Originally Posted by evictionsurplus
You are all nuts. I top 35mph from time to time. But at that point I have visions of questionable pavement, unseen obsticles, broken cheek bones and tibias and skin grafts. That is when I modulate brakes and pray to a god I don't believe in.
I've hit pavement at 35 mph (probably more than once...) and it's not that bad as long as you don't hit a stationary object or get run over by another bike. You don't even have to lose that much skin-- modern bike clothes don't rip as fast as the old wool ones and you often get more of a rug burn.
Fastest I can remember seeing is 52 mph, in Rochester, Minnesota of all places. I think I hit about 50 on a mountain bike on a descent on the haul road in Alaska.
I do mid-40's all the time on mountains in southern California without working at it.