Commuting - Going for 40 mph

There's this stretch of road on my fast way to work that I'm trying to hit 40 mph on. For those of you who know Columbus, it's the 3rd St. Bridge over I-670 going into downtown. It's technically 35 mph, but cars go much faster. It's generally too heavy with quick-lane-changing freeway-like traffic after 6:30 on weekdays (it feeds I-670 traffic into downtown). A few years ago, they took down the "No Bicycles" sign when they were doing construction and never bothered to put it back up.

The last part of the bridge is a big hill (by Columbus standards) into downtown. The pavement is perfect. The problem is that there's a light right at the bottom. The last couple of times I've gone through, I've pulled over and waited so that I knew the light would be green at the bottom.

Yesterday, I hit 38 mph. Today, I only made it to 36 mph, but I had to pull into lane that's second from the right to pass a line of cars waiting to turn right. Both days, I had one pannier on my Surly Cross Check.

I'm going in to work tomorrow. I'll put a trunk pack on instead of a pannier to see if I can eek out those last 2 mph.

I may have to work on a Saturday, but at least I'll get my commute in.

Sweet! Back when my bike had gears, the tallest gear was 48/13. I was going down this rather tall train track bridge, plus I had a sweet tailwind. I got up to 38mph that day, spinning out as fast as I could and then coasting when I had no more spin left in me. Got as aero as I could on a mountain bike with slicks! Its the fastest I ever went on a bicycle. It was *fun*. Have fun trying for 40mph!

You need to live here. My calculator says that's 61km/h, and I often exceed that on my commute.

Thats freaking crazy. I've only ever gone over 40mph on a downhill.
Al

I hit 42 mph on my tour bike. Nice long downhill with a tailwind. The strange thing is that I was wearing baggy shorts and a t shirt. Later I tried the same hill in cycling shorts and a jersey and could not pass 40.

I was riding a honda aero 50 scooter going 35mph on flat ground and got passed by two rodies. They looked like they thought it was the funniest thing ever. The couldn't hang very long and I passed them again after a few seconds.

/me creeps into Daily Commute's garage and inflates the calibration on his computer by 10%, there we go :)

In my younger days I hit 55mph in a 30 zone going downhill into Spokane. Not something I endorse, though... I saw a cyclist who'd plowed a city garbage truck at the bottom of that hill once. Suffice it to say, the final score was Garbage Truck 1, Davidson 0. The cyclist appeared to have gotten off lucky with no bones protruding or stuff like that.

I did 43 MPH somewhere on the way to work Thursday.

I did take the 35 mile long way to work, to get some hills in -it was a nice morning to ride.

There's this stretch of road on my fast way to work that I'm trying to hit 40 mph I'm going in to work tomorrow. I'll put a trunk pack on instead of a pannier to see if I can eek out those last 2 mph.

I may have to work on a Saturday, but at least I'll get my commute in.

Duck down a bit more - you'll do it.

I think you could also gain some speed if you took off your paniers. That is, unless they're carrying lots of weight. I've hit 61 mph on my Cross Check, so I can vouch for the bike's ability to exceed 40 :D

34mph on a fixed gear.:)

^^^GTFOOH !!
What gears ?? Ive gotten 24 :roflmao:

On my gearie Ive been able to attain 39 but could never crack the big 4-0 :cry:
I work with a triathelete type guy who has quads like a Kung-Fu Grip GI-Joe
and he says he regularly hits fifty on the various Gap runs in the hills of
Central VT. I cant even imagine fitty on 23x700 :eek: :eek: :eek:

^^^GTFOOH !!
What gears ?? Ive gotten 24 :roflmao:

On my gearie Ive been able to attain 39 but could never crack the big 4-0 :cry:
I work with a triathelete type guy who has quads like a Kung-Fu Grip GI-Joe
and he says he regularly hits fifty on the various Gap runs in the hills of
Central VT. I cant even imagine fitty on 23x700 :eek: :eek: :eek:

duder! it was on a downhill rockin' 47/17!!:eek: :)

^^^GTFOOH !!
What gears ?? Ive gotten 24 :roflmao:

On my gearie Ive been able to attain 39 but could never crack the big 4-0 :cry:
I work with a triathelete type guy who has quads like a Kung-Fu Grip GI-Joe
and he says he regularly hits fifty on the various Gap runs in the hills of
Central VT. I cant even imagine fitty on 23x700 :eek: :eek: :eek:

what gear are you rockin' where ya can only go 24? i do that on the flats in traffic!:) :D

^^^ 46x17 in the same conditions...(flats, through town)
Measured by a car speedo.

Ive never had anybody follow me in a car downill
but Im sure Id crash getting even to 30 :eek: :eek:
I like going up waaaay better than going down....
pretty bad, huh !! :roflmao:

Fastest, I've recorded was ~76 km/hr downhill...I'll take a picture of the hill.

