Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - The Speedometer game

On my way home today on the 38 geary bus in San francisco, i saw a speedometer....
and an idea came into my head. as if it was a sign from god, i rushed home took out my wacky single speed (converted) road bike out and went down Geary street sprinting..... it was around 4pm so lots of cars .. i got stoped by traffic a couple of times during the process of gathering pace and trying to go as fast as i can.. but anyway i got 25mph....without going the fastest( cuz i still had control in the peddles) so yeah it was fun. gonna def. try it again next time! just wondering if any of you guys do stupid things like this too lol

yeah, we used to do that alot . i learned it from one of those ,,hmm cutter kids.

we ride behind buses that was highway bound and try to stay with them ,then try to come around for the WIN!. City buses are good too ot 16 wheelers, they help you get up to speed, those driver like to help.

S/F,
CEYA!

it is called vehicular cycling. Its fun down any street where you are a bike hauling ass in city street filled with cars.

yeah, we used to do that alot . i learned it from one of those ,,hmm cutter kids.
S/F,
CEYA!

you went to school in indiana too?

Just get a computer and it'll record your highest speed. But then again that wouldn't be hip. I draft semi-trucks on my commute and I've got up to 43 MPH, which was limited by the speed of the semi.

you went to school in indiana too?


No, Cutters from the movie Breaking Away.

S/F,
CEYA!

yeah, we used to do that alot . i learned it from one of those ,,hmm cutter kids.

we ride behind buses that was highway bound and try to stay with them ,then try to come around for the WIN!. City buses are good too ot 16 wheelers, they help you get up to speed, those driver like to help.

S/F,
CEYA!


You think that's cool?
Well one day I raced a 16 wheeler down the highway and was able to keep pace at 60mph. I also completed a 50 mile tract of highway in under 3 mintues...oh wait, that wasn't me. That was Breaking Away.

Damnit. While fine tuning my post you beat me to the Breaking Away reference.

and then you got a pump in your spokes...

wow i did not know that was from a movie...
i've never seen that movie before....er well believe it or not. it was just an idea popped into my head

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Please do not draft an old Vw van. I had one once and braked for a dog. Messy.
Guess I should clarify. Dog fine. Two roadies, two ambulances.

The best is when you find those "Watch Your Speed" signs that show each car's speed as they go by. The police put them up in areas where everyone is speeding, to remind people that there is a speed limit. The ones here will register bicycles too, so you can see your speed as you go by.

yes they were the one i used today. 25mph i got... i could obviously go faster..but due to traffic..

Funny, this morning riding into school (running late) I had a NASTY headwind. Its ~12.5 miles in a straight line up one street, so no break from the wind. I did plenty of drafting on semis. I usually go for buses too but only the Western Ave. Express - the other one makes too many stops! I was getting pulled at about 28 for a while, which was nice, especially since I could barely turn the pedals at 15mph in the wind.

I also did some skitchin' on pickups, but kept getting freaked out as the pickup trucks neared 35mph... I kept picturing flipping down in front of their rear wheel. Still, I'm getting more confident. Oh, what fun.

skatin' hitchin' bltchin'

SKITCHIN' !!!

anyone? anyone?

sweet..so guys all got a speedometer on ur bike is that right? anyway whoa skitching on bikes? i've only tried skitching with skateboards.... skitched a bus once

Images of Marty McFly flood my head.

skatin' hitchin' bltchin'

SKITCHIN' !!!

anyone? anyone?
my first experience skitchin was a very painful ordeal... but I don't like to talk about it

No, Cutters from the movie Breaking Away.

S/F,
CEYA!

which took place in indiana

I would be scared out of my mind going 43 mph.

engine access panel indentations on the side of the bus makes for a great hand hold, so do wheel wells for that matter.

the pull ropes they attach to the rear door of delivery/box trucks

spoilers on the tricked out ricers
spoliers on the sh!tty ricers

garbage trucks are tough, but have a brazillion places to grab

flat bed trucks are the best

pickups are just too easy

yeah call it what you will,
but the whole "catching a ride" thing has been done, its fun
its also an insanely stupid idea
but isn't that why we do this kind of stuff anyways?

I once skitched a friend's car at 50 mph.

In my old age I've gotten scurred and don't do that crap on a bike.

which took place in indiana


I think that is why the race was called the little indy 500.and the indiana song at the end of the movie.

S/F,
CEYA!

No, Cutters from the movie Breaking Away.

bon giorno, papa!


as for skitching... i've found that to be f.ucking hard to do. as soon as i grab hold i feel out of control and about to tip over, wobble my fr. wheel, and fall over and die. probably a hell of a lot easier with a freewheel? i dunno. thoughts?

