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How fast can you ride, and how slow?

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How fast can you ride, and how slow?

Old 03-17-11, 04:52 PM
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How fast can you ride, and how slow?

On a more humorous note, how slow can you cycle? (I might hold the record ;-P)

Also how fast have you ridden a bike, gravity assist is OK!
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Old 03-17-11, 05:10 PM
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For slow, I guess the accurate answer would be "the limit approaching zero", but only for a duration also approaching zero, as I stop. :-)

But seriously, I took a bike handling skills clinic that focused a lot on slow riding. Slow and no-hands being the tough combo. Not sure how slow I was going in and out of the cones they set up.

I've only been up to 40ish, but am looking forward to some faster downhills later this year.
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Old 03-17-11, 05:34 PM
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Fast: 36 downhill. Slow: 2 mph on level ground. (Just tested it today to convince myself that slowing down in my new clipless pedals was not lethal).
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Old 03-17-11, 05:35 PM
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Fastest - 56 mph (road bike) going down a steep grade in Mammoth... I probably would have gotten close to 60 but I got scared and started braking.

I know for absolute certainty I can climb that same steep hill going 2.3 mph for 6 miles. It was painfuly slow and I was amazed the bike stayed upright. I did get to see alot of scenary - it interesting what you see when you ride at the speed of a walk! I have probably gone even slower on my mountain bike but I don't have an speedometer on that bike.
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Old 03-17-11, 05:49 PM
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Fastest about 45 MPH on a long steep downhill.

Slowest sustained about 0.50 MPH or so with the lower limit being patience. On a trike. On two wheels I can handle slow walking speeds just so you don't also expect gum chewing.
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Old 03-17-11, 05:50 PM
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Damn, U all R good...
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Old 03-17-11, 06:34 PM
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Fastest (recently): 28.6 mph on flat ground. Slowest - I've a two second "track stand" on a road bike (handy trick at stop signs).
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Old 03-17-11, 06:36 PM
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My 8-y-o nephew comfortably walks at about 1.5mph; I can roll next to him.

When I was 15, on a 10-speed Schwinn, I hit 56mph leaving Brown County State Park.
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Old 03-17-11, 06:39 PM
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Fast enough to hurt myself, slow enough to remain upright.
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Old 03-17-11, 07:13 PM
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I've had several of my bikes up over 53 mph. If I'm planning on doing a hilly tour, I've been known to put my 30/44/58 crankset on, so I can pedal to 50. Slow? I think I can stay balanced down to about 2.4 or 2.5 mph. Probably even slower on my upright, but then I hardly ever ride it.
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Old 03-17-11, 07:19 PM
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I have gone a little over 50 mph coming down a straight section of a mountain descent. I can move at a dead crawl of about 2mph on my MTB and have held a track stand for several seconds waiting for a light to change.
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Old 03-17-11, 07:26 PM
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I have two goals in life. One is to get a speeding ticket on my bike. The other is to be able to do a trackstand clipped in without embarrassing myself.
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Old 03-18-11, 12:09 AM
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I did get a speeding ticket, 35mph paced by the cop, on a ten speed when i was 17. This was on a flat street. 45 or so coming down in the hills. Slowest, 4/5 mph going up in the mountains.
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Old 03-18-11, 01:12 AM
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Well, the fastest I ever went was 66 mph in somewhere between Banff and Jasper. But it was only 33 mph per person since it was on a loaded touring tandem. That old Phil Wood disk brake was never the same after that trip. I guess the slowest is either 0 (track stand) or slightly negative (bike polo on a fixed gear). Sadly, these days I spend much more time closer to my lowest speed than my fastest speed. Lots closer.
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Old 03-18-11, 06:11 AM
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On a flat run with no head wind I can hold about 28 - 29 mph for about 1.25 miles. My average speed for a year's worth of cycling works out to just a bit over 16.5 mph. Downhill, I've routinely hit the 60 mph mark. In terms of how slow, I have a 17%+ grade I must go up before entering my neighborhood. On days when I'm toast, I've crawled up that hill at 2 mph. I can also hold a track stand long enough for a traffic light to change.
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Old 03-18-11, 07:13 AM
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My fastest down hill, set 2 yrs ago, is just over 53 mph. It's not likely that I'll be able to cross off "matching my age" on my bucket list as every year it gets higher and we don't have those kind of hills in Ohio. So what is the gold standard for speed/age? 100, 110, 120?, My PR is 109 = 56 yrs/53mph

