j814wong

The steeper, the better. The only good one I know of is in Kissena but there are quite a bit of cars there that I don't dare go at full speed (I was going 31.5 mph but was throttling the brakes a bit, nervous that the occasional car would try to turn into the perpendicular road at the crossroad). But most cars don't cure towards my path but rather keep going ahead so it's not that horrible. But still, I'd certainly prefer a nice descent where I won't have to go through a crossroad. Cars are fine as long as there is still ample room to descend quickly. Better yet is if there are very few cars.

A few small ascents are fine as long as I can easily go over them with the help of teh speed gained from the descent.

Thanks.

island rider

You trying to set a speed record? Wrong island. Maybe try Beacon Hill toward the water past Roslyn.

j814wong

Hmm. A close enough drive. Thanks. I'll head there this weekend.

Do you know of any good spots north of Lond Island, above the Bronx? Or somewhere in South Connecticut near New York, South and South West of Norwalk preferably?

mihlbach

Bear mountain is the only real descent anywhere near nyc.

rkwaki

Why don't you try downhill mtb racing?
If you are throttling the brakes on a downhill at 31.5 mph my advice to you would be to learn how to ride well then proceed to look for steep descents if not you are going to get hurt. Once you master the handling of your bike then worry about speed

island rider

I'm really wondering why you are asking. I've been looking for climbs in the same area for training and have found a few that will suffice, but if you're just looking to bomb a hill as fast as you can, I'm not sure anything around here is going to meet your needs.

rkwaki

Better question is why?
Jump in behind a city bus, dial your quads up to 400 watts, drop it in the 53x11 and you'll be doing 50 mph...

Actually to maintain that 50-52 mph it's more like 600 watts at 180 pounds...

island rider

Yup. That's why I ask. I wonder if the OP is looking to experience some thrill of life on the edge. Better to go try his hand at street luge in the rockies or something.

rkwaki

My fear, as I have with many riders, is that they want to go fast but don't know how.
I hate a piece of metal descending in a group last year at 30+ mph, blew my tubular instantly, an inexperienced rider would have panicked and wrecked. Ole rk just rolled it out until I could stop safely. Going fast is one thing. Going fast in control safely is another. I've descended at 60+, I've descended at 50+ sitting on the top tube with my chin on the stem, I've descended at 40+ with no hands on the bars, I've taken both hands off the bars in the middle of the pack in a crit to put my glasses in my jersey.
Am I bragging? No, just showing the difference experience makes.

island rider

Please stop making sense.

j814wong

It's not that I can't handle the bike. I'm just nervous that someone may turn into me unexpectedly espcially at 30 mph. Otherwise, I handle quie well one roads with other cars.

island rider

But what are you trying to accomplish?

j814wong

Could you recommend some of those routes in the area that are good for training? I've only been relying on pedestrian and cycling paths most of the time but would like to ride more on lower traffic streets (better if there are less traffic lights). The S. Service Road next to the LIE is quite nice.

And let me chang emy question a bit. Descents don't have to be long but the net elevation change should be a negative one preferably with not too many ascents. So varying between some ascents and descents is fine as long as, by teh end of the part, I will have had a negative net elevation change.

Thanks again.

j814wong

I just want to find some nice descents to enjoy. It's not for training purposes.

j814wong

I just want to find some nice descents to enjoy. It's not for training purposes.

rkwaki

Well drive out to the Catskills and ride into the city. If not you can never have a negative net elevation change as if you ride back to the starting point of your ride you will be at the same elevation as when you started therefore all the descending you did has to be made up somewhere unless you are going in only one direction...

island rider

Ignoring the second half of your post... The north shore of long island has countless roads that are good for training/riding. Any Saturday or Sunday morning in the summer the roads from Huntington to Port Washington north of 25a will literally be lousy with cyclists. Look on Strava, GarminConnect etc. for routes. Look at the websites of Mineola Bike Club, Huntington Bicycle Club, Long Island Bicycle Club as well. Ask around about the Triangle Ride if you want a hard ride. If you want race training north of the city go to Greenwich High School on a Wed night and ride with the hammer heads. Soundcyclists is probably one of the larger clubs in the area and is located in southern ct.

You can do some organised rides in the area and learn roads too. Try the mansions tour or the gold coast century on long island or the bloomin metric in CT.

Or - post in the Northeast forum. There are a few people in there who can help you out too.

(Now I'll wait while the Mods move this to the Northeast forum.)

LAJ

You just threw physics into the equation, and wrecked everything.

botto 

rkwaki

If I had a blue star I'd ban you to Trollheim for the day...

grolby

j814wong, what botto is trying to say here is that, if you are getting nervous about unexpected encounters with traffic at 31mph, your bike handling skills are on the weak side. Experience will help with this, but that's not a particularly high speed and with better skills you can definitely have the confidence to go those speeds knowing that you can react to traffic appropriately.

island rider

I missed something there.

RoadMike

Dude...to descend, first you must climb. If you cannot climb that which you wish to descend, you have not spent enough time on your bike to be bombing down things like that.

mprelaw

I used to live in Massapequa. Between the city line and there, you might descend all of a whopping 25 feet.

Crank the downside of the overpass over the Meadowbrook.

MetalPedaler

I'll say it again: Farmingville! Biggest hills on LI, asnd LI's highest point. Blue Point Rd and Adirondack, between Between Horseblock Rd and Mooney Pond Rd, are like freaking mountain ranges...but do have some 4-way stops...but few cars. County Rd. 83 a.k.a. N. Ocean Avenue a.k.a. Patchogue-Mt. Sanai Rd. goes right past the highest point on LI, and is a four lane divided highway with a full shoulder, and you can go up and down the hill between the lights at Granny Rd. and Mooney Pond (Or is called Paul's Path at that point?).

Give it a try- You won't get any better/bigger hills on LI or in NYC.