Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Are some descents too dangerous for a brevet?

I was asked to check out a road for an upcoming brevet. There is a fairly steep descent on the road that another person thought was too dangerous. Personally, I wouldn't have even thought twice about it had I been planning the route. But now that someone else has raised doubts about the route, I'm trying to figure out what would make a descent too dangerous to include. I've thought bad things about routes with obnoxious uphills, but I've never questioned a downhill. A few fast people may ride this in the dark, but most people will ride it during the day.

Read this account of what happened to me on a 200K brevet on Vancouver Island:
http://www.machka.net/2007/2007_200_VanIsle.htm

The hill in question was a curvy 15%. It wouldn't have been as bad if:

1) there had not been muck all over it.
2) there had not been a stoplight at the bottom of it.

So those might be a couple things you consider as you look at your hill.

Just put a note on the route sheet saying "use caution on descent bad pavement (or whatever)." That should cover it.

Just put a note on the route sheet saying "use caution on descent bad pavement (or whatever)." That should cover it.

+1.

And remember, if you don't intimately know the hill, assume it becomes unpaved around the corner, drops off a cliff, or has muck all over it. And -- at least in the midwest -- assume that every steep descent ends in a T intersection. Don't trust your safety to whoever made the road or the cue sheet. Take it easy on the descents.

Also a consideration is the time of day most riders might hit the hill, 12N is a lot different than
2am. A very careful scope out is in order, of gravel-debris, traffic, terminus, pavement.
Bike riding is 'inherently' dangerous as the saying goes, but no need to add gratuitous hazards.
A 16% downhill, even a few hundred yards is good for 40+mph for those inexperienced enough
to let it all hang.

I was using the cue sheet, and the warning about the descent had me on the brakes such that at the bottom I nearly stopped before the last corner. I would say it's easy to get to 40mph on this hill, but that's not a speed that scares me much. There aren't any real road hazards, but that could change in the next month. I'm going to scout the alternatives this week.

Also a consideration is the time of day most riders might hit the hill, 12N is a lot different than
2am.

+1

This is (partially) why our upcoming 600k is starting at 9 PM - so the slower riders can descend one particular pass in the day light.

Our group held a 200k this weekend that had two descents that just terrify me - there have been a few fatalities on each. There were other reasons as well, but those two (Hogpen Gap and Brasstown Bald) had me skipping the ride.

I was on a century once and a rider in our group started yelling at us about a terribly dangerous corner coming up on a descent. He repeated himself several times, each in a more alarmed tone. Finally he dropped back in anticipation of the carnage, having failed in his effort to convince us of the danger. The corner, of course, wasn't noteworthy in any sense -- and I am neither a fast nor brave descender.

IMO, a route planner can never satisfy everyone. Unless the route suffers landmines or terminates in an unmarked cliff, just make a "caution" note on the route slip and give participants the benefit of assumed competence.

+1



imo, a route planner can never satisfy everyone. Unless the route suffers landmines or terminates in an unmarked cliff, just make a "caution" note on the route slip and give participants the benefit of assumed competence.

The first 5 miles on our club's recent 400k had a couple of hairy downhills: One was just a straight shot ~12% for about 1/4 mile, which went straight into an equal uphill; so the compression at the bottom was a little sketchy, and the group wasn't spread out yet.
The next was a twisty S-curve with no shoulder, and I'll be danged if I didn't end up almost eating gravel on it because I was trying to keep up with my ride partner who is a more confident cornering descender. You ever end up doing the inside-leg-off-the-pedal-and-hanging-to-the-inside-of-the-turn-while-riding-the-brakes because you're going too fast? That was a better wake up than an double espresso. :twitchy:

Would I call either one "too dangerous"? Nah. I just should have been watching my speed better on a hill I wasn't familiar with.