Charms35

I am a fairly good road cyclist, I can easily contend with cars, pedestrians, in-line skaters and other cyclists on our capital’s roadway and when you have a good mixture of these, you get a good ride, you change the ingredients and you can get quite the explosive situation.

I am always looking at ways to improve and to meet new challenges. I was recently invited to take part in what I believed was a new form of cycling sport, which I now know is definitely not for me.

This new cycling sport is sort of a triple event with the first part being rolling on a regular road. The second part made me change my mind rather quickly as it consisted in a vertical climb, steep enough to rival mountain-face climbing. At this point I was thinking, this is tough but wow what a great workout, don’t know if I can do this often but I will be in shape in no time doing this. The third part can only be described as jumping off a high cliff strapped to a bike. Now this is the part that convinced me that there is nothing like a flat road where I can control the speed and direction I am going. Do not kid yourselves, I do like speed on my bike but I am not sure these things were ever designed to be supersonic. The part that really got to me was being passed by other even more supersonic cyclists. Are these people insane, aren’t they afraid of going so fast that smoke comes out of the wheel bearings and that the slightest touch of the brakes will disintegrate or melt away in 3 seconds, what do you do if someone or something or some car is in the way…?


I like to believe that I am a good cyclist, reasonable and conscious of dangers to me and to others. My questions are:

1. Is it normal to be scared ****less the first time you are confronted with going down such steep hills with cars and cyclists everywhere?

2. Are there any special techniques that can help one master the hills, both going up and going down?

nachomc

1. In those kinds of situations, with other cyclists and vehicles, if there's no shoulder, you have to take the lane. You should also try and maintain a reasonable speed so you don't hose up traffic. Stay to the right of the lane so other faster cyclists can pass safely. It's extremely frustrating to be descending a nice road and a slower rider is all over the lane so you can't get around safely.

2. Going up you have to find out what works for you. Some people can stand and hammer all day, others can sit and spin. If you're sitting you want to keep your cadence up, try to get your body forward such that you're right over the cranks but still far enough back that you're not completely un-weighting the rear wheel. On the way down, get off your seat a little and put your butt back - you basically want to be hovering over the rear of the seat. Point the bike down the hill and go - maintain speed in your comfort zone by applying brakes as needed. Just be slow, controlled and smooth when you are turning the bike (preferably you're leaning the bike at speed), and when you're braking. Have fun too I guess.

bryroth

What do your friends call this new form of cycling sport?

Also, if your new friends look like this, then stay away.

permanentjaun

Can you give us an indication on what speeds you were hitting?

Saint

ROFL - That was funny.

Charms35

Actually the friend in question that invited me to take part in this new sport is more an acquaintance more than anything else. In fact it is not quite that either. It is a person that answered my add for a cycling partner to ride after work.

I got this nice e-mail saying, “I go riding 4-5 times a week, I would also like to have a cycling partner for this”. It looked really interesting and fun. We exchanged e-mails few time and decided that we would at least try it once to see if we shared the same passion for riding.

We met up and there and then I should have clued in. In front of me was a person, about 5 foot 5 inches and all you could see from a distance was two huge legs with a torso. Cycling has been around for a while and guess I will be able to learn from a seasoned cyclist. My first gleam of what was to come was when we took off. The legs actually managed to make the bike tires squeal on take off. On the flat I could keep up and actually was the one that had to wait. As soon as we hit the inclines, it was like lighting retro-rockets under the seat. In two seconds, I found myself lagging behind about 200 meters. I tried, I do not see myself as a wimp. I am relatively new at cycling (second year) but I have been in the gyms and a runner for the last 10 years and have built up a descent cardio vascular system and a reasonable muscle tone but this was way insufficient to keep up on the up-stretch.

Going down we were hitting 75Km per hour and more. Being the first time I achieve this speed without having a car around me to protect me, I was really nervous and scared even.

Beaker

In answer to your questions:

1) I think it is normal to find a steep downhill somewhat intimidating. It takes practice to get used to and appreciate it

2) Nachomc covered the main points. There's no substitute for practice, and there are always better climbers.

If you want to keep working at this I'd consider going back without the other riders, and/or at a quieter time of day to get used to the road. There are a few 50+mph descents round here that can be a real blast, but you need to have confidence to enjoy it -- relax your arms, avoid the death grip. Know when to brake and when to go with the flow and how to deal with the turns, and where the potholes/manholes are.

permanentjaun

Yea 75 km/h can begin to feel hairy. Humans weren't meant to travel that fast. It takes some getting used to, but I can assure you that you get used to it. It all comes down to how comfortable you are in handling the bike. On my tour my bike weighed over 100 lbs loaded. I hit some downhills where I hit 88-90 km/h and the thing was like riding on rails. It wanted to go in straight lines. I could sit there, reach for my waterbottle, move around to rest my loins, and the thing was just plain solid at those speeds.

