Know Your Pace
The Park City Mountain Sports Club offers 3 different levels of road bike rides categorized as A, B and C level rides.
- A level Ride: For accomplished and experienced Average pace between 15.0 and 17.0+ MPH with a distance between 35 to 50 miles or more. Long climbs are routine. Generally, one rest stop. Leader rides at listed pace. Slower riders may be dropped.
- B level Ride: For accomplished cyclists. Average pace between 13.0 and 15.0 MPH with a distance between 20 to 35 miles. Some climbing depending on the route. Up to 15 miles between rest stops. Leader shall sweep at no slower than 13 MPH. No riders will be dropped.
- C level Ride: For experienced cyclists who want an easier pace. Average pace between 10.0 to 12.0 MPH with a distance between 15 to 25 miles. Some rolling hills with no steep climbs. Rest stops as needed. No riders will be dropped.
Your average pace is determined by your total ride distance divided by the number of hours or fraction of hours it took you to ride. The actual formula is distance / (total ride minutes / 60). If you stop for a rest break, the amount of time you stop should be deducted from the total ride time for purposes of this calculation.
Example: You ride 20 miles and it takes you 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete. You stop for a 10 minute rest along the ride. Your average pace would be calculated as such: Total ride time: 90 minutes minus 10 minute rest for a total ride time of 80 minutes. 20 miles / (80/60) = 15 MPH. Note: All bike computers from the basic $25 Cateye to the $800 Garmin will give you your Average Pace for a ride.
We have mapped out a simple course to help you determine you average pace if you are not sure where you might fit in. You need to time your ride so note the time you start riding and the time you end your ride.
Starting at Quinn’s Jct. at the parking lot near the bathrooms and the ball field, ride out to Kearns Blvd. and make a right on to Kearns. Proceed towards Park City and make a right turn on Monitor Dr. (into Park Meadow). Go to the end and make a left on Little Kate Rd. (in front of the Marc). Make another left on Holiday Ranch Rd. and follow that out to RT 224. Make a right on RT 224. Make a right on Old Ranch Rd and follow that around to Trailside and make a right on Trailside Dr. Continue on Trailside past the school and make a left at the stop sign (soccer field on right) on to Silver Summit Parkway. Take this road over US RT 40 and around the circle to frontage road alongside RT 40 (as you would go to Home Depot). Follow this road to the end where it meets back with RT 248 (Kearns Blvd.) and make a right and follow this back to your starting point at Quinn’s Jct. This ride is a total of 16.4 miles. If you take the total minutes of your ride and compare it to the chart below, it will provide you with your average pace for that ride. Remember, if you stop for a rest break during this ride, keep track of the total time you stopped and deduct that from your total ride time.
Factors that will affect your average pace times:
- Try not to measure your average pace on a real windy day. A strong wind will affect your times and generally slow you down.
- This course has some hills that you will generally encounter during a normal club ride and therefore is a good measurement course. If you measure your average pace on a flat course, you average pace will be higher. Correspondingly, if you measure your pace on a very hilly course, your average pace would be lower.
- Do not measure your average pace on a course that is less than 10 miles. 15 miles is recommended as a good minimum length course.