There is no denying the fact that cycling regularly will offer you many benefits. Whether you are a pro cyclist or beginner, you ride a couple of miles a day. But have you ever wondered how many miles does the average cyclist ride per year?
If this question ever popped into your mind and you are completely clueless, continue reading this article. Because I will try to give you a data-driven answer to this question in this write-up.
According to my observation and calculation, on average an average cyclist rides 20075 to 21900 miles per year based on some factors.
Want to know further details? Read on!
How Far Can an Average Person Bike in a Day?
Before getting into the calculation of annual miles traveled by an average cyclist, let’s start with finding out the calculation per day. Because it will lead you to the final answer to the query.
Firstly, we need to define a day for a cyclist. Everyone knows well that there is a total of 24 hours in a day. But, when we refer to a day for cycling purposes, most people think about the actual daytime with the sunlight.
To be more precise, the actual daylight can be anywhere between 6 to 12 hours. However, it can be less or more based on some factors. So, we need to find out the distance traveled by a cyclist in the actual daytime.
Now, the distance an average person travels with his cycle in a day depends on several things. For instance, the cyclist’s health or the condition of the bike, both play a good role here. Besides, you can also consider the overall condition of the road and the environment.
Considering everything, on average, an average cyclist can travel up to 60 miles or 96 kilometers in a day. It is average data. That means, it can be a little more or less in your case based on those factors.
That said, here is some interesting information for you. Ralph Diseviscourt traveled a total of 568.8 miles or 915.39 km with his cycle in 24 hours. As I mentioned earlier, the final calculation may vary and depends on some determinates. But, when it comes to finding an average calculation, we will assume that a day consists of 6-12 hours as mentioned above.
How Many Miles Does the Average Cyclist Ride Per Year?
So, what is the figure on an annual basis? Let’s find it out. Before digging further, here are some data on the annual travel of world tour riders. I am attaching a screenshot from a Twitter thread for your kind consideration.
| Name | Distance (km) | Elevation (m) | Rides | Hours |
| PORTE Richie | 37643.3 | 662167 | 441 | 1,217.20 |
| KWIATKOWSKI Michal | 35085.4 | 450750 | 340 | 1,106.30 |
| VALTER Attila | 33888.4 | 432193 | 347 | 1,015.20 |
| KEISSE Iljo | 33565.5 | 250426 | 393 | 940.40 |
| VAN BAARLE Dylan | 33425 | 541386 | 262 | 1,059.30 |
| CARUSO Damiano | 33261.9 | 489342 | 336 | 1,037.40 |
| BOUWMAN Koen | 33173.1 | 414950 | 329 | 1,039.30 |
| CLARKE Simon | 32962.4 | 483726 | 311 | 1,038.10 |
| BENNETT Sean | 32917.2 | 462373 | 355 | 1,028.80 |
| TUSVELD Martijn | 32886.6 | 401885 | 356 | 1,032.60 |
| CARAPAZ Richard | 32856.9 | 395018 | 247 | 766.30 |
| DECLERCQ Tim | 32645.6 | 324359 | 361 | 951.50 |
| PICCOLI James | 32611 | 489655 | 314 | 1,016.20 |
| KUSS Sepp | 32482.4 | 605598 | 338 | 1,084.20 |
| AFFINI Edoardo | 32387.3 | 298446 | 329 | 975.30 |
| JACOBS Johan | 32308.6 | 292400 | 350 | 972.10 |
| NIV Guy | 32275.5 | 454689 | 343 | 1,010.30 |
| MEEUS Jordi | 32234.4 | 293214 | 311 | 936.50 |
| BARDET Romain | 32110.5 | 576376 | 287 | 1,023.00 |
| VAN HOECKE Gijs | 32080.4 | 236511 | 301 | 948.90 |
From the thread, we can see PORTE Richie was in the first position. He rode 441 times for 1217.20 hours in a year and traveled a total of 37643.3 km. Whereas, KWIATKOWSKI Michal secured the 2nd position and traveled 35085.4 km in 1106.30 hours.
I hope, now you have got some idea. But the problem is, we are not talking about the world tour riders. Our subject is an average cyclist. So, the final figure might be so less from this data. To find the exact data-driven answer, I visited a lot of cyclist forums and websites.
In my observation, on average an ordinary cyclist travels around 55 miles in around 11 hours of ride per day. This calculation is for beginner-level riders only and with a not fit cycle in bad weather conditions.
So, if we calculate the figure on annual basis, we will get on average a beginner-level cyclist, ride (55*365), which is 20075 miles in a year. Now, if you talk about an experienced cyclist and a well-fit vehicle, the result will be 21900 miles per year (60 miles a day) on average.
Should a Cyclist Ride More Miles?
If you increase the miles you ride, there are some health benefits. Mainly, it will help you in the endurance build-up. There are many benefits of endurance riding which are briefly discussed below.
Muscular Endurance:
If you do endurance riding regularly, it will increase your overall muscular endurance. As a result, the number of mitochondria in your body will be increased. Finally, more aerobic energy will be manufactured in your body system.
Heart Efficiency:
Endurance cycle riding will improve the efficiency of your heart to a great extent. Because the stroke volume which is the amount of blood pumped in every beat will be enhanced.
Neuromuscular Efficiency of Pedaling:
Another important benefit you will get is neuromuscular efficiency of the pedaling will be improved. As a result, you will go forward more with less amount of energy wastage.
Capacity for Burning Fat:
Another important benefit you will get from endurance cycle riding is the overall capacity for burning fat in your body will be increased which will later help you in weight loss.
So, we can see, that it is a good idea to ride faster, but in a regulated manner. Because anything excessive is not good for your health. Knowing the average miles traveled by a cyclist will help you to determine whether you should ride even faster.
Wrapping Up
You know what? Cycling is all about a journey. As a cyclist, in many cases, you will have a destination and your goal will be to reach there. The miles will automatically build up. To conclude, I want to mention here that some factors play active roles when determining how many miles an average cyclist ride per year.
You need to consider, the rider’s health, and the ride’s condition. Of course, a well-fit rider with a 100% fit cycle will ride more than an unfit cyclist. Besides, you must take road and weather conditions in your concentration.
In this article, I tried to explain everything you need to know about the queries. I hope now you have got a solid idea about the overall distance traveled by an average level of cyclist.