In time you'll get used to it and it's plenty worth it.

kudude

75kph is fast for flat land, and is even fast for some hills, but it's far from unheard of. How curvy was the downhill?

pagliaci

If you're freaked out by speed, slow down. Done.

umd

The best I've hit is 88.5. Still trying to get the "metric century speed". Maybe today's the day. Just need to get on the right wheel at the start of the descent. Little guys like me have a hard time powering down that fast on our own

banerjek

+1
It is dangerous to ride at speeds that scare you. 75km/h is very fast, but you can go even faster under the right circumstances. Fast descents are all about relaxing because if you're stiff, your reaction to problems (hitting something, tire going down, etc) won't be right and you'll wipe out.

Ride at speeds that don't freak you out. As you get used to it, the speed will come naturally.

One thing to also keep in mind is that you should not go faster than you're willing to crash, since there's a decent chance you will someday.

nachomc

I start hitting a mental barrier at about 45mph. I couldn't imagine 50+ :\

UniversalFrost

just be aggressive and take the lane. By law you have the right to (the cars may not agree). Otherwise just slow down and stay on the side of the lane.

and nachomc 45 is fun and 50 is better, just wait till 60.

unfortunately 45 is no fun when your rear tire blows out and you hurtle into rocks (happened to me in july). STill get right back on the back (as soon as you heal up) and go hit the same hill/spot where you wiped out.

JOE

dallasmike

I think you guys are right. The unexpected could always happen, but more important is to know your confidence level in yourself, and possibly just as important, the confidence level you have in the mechanical reliability of your bike.

Reynolds 

I'd never ride at 75 kmh with cars around.

Patriot

OP,

As time goes on, your lamentations will subside from fear of riding at higher speeds, while your skills and "no fear" level naturally rise from a natural desire to defeat thine enemy into complete humiliation upon the sands of the battlefield.

Charms35

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my posting and for the good replies and sound advice given. I even appreciated the simplistic answers from pagliaci, as he seems especially good at stating the obvious. duh!, I don’t know if I would have thought of that on my own, I guess I should have done that rather than go down the entire hill screaming, why didn’t I think of that….

In any case, for the other responders, the ones with real advice, I would like to say that I have since I first posted started to practice going down relatively steep hills. I have found less congested routes that have reasonably challenging hills and I have been practicing. I have even managed to ease up on my “grip of death”, my handle bars will forever be grateful. I will continue this until I feel I have the reflexes to take the real steep hills. I understand and know that for seasoned cyclists that have experienced many different situations, this would sound trivial and vane but for novices to the hills, it is not as obvious.

Thanks to everyone and I appreciate a forum such as this where people, for the most part, try their best at helping people.

munkyv22

+1,000,000

Hitting the pavement at 50 Mph wearing spandex shorts would NOT be fun.

urbanknight

Although I agree on the whole, I think that's a poor way of putting it. I'm not "willing" to crash at any speed, but I'm also not "willing" to sit around like a pu$$y and not have any fun, so I compromise and take what comes.

banerjek

On fast descents, the cars typically don't mind because they wouldn't be able to go much faster anyway on most mountain roads. Plus, your speed can intrigue them (i.e. they're curious or excited rather than mad). Even downhill, a bike going anywhere near 50 will impress most motorists.

One thing to be aware of is that sidewinds and wind blasts from RV's and trucks can be destabilizing when you're moving fast. Take lots of space and maintain plenty of distance from everything.

umd

Yesterday was not the day. I got on the wheel of the guy I wanted but I started to get a speed wobble around 55mph so I backed off. The hill drops 500ft in a mile, so it's 10%. It's not for the faint of heart.

banerjek

How about, you have to come to terms with the inherent risks that go with speed? No sane person wants to wipe out at high speed, but you shouldn't go that fast if you cannot accept the consequences.

Beaker

Seems as though we all agree that it's good to find out how fast your bike can go, but it's about calculated risks and knowing what you're getting into. The thing that I think is tough to underestimate is how long it takes you to slow down from 40-50+. When I'm nudging 50 on a downhill, I'm always impressed by the effort it takes to bring the bike back to just 30mph. Even then, meeting the asphalt at 30 isn't a great prospect.

umd

I've passed my share of motorists on descents. Most realize what is going on an move out of the way but I've had a few intentionally take turns really wide to try to block me. I've also had many people pull up alongside after a fast descent and tell me they were pacing me and ask did I know I was going ##mph in amazement. Most of the time they read a much higher speed than I was actually going.

Edit: I just remembered that one of the guys on our ride last night said he saw someone take a picture of us on the fast descent. We go by the same place every week at the same time +/- 10 minutes so I have to wonder if they had seen us other weeks and figured out we would be there again. I also have to wonder if they took the picture because they thought it was neat, or because they were upset and wanted proof