I regularly hit 42 mph on one downhill from the train station. It's about a 1/2 mile long downhill. Unfortunately, at the bottom there is a one-lane train underpass with a stop sign! According to Topo it's about a 220 foot drop, with about an 8% grade average. Luckily I don't go up that hill on my PM commute.

Thanks for the words of support. I made it to 40.7 mph this morning. My gears are 48-12, so I was pretty much spinning out. I also have 700x32 tires. I had a trunk pack, but not panniers. Getting rid of the trunk pack might help me go a little faster, but I'm going for a personal commuting record, and I figure it doesn't count unless I'm going to or from work.

The bike was just fine at 40 mph. As Mtn Mike pointed out, the limitation is the engine, not the bike.

Maybe I'll try putting on my 52 chain ring one morning. 45 mph for the next goal?

For the many geared bike:
Fastest downhill is in the mid-high 40s
Fastest downhill with no pedaling starting at crest is 42mph on a local ride I do weekly where we have fun practicing tucking and racing to the bottom.
Fastest on my flat commute is 34.8mph with aid of draft of passing cars.

For the 48x17 fixed gear:
Fastest is 34.2mph (152rpm) - not downhill, on a run up to an uphill. I can spin faster when I am pushing pedals vs. having them pull me, so downhill I keep it under 30mph or so.
I've sustained 28-30mph (130rpm) for extended 30min+ periods in pacelines.

Al

I have made it to 48mph in Dallas. and got a ticket from a cop at the bottom of the hill. It was in a 35 mph area. They though it out at court because he said that a bike could not do thoese speed. :lol: If he only know, I would have had to pay $285.00 fine at that time.

Having tight/slick clothing can add 5+ MPH on a steep hill. For going suicidily fast get a faired recumbent.
Like some of the rest of you the best descent on my commute ends at a stop sign.

Thanks for the words of support. I made it to 40.7 mph this morning. My gears are 48-12, so I was pretty much spinning out. I also have 700x32 tires. I had a trunk pack, but not panniers. Getting rid of the trunk pack might help me go a little faster, but I'm going for a personal commuting record, and I figure it doesn't count unless I'm going to or from work.

The bike was just fine at 40 mph. As Mtn Mike pointed out, the limitation is the engine, not the bike.

Maybe I'll try putting on my 52 chain ring one morning. 45 mph for the next goal?

Go go'n DC! Yeah for a real power play, find out the boss' route...camp by the road side till you see the boss' car... Then zip past him :p

I've hit 39mph several times on my fixed commuter. It's geared 48/17, making for about 74.25 gear inches with my 700x23 tires. That calculates out to a cadence of 177rpm. I can only maintain that spin for part of a minute though. I need to get going on my geared bike project and go for some (personal) landspeed records.

For those in the twin cities, I did 39mph on Ramsey Hill (it connects Summit Ave with downtown; the steeeeep way) and again once or twice out in Inver Grove Heights on what I don't really consider to be that steep of a hill. I guess it's just the prolongedness. If that's a word.

My stretch it out gearing is 63/11 - I don't think there is a hill around me where I can come close to spinning out with that combo. Now that I have clipless pedals, I can make something of that ration on steep downhills. My fastest so far is 48 mph - this is down a sloping stretch of wide 's' curve road. Unfortunately, at the bottom is a bridge, and the transition from blacktop to bridge is absolutely awful. I keep wondering why they don't fix that transition - it's like hitting a giant pothole at 48 mph - you have to decide whether you want to hold your speed and risk damaging your tires/wheels, or slow down and waste all that forward momentum.

I don't have particularly tight clothing - gym trunks and 't' shirt is as tight as I go - but, for sure, the position I use on the bike influences my speed. If I crouch low it makes a big difference - if I sit more upright, the speed is always considerably slower.

There is a state park around here (PA) that can be approached up a really steep and long hill (I think it is a couple of miles). Climbing it is brutal for an old guy like me - but, coming down - wooopeeeee!! 40-45 mph for a couple of miles - and with my gearing, no real huffing/puffing to keep my cadence up. That's a great feeling. I don't think the speed limit is much more than 35 -40 on that road, so cars look at you with amusement/amazement that you are cruising along as fast as they, LOL

Caruso

This is fun! I love going fast.

Best yet on commute is about 55kmph down a hill.

Best ever was 74kmph on the mtn bike, and 85ish or so on the old road bike.

It is a real giggle when you pace traffic when they dont expect you too:)

Have fun hitting 45mph!

