Ya-Hoo! I hit a new speed record!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

For the longest time, I had been trying to beat my speed of 44mph (about 71kph-ooh, that sounds even bettah!!) on this great downhill on our Wednesday Night Ride route. For those of you (I know there are a couple of you here) who live or used to live here, I'm talking about the hill just after the Pogue Airport, near hwy 97. Anyway.. its a great, mostly straight, killer downhill. I first hit 44 in 1997, I think. Then ..some of you guys know (or can guess by my post signature) I had a serious back injury and surgery. It took me out of cycling for about 7-8yrs. Ugh! For a year after getting back on the bike, I'd been on this hill maybe 4 or 5 times and never could get faster than 44.

Well, tonight...... I hit 47.7 (nearly 77kph)!! I squeeled like a little girl after I got down and saw the max speed. hee hee hee

A riding buddy (male) hit 53.3 while pedalling the whole way down. Don't ask me how he did that. He said he was topped out (yeahhhh, naturally), and was bouncing all over trying to pedal like that. Boys..... sheesh.

48mph... I wonder if I can break 50 without having to draft something....

Great downhill gals.. tonight's ride was just pretty awesome all around. I had an avg W of 152 and avg speed of 16.4 on our hilly route. 119 minutes for 32 miles of fun. Good weather too! :D

Happy Lady Cyclist here! :p

[lph]

OMG, that is freaking FAST :eek:

How can you pedal at that speed?!

[DirtDiva]

Me too! Didn't get quite as fast as you, but I hit 70.29 kph (43.93125 mph :p) on my way downhill today. I'm sure I can go faster. :D Just need to really nail the line on a couple of big turns so I don't need to brake into them so much. Really nice climb up the other side of that particular pass too. (Did I just say that? :eek: )

[Mr. Bloom]

A riding buddy (male) hit 53.3 while pedalling the whole way down. Don't ask me how he did that.

Congrats...but BE Careful:D

Silver gets frustrated that I can coast and go downhil faster...HOW? I weigh 60 pounds more than her, so I attribute it to physics and gravity;)

[Torrilin]

Physics helps.

And congrats on the new high speed :D

[cinnamon_toast]

More details - are you pedaling? In an aero tuck position? Were you TRYING to go fast, or just cruising? Congrats on the record!

[Aggie_Ama]

I think he could do it if he has a different gearing? My DH has a bigger front ring than my triple and I usually run out of gears before he does. Of course going up a steep hill it is a different story thanks to my baby ring. :D

For the record, I have hit right at 49 miles on a hill here called Tumbleweed Hill. Long, steep, no curves. It is scary and fun all at the same time. No aero position, just gripping the bars for dear life and feathering the brakes.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow that is FAST!!!!!! My max speeed is "only" 40.2 mph.
At that speed I am "not" pedaling!
I weigh less than my DH and we ride the same model bike (mine is a bit smaller), but I pass him on the screaming downhills when neither of us are pedaling at all and both in similar posture- I can't quite figure it out- any ideas why? Of course, he then blows me off on the uphills! :rolleyes:

[velogirl]

I weigh less than my DH and we ride the same model bike (mine is a bit smaller), but I pass him on the screaming downhills when neither of us are pedaling at all and both in similar posture- I can't quite figure it out- any ideas why?


Lisa, you most likely have a smaller frontal area than him, creating less aerodynamic drag. Are you shorter than your DH? Is your bar lower than his? That would account for your ability to coast down faster.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

More details - are you pedaling? In an aero tuck position? Were you TRYING to go fast, or just cruising? Congrats on the record!

CT, I have a 53/39/30 front with a 12-27 in the rear. I was in the 53 and moved into the 12, but when it got too fast (read: scary) to pedal anymore, I just tucked down and cruised. I don't have aero bars or anything like that. My bike is mostly stock ..save for the Open Pros I switched out with when I got my PowerTap.

The hill is pretty long and I don't think I pedalled more than .1-.2 of a mile before it got scary. I tuck down as far as I can, pull my elbows and knees in and hold my feet level (neither one above the other). I also try to hold my core as tight as possible. There are a couple of bumps, but I try to do what I'd assume a skiier does to glide over them and save aero. OH yes... and because of my spine fusion, getting down in the drops isn't comfy..so I did it tucking/holding on to the hoods.

Its scary when there's a cross wind there...but on days like yesterday when the air's pretty still....you go screaming down that hill. Fun fun. Make a mistake and you're a stain tho... eeek! It wouldn't be pretty...

[RolliePollie]

Wow, that's super fast!!! My top speed is 44.6 and I felt like I was going a million miles an hour. It still amazes me that a bike can go so fast. Fascinating what the human body, and a little physics & gravity can do!!!

[Zen]

Make a mistake and you're a stain tho...
Which is what I live in deathly fear of. None of this sounds fun to me

[lph]

I was just thinking, this sounds fun, but in a sweaty-palmed, slightly terrified sense of fun :eek:

[DirtDiva]

Wow that is FAST!!!!!! My max speeed is "only" 40.2 mph.
At that speed I am "not" pedaling!
I weigh less than my DH and we ride the same model bike (mine is a bit smaller), but I pass him on the screaming downhills when neither of us are pedaling at all and both in similar posture- I can't quite figure it out- any ideas why? Of course, he then blows me off on the uphills! :rolleyes:Lisa, you most likely have a smaller frontal area than him, creating less aerodynamic drag. Are you shorter than your DH? Is your bar lower than his? That would account for your ability to coast down faster.
Lower centre of gravity helps with handling too.

Speed is good. :) I don't take the same risks on narrower roads and/or ones with more traffic though...