Going Downhill--FAST
08-17-09, 06:34 PM
#52
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Man, I go out for a bike ride and look what happens! 
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape
). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape
). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
08-17-09, 06:39 PM
#53
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Man, I go out for a bike ride and look what happens!
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape
). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
08-17-09, 06:44 PM
#54
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Also bear in mnd the UMCA cyclists are generall down on aerobars, as well and very aerodynamic. I crewed RAAM for Rob Lucas and he topped 70 dropping down into Monument Valley, for example, and also topped 70 dropping down Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado. I was driving the chase vehicle in both instances.
When I went down Wolf Creek it was dark and there was melting snow that I wasn't sure had turned into ice or not so I didn't get much over the mid 60's on that descent.
08-17-09, 06:47 PM
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08-17-09, 06:47 PM
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Man, I go out for a bike ride and look what happens!
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
You want to call BS, that's ok with me. No skin off my nose. This is the internet and you don't know who I am. There are a few people here who do though, Beanz included. I'm pretty sure they know me well enough to know that I don't throw anything out there that I'm not willing to back up (If my fat butt isn't out of shape
). He's what I'll do. I've got an open invitation for you to sit on the back of my tandem We'll go down a hill of my choosing. If we don't hit 70+mph (that's miles not kilometers) I'll buy you dinner. I run a 60-11 gear on my tandem so we'll be pedaling at 51mph +/-. You up for that?
08-17-09, 07:04 PM
#58
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By the way, as you get more confident, you'll start dropping hills faster. eventually, you'll hit a "Death Wobble". It's a torsional vibration from harmonic frequency differences between the balancing of the front and rear wheel. It's scary as hell, but easy to fix. Just tuck a knee into the top tube and don't stiffen or tighten the upper body. It'll stabilize. My Allez has a death wobble right around 45-48 MPH, and then it stabilizes.
08-17-09, 07:09 PM
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08-17-09, 07:12 PM
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08-17-09, 07:17 PM
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Gina and I hit 56 mph on a one mile downhill on our tandem without pedaling!
We have a roadie tndem (Burley Duet) rock solid at 56. Althought it was to fast for me considering I had my wife on the back, Homey's stuff could easily hit 71 while equipped with high end race wheels and aerodynamic equipment. Maybe a little more weight dependng on the stoker. I'm sure the hill Homey rode was a much longer and steeper grade that on which we easily hit 56 without trying.He does do the big rides that are monitored online, step by step, and stage by stage!
Now you tell them I'm not really a "big sissy" like Ronsmithjr thought I was!
08-17-09, 07:30 PM
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That's right, I know karate and ten other Japanese words.
08-17-09, 07:38 PM
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A few of the gang from the Seattle Randos race the 508. I've seen these guys take off from the start of our brevets. Sweet holy speed-demons! There was a group that finished the spring 300k in 10h 34m.
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08-17-09, 07:38 PM
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Actually what he said was that before we met on The Bear, he thought I would be a big sissy cause I posted a bunch of cry baby posts saying that I sucked at riding!
08-17-09, 07:44 PM
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You sure that wasn't the descent after Monument Valley, heading into Mexican Hat? That's where I was over 70mph? I know of several other racers who were in that speed range on that descent.
When I went down Wolf Creek it was dark and there was melting snow that I wasn't sure had turned into ice or not so I didn't get much over the mid 60's on that descent.
When I went down Wolf Creek it was dark and there was melting snow that I wasn't sure had turned into ice or not so I didn't get much over the mid 60's on that descent.
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. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
08-17-09, 07:50 PM
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Who says Clyds are slow...just don't watch me climb!
Last edited by Homeyba; 08-17-09 at 07:54 PM.
08-17-09, 08:00 PM
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Try biting his ankles.
Actually I was thinking of letting some air out of that rolling couch he's been riding around...
08-17-09, 08:56 PM
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This is so simple but I have to ask again: Are you guys in the 70+ club sure you got your computer set to the right units? I'm not insulting your intelligence by asking; after all NASA fudged the units on the Hubble Telescope so it happens to the best of us. I wonder this because in watching the TDF, I frequently heard that the rides were reaching "60-70 kilometers an hour".
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
08-17-09, 09:08 PM
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He was there at Cool Breeze too. I don't remember if he did the double metric with us or not? He's a cool guy, I like him!
08-17-09, 09:12 PM
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Our $2200 tandem is rock solid at 56 mph. It has 48 spokes and HUGE hub flanges compared to a regular roadie. The bike was super steady but our glasses and helmets were shake rattle and a rollin'! I was more afraid of my helmet evaporating than I was about the wheels.
And Homey's tandem is a little more expensive than mine, $10 maybe?
