Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - What speed makes you kind go "oh crap"?

so I was out on a ride last night and took a new route, come up to a pretty decent looking hill, make it up in the 2nd chainring about 1/2 way until i need to granny gear it. well 10 miles later returning in my route back i now get to go down this hill. I rarely look at my speedo going downhill, more for safety sake, but glanced down and saw 35mph and it was increasing. Def hit the brakes a couple times going down the hill just to keep things in check. Not sure if I'm quite comfortable with speeds over that quite yet.

In my case, it's between 48 and 53 MPH on a downhill, because that's the speed range "death wobble" occurs on my Allez. The wobble quits at ~53, though, and the fastest I've hit on a downhill was 63. I've seen a rider top 70 though on a DH down Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado.

Around 40mph I start to get nervous about road conditions and such. A crash at that point is going to hurt and probably require a call to 911. I would like to find a few downhills that would get me to 50 just to experience it, but not many around these parts.

I reach the "oh crap" point at around 30mph. My fastest speed ever was 39, and that was pretty scary. If I could ride on only smooth roads I wouldn't have much of a problem, but I worry about hitting a pothole and flying over the bars.

I hit 39 on a rusted out cruiser with dry rot tires (checked my speed with road bike next to me). Stupid? Yes. Oh crap? Something like that...

I have hit ~80 km/h (50 mph) on my roadbike on a very rutted and rough paved road. The faster you go the more the bike smooths out the road - to a point.

I used to draft off busses and trucks to get across town - I would cruise at about ~60km/h until I got to a railway crossing - never tried to jump it at speed.

I guess it depends where. The fastest I've gone so far was 38 mph but it was on a road I knew well so I was comfortable. I was trying to break 40 but couldn't quite do it. In another case I was on an unfamiliar road on a steep down hill and was pretty scared at 35 mph. There were cars around me and I knew there was an intersection ahead and I didn't feel I was in control of the bike. As I become more experienced, I hope to feel more comfortable at higher speeds.

Michael

I don't like to go much above 50 mph. I used to like to go faster, but hit a deer last year on my bicycle going down a hill at 32 mph. Three deer jumped out in front of me from behind some willow shrubs, and I hit the middle one. I had been going about 36 mph, but slowed down to only about 32 mph when I hit it.

I still like to go fast, but have noticed that my front end also gets wobbly over about 55 mph, and I'm also concerned if I will be able to avoid something like gravel in the road on a curve going that fast. Almost all the hills that you can reach those speeds on around here, have blind curves. Scary stuff if you are going too fast.

I have never reached it yet. lol

40s. I'm fine in the 30s, been in the 40s a couple times going downhill. Fun, but ... seems a little too dangerous to be worthwhile. Perhaps with time I'll fel more comfortable with it, as others have stated.

I get a bit antsy at low 40's, partly because I'm a forensic engineer and have investigated bicycle and MC accidents. If you fall at this speed, you will be hurt. what can cause you to fall? Road debris and defects are pretty problematic, the worst I've seen is the 1" lip on a utility trench that settled while a rider was going about 40, the front tire rubbed the lip and he went down hard, busted pelvis, pins and concussion. So, make sure if you're going to go that fast, know the road.

I have a slight height phobia. Ever looked down at the pavement , when doing a downhill. . My habit is to wear out my brakes, rather than go that fast. I tap my brakes like at every 20 seconds. I hope my rims don't get too hot with just that ocassional tap. Maybe next road bike I should invest in disc brakes.

48-50mph is a typical morning speed as I fly down Novelty Hill Road; a wonderful 2.25 mile downhill stretch to start my commute. I'm comfortable with that speed only when:

A) It's light out
B) I'm not carrying a bunch of stuff
C) Traffic is low

In the winter when it's dark or traffic is bunched up, I keep it at a top of 30 - 35. I currently don't go much past that when I'm carrying anything, either. I just recently started carrying larger loads, so I'm not as confident in my handling skills while loaded down yet.

