ROJA

There is a local downhill in the East Bay that drops a little over 900 feet in 1.9 miles (avg. 9.1%). It has two smooth switchbacks and a few other minor turns. I usually average around 30 mph and can hit the high 30s on this stretch by moving along pretty well while still leaving some margin for safety. I would not say that I push it compared to the fast riders, who can average over 40 mph for this stretch with top speeds at or above 50 mph. For what it's worth, my average speed of around 31 would put me right around the middle of this Strava segment (ridden over 500 times by 121 people), so I'm neither fast nor a slowpoke.

Yet I have been passed by guys on skateboards! And there was a large speed difference- I tried to keep up but lost sight of them within 1/4 mile and did not see them again until they had stopped at the bottom. This is on a vehicle with no brakes and tiny skateboard wheels.

How do they do it?

My only guesses-

1. they are very very good at their sport, while I am average at best;
2. they are pushing the limits of traction and safety, while I am leaving a much larger margin for surprises or mistakes;
3. a good skateboarder can actually move faster because the legs and knees act as suspension in a way that is superior to a bike;
4. I am just old and want to live to see tomorrow...

Have others seen this? Is it typical for skateboarders to be faster than cyclists on downhill sections in your area? What do they do if they approach a slower moving car? How do they slow or stop?

CornUponCob

Aerodynamics

pgjackson

They are probably riding longboards. My son has one and it is fast and smooth. I have a short 6-7% hill right in front of my house, maybe 1/4 mile to the top. These kids can fly down that hill. I don't let my son do this. The kids that do don't even wear a helmet and usually don't even have a shirt on. If they go down they are going to the hospital if not the morgue.

Velo Vol 

Thankfully, I don't see skateboarders on the road (other than neighborhood streets).

therhodeo

It is when the cyclist isn't going as fast as the guys on skateboards are willing to. You're post pretty much says you're going slower than them because thats all you're comfortable doing. Nothing to do with aerodynamics or anything else.

pgjackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=831IO...357F5773CFC867

It's only a matter of time before it is banned. Doing 40mph on a skateboard on a public street is idiotic.

BillyD

Skateboarders are crazy.

ROJA

To be clear, my speed is not limited by drag or gearing. I simply can't go faster around the switchbacks and corners (where they appear to open the biggest gap on me). I have to a brake a fair bit and am coasting in parts because I am not comfortable going any faster (although it would be physically possible).

climber7

i understand that you could go faster on this particular road. however, i wouldn't be surprised if a person crouched down on a longboard presented a smaller surface to the wind (and thus had less drag) than a person on a bike, even in a full aerodynamic tuck.

dstrong 

First line of the description on the video..."Just a short vid of the team, well....at least the ones that are not injured."

glrnns280

you can slow down by sliding the board sidways,but still that fast on a skate board

Kind of Blued

Guys go 80mph on skateboards where a road bike couldn't hit 60. It seems like a lot of them wear more aerodynamic skinsuit-esque things and full helmets. The biggest advantage is probably in the wheels though. I'd imagine they're much harder and a much smaller "footprint"/contact point on the ground. I still don't understand how they corner so well. I mean, I think I understand it in regard to physics, but not in regard to the necessary testicular fortitude.

JoelS

I was passed by a skateboarder on a local technical descent. He didn't get more than about 15 yards past me though. Pretty ballsy riding. I think they can get more aero then we can on bikes.

kleinboogie

Way less friction than a bike and aerodynamics. The guy in blue in the video is better prepared for a fall than a cyclist. He's got full helmet, leather suit, elbow/knee pads and skid plates on his palms. He may break a bone smashing into something but he'll be fine sliding on the pavement.

pgjackson

The wheels are much larger and much softer than traditional skateboard wheels. They absorb all the imperfections in the road and the ride is actually VERY smooth. Also the trucks (the axles that the wheels fit on) are much looser than on short skateboards making it much easier to lean the board and turn sharply. They are actually very cool boards and most kids just cruise on them...but some of these kids are just plain stupid. You hit a branch in the road or a rock going 40mph you are going down hard. No amount of leather and plastic helmet is going to protect you from a high-speed impact with a street sign or tree.

miwoodar

My neighbor has knocked himself out on multiple occasions via longboarding. The same guy got the bright idea to tie a bed sheet to his belt and hold the corners to make a long board sail...ER. He jumped his bike off of a roof with the intention of landing on top of a dumpster...ER. He's 18 and his list of injuries is as long as my grocery receipt. Last year he got into cycling. I agreed to take him along for an LSD ride with some buddies but I had to wave us off before joining the group. No matter how many times I told him that he would have to ride straight, I couldn't get within three feet of him without fearing that he would take me down. He wandered all over the place.

Perhaps longboarders are fast because they no longer have a functioning brain? Maybe they can't process danger?

Shimagnolo

40mph isn't fast. This is fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r9VefFY5P8

And here is a video of the Buffalo Bill Downhill run for the last three years on Lookout Mt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i4iy9JIHjc

pgjackson

It looks like a lot of fun and could be moderately safe in a controlled environment...but most of these guys are just rolling down public streets with no concern over public safety. Imagine a kid going down at high speed, his board jumps the curb and hits your kid in the head. Or you are driving up the street and one of these idiots is hauling ass in your direction and can't stop...next thing you know he's coming through your windshield. When you talk to these guys (and I do because we have a bunch of them in my neighborhood) their only safety concern is for themselves. They never even consider the safety of people walking down the street minding their own business.

WhyFi

This one was posted in another thread - I dig it.


I think that having really, really big balls is a factor. I also think that having a lower center of gravity is a factor, as is the wider footprint provided by the 'board.

slims_s

well, most of us have gone faster than that wearing only lycra, shoes, and a cycling helmet so...

brianappleby

that buffalo bill course is my local training hill... I ride it many times a week.

I've met skateboarders on that hill (they're just chasing the high, the same as us). I've asked a few to race, and I've always beaten them, even without pedaling. They have an aero advantage on the straights (hence that 80mph guy, also on a hill in Colorado), but I can corner a lot faster than they can.

That means to the OP that either:
a) You need to work on descending skills, or
b) The guys i've happened to race against aren't as skilled as they could be, or
c) Skateboarders are faster on certain corners, but we're faster on others

I suspect that the answer is somewhere between (a) and (b), but (c) could play a role as well. I lean against (c), because the hill is composed of a few faster corners that I take around 30-35 mph, and some switchbacks that I take closer to 20, and they lose time on all of the turns.

nacler22

I think it looks like a blast.

I use to fly airplanes straight toward the ground and run class 5 whitewater so maybe I'm a little "touched"

Out the door to get my ass handed to me in the local crit.

Later

pdedes

these

Nerull

Most of the public feels that way about cycling.

WhyFi

I was going to say, "hey - at least we're faster uphill," but I'm actually not so sure of that in my case.