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In the history of the universe, has it ever happened?

A few years ago, I was riding down a long hillside slope of a rural wooded road. At about 30+ mph, I noticed a car behind me. Well, at that speed, I was taking the entire lane, especially since the speed limit was 30 or 35, so the car was just going to have to follow me for another mile. Then I noticed that the car was a state trooper. By then I was well over 40 mph, and no way was I going to slow down after sweating so much to summit that hill. My only thought then was Oh man, it would be so great if the guy gave me a speeding ticket. I would have been so proud, I’d have had the ticket matted and framed and hung in the most prominent spot in my house. No such luck—the bastard gave me nothing, just a friendly wave as he passed me.

I got pulled over in Colorado Springs, in a nice, powdery, fluffy snow storm, on my carbon Look, for going 10 over the posted limit. Flat ground, side street, 25mph, I was commuting, it was cold, I was hauling ass. Cops gave me a really hard time for about 5 minutes til I started a fake shiver and asked if I could get to work on time, please. (I worked at the hospital.) They let me go with a warning, but one of them had his pad out and wanted to write me up. Incidentally, while I was at work it snowed 25" (in eight hours!!!) and I had to ride home. 6 miles, unplowed roads, fluffy powder, road shoes, Conti slicks, rough ride. As soon as the grade went above about 3-4% it was like riding a trainer: pedal hard, not going anywhere. Pedal harder and the noise level increases, still not going anywhere! Had to get off and try to walk uphill in road shoes with Look cleats, carrying my bike. Tried using the bike as traction by pushing it ahead, holding the brakes, taking 2-3 steps, repeat, but I'd just slide backwards... finally made it home after about 90 minutes of joyous hell. Good times, good times... best bike speeding ticket I never got.

My grandfather got pulled over once for doing +65mph in a 50 zone. This was in the late '80s, when he would have been in his 70s. The cop gave him a very protocoled warning, but just shook his head and said something to the effect of "you've been doing it this long, you must know what you're doing."

Cipollini got done for it.

https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/latestnews/cipo-fined/

Yes, doing 45mph in a 25mph residential zone about 20 years ago. It was downhill, with a good view of the traffic, and about 200 yards of run-out at the bottom, so no safety issues with other vehicles. While I had chugged up the hill (original intent was just to get up the hill) a cop had pulled up on a short, undeveloped cul-de-sac at the bottom. I came screaming by him and he caught me and wrote me a speeding ticket. I went to court on and got it dismissed since the cop did not have a speed monitoring device focused on me to check my speed (he just guessed). I still have a photocopy of the ticket. :)

FWIW: This is one of the very few times I've gone fast on a downhill since I had some ideal conditions - I could see the route and the run-out area ahead of me, the pavement had just been resurfaced (nice and smooth, no potholes) and it was in an area that was just being developed with custom single-family homes with lots of empty lots (making for the great view of the route).

I recently moved to a hilly neighborhood with 15mph signs. The most direct route out in one direction is a long hill with no stop signs until after it levels out. No cars are parked on this because all of the houses are on side streets. Been wondering if it will happen. My biggest chainring is a 52 and my wheels are 700c.

No, though there are certainly a few zippy descents where it would have been warranted.

I had dreams of getting my nice ticket, framing a copy, and then never doing that again. We can all dream, I suppose.

I got pulled over for doing 51mph in a 45 mph zone. I was with a group of 5 other friends during a charity ride and it was on a long downhill section. I had sprinted a slight hill before the descent then went like mad down the hill, spinning out just before the steepest portion of the hill. A couple of sheriff's deputies were sitting at the bottom keeping an eye out for motorist that wouldn't give cyclist room. One waved me over right near the bottom of the descent. He was laughing, said they had a bet whether any cyclist would exceed the speed limit and he just won. Showed me the radar with the 51 mph on it and told me to be safe. I told him I sort of wanted the speeding ticket. They got a good laugh out of that.

Not on my bicycle. On a motorcycle, yup. I was leaning into a cloverleaf exit and scraped the peg at night, kicking up sparks. The officer couldn't clock me, so he just warned me to be more careful.

He had a point. A year or so later I wrecked my car on a cloverleaf in the rain. Wasn't even going particularly fast, but too fast for that car in those conditions. It was a 1967 Oldsmobile, handled like a pig, and even 20 mph was too fast. Bent the frame bouncing over the high curb. Didn't seem too serious at the time, but wasn't cost effective to repair. That was my one and only unforced wreck. I've been hit by reckless drivers several times, never any fault of mine. But that one on the cloverleaf was all my fault.

I quit driving or riding motorcycles fast before I was 30.

I still ride bicycles as fast as I can, but I can rarely approach the speed limit -- maybe on a downhill with a tailwind, I can reach the 40 mph limit on some nearby access roads. Most drivers speed way faster than that on those access roads, often 70-80 mph. Most Texas roads have unnecessarily high speed limits, which makes some communities dangerous. Most drivers add 10 mph to any posted limit, so a 40 mph boulevard through a residential community can turn it into a 50-70 mph kill zone. And since Waze can direct impatient drivers to get off the main thoroughfares and use boulevards as highways.

There's a nearby neighborhood with 20 mph limits and I'm careful to observe that, as a courtesy to the residents and so I won't be a pest. I use that neighborhood often for a cooldown after a hard workout ride, so puttering along at 10-15 mph suits me fine.