One day I will get a bike computer so I will know what that speed is when it happens, but so far it hasn't happened. I can say that there has once or twice where I have thought that a wreck would probably hurt at this speed. I think that means that I am getting old.:twitchy: because I did not used to ever think that.

haven't gotten there yet. fastest I have gotten to was about 38mph. I do get a bit nervous if I let myself get going to fast coming into downhill stop signs/lights, and will start breaking very early and often.

so far on my mountain bike ... i have been 49mph ... and only reason i said 'oh crap' was because of the rabbit that kept darting back and forth between my front and back tires while i was going down a steep hill ...

no hills near me :( so i haven't found the highest comfortable speed. 35 is the highest i hit, but could not hold it for very long.

40 MPH.

I have spent too much $$ and too much time at 2 graduate schools to justify going any faster.

Funny topic... After years of kamikaze luck I had a high-speed crash at the beginning of June and got banged-up pretty good. I live in flatlands so I didn't hit another hill until a couple of weeks ago. I was riding the brakes all the way down the hill (near Faunteroy in W. Seattle) and very nervous. Doing STP the next day brought back my confidence. I will definitely slow down a lot more often than I used to. Road rash of that magnitude is total hell.

Edit: Fastest ever was 56mph going down Glacier Point Road in Yosemite... I could have gone faster but I started getting un-nerving speed wobbles and said "oh crap".

I've hit 35.8 on my mountain bike.. I'm looking forward to doing that hill on my new road bike. I expect to be faster than 40 and I don't think I'll have an issue with that. Above that, I don't know.

When I was younger I used to hit a lot faster than that on my motorcyle.. I know it's different, but having the road flying under you at those speeds was interesting..

32 mph while feathering the rear brake with a strange club ride out of Augusta, GA in Aiken County, SC, in the rain, then the brake shoes wore off completely off the rear caliper. Coming back, cars didn't pass me on one downhill as I was near the posted 40mph limit.

55 km per hour is the fastest I've reached downhill.

I was on my way to the lbs to get my brakes fixed when I decided to let the bike just go down a fairly busy street. It was all "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" until the red light a block made me remember I was getting my brakes fixed (I could hold the brake levers flat against the handlebars and not stop the bike at 20 km per hour). Then it was "omg! I'm sorrrrrrrrrrry!!!" as I raced through the red light past alarmed looking drivers.

Yeah, it was really cool. And stupid. Really cool stupid!

I have hit some pretty high speeds on the road but it is not the speed that makes me say "Oh Shyte!!" but rather the car at the bottom of the hill about to turn left (or right) when I am moving at a fast pace and HOPING they see me coming and do not try and make the turn before I get there.

:beer:

Twice @ 70+

I know that sounds somewhat improbable, and all I have as evidence is both times were during USCF road races and confirmed with NYS Trooper radar, and we all know they're never wrong. Once out around the Syracuse area and the other down the east side of Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. I will say that both were in paceline situations with all members working well together to achieve it. I don't think it's possible solo (under normal conditions on a normal road bike).

I'll also add that the experience was indescribable as the bike (an early model Cannondale aluminum) took on handling characteristcs I'd never sensed before (or since). Whether we actually broke 70 or not, it was a most unusual experience.

C.

I have never reached it yet. lol

I'm with Stujoe - there is no limit to how much speed I like to get going on a downhill. I just wish I could go faster UP them!:D

If you want to see something scary, you should watch crazylady drop a hill at 40+ on a trike! (Delta, not a tadpole. :eek:). I've seen her do it on her Sun EZ3.......with loaded panniers and trunk bag on the back

I can tell you from riding it down a hill myself that the steering gets real twitchy at anything over 20 MPH, and you have to keep a gentle grip and very slow steer motions.

I hit 48 on a downhill on the Michigander this year on my Trek Madone 5.5 coming into Traverse City... I was watching the Edge 705 read out 41, 42 and then 43 but as speed kept building, I was too scared to take my eyes of the road after 43 and didn't see I hit 48.2 mph until I finished the ride and checked the stats. No wobble, though... but that was about as fast as I'm comfortable with at this stage of my cycling life.

When I go night riding on the MTB, it's about 10mph. The damn rabbits jump out with suicidal tendencies. They're out to get us!

