taking the bait
 

ok, got a couple, now just to reel them back in and throw them back out. This is from the latest DALMAC tour. I was cruising along at a good clip of 25to 26mph when these two guys poured it on hard to catch me and pass me. By the end of the clip I couldn't see them in the rearview anymore.

I took the option to pass them back and make it stick on an uphill section of road. I topped out around 33mph on the uphill grade. You can see the effort put out by the other two guys that I passed going up the hill. Overall, a real good time.
The action starts at about 1:15 in the video if you want to fast forward a bit. It is a 2:44 min clip taken from a 1 hour 9 minute avi file.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7OHxYZnXSg

reply
 

Sweet vid! Show those DF riders who's got the superior bike!

another short video
 

found another couple guys that thought recumbents were slow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Byo6hs1BQ

heh - sounds like last week's ride for me. I was in the back of the pack with a friend on his LWB, and then when we hit this light traffic loop going around our huge airport, I got into speed mode. A few miles later I see the ride leaders about a 1/2 mile ahead, and I caught up to them with plenty of wind and plenty of gears left right as we turned into the rest stop. They were obviously not used to fast recumbents and were apparently working their asses off, unbeknownst to me. When we stopped and they got their breath back they said "wow...you almost caught us there!" (I was 30 feet behind them). Of course, I pointed out that they were bent over and breathing hard to recover, while I had barely broken a sweat. :) They were less amused than I was about the fact.

Don't you mean 25-26 kilometers per hour? You certainly aren't going 25-26 mph in that clip.

yeah, he MUST mean KM/H. those guys on the upright ikes definately werent pushing hard. Not to mention one fellow has a 6 foot flag hanging off his bike. Obviously not the racing oriented type.

The first clip I was traveling at 25-26mph until the chase was on. maybe you guys who go by km/h have never seen 26 mph solo. Its not that difficult on a lowracer.

the second clip was around 22 mph until I decided to drop them.



everyone on dalmac has to have flags. Just because you see a flag doesn't mean they aren't the racer types. They weren't too difficult to drop, however for being roadies they weren't slouches either. 96% of the roadies I run into are easily dropped. Does that mean that out of all them guys, none of them are the racer types?

You might want to check your cyclometer calibration. You may think you were going 25-26 mph but the road under you and the surroundings on that clip were not passing you at anywhere near that speed.

You're pretty sure of yourself there, fella. Lowracer was the one there, not you. The ground looks real different from 3' off the ground vs 5.5'. Also, those tow roadies gave him a bit of a tussle before he passed them back. He was flying at the end of that video.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure of myself. I've been riding for more than thirty years and have a pretty good idea of how the scenery looks at various speeds.

From what you've said, you've never achieved those speeds, so considering the source, I'd say you don't know what you're talking about. Having ridden with the OP I can assure you he can blow the doors off of pacelines. Baiting roadies who think they can ride is par for the course.....

Just found this on the ragbrai site..
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...1/ragbrai_2006

I can't tell if the first clip starts at 25-26, but I'd guess it was at least 22-23, and I have no reason to disbelieve it's 25 - until this year's unfortunate drug reaction, I could do extended pulls of 24-25 mph, and Chris is stronger than me.

DALMAC requires flags to be flown, unfurled, but doesn't specify a height. Like most tours, most riders are in the 15 mph range but there's always some fast ones. On DALMAC they seem to be concentrated on the century routes, which Chris did. The two in the first clip have what I call, "fred flags," cut down to hip height, ostensibly for speed. The thing is, by cutting the flagpole they are acknowledging aerodynamics but then they don't follow up with the rest of the bike/rider package. It's a 'mental disconnect' thing.

While I'm not as fast as I once was, I still have plenty of opportunities to drop into a 20+ mph paceline. When it hits the hills I usually slide out the back and resume my slower pace.

I have no doubt that the OP can ride fast, but he posted this clip claiming to be riding at a speed he clearly was not.