A city council member is trying to reduce speed limits in some neighborhoods, particularly those with narrow streets and curbside parking, where it's a tight squeeze for oncoming cars to pass. The suggestion to reduce 30 mph limits to 20, and 20 to 15, was rejected. But it usually takes a kid getting killed before adults are ready for safer streets.

No but I could have, 56 in a 45 mile zone.

Short 1 mile descent on the tandem. Tucked but not pedaling and no intentions to try to increase the speed. Wife on the back, always very relaxed and goes with the flow. But at that speed, my helmet and sunglasses chattering. Very happy there weren't any squirrels or dogs running across the road.

Don't need no ticket, I hope to never hit those speeds again. Though the tandem is rock solid, 56 was just too fast! :twitchy:

I believe that in the UK speed limits don't apply to bicycles with a few notable exceptions such as in Richmond Park - because it's a Royal Park, perhaps? A friend of mine got told off by the police in Richmond Park, though not given a ticket.

Many years ago I had to go on a speed awareness course. There were a number of photos of cars, bikers, etc who'd been caught on speed cameras including one of a recumbent cyclist. I forget what speed he was doing but I remember being quite impressed at the figure.

One of the photos was a motorcyclist giving the camera the finger. Being a front facing camera there was no license plate to enable the police to track him down. This guy was stupid enough to do it repeatedly, though, and on the fourth occasion the cops were waiting for him. Doh!

I wouldn't want a speeding ticket unless it was for a flat ground sprint. Anybody can go 50-60 mph on a big enough, steep enough downhill.

Does failure to obey a traffic signal count? Apparently it did to Sgt Nugent of the Loudoun County Sheriff's motor patrol. He ticketed me for leaving about 1 second early on a red-to-green change. Hi, Sgt Nugent!

Got pulled over with a warning in High School.... Inglemoor HS is on the peak of a hill, the side I went down to go home was the steeper of the two. Of course, it being a High School, the police presence was quite... present. Zipped by one apparently doing 5 over, I never wore a helmet until 2014 and only then because it was required. The officer basically said he didn't want to ticket me for speeding because he'd get "laughed out of a job", and having recently gotten licensed, I was terrified of getting the ticket... if it was now, i'd tell him to write it up, and I'd happily pay it.

Over a couple of years at a couple people were cited for speeding on the Rim Road at Crater Lake N.P. during Cycle Oregon. N.P.S. Police don't mess around when there is such a large event.

Once passed a radar sign, on a residential road with speed bumps, and did 27 in a 25.... Oh! the horrors!!! :eek:

No cop, no ticket....

The one time you would want a ticket!

There's one road coming off a ridge I've heard some cops talking about ticketing cyclists. I've been down it several times, but never got a ticket.

Not for a lack of trying!

There's a radar/camera speed trap car often parked on 70th street, posted 25 mph, a big down hill, in Windsor Heights. It's a tad out of my way to the grocery store but I feel the need for speed.

Seeing how after having a coronary and getting stents, my heart doctor insisted I start doing some sort of cardio exercise. I bought a new geezer glide bike aka specialized roll. Before the snow season started, I nearly made it to the store, just .1 mile shy. I'm absolutely sure this coming warmer weather, I'll be riding as much as I can,

Should I trip the photo flash of that speed trap I'll get double enjoyment from it. One, I warranted a ticket and two, having no license plate, I stuck it to the man!

I haven't. But they put those little radar machines at the end of our street that show you your speed from time to time. I take those as a challenge....

wouldn't it be an expensive ticket, since a bicycle is treated like a motor vehicle?

15mph speed limits are generally unenforceable.

True, but most bike riders I've met tend to chicken out around 40. :p

Most of the speed limits I've exceeded regularly are down hills, although I will occasionally exceed the 30 mph limit on the relatively flat route when I go straight home from work (it's a slight down hill, but riding in the velo, it doesn't take much).

From my upright biking days, I hit 54 mph going down the foothills of the Catalina mtns in Tucson.

When I switched to a recumbent, I used to consistently hit 58 mph on a downhill run on the way home (and the hill climb after was a great workout).

There's a hill here that I like to ride when the weather's nice that I can hit 54 mph on the recumbent (speed limit is 50). In the velo, I have hit 65 mph. I need to get the race hood, close off the footholes, and get a bigger ring. Pretty sure I can do 70. :D

I don't think that is true! I know forum members who are scared to do 25. Local twisty roads that one can pick up speeds to 40, many white knuckle the descent. I've seen a few forum members frightened at speeds over 30 mph.

Of course everybody on the net is going to say they hit 60. :p

But I think most are at a bigger risk of getting cited at higher speeds thinking cops would believe them to be more dangerous.

Of course I have done 27 in a 25 mile zone, but who really cares about that? :foo:

Not a speeding ticket but...

I got pulled over a few months back for running a stop sign. The sign is right at the bottom of one of the bigger hills in my town, and if you pick a good line you can rip around a left hand corner at good speed and get a head start back up the hill on another street.

This one time I see a dark coloured truck about 50m back from the intersection and no other cars, so I go for it, nail the good line and sail through the intersection without slowing down.

Of course, the dark coloured SUV was a provincial police officer. I should mention that it was starting to get dark and I had minimal lighting on my bike, I mention it because the policeman definitely mentioned it when he pulled me over. I agreed that my move was careless, and made all the worse by my lack of good lights. Because I was very reasonable and admitted I was in the wrong he didn't give me a ticket. So the next time I wanted to run that stop sign I made sure there were no dark coloured vehicles in view, and that I had good lights on my bike.