Thank goodness our hill was only one mile long. Although I was not scared at the time, I still get nightmarish flashes of what might have happened to my wife if something had gone wrong! A dog, a squirrel etc
....I won't do it again!BTW, I have read articles in Bicycling mag about velodrome racers reaching speed of 60 mph on tandems. I don't think they would lie and that's on a track with no downhill. One crashed and the rider was in a coma. Not for me!
Last edited by Mr. Beanz; 08-17-09 at 09:18 PM.
08-17-09, 09:17 PM
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That's mph, not kph. Calibrated by an average of 3 measured rollouts with my full weight on the bike. Doesn't get much more accurate.
54.6mph reached during the Summits of Bothell ride on a 1/2 mile straight downhill stretch with a clean runout at the bottom. I might have been able to go faster, but I chickened out and started tapping the brakes before I reached the bottom. Course record on that hill is supposedly 57mph.
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08-17-09, 09:55 PM
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This is so simple but I have to ask again: Are you guys in the 70+ club sure you got your computer set to the right units? I'm not insulting your intelligence by asking; after all NASA fudged the units on the Hubble Telescope so it happens to the best of us. I wonder this because in watching the TDF, I frequently heard that the rides were reaching "60-70 kilometers an hour".
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
Yes, my speedo is correct. The lady driving the follow vehicle thought I was going 75+ on her speedo. Mine only said 71.4. Sorry no picture. I was on my single bike, not the tandem here. As Beanz said, I ride high end nearly new or new equipment. I wouldn't go out there on a 20 year old Huffy 3spd. On the FC508 I once had a guy in a car pull up next to me and the passenger yelled out the window "do you know how fast you're going!!! you're going 65mph!"
My offer is genuine, I'll take you out on the tandem, we'll have some fun and you'll go very, very fast!
08-17-09, 09:56 PM
#73
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That is no small hill there young lady. If you climbed that, I am quite impressed. I mapped the hill and it looks like about 2 mile with about 900 feet of decent. 
Parts of it are showing a 19 percent grade, so it is indeed steep and cause you to gain speed quickly.(The mapping site may not be totally correct, but it does give a general idea of what the hill is like) I have a similar hill down here that I ride the brakes on.
On a side note, we are doing a Clyde/ Athena ride down in Albany on September 5th if you would like to join us. It will be a 40-50 mile no drop ride, just so you know.
Parts of it are showing a 19 percent grade, so it is indeed steep and cause you to gain speed quickly.(The mapping site may not be totally correct, but it does give a general idea of what the hill is like) I have a similar hill down here that I ride the brakes on. On a side note, we are doing a Clyde/ Athena ride down in Albany on September 5th if you would like to join us.
It will be a 40-50 mile no drop ride, just so you know.I didn't climb that road--I climbed Mountain View Road (if it has "mountain" in it ... it is a bad idea) like so: https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...07699&t=p&z=14 I think it's overall less climbing per mile(?), but there are some really steep parts, and there was one point that I could not force myself to pedal anymore, and I walked for a bit. Other than that, I would pedal for 20 yards, stop, ask myself why I am doing this to myself, and then climb up again. And it was so steep, the gear so low, that it took me about 3 tries to get started again every time. haha. The bike would only go forward a little bit, but my legs had to move really fast. So terrible. And that is why I need to do it more!
Thanks for the invite! That sounds awesome. I haven't ever done 40-50 miles because I have a pretty bad tendon problem, but I did 31 miles the other day and lived. I bet I could do 40--maybe! heh
Is it a bunch of friends or is there a website or..? Mighty neighborly of you!LandKurt: I just didn't want to get caught exaggerating, that's all
I'm not too afraid of heights, but I am afraid of wiping out in front of a school bus or something! So I can relate. PS: Karate and other Japanese words, ahaha.
08-17-09, 10:01 PM
#74
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BTW, Wild Animals, you're welcome to ride the tandem too! You're not too far away up there in Oregon
Last edited by Homeyba; 08-17-09 at 10:10 PM.
08-18-09, 04:16 AM
#75
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This is so simple but I have to ask again: Are you guys in the 70+ club sure you got your computer set to the right units? I'm not insulting your intelligence by asking; after all NASA fudged the units on the Hubble Telescope so it happens to the best of us. I wonder this because in watching the TDF, I frequently heard that the rides were reaching "60-70 kilometers an hour".
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
And speaking of high speeds, are bikes and their tires rated for a max speed? Assuming unlimited speed is possible, I'm curious at what speed stuff starts to fly apart. Tires blowing, spokes breaking, etc.
You might find these articles interesting.
the flying 200-meter world record, which is currently held by Canadian rider Sam Whittingham with a speed of 81 mph flat. That's right, 81 mph on a bike, on flat ground.
https://www.wired.com/culture/lifesty...ikerecord_0330
152.2 Miles per Hour speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah on July 20, 1985.
https://www.canosoarus.com/08LSRbicycle/LSR%20Bike01.htm
Last edited by maddmaxx; 08-18-09 at 04:21 AM.