Last summer I did do a set of 6 x 1 mile intervals on a flat road, with no wind, a rolling start and averaged between 2:06 and 2:11 per mile or just over 28 mph. One of this years' training goals is to be under 2' on the reps. That will hurt.

Kicking over the computer sensor as you clip in, just as the fast group ride begins, helps in riding for a long while @ 0 mph.
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Old 03-18-11, 07:16 AM
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50+ mph, down hill, draftng a Porsche 911. When my friend caught up, he looked at me and said "Your f***ing nuts' and kept going. Slow enough so the computer doesn't register a speed.
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Old 03-18-11, 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Allegheny Jet
My fastest down hill, set 2 yrs ago, is just over 53 mph. It's not likely that I'll be able to cross off "matching my age" on my bucket list as every year it gets higher and we don't have those kind of hills in Ohio. So what is the gold standard for speed/age? 100, 110, 120?, My PR is 109 = 56 yrs/53mph

Last summer I did do a set of 6 x 1 mile intervals on a flat road, with no wind, a rolling start and averaged between 2:06 and 2:11 per mile or just over 28 mph. One of this years' training goals is to be under 2' on the reps. That will hurt.

Kicking over the computer sensor as you clip in, just as the fast group ride begins, helps in riding for a long while @ 0 mph.
AJ: Is your time based on a standing start? The times I quoted are based on getting up to speed and then measuring the distance/speed. (It's a whole lot easier to get good looking times doing it this way!)
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Old 03-18-11, 09:12 AM
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Since there is no age limit (62) or racers should not post...

Starting gate at 2010 Masters Track Worlds Anadia, Portugal = zero



Motor Pacing Pre-Worlds = 36 mph, 90 gear inches

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Old 03-18-11, 09:27 AM
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Well, if trackstands count, my min speed = 0, max = 52 (but not on the same bike). For top speed, it helps to live on the east slope of the Cascades, with passes as high as 6400' in pedaling distance. Oh, and riding a semi-lowracer recumbent helps too. ;-)

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Old 03-18-11, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by NOS88
AJ: Is your time based on a standing start? The times I quoted are based on getting up to speed and then measuring the distance/speed. (It's a whole lot easier to get good looking times doing it this way!)
It is with a rolling start which helps with the overall time. I'm doing repeat intervals and not nailing it at 100% because in 6 minutes I'll be doing the next one, then next one...
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Old 03-18-11, 10:00 AM
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Slowest - 0mph...track stand on the velodrome and waiting for traffic light to change. Fastest - (road) 53mph...downhill straightaway towards Scissors Crossing........(track) 38mph motorpacing...51x15
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Old 03-18-11, 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by tony2v
Slowest - 0mph...track stand on the velodrome and waiting for traffic light to change. Fastest - (road) 53mph...downhill straightaway towards Scissors Crossing........(track) 38mph motorpacing...51x15
Roughly 145 rpm. Not bad! I've been laser-timed at 39 mph through a 200-foot timing trap, rolling start with a half mile run-up. Highest instantaneous speed during the run was a hair over 40 mph, as I was exiting the trap.
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Old 03-18-11, 06:35 PM
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38 mph, with gravity. 4mph on the slow end.
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Old 03-18-11, 06:38 PM
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Downhill doesn't count for top speed in my book. On the flats, I've hit about 32mph in a group ride.

Slowest - do track stands count?
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