Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - the up side to hills

Riding around my area there is a large hill, i hit 62km/hour before I chickened out and started breaking.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj586/tergal/th_speeding.jpg (http://s1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj586/tergal/?action=view&current=speeding.jpg)

only afterwards did i remmber the legal speed limit for that street is 50km/hour. That would suck getting booked on a bike :roflmao2:

This area is pretty hilly. Back in the day (like 15 years ago), there was one hill I used ride down and hit speeds in the mid 50s of mph. (That's between 80 and 90 kph). At the bottom of the hill was a sharp right turn, a traffic light, and an intersection with a really busy street. I used to play chicken with myself, to see how late on the hill I could delay starting to brake.

I think back on that and realize I must have had a death wish, or at least had no sense of my own mortality/vulnerability. One good accident cured me of that. If you don't actually die instantly, getting smashed up REALLY hurts.

I break the speed limit on my bike when I can. Speeding down hills is a great reward for having climbed them. If I ever get a speeding ticket while I'm riding my bike, I'll frame it.

I hit 42 mph in a 25 zone the other day. :D

I hit 38.8 yesterday and I was really hammering the pedals trying to get over 40... Strava will do that to you. :D

The speed limit was 50 mph though, so no dice on a ticket.

I hit 45 on a descent Sunday and the most interesting thoughts go through your head at 45 mph.
"Did I tighten the front wheel skewer"
"Are the brakes installed correctly"
"where's that part of the road where the tree roots are crumpling the pavement"
(I just built the bike up about 2 weeks ago)

I like the downside to hills, it's the upside I really don't care for. :lol:

LOL @ Trojan ...

Fastest I've hit, so far, is around 36.

That's downhill with a tight right bend at the base of it, which usually has a fair amount of gravel strewn about the bottom.

That'll make ya pucker!

Mine is 32. I love the feeling yet I fear sliding, falling, or finding that I really suck with flipping! :)

Thats the plus side of being a clyde too. I can whiz down hills faster then the skinny people.

I break the speed limit on my bike when I can. Speeding down hills is a great reward for having climbed them. If I ever get a speeding ticket while I'm riding my bike, I'll frame it.

+1

There's a hill near here where some curmudgeonly cop supposedly writes tickets to speeding cyclists, but between the curves, the wind, the traffic, and the traffic light 100 ft past the bottom, I've never qualified. :(

Yet. :D

I hit 38.8 yesterday and I was really hammering the pedals trying to get over 40... Strava will do that to you. :D

Fastest I've hit, so far, is around 36.

Do the aero-tuck on your way down the hill.

I hit 38.8 yesterday and I was really hammering the pedals trying to get over 40... Strava will do that to you. :D

The speed limit was 50 mph though, so no dice on a ticket.

I hit 45 on a descent Sunday and the most interesting thoughts go through your head at 45 mph.
"Did I tighten the front wheel skewer"
"Are the brakes installed correctly"
"where's that part of the road where the tree roots are crumpling the pavement"
(I just built the bike up about 2 weeks ago)

I like the downside to hills, it's the upside I really don't care for. :lol:

This from the man who did not like Starva at first. My how we have changed after just a few rides.

Yup, a speeding ticket on the bike would get framed.

Do the aero-tuck on your way down the hill.

+ 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000

I do that as often as I can. Have reached up around 46 mph using the tuck, while pedaling my @$$ off.

The upside to hills.

Stop it, you're killing me. :roflmao2:

I've hit 46 on the single and 56 on the tandem, not trying.:D

But as I have said many times before the downhill doesn't interest me. Stange but I find the downhill boring.

Although I am a fairly good descender, many others wil hit a higher max speed on a descent but I can still beat most to the bottom if it's technical at all.

I maxed about 40 on this ride but with the switchbacks, riders cant really hit a tops speed.

He white car was holding me back. You can see it punch the gas at 25 seconds into the video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6jBSRAO4qY


This is the section of road in the video (GMR)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/012011G.jpg

the upside to hills.

Stop it, you're killing me. :roflmao2:
lol

:)

Do the aero-tuck on your way down the hill.

I was tucked! It wasn't that steep of a hill because I was pedaling like mad to hit that. Like mad I say! :D

Caveat: I don't feel comfortable riding like that until I've seen the road at least once. Someday I'll have an ugly crash but I don't really worry about it.

And Sinister - yeah, how times change. It's not that I didn't like it, I just already had a bunch of ways to track my riding. "Starva" (is that a clyde reference? Hm?) just has a couple things that elevate it over the other generic phone tracker apps.

I break the speed limit on my bike when I can. Speeding down hills is a great reward for having climbed them. If I ever get a speeding ticket while I'm riding my bike, I'll frame it.

I hit 42 mph in a 25 zone the other day. :D

+1

I hit 42 last year, unfortunately the limit was 45, so nothing to frame.

