Fifty Plus (50+) - What's Your Top Speed?

What's your top speed on a level surface?

fast enough that I can hardly hear anything from the wind whistling past my ears and I remind myself to bring earplugs next time...:D

Darn, I was all set to answer until I saw that "level surface" bit :mad: Well, I've done at least 35mph with a 30mph tail wind :)

You mean on a bike?

Good timing. Just today I rode on a stretch of flat road with a light tailwind. At 34mph I was spinning as fast as I could without bouncing around. That's with a 13X50 top gear.

Ok and cheating- Slight downhill to get started and 45mph on the Tandem and we were still pushing hard on the pedals but the lungs gave out. 48/11 gearing and cadence of 150. I never want to spin that fast again.

On the MTB with slicks with a slight tailwind and I recorded 31mph.

Both these were on the road so don't really count.

On the Tandem we have several times got flashed by the speed cameras- which are set to photo at 33mph. When we went through 3 consecutive ones set 1 mile apart and got flashed each time- We knew we were flying that morning.

About 1,291,640 mph, plus or minus 25.

Speed of the Earth (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Speeds.shtml)

Max or sustained top speed?Fastest I have ever done 40 miles on flats (20 out and 20 back solo) was just under two hours. Pretty darn slow by some standards. But is was fun to break 20 mph average for the ride. I really can't recall my max top speed. Wonder why that is? ;)

You mean on a bike?
:D :D :D :D :D

There ain't no level ground around here, or if there is I ain't found it yet.:D :D

Don't know; don't care. I don't have a speedometer.

On level gravel 25, on level asphault 31

Since I ride in a hilly area, I do not have any good field data on flat terrain. Using Sheldon Brown's calculator for my bike setup with a 52/12 gearing and spinning 100 rpm, my calculated speed would be 33.9 miles per hour. That speed seems reasonble for a short burst. I suspect most of us could spin 100 rpm in a 52/12 for a few seconds. At 90 rpm, the speed drops to 30.5 mph which seems too low.:)

commuting 14-16

Drafting 20-23

Downhill 38-45

downhill in a fully faired recumbent 70 (never again)

Gee -- you mean this?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/Litespeed/P4150006.jpg

On my solo, 37 mph, no wind, no draft, just riding to see how fast I could go. On the tandem, 34 in similar conditions. Fast enough for me.

Red Rider has been up to 44 on the tandem. She didn't like it and closed her eyes the whole time. I am trying to temper my speed now but it is so fun to scream down a nice downhill straight away.

Gee -- you mean this?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/Litespeed/P4150006.jpg
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

7 mph

On level gravel 25, on level asphault 31

If you hadn't said that, I was just going to pretend I hadn't seen the thread. Anyway, 22 on level gravel, but not sustainable.

I think mine is 26.something, and that was plenty fast enough for me!

Red Rider has been up to 44 on the tandem. She didn't like it and closed her eyes the whole time. I am trying to temper my speed now but it is so fun to scream down a nice downhill straight away.

Don't take her down the steep side of Cantelow or down Steiger Hill. I hit 40 down Steiger, and I'm afraid to go all out down Cantelow there in Vacaville. On level ground my best solo is 34 for a short time , drafting was 37 for too long a time. I thought my heart would burst if they didn't slow down

Oh, it's too late! We like to start our rides with that long climb up Cantelow. Hubby looooooves that steep screamin' downhill. The first few times we were flying down, I think I did most of the screaming. :eek: :eek:

Lately he's been quite reserved, hitting 30, maybe, I think...

Steiger is fun, too. And oh, Cardiac (along that Lake Berryessa loop) is another wild ride. Whew!

In the shape I'm in now, I've been up to 24mph on the flats for a brief period. I used to be able to hold almost 30mph for 2-3 minutes. This is on my DF.
On my new 'bent, I've been up to about 18mph on the flats. I'm building my new muscles.
My two fastest downhills were coming down from Paradise on the Chico Wildflower-44mph, and coming down the east side of the coastal ridge on the Marin Century-46mph.

Whenever I ride past the Port Hueneme Sea Bee base, there's this weird interefence that makes my cyclo computer go haywire. Once, it had me going 81 MPH! So, being a loyal American who would never critisize our military or it's influence on our lives, my answer is an honest, straight faced 81 MPH...

I think mine is 26.something, and that was plenty fast enough for me!
Gary, please answer in Miles Per Hour, not Slices Of Pie Per Hour...:)

Gee -- you mean this?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/Litespeed/P4150006.jpg
Only one magnet on your front wheel, Litespeed, not 10! :D

fast enough that I can hardly hear anything from the wind whistling past my ears and I remind myself to bring earplugs next time...:D
Which brings up an interesting point...does going fast while wearing a helmet generate more wind noise, and thus make it more risky? (OK, that might not be an interesting point, but just a point...)

29 solo, 33 in a group

I've been laser-timed at 39 mph (average) for 200 feet. Although that was coming off a very small (0.25%?) rise and I was still speeding back up as I went through the timing gates.

