Broomfield Casualties

pangolin

Anyone else noticed the recent spate of injuries?

Last week I went up there and there was a guy sitting on the verge, bike nearby, another cyclist and a driver stopped already. I asked if they were ok and went on my way, he was talking and said he just needed a sit down for a bit.

Last night on my way home there was 4 or 5 cyclists stopped with their bikes on either side of the road, and one guy lying almost on the verge (slightly on the road) on the left as you go up the hill. Not sure how he managed that. He didn't seem in a good way, and they had him in the recovery position. Visible grazes on his back. Just as I got to the top of the hill an ambulance came past with it's lights on.

Anyone know any more about this? Hope he is ok.

Anyways, be careful on the hill.

roger_merriman

It's a easy hill to go fast on, I clocked close on 50mph the other day looking back at the GPS data. and that was just freewheeling (no spike but a smooth curve up and then down)

this said you have good sight lines bar one tree but pull further out and that isn't a issue.

cjcp

50 mph! Kph?

Yep, careful down there.

il_principe

cjcp wrote:

50 mph! Kph?

Yep, careful down there.

My thoughts exactly. 50mph on Broomfield? Surely not.

jonginge

Yeah, a bit of a sketchy descent. I keep it on the left-hand side and have a watchful eye on the undergrowth: thar be dragons*


* deer and bunny wabbits

sketchley

I had a squirrel almost run into my front wheel down there a couple of weeks back. Would of been nasty.

rolf_f

Broomfield? Never heard of it. Must be somewhere in East Leeds (I never go there )

roger_merriman

cjcp wrote:

50 mph! Kph?

Yep, careful down there.

47mph though worth pointing out thats peak, plenty average 30mph and some get close to 40mph average.

I'm SS so once to honest I just freewheel down. i tend to feather the brakes for the first bend and then let the bike roll on. though that requires a clear run, I'm just not prepared to overtake etc. I normally take the trail by the side as gets you out of the way of cars and bikes.

asprilla

47mph is blood quick down there!

I brake for the first corner but don't risk it for the second; that's where I've seen most accidents. Folks go too quickly into the hill and then brake too hard on the second which straightens them up and puts them into the kerb.

I tend to take the first corner on the left and the second on the right when it's dry but the gravel between the two tyre tracks is always a concern.

pangolin

47 mph is about the fastest I've ever gone, and that was a far longer, straighter hill. I had to pedal fast to do it on a geared road bike. Seriously doubt you freewheeled to that on a short downhill corner. No offense.

roger_merriman

Asprilla wrote:

47mph is blood quick down there!

I brake for the first corner but don't risk it for the second; that's where I've seen most accidents. Folks go too quickly into the hill and then brake too hard on the second which straightens them up and puts them into the kerb.

I tend to take the first corner on the left and the second on the right when it's dry but the gravel between the two tyre tracks is always a concern.

yup I got overtaken on the brow of the hill a while back by a triathlete who I gave plenty of space and was glad of the fact as she jammed on the brakes just before first bend making her bike stand up and jump of line.

I pulled next to her and chatted for a while scarily she wasn't even aware how close she had come.

in the dry I scrub of speed before the first and once though the bend I come out to the right early to get the view though the bend. though I'm slowing by then as I'm just freewheeling.

roger_merriman

pangolin wrote:

47 mph is about the fastest I've ever gone, and that was a far longer, straighter hill. I had to pedal fast to do it on a geared road bike. Seriously doubt you freewheeled to that on a short downhill corner. No offense.

it's a short steep hill, the fastest (which I'm not) average very close to 40mph from the top to bottom. and plenty hit 42/43 mph or so. it's only a touch more.

Wrath Rob

Was out getting wet in the park tonight and saw a group stopped just after Richmond Gate, going ACW. One woman was in quite some distress but everyone was stood up and no riders appeared to be injured. I think it was a youth cycling club as some were quite young and there was one guy who was obviously the coach. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious, just a strange place for something to have happened.

roger_merriman

Wrath Rob wrote:

Was out getting wet in the park tonight and saw a group stopped just after Richmond Gate, going ACW. One woman was in quite some distress but everyone was stood up and no riders appeared to be injured. I think it was a youth cycling club as some were quite young and there was one guy who was obviously the coach. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious, just a strange place for something to have happened.

people bunch up at that point maybe?

