How to Calculate Your Cycling Speed in 5 Easy Steps

Cycling speed in one line

Cycling speed is counted in two moves: divide the distance by the time you were actually pedalling for the moving speed, then divide the same distance by the whole door-to-door time for the overall speed. A 20-mile ride in 1.25 hours of pedalling is 16 mph moving, which converts to 25.75 km/h and 3.75 minutes a mile, and with 15 minutes of stops the outing averaged 13.33 mph overall. Everything else in this guide is about getting the distance, the ride time and the stops honest, because the formula is simple and the inputs are where riders fool themselves.

Step 1: Measure the distance honestly

Measure the distance the wheels actually travelled: the worked example rides 20 miles. A bike computer counts wheel revolutions and is the most honest figure on an ordinary ride, while a route planner draws a line on a map and can cut corners, miss detours, or follow a road you did not take. A mile of difference on a 20-mile ride moves the speed by nearly a full mph, so a speed built on a planner’s guess is a guess with decimals attached. If the computer and the planner disagree, trust the computer: it was on the ride, and the planner was not. Write the distance down before the ride fades from memory, because a ride remembered a week later always seems a little longer and a little faster than the ride that happened.

Step 2: Separate ride time from elapsed time

Separate the time you pedalled from the time the outing took: the example pedals for 1.25 hours. Most bike computers report moving time separately from elapsed time, and moving time is the figure the moving speed wants — it excludes lights, water stops and photo breaks. If the only time available is a wall clock, subtract the stops before dividing, or the stops will quietly drag the moving speed down and the rider will wonder why a strong ride looks slow. This separation is the whole point of having two speeds: one number for the legs, one for the outing, and a rider who mixes them up ends up either flattered or discouraged by a number that describes neither.

Step 3: Divide for the moving speed

Divide distance by ride time: 20 ÷ 1.25 = 16 mph. This is the speed the wheels turned at while they were turning, and it is the number to compare with other rides, other riders, and training targets. Check it against feel before trusting it: 16 mph on the flat with no wind is a solid club pace, while 16 mph claimed into a headwind on hills deserves a second look at the distance or the time. A moving speed that fights the memory of the ride is a moving speed to re-measure, not a moving speed to quote, because the legs remember effort and a calculator does not.

Step 4: Convert it for km/h and pace

Convert the moving speed for the units other riders use: multiply by 1.60934 for km/h, and divide 60 by the speed for minutes per mile. The example converts to 25.75 km/h and 3.75 minutes a mile, which is 3 minutes 45 seconds for every mile. The km/h figure matters abroad and on European-made computers, where signs and displays speak kilometres, and the pace figure matters to runners-turned-riders and to training plans written in minutes per mile. Neither conversion changes the ride; both change who can read it, and a speed nobody else can read is a speed that starts no conversation and settles no argument.

Step 5: Add the stops for the overall speed

Add the stops to the ride time and divide again: 1.25 hours plus 15 minutes is 1.5 hours, and 20 ÷ 1.5 = 13.33 mph overall. This is the speed to plan the next outing by, because it answers the question a riding partner actually asks — what time will we be back — while the moving speed answers a different question, how fast were we going when we were going. A ride with no stops has no gap between the two, and a city ride full of lights can lose several mph to the gap, which is why a commuter’s overall speed is the honest planning number and a racer’s moving speed is the honest training number. Sanity-check the gap: if the overall speed is far below the moving speed, the ride was stop-start, not slow. For the interactive version, use the cycling speed calculator, which runs the same two divisions on any distance, time and stops.

Worked example, start to finish

Distance 20 miles, ride time 1.25 hours, stops 15 minutes. Moving: 20 ÷ 1.25 = 16 mph. In km/h: 16 × 1.60934 = 25.75. Pace: 60 ÷ 16 = 3.75 minutes a mile. Overall: 1.25 hours plus 15 minutes is 1.5 hours, and 20 ÷ 1.5 = 13.33 mph. The same five steps on a 25-mile ride give 20 mph moving, 32.19 km/h, 3 min/mile, and 16.67 mph overall; on a 20-mile ride pedalled in 1.5 hours they give 13.33 mph moving, 21.45 km/h, 4.5 min/mile, and 11.43 mph overall; and on the example ride with no stops at all they give the same 16 mph moving and an overall speed of 16 mph too. Distance, ride time and stops are the only three levers, and only the first two move the moving speed — which is why a training log that records all three stays honest for a season, while a log that records only the clock drifts wrong by whole mph.

Three mistakes to avoid

The first mistake is timing the outing and calling it the ride: a wall-clock time already contains the stops, so dividing by it gives the overall speed wearing the moving speed’s name, and every ride looks slower than it was. The second mistake is trusting a planner’s distance over the computer’s: a mapped line that cuts a corner or misses a detour invents or deletes miles, and invented miles invent speed. The third mistake is quoting the moving speed for planning: telling a partner you ride at 16 mph when the outing averages 13.33 mph gets everyone home late, while telling a coach you ride at 13.33 mph when the legs held 16 mph gets a training plan pitched too easy. Measure the distance, split the time, divide twice, convert once, and quote the right speed for the question being asked — in that order, every ride.