ridiculously fast???

Peanutt

Hi, I went out for a ride saturday, I live in Eastbourne so I did the seafront, Beachy Head, East Dean, Friston to Polegate and back in to Eastbourne. Up by Beachy Head I managed to get up to 39.4 and thought that was quite quick.

So I went out yesterday and tried to pip 40mph but got stuck behind some old dear out for a drive. I only managed 34 but when I got home I checked to see if I'd upped the speed, possibly on the Jevington-Polegate road

55.2!!!!! Not even my old motorbike could do that, is that quick for a road bike on a descent?

nickel

Quick question, did you use strava and if so did you get your max speed from when you uploaded it to strava?

Peanutt

strava??

I just used a bontrager trip 4w

nickel

Strava's a site where you can upload GPS files from garmins etc and share your rides with other cyclists. The max speed can sometimes we a bit dodgy (its said I've done over 50mph before when I know for a fact I was only nudging 40, thats why I asked). Well i'd still be a little suspect of a max speed of 55mph in Britian, I'm sure it's possible with the right road/having enough balls, just not particularly easy in Britain.

Peanutt

must admit I was a little taken aback when I saw it, that road is very long and in some sections quite steep, I wasn't paying any attention to the puter at the time as I just wanted to get home to a bbq and a cold one but I can't see any other place I could have reached that kind of speed.

Peanutt

nickel

Peanutt wrote:

must admit I was a little taken aback when I saw it, that road is very long and in some sections quite steep, I wasn't paying any attention to the puter at the time as I just wanted to get home to a bbq and a cold one but I can't see any other place I could have reached that kind of speed.

Well if you did hit 55 then nice one! I wimp out when I hit 45ish, mind you the hills I ride tend to be short/steep with not much opportunity to build up much speed before you have to brake.

alihisgreat

I hit 42mph yesterday... and its just fun to be honest.. hard to imagine that Cav tops his sprints out faster than that though!

I did have a brown-bib moment when my back wheel hit a rut and jumped out though... just glad it wasn't bigger and didn't give me a puncture!

turnerjohn

Peanutt wrote:

Hi, I went out for a ride saturday, I live in Eastbourne so I did the seafront, Beachy Head, East Dean, Friston to Polegate and back in to Eastbourne. Up by Beachy Head I managed to get up to 39.4 and thought that was quite quick.

So I went out yesterday and tried to pip 40mph but got stuck behind some old dear out for a drive. I only managed 34 but when I got home I checked to see if I'd upped the speed, possibly on the Jevington-Polegate road

55.2!!!!! Not even my old motorbike could do that, is that quick for a road bike on a descent?

do you have a wireless setup ? even the 2.4Ghz ones can get the occassional blip...according to my VDO I once wit 125mph
annoyingly my Garmin is tooo accurate !

rolf_f

Nickel wrote:

Strava's a site where you can upload GPS files from garmins etc and share your rides with other cyclists. The max speed can sometimes we a bit dodgy (its said I've done over 50mph before when I know for a fact I was only nudging 40, thats why I asked). Well i'd still be a little suspect of a max speed of 55mph in Britian, I'm sure it's possible with the right road/having enough balls, just not particularly easy in Britain.

I reckon I could make 55 on the descent from Swaledale to Kirkby Stephen with a bit of luck. I managed 50 on my old tourer which is heavy (helps) but I think top gear is about 48 -12 (which doesn't help).
Even that would be a bit scary and there will be a big, big difference between 50 and 55. If I did go for 55, I'd know that I'd have to really cane the descent from the top because it would take a long time to reach that speed.

So I think I'd be very suspicious of 55mph unless there was a howling tail wind. And I'd know if I'd reached 55mph. I can't imagine getting home, uploading my time and finding a genuine 55mph that I didn't know about!

Peanutt

I thought I'd maxed out at around 34mph on the beachy head section and never really paid much attention to the rest of the ride. I reckon it's very feasible to do 55 on that road, it's long enough and steep enough, if memory serves the only time I braked was before the slow bend before the filchng tea rooms if only to avoid going straight on through their tea garden. I'd say I was doing around 16/17 before the descent. Could be the computer mucking about, but seeing as it says 55.2 I'm sticking with it, and possibly framing it on the wall.

