12 miles in 45 minutes for a road bike...is that good or bad?
When I ride by myself I do my 16 mile route in about 35 minutes. I get up to 41 mph and average 19-20 mph When I ride with my girlfriend on the same route it takes about 45-50 minutes. I have to go slower up the hills and coast more going down hills. When I am by myself I go up a 2/3mi hill and I never go below 16 mph. Its a pretty steep hill. With her we're lucky to go 10 mph. Not sure what the race is you are talking about but I did a triathalon (.5 mi swimming, 4.5 mi running & 15mi biking) last year with a mountain bike and finished in 103:15. I thought I was going to get smoked because all the other racers had road bikes but I actually passed a bunch of them up hills. My advice is to just give it a try. If you are young you have that going for you. If you dont do it you will regret it. Believe me, you wont finish in last. GOOD LUCK, give 'em hell! *********EDIT Oh yeah I have a P.O.S. bike, too
Could you find or tell me a review of this bike => schwinn peloton 2009?
If you want a good mixture of comfort and performance in the mid-range category, reviewers say the Schwinn Peloton Comp road bike is a good pick. Like the Raleigh Supercourse (MSRP: $1,740), the Schwinn Peloton Comp has a full-carbon frame, but experts say it offers a better component package. The shifters and front derailleur are from the Shimano 105 group, and the rear derailleur is an Ultegra. Reviewers say that the Schwinn Peloton Comp shares a similar geometry with the Schwinn Paramount Series 8 (MSRP: $5,500) but at a much lower price. Unlike the Paramount Series 8, the Schwinn Peloton Comp is designed for comfort for those high-mileage rides. On the downside, the Schwinn Peloton Comp only comes in four sizes -- S, M, L and XL -- so some riders may have trouble finding a perfect fit. If you want a racier road bike, the Raleigh Supercourse also gets good reviews for fast performance, even if it does offer less impressive components.
How fast do cycling pros go? In mph and for how long?
Flat and short - Dave Z has a record for the fastest TT in Tour history in the 2005 prologue of 19 km at 54.676 km/h or 33.97 mph. Uphill and short - Lance Armstrong climbed Alp D'Huez in a timetrial averaging 23.44km/h for 13.9km or 14.56mph. Uphill and long - Marco Pantani rode the entire Alp D'huez stage and beat Armstrong's time by 46 seconds after riding 204km total on the stage. Long and flat - In 1999, Mario Cippolini finished the fastest stage of the Tour with an average speed of 50.355 km/h or 31.29mph for 191km. Flat sprint - Curt Harnet, Canadian Olympian in the 200m match sprint, a track event, achieved a top speed of 72.985 km/h or 45.35 mph. Keep in mind that this is on a track bike with no draft to take him up to speed before the sprint. Downhill max - I don't know what the pros can do, but I'm a chicken and I can hit upper fifties (mph).
How long will it take to bike 17 miles?
One of the fun things about biking is not being on a schedule. We cannot compute how long it will that YOU to bike 17 miles....