Originally Posted by
JoeyBike
I find that if I'm cycling at 20 mph I get treated like a motorcyclist on city streets with speed limits up to 35 mph. The slower i go the more trouble I have. Anything less than 15 mph and I'm right-hook bait and getting close passed all day. Being able to sprint up to 30+ for a block or two is a HUGE advantage when needed. I would not ride a bike on any city street under 15 mph.
This is why I avoid those "how fast do you ..." threads. 30mph is the speed the e-motorcycle hooligans that y'all's love to throw hate at are supposed to ride. I.e. a thoroughly unattainable speed for decent cycling. How fast did a doped Lance Armstrong accelerate to 30mph? How long could a doped Lance Armstrong hold 30mph on level ground? I know you are at least my age and probably not in as good a shape. Unless your bike is e-assisted, which if is the case, it would be polite to mention. Unless assisted, a more realistic top speed to hold for an untrained city cyclist for a block on
level ground is 20mph to possibly 25mph, depending on talent/training/experience. Add even one more block and that drops to 17mph tp 20mph. Most riding is done at 8mph to 12mph. And a more realistic lower limit to insist on is zero speed. I am often at <4mph to zero speed on city streets, and I will not proceed into any situation where I cannot safely reduce my speed to zero without impeding the smooth flow of traffic around me.