easier to pedal than mountain bikes because they’re lighter. This usually means that you can cover many miles in an hour on a road bike. Most people use these bikes for their daily rides, but you can also use them for your cardio workouts. For people who want to ride far and fast, this is the bike for them.
Hybrid Bike
Being a blend of both worlds, you’d expect hybrid bikes to combine the best features of road bikes and mountain bikes, but the secret is in the middle. Although it easily outperforms the average mountain bike in terms of usability, it still pales compared to the road bicycle. This type of bike is well suited to different kinds of terrain, rough or smooth, and you can still cover a decent amount of miles on this bike.
Conclusion
Cycling improves endurance and is a great way to shed a few pounds. The constant movement of your feet is also a great leg workout. When you’re winding down your 10 miles, remember to use the proper safety gear, especially your helmet.
I hope you have a great time biking!