patentcad

That's 68+ mph. That's how fast Lance said the boys were descending @ the Giro today.

Whoah.

substructure

Start the pissing match!!

slim_77

meh, thats nowhere near as fast as they should be going...I mean, they are professionals.

Second Mouse

Hmmm. That is fast. Makes 50 mph seem kinder pokey.

Would suck to have a wheel come apart at 68 mph, ja?

patentcad

At least you can't attribute that speed to doping.

wanders

That would put my kinetic energy at about 45,000 joules.

My heat shields are only rated for about 30,000.

patentcad

What bicycle warp factor is 110km/hour?

Fat Boy

https://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/A...unds/plaid.wav

startedspyder05

^^^

Oooooh wow that totally made my day!!

mattm

110 km/h?

i'd hit it, if i could.

urbanknight

And their carbon frames didn't spontaneously explode?

mrardo

From twitter
"We had a fast downhill in the middle of the stage and we were comparing top speeds, heard JJ Haedo hit 117kph!! That's 72.7mph to be exact."

caloso

I'd need a fresh set of bib shorts.

umd

I still want to break 100 km/hr before I die... hopefully not right before.

fatallightning

and that's probably in the scary, hands on the tops, chin on the stem position. I'd hate to get a wobble in that hand hold, no leverage.

Cleave

Hi,

From Eurosport:

The 37-year-old American, who is considering taking over his struggling Astana team, was shocked by the speed.

"At one point today we reached 110 kmph. That's almost 70 mph. Crazy!" he told his Twitter feed.

"Not sure that's necessary really. Tomorrow is the same kind of finish. It's bike racing, not MotoGP."

Back before bike computers, I was racing in the first Empire State Games and the NY State Troopers at the bottom of the descent said that we were hitting 65+ MPH on every lap (per their radar). Since the advent of computers with max speed memory I have never had a speed greater than 52 MPH.

patentcad

This does beg the question, was lance Twittering on his Blackberry during the race while actually going 110km/hour? Now that would be impressive.

mrardo

Levi twitter

"Got some ?s about what we think of going 70mph. Think about 15lb bike, 2mm thick lycra and the 190 other guys inches away! no mistakes pls"

LorenzoNF

Dang. I just broke my record today with 55.8 mph in a 50 zone. Of course that was with a nice tailwind and in the full tuck position. I'd love to hit 60+ mph at some point, it's just a matter of finding a nice, smooth, steep downhill. Bike felt very stable at 55, no twitches except some wind gusts.

YMCA

I've gone 62mph down the back side of the Galibier (French Alps).
No helmet, cars going both ways and a corner fast approaching.
WTF are we thinking when we're younger???

JJ hitting 72mph in a group is frightening to even daydream about.

patentcad

40 mph on a bicycle feels like Warp Factor 9. 50 mph feels like Warp Factor 12.

I can't even imagine what adding 20 mph to that 50 would feel like. My sphincter puckers at the notion. The odd thing is that on a nice day on Black Meadow Road down here, when I can see either side of the road (i.e. when I'm sure a deer won't run out in front of me) and I juice my motorcycle throttle, I find myself doing 70 mph with some regularity.

My motorcycle doesn't have 700c tires and it weighs 700 lbs, not 15. Oh, and it has disc brakes that actually stop the bike. You can't stop on a bicycle going 50+ mph. Try it some time. Let me know how that works out for you.

grolby

Hitting 40 mph on my bike has started feeling oddly mundane. There are plenty of hills, races and weekly group ride around here where those speeds are achieved on a weekly basis, so after a while it becomes disappointing rather than thrilling to click the cycling computer over to "MAX. SPEED" and see 44.01 mph. I mean, c'mon, where are the really BIG numbers? I hit 38.13 mph on a group ride the other day. Can I get a "meh."

I'm not saying this to brag, I'm saying it because I think it's a little weird and possibly creepy (but maybe not) to see how experience breeds familiarity with such a ludicrously insane behavior as bombing down narrow, winding roads, well above the speed limit, whilst on a flimsy machine with questionable traction, unquestionably worthless brakes and all this while wearing nothing more substantial than cotton briefs and an A-shirt. After a while, this even becomes "fun." What I mean is, everything that Levi says about descending at 70 mph still applies at 40 and even at 30 mph. Yeah, it's magnified at higher speeds, but losing the plot at any speed that you might expect to drive in a car is bound to be an utter suck-fest. If you have a bike without any nasty high-speed habits, the actual risk of crashing when descending at 70 - though the thought of descending at that speed is indeed terrifying, - is probably no greater than it is at 50. But the potential consequences... that's a different matter. I mean, it's easy to see how, after crossing that barrier without anything awful happening, you feel okay and keep going. But then you look at the speedo, see "68" and, well:

cedricbosch

I love how the media is now quoting celebrities' twitter feeds in almost every article about them.

VA_Esquire

My goal in life is to get a speeding ticket on my bicycle......

RockyMtnMerlin

Great thread. I believe I read that Sean Kelly was once "radared" at the TdF doing 120kph on a descent. WAAAAAAAAAY beyond what I would ever do.