There a postion of the bike trail I sometimes ride that goes past a sewer treatment plant. It's level and flat there... about half a mile. I go through that area at about 26 - 28 MPH..... which is not fast enough.

Regularly hit 28mph in the end of ride sprint and have hit 32.

Which brings up an interesting point...does going fast while wearing a helmet generate more wind noise, and thus make it more risky? (OK, that might not be an interesting point, but just a point...)

I think it is an interesting point but have no response...:D

Oh, it's too late! We like to start our rides with that long climb up Cantelow. Hubby looooooves that steep screamin' downhill. The first few times we were flying down, I think I did most of the screaming. :eek: :eek:

Lately he's been quite reserved, hitting 30, maybe, I think...

Steiger is fun, too. And oh, Cardiac (along that Lake Berryessa loop) is another wild ride. Whew!

You can always tell how fast you are going on a tandem- By how loud the stoker screams.

As we have got onto downhill now- On the road- 52.8 but then we had to brake for the cars that we caught up in the 40 mph limit. On our annual offroad ride we did Butser hill at 53.8, but we had slowed halfway down as we were not certain if the gate was open or not. Highest speed fall offroad was at 35 mph when we had a front tyre blowout on a really gnarly lumpy flint covered descent. That one hurt. Especially as we had to get recovered as I had only recently taken the spare folder out of the top bag as we had not used it in 3 years, and the tyre was well and truly trashed.

I think it is an interesting point but have no response...:D
Well, at least I made an interesting point...for a change! :)

I have wondered about the wind whistling though my helmet when going over, say, 20 MPH, or riding into a headwind. Does it insulate you from the outside world? I've never taken my helmet off to compare the two circumstances...

Which brings up an interesting point...does going fast while wearing a helmet generate more wind noise, and thus make it more risky? (OK, that might not be an interesting point, but just a point...)
Too much wind noise for me is created by nature, not my own speed. Too much wind noise makes it harder to clearly hear the spoken word of audio books on my mp3 player. You might say isolating me from what I want to hear. I need better, wind proof headphones. When I know it will be windy on my commute I listen to my music selections where I can mentally fill in the wind obscurred gaps because I already know the songs.

I have wondered about the wind whistling though my helmet when going over, say, 20 MPH, or riding into a headwind. Does it insulate you from the outside world? I've never taken my helmet off to compare the two circumstances...

In my experience, with the wind whistling past my helmet (our Blackland prairie winds always blow) I can miss hearing vehicles coming up behind me which I don't like at all. Don't listen to radio or music on rides because I want to hear what's going on around me, especially the cars! Although many folks do it and I'm a music lover, the poor auditory quality and being cut off just makes me uncomfortable. Today I'll try my noise-reduction earplugs to see if that makes a difference in detecting anomalous sounds (over the 'whoosh') during my ride.

[NOTE: which, of course, negates my comment about using headphones during ride, doesn't it?]

Somehow I doubt that the helmet has any auditory impact but I'm just making that opinion up completely. If there weren't some aerodynamic virtues (and therefore impact on wind resistance), there wouldn't be so many different kinds of helmet designs, would there?

I don't know for sure but my ears were flappin' and the slobber was flyin' (probably about 30mph).
Steve

I tried the same mild descent twice today...once with my helmet one, once without. I hit 34 MPH on both...and was going into a pretty stiff head wind. Without the hemet was quieter, but not as much as I would have thought. Not enough to make me give up using a helmet so I could hear more.

I don't know for sure but my ears were flappin' and the slobber was flyin' (probably about 30mph).
Steve
"The slobber was flyin' " may be the best description of over-50, top end speed ever!

What really counts is sustainable average speed. My friends and I tried for 16.667mph on the Double Century, but finished in 12.3 hrs instead of 12.0.

What really counts is sustainable average speed. My friends and I tried for 16.667mph on the Double Century, but finished in 12.3 hrs instead of 12.0.

What really counts depends on what and why you are measuring. I was wanting to find out the highest speed I could go before spinning out my relatively low highest gear. 34 was plenty fast for me since I don't try to keep up with the big dogs in a hammerfest.

12.3 hours is pretty impressive for a double century. My lowest time for 200 miles is about 51 hours :o

It has to be sustained because like 1/4 mile times, a sprint is different than a top speed. I can do 30 any day any time for a short time. I can do 30 with no wind for a mile if I ain't hungover :D

All else is poppycock speculation :D


Most times anything longer than 15 miles over 23-25 and I leave a lung or something on the side of the road after I cough it up.

Double Century ? You should get a medal or a mental eval just for signing up :D

What really counts is sustainable average speed. My friends and I tried for 16.667mph on the Double Century, but finished in 12.3 hrs instead of 12.0.

That's not bad at all for 200. My best century was relatively flat, and averaged 16.01mph.

Think I've broke 30 in short bursts on level pavement with a faired recumbent but no way could I sustain anywhere near that. Usually average 15 - 20 for the average ride.

Sustained speed is ~20mph solo, 24mph with a group for 40 miles

I think it is an interesting point but have no response...:D

I think Paulie was right - not interesting.