If it's any consolation, I have nothing to frame, either. Where's a cop when you need one?!?

I just already had a bunch of ways to track my riding. "Starva" (is that a clyde reference? Hm?) just has a couple things that elevate it over the other generic phone tracker apps.


I like Endomondo, as it gives me split times, by the mile. I can then download it to my computer, and transfer it to Strava. I really like that 1 feature over all the rest. I don't like iMapMyRide as they don't take out stoppage time.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429639_10150657716606764_519101763_9233094_2040208230_n.jpg

Recorded 54.6mph on the 2008 Summits of Bothell ride coming down a clean, dry, 4 lane strip of asphalt with a great runout at the base before any stops or turns.
The speed limit on the road is 40mph.

Scary! 32 MPH is my record which was over the speedlimit of the road. I didn't want to do much faster since right at the bottom of the hill the road ended in a T with a ditch and barbed wire fence on the other side. :P

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429639_10150657716606764_519101763_9233094_2040208230_n.jpg

Recorded 54.6mph on the 2008 Summits of Bothell ride coming down a clean, dry, 4 lane strip of asphalt with a great runout at the base before any stops or turns.
The speed limit on the road is 40mph.

What are the zip ties and binder clips for?

If it's any consolation, I have nothing to frame, either. Where's a cop when you need one?!?

Many years ago a guy on Cycle Oregon got a speeding ticket at Crater Lake.

What are the zip ties and binder clips for?

Cue sheet holders.

...

Recorded 54.6mph on the 2008 Summits of Bothell ride coming down a clean, dry, 4 lane strip of asphalt with a great runout at the base before any stops or turns.
The speed limit on the road is 40mph.

Somewhere I have a picture of my speedo and it shows the max speed at 108. Of course that was on a brevet and the computer was reading in kilometers/hr. ;) Looks real impressive though. My max speed ever was 72.4mph descending into Mexican Hat UT at 4:00 amish. That was pretty cool.

Riding around my area there is a large hill, i hit 62km/hour before I chickened out and started breaking.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj586/tergal/th_speeding.jpg (http://s1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj586/tergal/?action=view&current=speeding.jpg)

only afterwards did i remmber the legal speed limit for that street is 50km/hour. That would suck getting booked on a bike :roflmao2:


One advantage of cycling in the UK is that bikes aren't legally required to have a speedo so unless you're massively over the limit in a way that nobody would take a claim of not realising how fast you were going seriously the most a cop can usually do is have a word with you and tell you to cool it.

That said I remember one hill I discovered a while back. As I started to descend I had a car just a little too close behind me. Next thing I knew it had dropped way back. I figured it was nice of the driver to give me some space but I didn't need quite so much space. Then I realised - the road had a 30mph limit enforced with cameras and my speed had gone up to about 35-36 without even pedalling. Luckily it was a road where I had priority for a good couple of miles so I could take advantage of my momentum and cruise in the high 20s for a while.

I break the speed limit on my bike when I can. Speeding down hills is a great reward for having climbed them. If I ever get a speeding ticket while I'm riding my bike, I'll frame it.

Heck yeah, me too. I'll even post a picture of it on BF. :)

Only when cycling in hills is the upside the downside and the downside the upside ;)

I think I hit around 28 to 30mph one time last summer and it nearly scared the you know what out of me. I have no descending skills whatsoever and I was very surprised I didn't overheat the rim(s) and blow a tire (or two) because I think I was riding my brakes most of the way down.

A tip of the hat to all of you speed demons out there. I admire your skills (and bravery LOL).

:)

Highest I ever hit was 58 it was a blast but I have yet to hit the same speed been close a few times but it was a magical moment.

Actually on this subject , i had a chat with a Local cop on his bike this morning. In Australia if you are found to be speeding on your bike and you bike has a speedo you will be fined and have points taken off your car licenses

Just carry a can of 4X in one jersey pocket. It's a small price to pay.

That, and get a wireless bike computer that you can remove when you get pulled over and just say you forgot it at home. WTF kind of stupid rule is that anyway? You're not going to plow into a building and kill children while riding a bike and it's pretty unusual for a bike to exceed the speed limit anyway. It *can* be done of course, just unusual.

Just carry a can of 4X in one jersey pocket. It's a small price to pay.

That, and get a wireless bike computer that you can remove when you get pulled over and just say you forgot it at home. WTF kind of stupid rule is that anyway? You're not going to plow into a building and kill children while riding a bike and it's pretty unusual for a bike to exceed the speed limit anyway. It *can* be done of course, just unusual.

It applies when on the road i guess because you have to act and behave like a car ( follow the road rules) , and on the paths you must not be a hazard to anyone. ( makes you wonder i am allowed on the bike at all :innocent: )


I don't mind the rule i guess because it means cars know in general how i am going to behave :rolleyes: maybe...