It was a 12% downgrade, and it scared me so...
 

I walked it. Yup. Its a long way down, nearly straight down, and sitting on a 63cm frame it looked like I was trying to jump off the Empire State Building. Its seriously a good half-mile or more descent, and I just didn't know how to ride it. :twitchy:

How do I ride that hill down?


It was a different route for me and the first time facing that hill down. I like the rest of the route, but I can't keep walking my bike down that part. I posted this here because this is the section I spend my time in.

12%?!? Man up. Use your brakes or just let loose and fly. That's steep, but not that steep.

Keep both hands on the brake levers. Rise out of the seat, and straddle the top tube with your knees to keep the frame from bouncing -- the idea is to transmit the vibrations through your body, rather than have the frame absorb them.

And enjoy! We used to go to a state park that had some wicked hills; though most of them were fairly short. I had a blast on them; riding my Viscount, complete with the "death fork" on some of the trips....

Hell, I get freaked out at curvy 8% grade. Couple a steep drop off with no barriers. It's not so much the speed but the cornering around a 100 foot drop off..

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=134896http://www.flickr.com/photos/persephonesharvest

Here is a view from the top, though not of the street itself. I'm essentially going to the gravel/brown section you see coming on from the bottom right edge.

Maybe the combination of speed and shoulder is what's putting you off? When you go fast, take the whole lane as no cars will be overtaking you, I presume. Since your posting here, maybe you have a vintage lightweight that isn't as high speed friendly as a more modern bike, maybe borrow a newer bike to get your confidence up? The longer wheelbase and different trail of an older lightweight give a more vague feeling front end at high speed.

Yes, I was on an '85 Nishiki Prestige. Its in good riding shape, the wheels are trued and roll well, and the brakes work fine. I was just envisioning losing control, and decided I needed to be more confident if I was going to try it. I wasn't really up for a faceplant this morning.

12% is seriously steep for a 240lb person. I dont blame you for taking the safe route. From a physics perspective your starting of with almost 2X more potential energy than a flyweight 150lb rider on a 17lb carbon bike.

There was a brief moment where I wondered if I really got a head of steam going if I could reenact Micheal J. Fox and his DeLorean.

I agree with Jim...take it easy and safe. Don't do anything you're uncomfortable with. Do it once riding the brakes and maybe lay off them a bit until you get comfortable.

I don't know the answer, so here goes....is there a point at which I can lose the brakes? In a car, if you ride them downhill too long they can overheat and become useless/less effective. I considered the same could happen with the bike, esp. because I'm not lightweight. I didn't actually think they would melt, but I worried a bit that something like melting might happen.

Once you reach terminal velocity, you don't need brakes. Just ride it out.

I once tried to climb this "mountain" (it's actually a hill), right behind where I live. The road has some ridiculously steep sections, tight, TIGHT hair pins, and is also in rough repair.

Oh, and it's 1.5 lanes....

Descending is what I love, but it made me nervous....because of how fast I would accelerate, without even pedalling, while heading for a hard 90, or a hairpin.

My strategy, was to put my center of gravity as far back as possible when braking hard, and releasing the brakes as much as I could on the short straights. To control my speed, I was pretty much constantly dragging the rear brake, but even so, there were points when even if I locked the rear wheel, I'd still be accelerating (Disturbing feeling that). Worse was when I tried dragging my front, and started smelling the brake compound.

In the end: Take it as slow as you can, alternate dragging rear and front brakes to keep the rims from getting too hot. Just....ONLY drag the front on a clear stretch of pavement, NOT over rough/broken tarmac. Keep your balance rearward, and stay out of the saddle. Use your arms and legs as your suspension, and I believe, you should be fine.

250 lbs here and let it rip! I barely touched the brakes.

This is on a decent of 1 mile where the elevation change is 1300 feet to 800 feet.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...00952MPHLg.jpg

So there you are, flying down the hill at over 51 mph and you manage to whip your SLR out of your knapsack, sit back, check light readings and depth of field and snap a perfectly in-focus picture? Your job is paying off, Bob! :D

Yep, you can overheat or smoke the brakes, different than in a car though (unless you're running hydraulic disks).

Keep your speed under control, shift your weight back a little, off and on the brakes and don't ride them, alternate front and rear. Do a youtube search for bicycle braking and ignore the crazy ones.

Find some shorter grades to practice on. Zig-zag if there's no traffic. Search for videos of MTB'ers and downhill braking.

I've walked a few of the hills in downtown Seattle several decades ago, no real shae in that. It's better to walk than to give a crowd something to applaud about sometimes.

I guess don't do anything you're uncomfortable with. That said, my driveway is 10% and the a lot of the MTB trails behind my house have to be descended with your butt rubbing the rear wheel (and even then it's a bit tippy sometimes) so it's hard for me to be sympathetic....I used to have a job near home about a mile away and 600 feet below. I'd push off and not pedal a stroke all the way. Coming home was a serious b!tch though!




flatlanders.....sheesh....

:lol:

I drive down that road nearly every day, and thought, "hey, this will be soooo much fun tomorrow". Then I got to the top, and well, walked. Its an extremely busy road, and a pretty busy intersection at the bottom, and I just needed to figure it out before I went for it.

I'll try it, eventually...

It's not the loss of brakes that will get you, it's the bursting tire from heating up the braking surface on the rim and causing the tire to expand:D

However, that's unlikely in a distance of 1/2 mile.

If you can't stop a bike, its scary and this thread is bringing back bad memories for me!

I saw one guys on an old pink mercier blow out his tubular while braking decending ventoux at the tour de france this year. I saw alot of flat tyres that day (some with both front and back) and an ambulance arriving at a corner to help a fallen cyclist who was on the other side of the barriers. We we decending on a 1979 mafac racer equipped tandem and when ever I poured water onto the steel rim's it bubbled and boiled. I have changed the rims and pads now, so I hope thats problem solved.

Both hands on drops and fingers on the brake levers.

Keep your body LOW!

Push back until your butt is almost off the rear of the seat.

Weight goes on the outside pedal.

Lean into turn BUT push on the inside handlebar, as though trying to go straight. Dynamic tension between these two is how you steer.

Watch where you want to go NOT what you want to avoid. You will go where you LOOK.

You're starting with ~50% more potential energy. That is, (240 + 17 lb)/(150 +17 lb) = 1.54 (54% more mass = 54% more energy, potential or kinetic)

I got something like that in my neck of the woods, last time I went down it, it had recently rained, and my rims were sizzling... Fun though, in a scary sort of way.

With those conditions, I wouldn't ride it either. I used to live in California, and there are some descents I wouldn't touch unless the roads were closed (and a couple that I wouldn't attempt even with a closed road). What did that guy say about discretion being the better part of valor?

...course you're listening to a guy who can legally post in the 50+ forum and never had a broken bone. :o

Eventually, if it's comfortable, try it.
If not, don't worry about it.