Back when I was in 11th grade in '99, I hit 65mph on Mariposa Road, which runs parallel to the I-15 for some distance.
Most of the time, my flatland, no-wind, loaded best is 30-35mph.
I could also guess this speed was attributed to the freakishly high wind speeds we get out here.
I recall there being one of those infamous low-pressure systems over all of Southern California for a whole week!!
The wind must've been gusting up to 40-45mph.

there is a really steep road coming off of Signal Hill in Long Beach (I think it is aptly named Hill Street). I have always wanted to take my bike down it but it is seriously steep and there is an intersection at the bottom.

If you think bombing big hills on a bike is fun/scary, try it on a skateboard. You'll find God on an 8% grade.

I have made it to 48mph in Dallas. and got a ticket from a cop at the bottom of the hill. It was in a 35 mph area. They though it out at court because he said that a bike could not do thoese speed. :lol: If he only know, I would have had to pay $285.00 fine at that time.
Haha! :D I would have been a little insulted if a judge said that, but at the same time I wouldn't want a ticket. :D

Best I've ever done was 44 on my mountain bike, but that was years ago and I'm not quite that brave now. :o

The house is on a big hill, and work is on a big hill. [Come to think of it everything in Colorado is on a freakin' hill, or actually a mountain.]

Anyways when I leave the house I get an easy 35mph every morning down that hill. The hill leaving work is more fun. If I wind out the new 52 ring then tuck and coast, 45mph is common with no headwind. It's a 4 lane curvy divided road... with a speed limit of 35. Passing cars at speed is fun, and maybe a bit [a lot] crazy. 49 is my max coming down one of the hills that I've been training on. It starts getting scary at that speed.

I have a great Mississippi River bluff road to blast down, and often have hit in the mid 40's on my road bikes.

I've never had any troubles, the road is smooth and there is only a private drive intersecting the blacktop. Last week, however, I took my old Raleigh Grand Prix down the hill and developed a severe wobble. I can't tell how fast I was going because I didn't have a comp mounted and I was too busy trying to hang on, but I know I wasn't much over thirty when the instability struck.

I don't know what caused the wheel wobble. The wheel is true and the frame is straight. I do know that the fork seems a mite flexy.

Scary.

The house is on a big hill, and work is on a big hill. [Come to think of it everything in Colorado is on a freakin' hill, or actually a mountain.]

Anyways when I leave the house I get an easy 35mph every morning down that hill. The hill leaving work is more fun. If I wind out the new 52 ring then tuck and coast, 45mph is common with no headwind. It's a 4 lane curvy divided road... with a speed limit of 35. Passing cars at speed is fun, and maybe a bit [a lot] crazy. 49 is my max coming down one of the hills that I've been training on. It starts getting scary at that speed.

Yeah... there's a few inclines around. My biggest incline on my commute is coming around Invesco field on the sidewalk... just coasting I hit 27 MPH. Kinda sad that the biggest hill I've ridden in quite a while is on a sidewalk!

I grew up in the mountains in Arizona.... I remember flying past cars on 40 mph stretches... even had the police flash their lights and sirens at me a couple times! Being a small town, everyone knew everybody... One of the cops swung by my house one time and complained at my parents! They just laughed and said "Yeah... he's gonna kill himself on that thing one of these days!"

what gear are you rockin' where ya can only go 24? i do that on the flats in traffic!:) :D

No kidding. I seem to recall hitting 36mph on my 48x15 Raleigh.

I put on the 52 front chain ring and tried the hill a couple more times. I "only" hit 37 and 38. It really must be the engine!

So last night, I switched back to the 48 because that's better for the trip home. It's a slight up hill most of he way home, so the 52 just was not practical.

Little bursts of high speed sure can make a commute fun, can't they?

i hit 35mph the other day on my single speed Redline 925, but that was going down a hill and pedaling as fast as i could -- one might say "like a bat out of hades."
i max'd the bike out with the gearing it has... no way i could exceed 35mph unless the hill was way more steep with no stop sign at the bottom.

There's this stretch of road on my fast way to work that I'm trying to hit 40 mph on. For those of you who know Columbus, it's the 3rd St. Bridge over I-670 going into downtown. It's technically 35 mph, but cars go much faster. It's generally too heavy with quick-lane-changing freeway-like traffic after 6:30 on weekdays (it feeds I-670 traffic into downtown). A few years ago, they took down the "No Bicycles" sign when they were doing construction and never bothered to put it back up.

The last part of the bridge is a big hill (by Columbus standards) into downtown. The pavement is perfect. The problem is that there's a light right at the bottom. The last couple of times I've gone through, I've pulled over and waited so that I knew the light would be green at the bottom.

Yesterday, I hit 38 mph. Today, I only made it to 36 mph, but I had to pull into lane that's second from the right to pass a line of cars waiting to turn right. Both days, I had one pannier on my Surly Cross Check.