FoldingJoe

Rolf F wrote:

Nickel wrote:

Strava's a site where you can upload GPS files from garmins etc and share your rides with other cyclists. The max speed can sometimes we a bit dodgy (its said I've done over 50mph before when I know for a fact I was only nudging 40, thats why I asked). Well i'd still be a little suspect of a max speed of 55mph in Britian, I'm sure it's possible with the right road/having enough balls, just not particularly easy in Britain.

I reckon I could make 55 on the descent from Swaledale to Kirkby Stephen with a bit of luck. I managed 50 on my old tourer which is heavy (helps) but I think top gear is about 48 -12 (which doesn't help).
Even that would be a bit scary and there will be a big, big difference between 50 and 55. If I did go for 55, I'd know that I'd have to really cane the descent from the top because it would take a long time to reach that speed.

So I think I'd be very suspicious of 55mph unless there was a howling tail wind. And I'd know if I'd reached 55mph. I can't imagine getting home, uploading my time and finding a genuine 55mph that I didn't know about!

+1

If you weren't aware of going soooo fast that you're not sure that you hit 55, then my guess is it is probably a spurious reading.

Peanutt

As a test I could always take my old sigma out as well next time, at least that'll give an indication that the trip 4w is sh1te. Thing is if it is wrong I know i'll end up riding like a nutter to get up to an official 55

Of course there is one other explanation,

I'm just so awesome I don't even notice my own awesomeness.

Bozman

You'll get 55mph on the A515 heading into Ashbourne from Lichfield direction, i bottled it at 51(cateye/gps) and i wasn't tucked-in tight, i suddenly thought.... what if ? and slowed down.
I came off a M-bike at 70+ wearing leathers etc and i'm lucky to be here, 50+ wearing lycra could turn out nasty, then again you could fall off standing still and kill yourself.

Monty Dog

55mph on a road-bike is very-fast - it's unlikely you wouldn't be aware of that speed whilst riding - you're approaching the terminal velocity of a bike and rider over 50mph due to air-resistance and you really need to tuck-in to maintain that level of speed IME. You also become acutely attunded to how the bike feels and handles at that speed as braking distances are huge and you want excellent sight-lines with minimal traffic. There's only a few times I've attempted it in the UK - mainly due to traffic, whereas the likes of the Col de Tourmalet towards Bareges and the Galibier are the kind of roads (traffic permitting) where you can really let a bike 'run'.

dodgerdog

55 mph is easily achievable but you would realise thta you are descending v fast. I clocked an average of 50.0mph down the Burrington Gorge segment on Saturady according to Strava, my Polar Cs500 shows a Vmax of 82.9Km/h which would lend independent credence to that speed.

Fastet my Polar has shown was 89.8Km/h descending out from Blaneau Ffestiniog having climbed up by the Slate Mine. I knew that was fast!

Peanutt

Don't get me wrong I wasn't blissfully unaware that I was going fast, it's pretty impossible to go slow down there unless you brake the whole way. I know I was trucking it, I just wasn't paying any attention to how fast I was going. If anything I was more concerned that at any time I could hit a pot hole etc. the trees overhang the road and on a sunny day you get a mixture of sunlight and shadow which camouflages the road surface.

It's more than likely a computer error, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was doing 45+. Going to take 2 computers out with me next time, be nice if I was doing 55.

rolf_f

Peanutt wrote:

It's more than likely a computer error, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was doing 45+. Going to take 2 computers out with me next time, be nice if I was doing 55.

Yep - 45 is entirely likely. I can get 45 on some of my commutes in W.Yorks with a favourable wind amd a descent that isn't anything too unusual but I'd need a gale of a tail wind to get 50 on those roads.

If you really care about the numbers, get a GPS device - they'll be more likely to slightly crop the max speed but any duff readings would really stand out. And you get to see just how slow the acceleration is above 45 mph!

iPete

Hit 50.1mph on my wired Cateye once with two panniers and a tent on the back! but it was down the Alps so had over 20km of down to find the right moment!

