Ironfish653

Yeah, being in an Aerostitch with a full-face Arai feels a lot more secure than just bib shorts, a pair of shades and some sunscreen, even at 2-3x the speed. (Depends on the bike, too; my DL650 was bucking the wind at 95, but I accidentally hit 157 on a Buell 1125R, and it was scary how collected that bike was, going that fast)

Fastest I've recorded on the velo was 47mph, on a long, steep descent somewhere outside Mount Airy, NC.
I had another incident a day later on that ride, where I bunny-hopped a nasty looking bridge joint near the bottom of another similarly long, fast descent (IIRC speed was about 30-32 mph) That move seemed like it caught several seconds of hang time; enough for me to reconsider the wisdom of launching a 40-year-old road bike like that, and to figure out the best way of returning it to the pavement on 32mm tires, such that those tires would remain the only thing coming into contact with the pavement.

Trsnrtr

I don't attempt these speeds anymore but I used to routinely hit >50 mph speeds on steep river bluff drops. One hill greater than 20% always yields >50 mph.

A pic of the last time that I "worked" the drop on March 1, 2018:

DaveSSS 

You must weigh a lot more than I do (132-138) or had a gale force tail wind. That slope is only 10-12%.

jadmt

gets pretty close to the edges at times and the bunny hop at 40mph lol. how about the rider who was behind and filming...

pdlamb

The speed demons around here are impressive, but I'm not sure they're helpful to VegasJen (aka OP). Let me offer a few ways to approach the speed fear:

First, don't push yourself. Remember you're riding to have fun.

Second, make sure your bike is in good condition. Tires and brakes have enough rubber, derailers are adjusted, chain's lubed, there's nothing likely to go wrong that will interrupt the fun downhill you're going to ride.

Third, as you approach a hill, relax. Start worrying about what might happen and it'll kill the joy. Instead, go into a downhill with an attitude like, "I earned some fun by climbing that sucker to the top, now it's time to pin my ears back, grin real big, and fly down!"

Fourth, ride appropriately for the conditions. Smooth, straight road, light wind? Let 'er rip. Bumpy pavement and gusting crosswinds? Ease up. Remember #1.

Fifth, take your time (weeks or months). If you're comfortable at 30 mph, ride enough at that speed that you feel like you can try 33, or 35, or 39, and be comfortable at 30 if you need to back off. When you start feeling comfortable with a little more speed, make that your default "slow down to 35 and I'll feel safe" speed.

Finally, take some comfort that you won't automatically die if you exceed some arbitrary speed limit. Go back and read this thread as a series of testimonials -- like all us braggarts, you can learn to ride faster than your current comfort limit and then you get to brag, too. And remember, we're bragging because it was fun!

Flip Flop Rider

49

Bubbabiike

Yes, you do get used to it. Once you gain confidence nothing will happen. I hit 35-36 mph regularly on downhill sections of a ride. Now, hitting 50, which I have, was scary!

tomato coupe

Some people are just fast. My old coach weighs 20 kg less than me, but is faster on downhills.

curbtender

You see him getting off into the dirt a little on those edges. You really don't want to do that at that speed. Gives you perspective of what 50 is like. Disc brakes makes it much more manageable. One way road is a plus. Not my video but a nice run.

Desert Ryder

I've never had a way to monitor my speeds on a bike.
I can say a friend and I got stopped by an LEO for speeding in a 35 mph zone, downhill on skateboards
He said he clocked over 35 on his speedo behind us. He didn't write us a ticket. Just a long lecture about road safety and the dangers of going so fast with no safety equipment.

jadmt

several years ago there was a kid locally on a longboard who killed himself apparently did not make the corner and hit a tree. Which reminds me there was some guy go over the edge on going to the sun road and kill himself during a full moon ride. He passed my buddy going no handed way too fast.

chaadster

We’ve had Strava for nearly 15 years and Garmin GPS cyclometers for almost 16, but I guess proof has never been prerequisite to a good story so why start now?

But, because I live by the credo “put up or shut up,” I’ve got 60.4mph: https://strava.app.link/wO5TyfmBcyb

Koyote

Hopefully you realize that some of us have been riding longer than 16 years...?

tomato coupe

That file shows you going from 32 mph to 56.6 mph in one second, while veering off the road at the same time. That's about 1 g acceleration, so probably a glitch ...

jadmt

heck i have no idea what strava even is.

Koyote

Yup. Shows him hitting 60 mph just as he crashes into the trees. That's either a glitch, or it explains why he's in a wheelchair.

john m flores 

I'll add grip the top tube with your knees. That extra point of stability makes AlLL the difference in the world, really locks you together with the bike.

VegasJen

I've wondered about this. How would LEOs write a ticket anyway? At least for me, I carry a basic ID when I ride, but it's no official government issued ID. What are they going to write a ticket on?

mschwett 

i’ve gotten tickets on a bike, and don’t generally carry any ID at all on a ride. they asked for my name, license number, address etc and looked me up. i don’t believe you have the right to not share your identity when there’s reasonable suspicion of a crime (like a radar gun, visual observation of running a stop sign etc.)

VegasJen

Interesting. Have you ever challenged one? What if you don't have a license? I do, but so far as I know, there's no place that requires you to have (or carry) a license to ride a bike. Not saying having a license is a requirement for a citation, just wondering about it. Do they actually write down your bike info? Seems kind of crazy to me, but whatever.

mschwett 

no, no license required and no points or any impact to it. the officer just wanted it as a way of confirming identity and address. didn’t write down any bike info, just “on bicycle” where it should have had other info. it was a standard yellow moving violation, but he took pains to note that it had nothing to do with my driving record. the fine payment thing came in the mail and looked just like one for a citation issued to a driver, same payment instructions, opportunity to go to bike safety class instead, etc. didn’t challenge it because I had in fact rolled through the stop sign. ironic since the legislature had just passed an Idaho stop law… but the governor vetoed it. LOL.

i also once got a citation (an infraction I think) decades ago for urinating on a tree in a park in the middle of the night. it too looked just like a moving violation. I had my license with me that time.

RCMoeur 

Acme makes bicycles now?

On yesterday's ride, I saw where a vehicle had made a hole in a wall at the end of a dead-end street. When I glanced at it, I thought that someone with some masonry tools and skills could reshape the that hole into the rough outline of a bipedal coyote.

georges1

In 1998, reached 50mph with my Peugeot race bike on a long flat road during a road bike race and later in 2013 in a long descent with my Kona MTB reached 45mph. After a serious knee injury back in 1999 and a break of biking during some time on the road, I went as an alternative to road bike riding into MTB riding . Being not 20 years old and not 30 years old anymore,25-30mph seems my average speed. Also car drivers being not always carefully driving on the roads, have made me enjoy MTB riding much more, but the feel on riding fast a nice roadbike going is calling me back again to ride on my roadbike. Being alert and vigilant,being the most important things when I ride. One of my friends was badly injured many years ago because of a hit and run driver who overstepped on the bike lane,he was riding at 35mph. When using my townbike for running errands in town,18mph is my speed.

diphthong

have had a few bikes that experienced speed wobbles on a bangin' downhill, a few that didn't and a few that i just don't wanna know.

GhostRider62

Or a lot more aerodynamic.

My terminal velocity on 12% grade tucked on my upright is around 62 mph but over 80 mph on my recumbent. He might have been in a velomobile, in which case that speed is not so unachievable