Cycling time calculator

How the cycling time calculator works

How long a ride takes depends on four things: the distance, how much you climb, how fast you ride on the flat and how long you stop. Enter your route, pick your level or type your own flat speed, and the calculator estimates your riding time and your total time with stops. It is one of the free LeCoach cycling calculators.

Behind the numbers is a simple route model:

• The flat part is ridden at your flat speed.
• The climbing is spread over the distance it takes to gain the height at an average 5 %, with the same distance descending.
• On climbs you push about 40 % harder than on the flat, as most riders do without thinking about it.
• Descents are capped at 45 km/h, a sensible limit on real roads with corners and traffic.
• Drag is set for average real-world wind and roads, not a perfect day.

Average cycling speed

What is a normal average speed on a bike? There is no single answer, but these are typical speeds for riding solo on flat roads in normal conditions. They are rough benchmarks, not measured averages from a dataset.

Times are riding time on the flat with no stops. Real rides are almost always slower: traffic lights, corners, wind and hills all take their share. Riding in a group is usually faster, because drafting saves a lot of energy.

If you know the power you ride at, the cycling speed calculator gives a more precise speed for your weight, position and tyres.

Why hills cost more than they give back

Climbing is slow and descending is fast, but they do not cancel out. On the example ride, you spend far longer going up than you save coming down, because you climb at a fraction of your flat speed and descents are short and capped. That is why the 600 m of climbing adds about 26 minutes, even though you descend every metre you climb.

The effect grows with the climbing. The same 60 km with 1,200 m of climbing takes a recreational rider about 2:51 of riding, an average of about 21.1 km/h.

How the example ride looks at each level, with 15 minutes of stops:

For a single climb in more detail, use the cycling climb calculator.

How to choose your level

• Use a recent flat, solo ride. Look at your average moving speed on a ride without big hills or a group. That is your flat speed.
• Do not use your best day. Pick a speed you could hold for the whole ride, not a fast hour with a tailwind.
• For long rides, go a little lower. On a ride twice as long as usual, most riders average a bit less.
• New to riding? Start with Beginner and adjust after your first few rides. Our guide to cycling training for beginners helps you build from there.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting stops. Coffee, food, photos and traffic lights add up. On a long day, 15 minutes is often too little.
• Using your group-ride speed for a solo ride. Drafting makes group riding much faster.
• Ignoring elevation gain. A hilly route can take an hour longer than a flat one of the same distance.
• Underestimating the weight. Rider plus bike plus kit is the number that counts on climbs.
• Not planning food. A ride over two hours needs fuel. The race nutrition calculator helps you plan it, and the cycling calorie calculator shows what you burn.

When your time changes

• Wind: a headwind on the way out costs more time than the tailwind gives back.
• Surface: gravel and rough roads slow you down noticeably.
• Heat lowers the power you can sustain over a long day.
• Fatigue: the last hour of a long ride is usually the slowest.
• Navigation and traffic: towns and junctions slow you more than you expect.

For bigger goals, our century ride training plan shows how to build up to 160 km.

LeCoach plans your long rides to fit the time you actually have, and builds the endurance for longer ones week by week.