Joey here in NYC made that famous in the early 80s, NY times did an article as the fastest messenger n 1984-5 time frame. Yeah he was the man for that and Davy Jones was the man for track bikes. NOBODY could ride like him .

Yes they were high , high as hell. both good buds to chill with though..I wish it can be like that now.

S/F,
CEYA!

I skitched on my SS a year and a half or so ago. I haven't done it fixed yet. Well, I sort of did it once but didn't hold on very long.

However, I used to skitch on my skateboard all the damn time when I skated regularly (before the bikes!) and we'd go fast. It was hairy because if your trucks were too loose, you'd wobble all over the place.

A friend of mine sort of got into a bad accident because of it. He was skitching his brother's car actually (his brother was giving us a "ride" down the street) and he couldn't control himself (I let go earlier since the speed was too much and I started to feel too much wobble) and thus, he sort of slipped and went face down. He didn't get up, he was convulsing - thoroughly creeped out by that.

He was fine though. He was just unconcious and his body was in shock. Fortunately his brother took him right to the hospital.

Goes the show the difference in readers of bikeforums.

Last month I posted in the commuter forum about leaning on trucks at red lights (I suck at the trackstanding) and got torn apart for being unsafe, ruining the public image of cyclists, and intruding on motorists private property. I'd love to see them react to this thread!

bring them over or post a link there.

S/F,
CEYA!

Joey here in NYC made that famous in the early 80s, NY times did an article as the fastest messenger n 1984-5 time frame. Yeah he was the man for that and Davy Jones was the man for track bikes. NOBODY could ride like him .

Yes they were high , high as hell. both good buds to chill with though..I wish it can be like that now.

S/F,
CEYA!


Joey of the x-men? That dude's legendary. He was gone when I started working here in the early nineties, as were most of the x-men, but there were still tons of stories about him. Bunch of great footage of the x-men in the "need for speed" documentary..

Skitching?

As kids, my freinds and I, used to do that on our feet on snow covered streets.

We also used to tie a rope behind a car to sleds.

Sorry, OT, no bike, but fun.

I skitched on my SS a year and a half or so ago. I haven't done it fixed yet. Well, I sort of did it once but didn't hold on very long.

yeah, skitching on the fixed gear is kind of scary. I've only done it in situations where i know that the skitchee isn't going to get going too fast & burn up my legs.

I did get a great ride from a backhoe one time- driver was super chill.

yay my thread actually turned into some thing... well kinda went off from street speed meter to skitchin'....oh welp

should find a truck next time.. and skitch it :P

Next time you watch "Breaking Away" look very closely at Dave's chainrings when he's drafting the Cinzano semi...just before he gets to 60 mph there's a tight shot that clearly shows him in the small chainring. That boy is a stud I guess.

Skitching?

As kids, my freinds and I, used to do that on our feet on snow covered streets.

We also used to tie a rope behind a car to sleds.

Sorry, OT, no bike, but fun.

I used to do that too! I'll never forget the time that my friend was hanging onto the back of a delivery truck and suddenly hit a patch of bare dry pavement.. *wince*

Back to the OP
(or something similar i think)
today I tried something different on my normal route in.

there's a section of georgetown that gets pretty busy in the mornings.
traffic moves along at a steady 20 - 30 mph
i usually pick a path of least resistance, and like water, the pedestrians, taxis, busses, and cars all blur into stationary ojects i simply flow around.

but not today.

today (with this thread in mind) i fell in pace with a medium box truck at about 25 mph. Keeping right off its rear right edge, I slipped in and out of it's draft stream and physically felt myself get pulled faster and faster and the truck accelerated. As it hit the breaks I would slip back out and to the right lane until it had gained its speed again.

I really had an easy time cutting accross to midtown. and at one point, clocked myself going 36mph!! it felt like 16.

Is this what you guys were talking about?
Some sort of speed check?

not really... i was talking about going down the street NOT drafting and going past one of those " watch your speed" road speed meters by the police...and see how fast u're going...
but anyway the whole drafting and skitching discussion was fun too!

Goes the show the difference in readers of bikeforums.

Last month I posted in the commuter forum about leaning on trucks at red lights (I suck at the trackstanding) and got torn apart for being unsafe, ruining the public image of cyclists, and intruding on motorists private property. I'd love to see them react to this thread!

OT, but I couldn't help but posting this small tidbit from the advocacy and safety forum. Immediately I got the image of some messer in Chicago because I don't think commuters hit cars with locks.



It was about this time when I slowed to allow someone in the left lane in (who hesitated in disbelief that I was actually allowing him into my lane) that the cyclist, who had been behind me by a few car lengths, came up alongside my car and matching my speed, banged the right side of my car with his bicycle lock. thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=148216)

I would never lean on someone elses car. It's like touching their property without asking. To me, a handprint on my car isn't a big deal, but to many other people, it is.