A 4 mile sprint at 30 mph? No problem, piece of cake.











Just point me out a nice straight, uninterrupted, 4 mile long hill to ride down.

*sprint*

You exposed me! In reality I'm a fred who is is sick and tired of being passed by long distance commuters who can actually ride at 20 mph (after a 4 mile warm up)!

Call it what you want... I can average riding faster for 4 miles than I can ride for 20 miles or 100+ miles.

And there is no need to conserve lots of energy for the rest of the ride.

Oh, ok.

The engine matters a lot but gear ratios also matter a lot. All sorts of fancy training regimens (and diet) can help you be a faster sprinter but if one really wants to have a faster cruising speed they need to continuously ride in a higher ratio until it becomes comfortable and then ride in a higher ratio again. And that's my wisdom as an almost 50 year old who smokes cat 6 whippersnappers every damn day.

Do the whippersnappers know that they are in a race with a bicycling stud? Or that they are even in a race at all?

On my commute we often form a small peloton west-bound up the Hawthorne bridge. Fun.

Do Portland bike commuters really willingly follow strangers that closely at any kind of speed for any kind of distance (peloton style); do Portland bike commuters really willingly allow strangers to follow them that closely at speed for any kind of distance?

If so, what for; to gain a few seconds on the commute?

Doesn't sound like fun to me.

A "real sprint" usually lasts only about 10-30 seconds at most and anything longer then that is not a sprint.
The energy system in a human body can only generate enough ATP to allow about 10-30 seconds of maximal speed or power and after that you slow down. There is no human being who can ride 4 miles in 10-30 seconds.

Makes the time go a little faster and it can be enjoyable. Once you've had some experience the risks are quite low.

1-2 minutes ??. What's taking you so long ??...On a flat road with no wind, I can go from 0-30 in less then a minute on my fixed gear commuter bike , but I can only maintain that speed for few seconds before spinning out and then I need to slow down.

True,
But there are a couple of people that are able to maintain 30 MPH (2 minute miles) for an hour without drafting.
Excluding stop lights, they should be able to finish the 4 mile ride in about 8 minutes, perhaps a bit less, after all, it is only 8 minutes, and not an hour.

I originally wrote about a minute but decided that the commuting forum was not ready for that kind of honesty.

(I tire of the sarcastic exclamations that anyone who can sustain 25 mph should be riding the tour de france.)

A couple of people. Hahahahahaha!

Seeing posts on a forum and seeing it in person are two different things (no accusation meant or implied). Typical encounters on my daily commute, running errands, or weekend rides rarely confirm such athletic prowess except for those rare occasions I cross paths with a serious club ride.
Its not exactly being cynical to take such claims with a grain of salt. "if its on the internet it must be true"

I saw that you wrote sprint but you also wrote that it takes you a few minutes to get to that speed. Since sprints don't generally last that long I though you might build up to that as your cruising speed.

...ok?

Since the UCI doesn't govern commuters, it might be more.
Graeme Obree would be able to ride with the handlebars of his choice.
And, old Lance (not an hour contender) would be allowed to take the meds of his choice.

A couple. An effort like that would get you a top 10 finish at the national championship TT. https://www.usacycling.org/results/i...permit=2015-12

That is some deep field you link to. Perhaps you have not followed the recent cattle call of pros who have ridden an hour at 32+. I believe Wiggins just hit 34 mph.

Although to be fair...without pharamceuticals and doping 30 might still be a big barrier.