I ride fixed... so tagging forty is a notable event, that generally involves nearly passing out half way up the next hill.

So, my two cents: Focus on being smooooth. Otherwise a slightly locked leg will launch you into low (very) earth orbit. Sit up, but do not lock your elbows if you get scared, cover the brakes but consider if drops or hoods are better for weight balance.

No sudden moves!

This effect will go away with time. For a number of months after my crash, every time I went fast, I would start reliving the last few seconds before I wiped out -- despite the fact that I wiped out so fast that when I woke up, I didn't even know I'd crashed until I noticed my teeth were broken and people were trying to help me.

The trick to all riding is to come to terms with what is happening. You don't want to be afraid of cars, hills, or anything else. However, things happen sometimes that can mess you up. Several years ago, a friend of mine was killed and I suddenly became fearful of cars. My solution was to just not ride for 2 months while I could get my head screwed on again. When my head wasn't working after my high speed wipeout, I just went slower. I tried forcing myself to deal with it, but that made things worse -- the feeling that makes you shake is deep in your wiring, so you probably won't be able to rationalize yourself out of it.

There are certain risks that go with speed. Several years back, I hit a piece of metal at about 30mph that totally sliced through my tire and blew it out (miraculously, I didn't wipe out, but it was close). Last year, descending Mt. Shasta, my front tire went down, but fortunately, it went down slow enough I was able to feel the problem and pull over before it got really dangerous. I've had a couple blowouts over the years over 20mph. The moral isn't that going fast is insane, only that you have to be conscious of and OK with what you are doing.

My high speed wipeout was just over 20 years ago. At the time, I resigned myself to being slow, and I was for awhile. However, things get a lot better, and the experience probably helps you in the long run. Don't rush things or expect this to solve itself right away and you'll be OK.

i got good at descending by using my junker bike. its nowhere near as fast as my good bike, but it doesnt have clips (i can take my feet off anytime with ease), which makes the idea of falling off a lot less drastic.

once i got good on that bike, i switched over to using my good bike and being clipped in down descents. Im young and stupid though too.

if you are going to try using a bike with normal platform pedals, just be sure you feet are loose on them down the hill. dont press into them too hard. Ive hit bumps when i had too much pressure on them and the back my leg has the scars up the back to remind me. (they are aluminum and teethed)

Just for clarification, did you start slowing down when you saw the stop sign or when you saw the cars? honestly, if I were in this situation, it doesn't matter what the two people ahead of me did. If there's a 4-way stop, I stop. So, there shouldn't have been a decision. If the stop sign was so close to the corner that you had no realistic chance of braking in time, then what I might've done is to also do two or three rapid squeezes of the front brake so that it doesn't lock up before pulling hard on it and praying for dear life. At least that way you can bleed off speed without locking your wheel, then squeeze the brake hard to bring it to the rest of the stop.

Also, if the stop sign was so close to the corner that it would be perilous for all riders to brake safely on that descent, everyone should be calling out "STOP" as soon as they encounter it to warn the riders behind them of the hazard.

More germane to your overall question, Machka, I haven't had problems with descending but I had some occasional problems with wet roads after wiping out once while riding home from work in downtown Boston. My only solution was to just get back into it at a comfortable pace, riding a little faster and a little faster on wet roads everyday until I regained my confidence and was back up to my normal speed.

Though, even during PBP I was still riding my brakes on some of those wet, nighttime descents between Carhaix/Loudeac or Fougeres/Villaines -- not quite 16km/h, but I tended not to let things go above 32 kph. Sometimes parameters for comfort just change with the conditions.

In that situation, I would shift my weight as far back as possible (and maybe below the saddle if your saddle is set low) and then use both brakes. As the roads were wet, I would modulate both brakes (particularly the front brake) to get an idea of how much traction I have before a more steady grab...and hope it's enough to get me stopped before the intersection at the bottom of the hill.

Definitely a warning sign. Skidding on curves is very bad. So are voices telling you that you may be in trouble. With 20/20 hindsight, gradually slowing down may have been the right move.


If it's slick, you're much better off using both brakes. If you're on something really slick like frozen fog, wet leaves, a wet road with a film of mud, having your front wheel slide out on you is very bad. If you must brake harder than very lightly under such conditions, I think transferring more of your weight and braking force towards the rear is a better way to go. Much easier to control your fall if you go down, and you'll slide on an already slick surface. If the road isn't rough, you might not even tear up your clothing.

I had rounded the last corner and was on the straight stretch to the bottom of the hill. From the last corner to the bottom of the hill was about 100 metres ... possibly slightly more. The 4-way stop was right at the bottom of the hill. The hill was a 15% grade, and was slick with white mud over the pavement. (After I crashed, Machak and I were both completely covered in mud). The hill did flatten out just before the stop sign (the last 10 ft or so) down to about a 5% grade. In other words, if I had stopped, I would have still been at an angle with my front tire significantly lower than my rear.

I wasn't going all that fast to begin with ... maybe 15-20 km/h as I rounded the last corner because I was doing a lot of skidding. I did pick up a bit of speed as I started down that last straight stretch, but then slowed a bit when I noticed that the intersection was a 4-way stop. I was probably back down to about 15 km/h when I crashed.

The other two riders thought I was right there with them. They didn't realize I had slowed down so much around the last corner, and had slowed again when I noticed the intersection was a 4-way stop.


I was having nightmares on the very first night, shortly after we set off!! It POURED from shortly after the water stop all the way to Mortange, and I was crawling down most of those hills at about 8 km/h.

then it sounds like the combination of grade, rain and slick mud was what probably got you to lose control. 15-20 km/h doesn't sound like the sort of speed where one would lose control, especially on a straightaway, but add some mud and non-knobby tires and all bets are off.

I left St Quentin around 10:10 and the rain was constant but not pouring. I do remember almost losing control somewhere in the first 10km after hitting a small berm that was obscured by all of the cyclists ahead of me; but otherwise the ride to Mortagne was wet but not too terrifying. However, on Wednesday night, the rain resumed, and I remembered riding my brakes on one long descent into Loudeac, then being passed by a tandem easily doing 50 km/h (I was doing ~30+ and they passed me like I was standing still) and all I could think was that they either knew this course like the back of their hand or the sleep deprivation was making that team utterly suicidal.

Excellent advice. Modern bicycles are engineered so well it is amazing what they are capable of handling when we simply relax, smooth our steering inputs, and let them do what they can do.