[Ghostrider]

I havn't posted anything in a while but I would like some help. Gear ratios are not my best quality and I am a little confused.
I have been running 2:1 32/16 gears for a while feels good on the trails in my area. While on the flats I top out about 14.5 mph (GPS reading), if I am really spinning hard about 16.5 mph. I wanted some more top end for a race that I am doing in a few weeks so I started playing with ratios.
I put on 36/17 and went out for a ride tonight and got some more top end about 17mph (same GPS). The winner of the race last year had an average of 18.2 mph over 28 miles so I would guess that he is either a lot stronger then me or was useing a different ratio.
The ride I went on tonight was 18.9 miles and took me 1 hour and 20 min it was 15 miles of dirt rode with some long up hills and loose gravel and 3.9 miles of tech single track.
The other day I rode the 32/16 on 18.4 miles of single track less tech but still had some climbs and it took me 1 hour and 24 minutes.
Are my legs just not strong enough for the larger gears ? Am I a wuss ? What is going on ?
Any help on gearing would be a big help. If it makes and differance I have 175mm cranks.

Thanks

 

[FatFrank]

cadence

With 2:1 you'd need to spin a cadence of about 100 rpm to go 16 MPH. If you want to go faster I'd try a little higher gear if you can push it up the climbs. It really depends on what the course you are riding is like and how strong your legs are.