60 mph on Stone Schoolhouse Road near Lake George in upstate NY in 1988 on a prototype steel mountain bike that's sitting right beside me in my office.
It was the first bike that got me riding as an adult and I've never stopped. Moved back to Boulder after a couple of years upstate and have ridden literally everything in the area but never exceeded that top speed again and not without trying.
But that was well over half my life ago, and I've got to say that for me, being older doesn't necessarily mean closer to death. Pretty sure I was closer to death when I was younger.
Along with everything else I was into back then - way closer when I was younger.