I'm going in to work tomorrow. I'll put a trunk pack on instead of a pannier to see if I can eek out those last 2 mph.

I may have to work on a Saturday, but at least I'll get my commute in.

This post broke my B.S. detector, the poor thing is still smoking after reading this story. 40mph going down a steep hill maybe.

i think it IS down a hill. lets get some reading 101 in here, see if there's a hill mentioned somewhere in the original post. and waiting at the top of a hill to get the light signals to time right (love that touch, been there, done that)

I didn't have computers on my bikes until recently and I don't hit over 34 very often but I was supposedly clocked at 42 in a 25 on my roadie on my commuteby some cops a month or so ago. Almost got a ticket for it but I think they realized how hard it would be to make it stick. With the MTB I usually ride to work I top at at about 25-28 on my commute which I need to work on. I think I may put a new wheelset and skinny tires on it in the next week or so and see if it's really worth it.

This post broke my B.S. detector, the poor thing is still smoking after reading this story. 40mph going down a steep hill maybe.


i think it IS down a hill. lets get some reading 101 in here, see if there's a hill mentioned somewhere in the original post. and waiting at the top of a hill to get the light signals to time right (love that touch, been there, done that)
Thanks, Bek. Based on the other posts, I am far from the first cycist to have hit 40 mph. And a lot of cyclists have found ways to go even faster (drafting, better gear ratios, lighter bikes, better engines, etc.).

On another note, when I had 700x28 tires, I couldn't hit 40 on even steeper hills. The 32's make the bike a lot more stable at higher speeds.

I agree with Daily Commute - wider tires are definetly more stable at speed. I ride 37c slicks most of the time.

I agree with Daily Commute - wider tires are definetly more stable at speed. I ride 37c slicks most of the time.

I don't mean to contradict you, but I ride on 23s, and I regularly hit low 40s (and occasionally high 40s) without noticing any instability. I do tend to stick to pretty clean roads when I do that though. Perhaps some assorted pebbles would change my mind.

I'll have to find a way to shoot video of a descent from the top of Mt. Spokane to the base, you guys would eat it up :) Twisty, with hairpins, peak grades of over 20%, average grade I believe is about 12%, and the road's posted for 20mph. In my younger more-reckless days, I would typically average 35mph from top to bottom, and that includes hairpins, so you can imagine... :p

My old Schwinn Voyageur was great for that. Springy frame and fork, excellent braking power for dropping from 45 to 15 for the hairpins, bar-end shifters, and big sticky Michelin Hi-Lite Tour tires. Now if I could just its engine and ROM chip back, and install them on my Cannondale... ;)

I achieved 46 last year drafting a bus. Often I can go faster tucked then pedaling. In the case of the bus I had a 46 11 and really could not pedal that gear to that speed. My record is comming down Forbes Ave into Oakland where I got 50 with a 52 - 12 at around 150 rpm. The hill is about 5-6% grade that runs about 3/10s of a mile with a stop light at the bottom.

...more rubber on the road means better grip, lets you counter rugositys better, and less deflection because of the greater volume too, plus blah blah.....wider tires are more stable.

Back when I was in 11th grade in '99, I hit 65mph on Mariposa Road, which runs parallel to the I-15 for some distance.
Most of the time, my flatland, no-wind, loaded best is 30-35mph.
I could also guess this speed was attributed to the freakishly high wind speeds we get out here.
I recall there being one of those infamous low-pressure systems over all of Southern California for a whole week!!
The wind must've been gusting up to 40-45mph.

Wow! How about some details about how you did the 30-35mph on the flats. Special wheels? What gears work and what's your cadence.

Wow! How about some details about how you did the 30-35mph on the flats. Special wheels? What gears work and what's your cadence.
Just a few weeks ago I hit 32.8 on a flat stretch on my Bianchi. My large chainring is 52 and I'm not sure about the rear. I had it in the 2nd smallest cog and I only have 6. Of course there wasn't an ounce of wind anywhere so that helped! My brother has gone 34 in the same place.

I don't mean to contradict you, but I ride on 23s, and I regularly hit low 40s (and occasionally high 40s) without noticing any instability. I do tend to stick to pretty clean roads when I do that though. Perhaps some assorted pebbles would change my mind.
I can only speak from my experience on this, but I guess we're both riding what works best for us. Enjoy your ride!

Hit 35.8mph on the fixed gear (159rpm) on a downhill. Not doing that (downhill) again, almost lost leg control. Much more comfortable to go for fixed speed on flats or gradual uphill.

Al

If you get a speeding ticket, be sure to frame it as a badge of honor.

All my speed records happen when my computer has died. Really sucks to not know how fast I'm going down long hills.