When I go night riding on the MTB, it's about 10mph. The damn rabbits jump out with suicidal tendencies. They're out to get us!

i think there is a conspiracy with those rabbits and MTB's ... them and those darned squirrles that keep throwing pinecones at me ...

55 mph on a tandem with my kid. My wife would never let me go past 45 mph (Screaming "We're going to die! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! We. Are. Going. To. Die!", once I got past 40 mph.

53 mph on US40 off the back of Lookout Mountain here in Colorado (pretty regular occurrence :D) on any number of road bikes.

45 mph off-road on a mountain bike (rigid).

48 mph on 2 different loaded touring bikes (55 lb load). One developed a death wobble at 48...very scary with a loaded bike:eek::eek::eek: and the other ran out of downhill before I could go faster;)

My "Oh Crap" moment is usually on the uphill bits - around 10km/hr when all the others that I've been tracking alongside without a problem on the flats - all disappear ahead of me.

No limits on the downhill - It's my only advantage and time to peg back some time.

So far my only oh crap moment has been at 0 mph when I remembered I was still clipped in.

Speed wise I have been up to 47 and wished the hill was longer :(

70+ on a bike!!! I get nervous going that fast in my car :-) I think your oh crap speed is related to your age. In my teens and twenties I'd go as fast as I possibly could. Now that I'm pushing 50 I think the mid 30's is fast enough. What's the hurry?

On a straight or mostly straight downhill I've been a little over 60 and didn't have a problem. Throw in other riders or obstacles and 40 is pretty scary.

I'm pushing 50 years old myself, but I love the speed......

There is nothing better to me than spinning out the crank and then tucking in all aero and letting gravity and aerodynamics do their thing.


70+ on a bike!!! I get nervous going that fast in my car :-) I think your oh crap speed is related to your age. In my teens and twenties I'd go as fast as I possibly could. Now that I'm pushing 50 I think the mid 30's is fast enough. What's the hurry?

I've watched plenty of TDF and Tour De Espana videos. The mtns in the Spanish tour are so steep that several of the PRO/TDF riders use triples and/or compacts. The commentators state that the riders touch speeds of 60 mph tops. And that's the PRO's on some of the biggest mtns in the world. So those that claim to do 60 plus, you're definately TDF material!:roflmao2:

On the big mtns rides that I've done, I've only been able to top 45 mph on a 40 mile long downhill on my single. 40 and below is comfy, 45 starts to get a bit scary. Not the handling, just thoughts of what could happen.

Once hit 56 mph on our tandem on a very steep hill. Bike was rock steady but helmets and glasses were going crazy. I still daydream of cosequences that could have occured during that ride. Silly and and uncalled for risk IMO. I wonder what might have happened if a dog or cat had got in our path. I daydream of my wife hitting the pavement at that speed and it just gives me the chills or spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair cause I wanted to break 50. I don't drink but feel like I need a beer after I have those thoughts!:eek:

I did an endo on the dirt at 25 mph (mtb). Broke the helmet from back to front. I'd hate to think of the results had I been on the pavement.:(

This is descending Mt Baldy. A 5k climb most clydes won't, maybe can't do! I do pretty well on the downhill flying by riders on the 20 mile descent. I hit speeds of 40, maybe 45 if I'm lucky on the straight sections, 30 mph in the switchbacks. But you guys hit 60,70 mph, some in the dirt?:D


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/FredGMR-1.jpg

I have hit about 35 mph on my hybrid and have been pretty comfortable, but I am pretty sure I am quickly approaching my comfort level. I hit 29.3 mph on my commute this morning and didn't really notice the speed. I would not relish a crash at that speed, but I would have to say that my current "Oh crap" limit would be somewhere in the low to mid 40 mph range.

Maybe my limit will go up when I get a road bike, but that is a bridge I will have to cross when I get to it.

I live in the Midwest and 'I hit a deer' stories abound. There has got to be a good one for your post-my co-workers are now inquiring about the guy on the bike, how he is, what it did to him, his bike, the deer, "bikes can go that fast?", etc. I DO show them my speedometer from time to time where I have gotten up to 28 before and they joke and say I reprogrammed it or something.