24mph is totally believable. On some flats on my commute I can hit 40km/h, on a trike. On a lowracer, it's much easier to do this. And no, I can't sustain 40km/h for long distances... yet. ;)

Yes, 24 mph is believeable, but the point is that he wasn't doing it in the clip he posted as he claimed.

I have too. And I ride those speeds on my semi-lowracer all the time. And I don't know how fast he's going from the clip.... I guess it boils down to this: you don't believe him, in spite of the corroborating evidence; and I don't believe you.

Jeez, what's with all of the disbelief? 25-26 mph on a lowracer is easy even for me and I'm 55 yo and 50 pounds overweight. Also, 33 mph sounds right for short bursts. That seems to be my normal top out after dropping roadies, too, on my Baron or Fujin. :D

I'd been trying to catch that exact guy all week long (I was on my p-38, not the Baron). He always blew by me at stops though. Finally on the last day I heard his "zing-zing" bell as I was doing a leisurely 17mph with my wife. As he blew by, I jammed hard and was off. It took me a mile to get to 30 feet behind him, and I was pedalling at 28mph sustained and more for that mile. When he saw me get close, he switched gears and was gone. I nearly had a heart attack and have up. The p-38 is fast, but not THAT fast. The last I heard was his "zing-zing" as we were blowing by a large paceline.....I really missed the baron that day.

If he hadn't posted that video proving otherwise, I might have believed him.

He also has no objection to crossing a double yellow line... Aren't participants required to adhere to the rules of the road? Though in his defence, I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck behind a pack of slower riders riding four-abreast...

Obviously in the more than 30 years of riding, you haven't been on a recumbent lowracer to even have a clue of what the road and surroundings look like in passing.

You may need a video card with more memory or your computer is slow.........or slow connection. That could possibly make the passing surroundings not look right to you.
The video was also recorded at MPEG-4 SP, up to 720-by-480 at 30 frames per second. This is a widescreen format, however I see that after downloading it to youtube, the aspect ratio looks like it was converted back to full screen. This could also affect the way video looks at the outer edges of the screen.

Obviously, you can't hold a line...you were weaving all over the place.

also, you were going downhill at the end....anyone can go fast downhill...

Including the roadies who just got dropped....Where were they?

probably not racing the Jackass who just made a fool of himself racing someone who didn't know they were racing....


wobble wobble wobble...i'm going so fast...let me race some people who are not interested in racing me...wobble wobble wobble....i'm so superior....yeah...you are a superior jerk

weaving? maybe trying to miss potholes, gravel, cracks in the pavement....................
I didn't see any weaving in my clip. Like you can really tell if someone weaves from a forward mounted headcam................... You may be interpreting my head wobbling back and forth when pushing hard.
I hold a straight line.

Now I'm starting to remember why I don't hang out around here hardly anymore. Too many roadie trolls invading the recumbent forum.

uh........... roadies can't go fast downhill. At least not as fast as even a touring recumbent.

Hey, I see you are from Tennessee. I'll be down there Friday evening for the Brat tour. Saturday at noon is a group ride with the Jackson cycling club. I guess its a 40 mile (no drop ride).........such a pity............

however if you want to see me wobble, I'll be there. I can guarentee that if you see any wobbling , it will be with a telescope.

Exactly. And what was his point in moving out towards the center line forcing the roadies to pass him in an oncoming lane that was open to traffic? Nice one lowracer! He claims to be traveling at 25-26mph "before the chase was on". If you stick your face within a couple of feet of the road and are traveling at 50mph it sure looks like you're going much faster. I wonder if he buried them until he couldn't see them in his hand mirror?

dude, i can fly downhill but of course, i'm a clyde so downhills are the fun part. It looked like wobble to me..you were all over that lane. As far as your offer for the ride on saturday, I'm sorry but i'd rather not drive 130 miles to ride with a jerk. You might have the engine buddy but you sure seem to be an arrogant a$$.