Gus Riley

I've had an interesting debate concerning the descent off the Blue Ridge Parkway toward the town of Vesuvius. It is part of the ACA Trans American trail. The fellows I have conversed with have never ridden down it. They debate that wheel rims won't heat up on the descent as long as proper braking techniques are applied. I contend that proper braking techniques are required, but are not sufficient on this drop. That the descent in question is too steep with too many switchback turns in it to allow brake pads and rims to cool sufficiently without heating rims to dangerous temperatures. In other words, more than likely a cool down stop is “usually” recommended before reaching the bottom.

Since this thread is posted in the touring section, the conversation assumes descents on the Vesuvius downhill are on loaded tour bikes. Have you been down it, or up it for that matter? Do you think you could have ridden it at "40 mph" to sufficiently cool your rims? Do you think you could have ridden down it in 4 minutes?

JimF22003

I have never ridden down it on a touring bike, only my road bike. With all the turns the best way to avoid "overheating" is to brake really hard going into each switchback and bring your speed almost to nothing, then let it build up again so the rims cool down. I guess you could stop halfway down on a touring bike. What's the rush? Nobody on a road bike is going to stop most likely.

Please, please don't let ANY bike get up to 40mph on that descent. There are no long straights where that would be safe-ish. There are too many quick-coming switchbacks. You don't even want to go into those curves at 40 mph, let alone try to go through them at that speed.

Ah, memories. Two years ago I crashed coming down that hill. Luckily I crashed on the uphill side. I slightly overcooked a turn and went off the pavement. The front wheel hung up, and I went right over the bars. Ended up with a separated shoulder that still makes me look like quasimodo...

So, my advice is, don't overheat your rims, and don't ride off the side of the road

pdlamb

I think you'd fly off the road before, or maybe shortly after, hitting 40 mph going down that hill! 4 minutes? 45 mph AVERAGE?? I don't think so!

I stopped briefly half way down, waiting for my daughter as much as cooling the rims. (Got bored and continued before she came down.) I alternated braking with front and rear wheels, coasting with no braking where possible. She stopped twice, for 15-20 minutes total.

It is quite possible to blow the tire off. We met a kid who had done just that, and trashed his wheel to boot. I think he had it reworked at Lexington, but he was getting a new wheel shipped a few days ahead of him to replace the original. IIRC he was riding a MTB, with big fat 26" tires.

Waiting to hear from the disk brake proponents...

BigAura

I rode it a long time ago and don't remember stopping. I do as others have said and brake to near zero and then coast (i.e. cool rims) for a while.

Here's a video of the descent (not me).

Gus Riley

Loved the video, it brought the descent back to me. Proof positive that no stop is always required, and that proper braking goes a long ways. I'll bet he had some hot rims on that LHT!

Last time I was down it was on a Santana Triplet (bicycle built for three), we heated up pretty hot, hot enough where I couldn't touch the drum brake. We stopped for cooling. I'm riding down it again this coming summer on a fully loaded LHT.