CiB

I can usually hit 42+ on a short sharp drop near here (Poundon Hill if anyone knows it) and have maxed out both times I did L2B on the run into Brighton after Ditchling at about 48 (pure volume of bikes prevented 50 sadly), but much more than 50 powered is about the limit of my cadence. The only hill long enough that I've done was off the back of the Wicklow Mountains near Dublin when the computer showed something north of 50 but it was getting a bit scary by then, relying on some farmer not appearing out of nowhere etc.

cougie

My max has been 56mph - on a fairly steep and long descent down a dual carriageway - and a tailwind, and pedalling strongly to get the bike going.

40 is pretty common on nice descents, but its a big difference to 55+.

I was disappointed in the Alps - I couldnt find descents that were long enough, or quiet enough, or with a decent tailwind to get anywhere near my record.

Lossie Loon

My maximum speeds tend to be in the 33 to 40 mph range, depending on the descents available on the routes I take. I've broken the 40 mph barrier a few times and my record is 48.5 mph and was done on a hill just outside Elgin (north Scotland) back in March this year - although not crazily steep or anything (no gradient signs anyway), it's long and straight, thus allowing you to get a good speed up without worrying about turning/stopping at the bottom.

RossW

60.3mph down Pork hill in devon!(The long one the classic goes up, in the 100 greatest climbs i believe?)

nferrar

I need it to be at least 10% and probably more like 12-14% to get over 50mph, too much pedalling required otherwise and then you lose the aero. I shut my eyes going over cattle grids at 45+mph and just hope for the best There's a noticeable difference in perception between 45 and 55 mph though, although possibly partly down to how twitchy your bike is at high speed. I still want to bag 62mph, would have to be somewhere with big mountains and long straights though

danowat

I ride and race in East Anglia mainly, the fastest I've been is 37mph

team47b

two magnets?

edhornby

if you come off the top of hartside from the cafe and go all the way down to Eaton, that is sufficiently steep and straight to get some steam going, I got to 42 without really going for it as I was riding blind. I agree with the others who say that there is a big difference between 40ish and 50ish...

jonomc4

38 mph is the fastest I have gone - then common sense kicks in! Sorry but I chicken out and normally at around 34mph.

The way I figure it is that it takes no less athleticism to cycle 30mph on the flat as does 45 on a hill - but I have no desire to meet a car (or anything) on the wrong side of the road at 45mph (nor at 30mph come to think of it) but at least at 30 I have more of a chance of not getting killed. Please bear in mind all the hills I go on are on country lanes or on roads with plenty of cars pulling out from side roads.

I am not in the TDF and if I was only worried about top speed on a hill I would use a car.

Captain sensible signs off..........

Mike67

jonomc4 wrote:

38 mph is the fastest I have gone - then common sense kicks in! Sorry but I chicken out and normally at around 34mph.

The way I figure it is that it takes no less athleticism to cycle 30mph on the flat as does 45 on a hill - but I have no desire to meet a car (or anything) on the wrong side of the road at 45mph (nor at 30mph come to think of it) but at least at 30 I have more of a chance of not getting killed. Please bear in mind all the hills I go on are on country lanes or on roads with plenty of cars pulling out from side roads.

I am not in the TDF and if I was only worried about top speed on a hill I would use a car.

Captain sensible signs off..........

Interestingly 38mph was my top speed at a recent Cat4 crit, I think it was on a downhillish straight but nothing too severe. (I was in the group at the time but eventually I came dead last :oops: ):
http://app.strava.com/rides/8859988#

Must admit I was surprised to see that figure once I'd finished but just goes to show we all have different limits of risk.

Out on the open road it very much depends on conditions etc.
There aren't many straight downhills with no side roads about but I generally get over 30 on most descents around here...seems a shame to waste the climb up beforehand

FoldingJoe

RossW wrote:

60.3mph down Pork hill in devon!(The long one the classic goes up, in the 100 greatest climbs i believe?)

Yep, could see how that might be possible. Drove from Tavistock to Ashburton yesterday and now I am worried about the Classic in June!!

navrig

Interestingly I would never venture out on my motorbike at anything more than 30mph - to the fuel station and back - without full leathers and here we are discussing riding in Lycra which offers no protection at all.

Crazy but we all do it.