fordfasterr

It happened to me again (2nd time this year) today after work on the way home after a nice detour ride to the beach =)

The lady honked her horn at me, then slowly passed with plenty of space..

I caught her half a mile up the road when she got stuck at a light.. I pulled up next to her and she rolled her window down and said " Use the sidewalk! " ... (she was a cute young girl...) I could barely reply to her because I was a bit winded after pushing so hard to catch up to her.. (34 mph on flat road for a few blocks there!!!)... and so I somehow mumbled to her about how its illegal to ride the bicycle on the sidewalk in this city (because we were in a business district and that is the law here) and then I told her to read the road rules regarding bicycles and that I have the right to use the road... all that vc stuff....

anyway, she just looked at me like I was ******** and told me to be careful as she rolled up her window......

. Thanks lady.

=)

noisebeam

Well, did you get her number?

Al

jwc

Your conversation should have gone like this...

Interesting point, though it is illegal. If you are free Saturday night, we can discuss this even further over dinner.

DogBoy

BS meter.

CommuterRun

CR in the same situation:

Pretty Driver: "Get on the sidewalk!!"
CR: "It's illegal here to ride on the sidewalk. If you knew how to drive, you would know that."

CR doesn't have much patience with people, sometimes.

ghettocruiser

Tailwind? Draft from truck? Come on, if he said 44mph maybe, but 34?

Neist

Its possible. Hell, people can sprint for short periods on track bikes for close to 30. On a geared bike at high cadence you should be able to work up to faster.

noisebeam

Very fit people can ride for long periods at 30mph.
But sustaining solo 34mph for several blocks? Not sure how long a block is there, but where I live a block is a mile.

I really don't care though, its a story, details are less important than the fact he went all out and saw such speeds the one or few times he glanced at speed.

Al

oilfreeandhappy

I go 34 HMPH - half miles per hour.

Bikepacker67

Ohh Ya?? Well I go 60 QMPH!

kb0tnv

one of my old replies to "get on the sidewalk" was "I will if you will?" But I have given up trying to educate motorists myself. Not worth it. If it becomes a problem with the same motorist on my regular route to work. I will get their license number and have the Missouri Bicycle Federation (mobikefed.org) send them a letter stating the rules of the road for bikes. That usually helps. But we shouldn't really even spend the time. I give it up since there really isn't any time and we don't have any authority to pull them over or try to "educate them". Just do your best and keep cycling! Eventually they will run into one of those "sidewalk" cyclists when they are walking and will find out for themselves why cycists need to be out on the road.

Keep Cycling!

anitra

These people walk? Like, on the sidewalks? Aren't those for cyclists?

40x14

One day she will be an old lady, driving a big old lady car, and she'll still be honking at cyclists and telling them to get on the sidewalk. Unless she's flirting with you. If she is then she has no idea that a honk can scare the daylights out of a non-motorist. In that case, well, you must figure out how to get her digits and school her.

fordfasterr

The stretch I was on has a very very slight gradient that lends itself to building up speed... I was on my road bike so I downshifted and spun up as hard as I could.. I looked down once or twice and from one block to the next, both times I looked I was at 33 and 34 mph ... =)

I can sustain 32-35 mph for a little while in the velodrome on a regular basis so its not unreal for me to reach those speeds if I have a tail wind and a slight gradient...

And remember, nothing can boost your speed better than a little motivation !

This is florida after all ! =)

Bekologist

there are hills in florida? maybe up by pensacola.....but i believe your mphs, those are very realistic traffic signal sprinting speeds, esp. when you're "on fire",

Trevor98

The other day I was riding with a friend, he saw some kids riding BMX bikes on the street and made a simular comment about sidewalks. I informed him that riding on sidewalks is illegal here (VA) and we got into a discussion of the legality and smartness of that law. In my experience, most drivers are dangerously ignorant of the rules of the road- especially where bikes are concerned.

jyossarian

Where I live, there are 20 blocks to a mile.

TTIWWP

noisebeam

I know how most older cities like NY are and what the traditional 'block' means.
Just cause blocks are 1mi here, doesn't mean there are not lots of side streets between those blocks.

See google map. The blocks area 1mi grid of arterial roads as shown in yellow. Lots of smaller streets in white.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.215607&om=1

Al

DataJunkie

What the heck is the big deal?
I can easily go 25 MPH on a very slight downhill with a loaded tour bike on my commute. Hell, I've hit 42mph downhill on the same bike. egads people

fordfasterr

exactly.

=)

I can easily hit 30 mph with neutral wind on a flat road.

And the other poster is right, there are no real hills in south florida, just small changes in elevation but not a " hill " per say...

When I say gradient, I mean a stretch of road that for some reason has a few inches of elevation from end to the other... but not something would even notice in a car but on a bike it is very noticeable, specailly when you are trying to accellerate....

=)

ghettocruiser

Word. *I* Didn't mean to come off as a doubter. 34 mph on a road bike is attainable and somewhat sustainable under many conditions. My comment was directed at those calling BS on your speed, actually. The thing was mildly reminiscent of the guys who insisted you could *never* attain 40mph on a BMX no matter how big the downhill was a while back.

Pampusik

Yah, as if using the sidewalk would make a difference. Last night, I saw a car turn through a bicyclist who thought she was better off on the sidewalk.

Stay on the road and use lights, and you'll live longer.

vtjim

Jeez. Yeah. I can break 30 for a limited time on my 40-pound 20 year-old commuter if I want to abuse myself. (This is on a flat surface, of course.) And with platform pedals!

oboeguy

The most recent time something like that happened I mutterred "learn the law" and moved on. It didn't feel very clever at the time, but, looking back, it doesn't sound so bad.

nova

Heh i had a avarage of 32 mph for just under 1 mile about a week ago. Jhonson road from medina line to wooster road Yes i ran the stop sign with the help of a freind witha trailer pretending to have stalled as i flew by

Was quite fun. Max speed of 41 avarage of 32. This paticular road is nearly all down hill with a small up hill roller or 2 nothing that will realy burn off any real speed. So a bike can just keep accelarating all the way. Even on that road my legs were burning and felt like i was walking in jello after words. Wish i had a HRM i know my heart rate had to be way way up there as well. Cant recall the exact cadence now but was in the 130s max and high 90s avg. I did pass 2 cars going down must have been at the 40ish mark when i did.