What is a reasonable maxium average trail speed ?

What is a Reasonable Maxium Average Trail Speed ?

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Vmax540

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By this I mean, if you averaged one whole day's trail riding speeds, what would be considered safe ?

20 m.p.h.
30 m.p.h.
40 m.p.h
50 m.p.h.
60 m.p.h. and up
 

Impossible to answer

This poll is impossible to answer due to the fact that trails vary so much. If I was riding on the trails near home in Delaware County, NY I would say an AVERAGE safe speed would be about 20mph. On Tug Hill I'd say it would be more like 40 or 50. In Canada 60 mph plus. What are you getting at here? It depends on the trails in the area where you are riding.

Madmatt
 
Madmatt Sorry,not meaning to exclude the Canadians but, I was thinking more of the average trials here in the states with mostly turn to turn trails and few long straight aways ?
 
Averaging 60mph for lets say 5 hours, puts you at 300 miles. How many people rack up 300 miles by 1 or 2 in the afternoon?
 
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sno-xr, I had a morning 2 years ago when I had 100 miles by breakfast :) went out at about 5 in the morning, all fresh groomed, hard set, and noone else out there!
 
03viperguy said:
sno-xr, I had a morning 2 years ago when I had 100 miles by breakfast :) went out at about 5 in the morning, all fresh groomed, hard set, and noone else out there!
Click to expand...
We've had similar rides in the UP during the week. Its a whole different World when you have perfectly groomed trails to yourself! ;)!
We started about 8 AM in ST Ignace , rode , had breakfast and were loadded up and crossing the Mackinaw bridge by 1:30 pm. With 170miles on the sleds.
WHEN IS THE SNOW COMMING!!!
 
Do not forget about the twisty trail or UP super highway trail and rail beds. They all get different average speeds. For safe all around maybe 55.
 
You did say reasonable!

Considering you said trail speed and the fact that the trail is shared by all, I think 30 is a good average speed.
Just trying to be considerate!!
 
with the trails we have up here you could easily average up to 60 65 miles per hour but you could also averave 80 to 90 on the highways (freeways) in a car. as for safe respectable speeds id say 50 would be a nice speed limit opposed to the ridiculous 30 that all the trails have posted. 30 is what we slow down to for a sharp 90 degree turn. It really comes down to trail condition and location .
Pat
 
I think this is a good poll and I voted for 30 for the day average.I remember checking my average speed on my GPS last season and I never remember it being above 30 and this includes moving time only. I've been on corners that need to be taken at 10 or less and others that are in the mid 20's. Then there are the straights and the speed limit should be obeyed for that region. In Quebec the Max posted speed is 70kmph[42mph] and NY just authorized 55mph. I wish some of the sledders would use more common sense and think of their fellow riders. Every day while riding on the trail sys. in Quebec I had a close call on the corners w/ on coming sleds, one in fact scared the hell out of me and I had my daughter on w/me. He was coming at me way too fast on a corner and could't make it. Needless to say he didn't make the corner, barely missed us went into the open area beyond the corner and into some trees beyond that. He was moving because there was deep powder off trail slowing his momentum and he still went quite a ways before stopping. I read articles about a sleds corner handling abilities and how manufacturers try to improve this. I'm all for improved technology but some really need to use some common sense. This sport is growing and from my travels alot more families are out cruising the trails too. Let's save WOT for the lakes :rockon: [Vmax540, not :jack: your thread,it's a good one.]
 
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Totally depends on weather conditions, trail congestion, trail condition, rider abilities and sled abilities... With my wife averaging 20mph may be too fast, with my dad or uncle it may be upwards of 40...
 
IMO you cannot just assign an average speed. Every trail is different and even the same trail will be different day to day, ie ice or no ice in the corners, traffic, grooming, drifting, etc. That said, anyone that says they average 60 MPH is just plain full of **** or unsafe as hell. Remember if you average 60 your doing 480 miles in 8 hours. An 8 hour average of 30 mph is 240 miles and from what I've seen a much more realistic amount of miles. Honestly ask yourself how many times have you ridden almost 500 miles in one day? I'll concede that there may be that time or two where someone may be out on a weekday, conditions perfect, the moon is in the seventh house and Jupitor is aligned with Mars and you can do 500 in a day. But an average for the season, for your typical ride?
Give me a break.
 
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trails

A lot depends on the trail and even the sled how it handles.Wisconsin passed a statewide law for this coming season that 30mins before sunset and a 30mins after sunrise the max speed is 50 or 55mph I can't remember which one.
 
Is it just me or is everyone forgetting about the time you spend stopped on the trail ? At an average of 50 mph you would go 400 mi subtract a 10 minute break every half hour and 20 more for lunch that would mean 180minutes (3hrs) stopped. So subtract 3hrs at 50mph =150mi (400mi - 150mi = 250mi) 250 mi in an 8 hour day doesn't seem too outrageous. With this in mind I would say mid to high 40's would be a good average.
 
I don't watch my speedo on the trails anymore unless there are wide open areas, but 300 miles is a good day. A lot can happen in that short glance down to the speedo. Usually if you go 300 miles you will see all kinds of trails in that stretch. Sometimes in Northern Ontario we get up around 400 miles in day. That is usually a very tiring day.
 
I think that 20-30 mph for the entire day of riding is a good average. Keep in mind that you will probably be stopping for gas, lunch, potty breaks, etc. Your speed while you're actually riding will be higher than that. If you average over 60mph for the day you're just being reckless and should be riding a SkiDoo. I've seen plenty of them out in the woods wrapped around trees. I'm all for going fast, just keep it at the racetrack and out on the lakes. A lot of us have families that we take for rides and I hate to be leading them through the woods with my 4-year-old Grandson between my legs when some dipstick comes around the corner 40mph on my side of the trail.
Sorry, I don't mean to lecture. Speed on the trails is a sore subject with me.
Shark
 
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