I don't like to go much above 50 mph. I used to like to go faster, but hit a deer last year on my bicycle going down a hill at 32 mph. Three deer jumped out in front of me from behind some willow shrubs, and I hit the middle one. I had been going about 36 mph, but slowed down to only about 32 mph when I hit it.

I still like to go fast, but have noticed that my front end also gets wobbly over about 55 mph, and I'm also concerned if I will be able to avoid something like gravel in the road on a curve going that fast. Almost all the hills that you can reach those speeds on around here, have blind curves. Scary stuff if you are going too fast.

When I'm mashing it for all it's worth, turning myself inside out, burning up my legs, and tongue is wagging, and I look down and the Fredometer is reading 18 mph, I generally say, "Oh Crap".

I hate those days.

I regularly do 50+ mph on my morning commute going down Lake Tapps Blvd. in Auburn Wa. People tell me that I could get a speeding ticket for going that fast down that road (40 mph limit). I tell them if I get a ticket. I’ll frame it! :innocent:

My OH CRAP! moment came during a Death Wobble on one of those descents. Then I :DI’ve since mounted a new Mavic wheelset. The ride is smoother now and I wouldn’t mind going faster.:thumb::thumb:

I hit 64 mph on a paved downhill one time on Yates Hill Rd (hadn't been on it before). I was scared sh1tless..especially when I saw the stop sign at the bottom. Don't think I want to hit a speed like that again. I was on my old GT Zaskar mt bike. Very scary....

18mph on Little Red (Dahon folder) and 35mph on the road bike, more because of lack of experience at higher speeds; the bike is still plenty stable at that speed.

43.39 MPH going downhill with full touring load this summer. I could have gone a bit faster if the road wasn't narrow and winding down the side of a small mountain.

It is all relative, I regularly hit 40 - 45 mph on the two downhills on my commute. In light or no traffic I don't even think about it, in traffic with some dim bulb drifting over toward me while yacking on their cell phone I am more than a little unnerved.

I think I have hit a max of about 50 mph during my commute according to my cycle computer, interestingly enough the guy that I always pass on the way to work claims 60 on the same hill... even as I pull away from him .... got to take the speed claims with a grain of salt... unless you are that nut that went 170 km/h down the volcano...

70+ on a bike!!! I get nervous going that fast in my car :-) I think your oh crap speed is related to your age. In my teens and twenties I'd go as fast as I possibly could. Now that I'm pushing 50 I think the mid 30's is fast enough. What's the hurry?

Yup, that was during my Roaring 20's when we're all indestructible. Now on the cusp of 50 I, like other OF's here have posted, still get a kick out of The Speed, and regularly hit the mid 40's on my regular loop. But it's a controlled descent and I actually use the brakes somewhat [gasp].

Anything over 25mph...I'm top heavy.

I think your oh crap speed is related to your age.

Yeah, it's called senile! C'mon, the best pros in the world maybe hit 60 on the biggest mtns in the world when they breakaways from the peloton! Mtns they need compacts and triples to climb! 70+? 64 on an old mtb?:rolleyes:

I hit ~35, then a car.

I was on an older Huffy MTB heading home with a new alternator in my backpack. I was heading down a fairly sized hill, with a building at the bottom of the hill and a driveway on the other side of the building. I didn't know it, but there was a car coming out of the driveway. I was going about 35-40ish, when I hit the front fender and flipped over my handlebar. I hurt my ankle pretty bad, but was able to walk it off. Taco'd the front rim, and messed up the car pretty good. Her fender, hood, and the windshield was smashed by my alternator.

So, yeah. It wasn't an "oh crap" moment, but more of an "OH HOLY HELL I'M GOING TO DIE!" moment.

My "oh crap" moment was when I touched wheels with the rider in front and did a face plant, going 13 mph. Well, the real words were something other than "oh crap". I have hit 41 or so coming off Crater Lake rim once and 43 or so coming down from Hurricane Ridge. Was that ever fun!