Often I’m curious how fast I’m going. This is a simple table or calculating speed by how long it takes you to cover a mile. Bike computers are nice, but I notice that I obsess over the thing. It’s in my face all the time and this kind of takes away from the ride. How fast am I going, how much further, etc.
If you are on a route with mile markers or there are points where you know the distance you can easily calculate you speed with a watch. Highways are great for this, because they have a marker for every mile. The only time I wear a watch is on the bicycle.
This method multiplies out easily. So, you can figure it in your head with memorizing just a few numbers. Notice that the miles are almost all 1 and the minutes in the table almost don’t repeat. You can memorize 4 minutes. At 1 mile that’s 15 mph. For 3 minutes, 1 mile is 20 mph.
Example
My usual route breaks up into 3 mile segments. Let’s say, I cover one segment in 24 minutes. Divide 24 by 3 and you get 8. That’s 8 minutes per mile and for 8 that’s 7.5 mph.
How about something more common. A 3 mile segment in 16 minutes. 16 and 3 don’t divide. But, 15 and 3 divide to give 5. 5 is 12 mph. We didn’t make 15 minutes, so the speed is lower than 12, but close. Actually, it’s 11.25 mph.
| mile(s) | time (min) | speed (mph) |
| 1 | 1 | 60 |
| 1 | 2 | 30 |
| 2 | 5 | 24 |
| 1 | 3 | 20 |
| 2 | 7 | 17+ |
| 1 | 4 | 15 |
| 2 | 9 | 13.3 |
| 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 1 | 8 | 7.5 |
| 1 | 10 | 6 |