_Brun_

47mph down Broomfield Hill without pedalling is utter bullshit. It's nowhere near steep enough.

roger_merriman

_Brun_ wrote:

47mph down Broomfield Hill without pedalling is utter bullshit. It's nowhere near steep enough.

watch people go down the hill and if really bored look at the the power data, and the story is the same power to the brow of the hill, only going back on once past both corners.

gravity will do the work for you it doesn't need to be that steep play with various bike power calculators if you don't believe me.

which was my original point that you don't need to be fit or skilled to go fast, just need gravity.

rolf_f

The only time I've found a hill up North that I've touched 50 was coming off the top of Swaledale down to Kirkby Stephen and the Southeast side of the Nick of Pendle. I find the hill needs to be seriously steep and have total visibility and a decent length of straight. Doesn't happen often. To be fair, practice makes perfect but the hill outside my house is probably a match for the worst London has to offer and I rarely beat 40 coming down that. Maybe I'm not heavy enough!

pangolin

roger merriman wrote:

I clocked close on 50mph the other day looking back at the GPS data. and that was just freewheeling

Care to post the data?

jzed

Not sure I'd be able to get close to high 40's freewheeling. Looking at my fastest overall descent of Broomfield I hit high around 36mph and that would have been powering into the top corner at close to 30 braking for the right bend and then back on the power.

EDIT: looking at more recent rides I'm consistently hitting 37-38mph, pedalling but not flat out.

rick_chasey

Funny how the max speeds quoted on the internet far exceed mine (by 20kmph easily), but yet I've never come across a cyclist who can descend significantly faster than me when I'm riding with them.

notsoblue

roger merriman wrote:

I clocked close on 50mph the other day looking back at the GPS data. and that was just freewheeling

Sorry Roger, I'm going to have to join the pile-on here! I can hit 40 going down broomfield if I really give it beans but at that kind of speed the corner becomes pretty hazardous unless you can use the oncoming lane to ride it out. I doubt you could do it freewheeling unless you hit the rise at 30! I think there was an anomaly in your GPS readings

jonginge

High thirties for me. I may have grazed 40 once or twice but no more than that.

el_presidente

I hit 87mph down there the other day

asprilla

el_presidente wrote:

I hit 87mph down there the other day

Little bit more effort and you could have gone back to 1955.

pangolin

This thread is becoming very confusing. Obviously on a normal day we are all careful not to exceed 20mph down the hills. Were these quoted speeds recorded during the London Duathlon? Or one of the Richmond Park time trials? I think we should all be clear about this in our posts.

Personally my 62.8 mph best was set during my cameo in the London Surrey Cycle Classic Road Race, which I went on to win.

sketchley

Hmmmmm my top speed down there has been low 30's although I'm not 100% flat out as I don't have the confidence on the bends. Maybe just maybe, if I came round the corner at the very top flat out then free wheeled in a tuck and didn't use the breaks for on the sweeping right hander I'd be 30+ on the exit of the bend, if I then really put the power down to the RB at robin hood gate I might just inch above 40mph. I'd have to take a big dose of MTFU to do it and should probably head straight out at Roehampton gate down priory lane and check myself in at the priory as I would clearly be mad and have death wish. Roger are you 100% sure you don't mean KPH?

keyser__soze

pangolin wrote:

Personally my 62.8 mph best was set during my cameo in the London Surrey Cycle Classic Road Race, which I went on to win.

You must've done very well indeed, as the route didn't even go down Broomfield

47mph down Broomfield? I'm surprised with the SS awesomeness of the poster (all the Surrey hills are trivial on a SS after all) that he didn't do 47mph on the way up!

rick_chasey

Keyser__Soze wrote:

47mph down Broomfield? I'm surprised with the SS awesomeness of the poster (all the Surrey hills are trivial on a SS after all) that he didn't do 47mph on the way up!

pitchshifter

Am I the only one who has visions of losing the front end and becoming impaled on one of the stakes?

Low 30's for me, it freaks me out. I actually prefer going up it...



EDIT: Hell, there isn't even any stakes! Like I said, it freaks me out...

sketchley

pitchshifter wrote:

Am I the only one who has visions of losing the front end and becoming impaled on one of the stakes?

Low 30's for me, it freaks me out. I actually prefer going up it...

No your not. It's taken a long time for me to realise that the apparent gravel on the road there isn't gravel and is in fact fairly sticky. When the squirrel ran out all I could think about was this and how much it was going to hurt. Fortunately said squirrel turned round and ran back.

Gussio

It is a great hill. I stay off the brakes completely (unless some dimwit car has overtaken at the top and then crawls down the hill infront of me :roll: ) and freewheel down mid-30's. Have tried, but never broken 40mph there.

Worst moment was coming round the bend by the tree, to find a black Merc overtaking up the hill leaving very little space for me to squeeze by. Still rates in the top 3 most scary things to happen to me on a bike and not sure how exactly I got away with it. Palms sweaty at the memory and it happened a few years ago.