Zinger

There ya go, lol. And for working on those short sprints "American Flyers"

Bikey Mikey

Fastest I ever went on a flat was when I had a 22+ mph(might of been 30 mph gusts that helped then) tailwind and I managed to get to about 27 mph. I don't have very many areas for downhill, but on one of the centuries I did this year I got to 34 mph and I was a tad nervous. 30 mph downhill seems to be fine with me, but more seems hairy--generally, for the small descents I have around my area, I get around 27 to 28 mph. Of course, there are some here that have achieved 40+mph(maybe 50mph) on some of their descents , .

Sixty Fiver

An Amstaff can sprint at 30mph plus and run at 25mph, has incredible acceleration, and massive stamina... only in the movies would you be able to outrun one in your granny gear while exchanging insults.

I will say that having a big dog chase you will show you how fast you can really go and thankfully, most don't like to chase you past their own perceived property line.

The scariest package is probably a Doberman... they have incredible acceleration and have been clocked at 45 mph in a sprint... and they can run at high speed for a good long time as they are designed for pursuit and running down prey.

Your name better be Boonen if you want to outrun a dog like this.

Sixty Fiver

I have a bike that can do 30 mph fairly easily on flat ground and my training partner likes to ride with me since she can't run that fast....

Zinger

True that. I just bark back at them but I've never come across one that actually bit at me yet. My idiot friend tried to kick at an Australian Cowdog (the ones w/Dingo in them) out a car door while driving once and it almost pulled him out of the car

on the path

Last weekend I was out with a group of 11 riders. One of them was training for a tri-athelon. He had the tri-bars and an aero helmet. About 20 miles into the ride, which had been pretty quick up until that point, the tri guy pulled to the front and proceeded to pull us along at 27-30 mph for about 5 or 6 miles. It didn't take all of my strength to hang on, but it it did take every bit of my concentration.

bikemig 

I used to do weekend morning training rides that would stay well over 25 mph over the 40 plus mile ride. But it was really flat. I know I could hit right around 30 mph for short periods of time but that was it for me. I think a lot of it has to do with age and training. Right now I'm getting back on the bike after a few year drought. I don't really care at this point how fast I go; I ride for pleasure and I ride with friends.

Mobile 155

As I discovered in my first road race. The first 13-14 miles were flat as a board. My max solo speed for that distance was between 23 and 25. I got about five positions back in a pack of about 40 riders maybe five across. I was in my big ring spinning the 11 gear like I was going down hill. My average speed for the first 13 miles was 27. I have never gone that far that fast excluding a 14 mile down hill from Idyllwild to San Jacinto. It was much easier than a traditional pace line because it was more like drafting a truck. But then I haven't been able to sustain 25 for much more than a few miles since going through the back window of a car that short stopped me last year.

loxx0050

I tried out a Tuesday night Time Trial in my area for the first time and it was the last race of the season. This is a 11 mile course total out and back (at the halfway point of 5.5 miles you turn around) that has hills up and down each way (not like the mountains but not necessarily super easy either on one especially). Anyways, while I am getting close to my start time a team that was first out set a new course record at 21:17 or something along that line (avg of about 31.1mph). The previous record set were around low 22 minutes mark (or just under 30mph) and there are a few solo riders who hovered in the 22-23 minute mark consistently throughout the season. Man those guys are fast as I busted my butt off and had a hard time finding the energy to even spin at 30mph down hill and it slowly declined as the road flattened out transitioning back to a slight uphill. I wasn't slowest at least but not anywhere near the fastest. At least I beat the guy who preached that expensive wheels and an Aero helmet will get me faster instantly (I was on a road bike with clip on aero-bars and regular bladed spoke wheels).

Sixty Fiver

You would think that with all the advances in technology, lighter bikes, and super slick aero gear that folks would be able to do 40 miles in an hour but the differences between hour records over 50 years was pretty slight between riders and think without the aid of some serious performance enhancing drugs that it won't get much better if a conventional bike is used.

Back in the 50's folks would have been doing their 25 mile rides on bikes like my Raleigh Lenton which curbs out at 31 pounds and has a fixed drive... to that end I took the Lenton out and did just that and it was much easier than one would think.

For that they would have not been running fenders or any luggage.

RWBlue01

Yes, every day I commute to work I ride in the 35 MPH range. This of course is down hill with the wind at my back.....but I do ride at around 35MPH.

On a more serious note, if I want to go longer distances, I go slow. If I want to burn out in 7 miles, I ride fast.

ecrider

Performance enhancing drugs have always worked for me.

Garfield Cat

Did they allow Performance Enhanced Drugs in those days?

Garfield Cat

I would think the hard part is the acceleration just to get to 30 mph. But what if you were given a "push" or "pull" and then set free to maintain that velocity? A fast descent followed by a long continuous straight away flat. Coupled by an enormous chain ring to keep it going on a TT bike.

Mr. Beanz

There is a section coming down from Big Bear called Damnation Alley. To the eye it looks flat but it is actually a 5.5% grade. I did 29 for about 4 miles solo. I would swear it was flat though. I think many of the 30 mph guys for long period guys are mistaken as well but never realize it.

ShoreCyclist

"How do you go 30?" I've given up every vice I love. Ride 4-6 hours a day. Fill the "down time" with swimming, running, and eating stuff I hate. I average 26.4 on my Felt at race pace over 25 miles without the swimming before or running after.

I don't ever go 30 mph unless it's a down hill or a strong tail wind...

jyl

Interesting site here: https://www.speedofanimals.com/land (the first number is the animal's actual top speed. The second is that speed if it were your size, so scaled up/down by its size relative to a human. Not sure why we care about that second number.)

Suppose I was riding for my life, to escape an animal. Let's say, with terror fueling my legs, I could do a round 30 mph (48 kph) for a few blocks.

In that case, with sufficient warning to clip in and accelerated to my top speed, I could, in theory, hope to get away from an African elephant (40 kph), a black mamba (32 kph), a brown bear (35 kph), a domestic cat (48 kph), and a polar bear (30 kph).

I could very likely survive a chase by a gray squirrel (20 kph), a pig (17 kph), a six-lined race runner lizard (29 kph).

But I would be easily run down and eaten by an African wild dog (72 kph), coyote (60 kph), elk (72 kph), giraffe (52 kph), gray fox (68 kph), greyhound (63 kph), horse (88 kph), ostrich (70 kph), lion (80 kph), pronghorn (98 kph), and most everything land animal on the list.

Every single bird listed would be able to poop on me at will. A couple of the flying insects could buzz me. And almost every fish listed would also have me down its gullet.

Sigh. Even with the most efficient human-powered speed machine ever invented, I'm still dinner.

Shimagnolo

A 30+ one hour ride isn't that hard here in CO;
The trick is to start at the summit of Mt Evans.

Zinger

They did in the early '60s when Jacques Anquetil was winning the TDF.
He was an open amphetemine user. They had rules in place during Eddy
Merckx's era. He did test positive for other drugs on three occasions.

ShoreCyclist

What were the "other drugs"?

Sixty Fiver

Coppi freely admitted to taking everything he thought could help him since his competitors had to be extra juiced up to have a hope of catching him.

And they still could not catch him.

jdon

That is the trick.. I started at the base and probably averaged 5mph.

Zinger

The stimulant Reactivan, Mucantil (Iodinated glycerol) and Stimul (pemoline).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_Merckx

jyl

Hmm, I bet I could ride 30+ a lot more easily and for longer on a low racer recumbent . . . But that's kind of cheating.

zonatandem

Coasting, tucked in and down a mountain at 53 mph on our tandem.