The “What’s the fastest you’ve ever been in a car” thread inspired me to think about the times I have been on a bike and felt that delirious rush of speed on a back country highway, that downhill, knees-squeezing-the-top-tube, chin-almost-touching-your-handlebars, wind-roaring-in-your ears sensation that makes you think that one universal cycling thought: “Oh my God, if my tire hits a pebble at this speed, I am going to die!”
Mine was back in college, on a monstrously steep county highway outside Eau Claire, WI. The cyclecomputer on my Raleigh topped out at 54 mph on the way down.
I’ve never cycled in the mountains, though, so I know someone out there has probably gone a lot faster.
Well, I ride mountain bikes from department stores, which are rather heavy, so it’s hard to get up a good speed, but…
My fastest on a straightaway is about 45 KM/H and going down a slight hill with a decent tailwind, I got as high as about 60-65 one time, acccording to my mechanical speedometer. That was fun!
Here on campus, I think I’ve topped out somewhere at 30-35 mph. It’s not that hilly here at Mizzou, but I think it’s the fact that I come coasting out of central campus and then start down a very s-l-o-w and unsteep hill with no brakes towards my dorm.
[hijack]Out of curiosity, has anyone else purchased a bike at WalMart and then found his/her brakes to work in a less-than-safe manner with lots and LOTS of squeaking that makes the people you pass turn and stare at the unholy mechanism that is your bicycle?
Not that I speak from experience or anything… :rolleyes: [/hijack]
On an old racing bike I had I probably topped out at around 70 km, that was…interesting (1km in about 1 minute 12 secs), I didn’t have a helmet on at the time, so I shudder to think what would have happened to me if I fell.
I hit 50 once going down a mountain on a training ride in the Adirondacks. I know the “if my tire hits a pebble” fear of which you speak…especially since I was tucked into aero bars, while my brakes were on the handle bars.
Still, it was a thrill. Of course, if this had been the Tour d’France, they’d have passed me like I was standing still!
Once, during a long descent (5+ miles) on a recumbent in rural Vermont, i looked down and saw my computer read 63 mph. I don’t think i’d wanna do this on a standard diamond frame bike.
On a flat road, i’ve managed to get up to 36 in an all-out sprint. Not something i do too often.
Using one of those radar signs the village posts to tell people they are speeding (I present enough area to be picked up by one) and with 100 yards of acceleration from a dead stop, on a mountain bike not geared for top speed, but with pretty good acceleration, 27mph. The bike was topped out; in fact I had stopped accelerating before I got to the sign.
44 mph, downhill, largest ring, highest gear, tailwind, stoked up on Cliff bars, Cytomax and espresso – titanium road bike on Santa Rosa Road, Santa Ynez Valley.
Haven’t ridden a road bike in years, but I just bought a sweet racer so I’m hoping to achieve new speeds. But from the peddle-around-the-block the other night, I have to learn to ride one all over again. Skinny tires and light bike = twitchy-wobbly!
Mountain downhill on my mountainbike - approx 30 mph. Since it was a gravel road, there wasn’t that “if my tire hits a pebble” fear; t’would have been silly. Unfortunately, my tire hit a whole pile of pebbles as I smart-assedly tried to pass my buddy. OUCH!! (I love my helmet. It may look stupid, but my brain thanks me on a regular basis. I still have no idea how my collarbone survived that one.)
Downhill locally (small rolling hills, no mountains here :() on a mountainbike tandem with slicks - approx 40-45 mph. Would have been faster if those idjits would have moved out of the way. Sadly, newbie road riders apparently do not understand “TANDEM COMING THROUGH!!” means move the hell over because we’re going really fast. (We love our hydraulic brakes. Stop GOOOOOOD!!)
Estimates both, since I’ve no computer.
Coming soon - mountainbike tandem in the Rockies. First we have to buy a drum brake, so that we have some actual chance of surviving long descents. We do plan to put a bike’puter on just so we know how fast we get going. I’ll letcha know. Quadzilla - ahhh, no. If I bought a Wallyworld bike (not much chance), I sure as hell would rebuild the damn thing as soon as I got it home. I’ve looked at those in the store and they are SCARY. You do realize that they pay independent guys a buck or so per bike to put those together, right? If you’re still riding it, I’d advise taking it to a local bike shop & getting a tuneup. Not very expensive when compared to a catastrophic failure, really.
On the flip side, a couple of years ago i had the good fortune to ride the legendary Alpe d’Huez on the day the Tour de France arrived there. The 9-mile ascent took me about 2 1/2 hours. The winner that day, Marco Pantani, did it in about 40 minutes. Nothing like that to put your ego back where it belongs.
Doing a major downhill on highway nine (or Big Basin Way) up behind Saratoga, CA I probably hit over 50 MPH and just about killed my self doing it. Right after one of the steepest downhills is a huge sweeper curve that forced me to go to the left hand side of the road in order to negotiate it. If there had been any traffic that day, I wouldn’t be typing this. My brake blocks almost melted onto my Fiamme rims. Gotta love my old Campy equipped 1961 Bianchi Specialissimo with Clement sew ups. That bike is pure Italian art on wheels.
Ah, for the days that I could do that entire ten mile climb (couple of thousand vertical feet) in 45 minutes without standing on the pedals or stopping, while in ninth gear all the way up.
I hit 45 MPH down a long steep hill.I thought my Western Auto speedometer was gonna blow.Problem was…I NEEDED TO STOP! I smoked the little rubber pads right off the back caliper of my Ten speed.No problem though,the pricker bushes at the bottom of the hill stopped me. Ouch.
I was with a bunch of cycle tourists riding north down a long hill into the town of St. Marys on the east side of Glacier Park in Montana. It was good asphalt and a long hill, maybe eight miles? A car clocked us at 55mph. I figured the heavy packs on our bikes helped us build up a higher speed.
I hit about 48 mph going down a hill on the ms150 from Houston to Austin. It was the most fun I’ve ever had. Unfortuantly, the previos year, my friend’s bike ended up in a tree, and he was at the bottom of the hill—with a broken collar bone. Ouch!! It’s good to know that their are cycling fans on the SDMB!
I was 12, kicking the crest of Death Hill to get a truly lethal head of speed up. Okay, so I was 12; Death Hill was still a damned pretty big hill.
Scenery passed in blur, I was taking the curves low to the bike, it was the leap in hyperspace: it was fast. How fast? I measured it accurately in flesh, because a bolt holding my seat slipped and I measured endless yards, off balance and dragging my right knee across pavement before ditching sideways.
After the run to the emergency room, stitches, etc. it was still a morbid thrill to measure the skid marks in scorched rubber and gore down the hill.
When you’re 12 this kind of stuff earns you immense face.
I’ll letcha know.