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Cycling Time Calculator

Estimate cycling time accounting for gradient, wind and stops.

About Cycling Time Calculator

Headwind costs roughly half its speed from your progress, and a tailwind returns less than that because of the non-linear relationship between power and speed. Climbing costs time regardless of the descent that follows. Descents never recover the time lost climbing, which is why out-and-back routes over hills always take longer than the same distance on the flat.

Formula

Cycling Time

Moving time = distance ÷ flat speed, plus penalties for ascent and headwind

ascent penalty
Roughly one hour per 400 metres climbed at touring pace
headwind
Costs about half its own speed from your effective speed

Worked example

With the default values below, Cycling Time Calculator returns Total Ride Time of 6.083. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Distanceminimum 0 km
80 km
Speed on the flatminimum 0.01 km/h
26 km/h
Total ascentminimum 0 m
700 m
Average headwindminimum 0 km/h
12 km/h
Total stopped timeminimum 0 min
20 min

Results

Total Ride Time
6.083 h
Moving Time
5.750 h
Effective Speed Including Stops
13.151 km/h
Time Added by Climbing
1.750 h
Time Added by Headwind
0.923 h

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Cycling Time
  3. 3Total Ride Time= 6.083 h
  4. 4Moving Time= 5.750 h
  5. 5Effective Speed Including Stops= 13.151 km/h
  6. 6Time Added by Climbing= 1.750 h
  7. 7Time Added by Headwind= 0.923 h

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Cycling Time calculated?

Moving time = distance ÷ flat speed, plus penalties for ascent and headwind Headwind costs roughly half its speed from your progress, and a tailwind returns less than that because of the non-linear relationship between power and speed. Climbing costs time regardless of the descent that follows.

Why does Cycling Time matter?

Descents never recover the time lost climbing, which is why out-and-back routes over hills always take longer than the same distance on the flat.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 5 inputs: Distance, Speed on the flat, Total ascent, Average headwind, Total stopped time. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.

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